Famous Dutch Composers

Louis Andriessen was a Dutch composer best remembered for his innovation. Often counted among the developers of the Hague School, Andriessen played an influential role in the Dutch music scene of the 1970s and 1980s. He is also credited with founding an ensemble for contemporary music called Orkest De Volharding, which achieved immense popularity in the Netherlands.

Keren Ann is a singer, songwriter, producer, composer, and engineer. In addition to playing the guitar, clarinet, and piano, Ann also writes and engineers musical and choir arrangements. Over the years, she has also contributed to the soundtrack of films like Thelma, Louise et Chantal and Yossi.

Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck was a Dutch composer, music educator, music organizer, harpsichordist, organist, and ensemble leader. He played a major role during the transition to Baroque music from Renaissance and is often regarded as the most prominent Dutch composer of the Early Modern Period. His music was not only popular in the Netherlands but also spread across Europe.

Both a lutenist and a composer, Dutch musician Jozef van Wissem is a Cannes Award winner. Know for his Christian-themed song titles, he was once invited to St. Petersburg to perform a madrigal showcased in Caravaggio’s painting The Lute Player. Only Lovers Left Alive remains his best-known track.

Adrian Willaert was a Netherlandish composer who is credited with founding the Venetian School. Apart from being remembered as a versatile composer, Willaert was also the most influential musician in Europe during his time. Also renowned for his teaching skills, Adrian Willaert taught students like Cipriano de Rore, who went on to become respected composers in their own right.

Part of the Dutch Golden Age, Constantijn Huygens was at the same time a composer and a poet. A diplomat, too, he went to England multiple times, where he was introduced to New Science by Francis Bacon, which he then popularized in the Netherlands. He also translated John Donne’s poems.