A self-declared member of the Darmstadt School,[1] he studied composition in Cologne with Karlheinz Stockhausen and Gottfried Michael Koenig.
At the University of Cologne he studied philosophy, sociology, and musicology, earning a PhD in 1966.
In 1972, he was appointed professor of music history and theory at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague.
[2] His compositions characteristically employ serial organization or montage, sometimes with elements of jazz and rock music (as in his opera Doktor Faustus and the electronic Apocalipsis cum figuris).
In other works, such as Canciones del camino and Lied uit de vert, Marxist songs serve as basic material.