Alphons Diepenbrock and the European world of composers at the fin-de-siècle

Abstract

The article consists of three parts. In the first part the author gives a survey of the large artistic renewal that took place in the Netherlands around 1900. Special attention is given to "de beweging van Tachtig" (the movement of the "Tachtigers"), a renewal movement in literature in which the composer Alphons Diepenbrock was involved. In the second part a short description of the life and work of this most important Dutch composer of the end of the nineteenth century is given. In his early years Diepenbrock orientated himself to composers like Wagner, especially around the First World War (in which the Netherlands remained a neutral country), and he became a fervent admirer of French art. His music is a unique synthesis of Wagner's chromaticism, the word-bound rhythms of plain-chant and the polyphonic music of the old Flemish schools of Ockeghem and Josquin. In the third part the author deals with a couple of Diepenbrock's (artistic) contacts. There are highlights on Mahler, Schönberg and Debussy, primarily based on their correspondence.