His Lamentations of Jeremiah for chorus and orchestra, written in 1956 was broadcast by Radio Holland during the funeral services for both former Queen Wilhelmine (1962) and President John F. Kennedy (1963).
At the age of 11 he went to the boarding school and gymnasium of the Fathers of Monfort at Schimmert, where there was only a pump organ, on which a lot of Bach was played, which was a new revelation for him.
[3] In 1925, thanks to a scholarship from the state, he was able to study composition at the Schola Cantorum de Paris with Vincent d'Indy and Louis Aubert.
Throughout his life Marius Monnikendam wrote many articles and books on music, including biographies of Igor Stravinsky and César Franck.
This is applicable to his work for the concert podium as much as to his Lay-music of the Thirties (canons, Christmas carols and his stage music, e.g. Vondel).
[2] For a Convention of church music in Frankfurt am Main in 1928 he sent in a Missa Nova, which received great acclaim because of its advanced style, however the Ecclesiastical Authorities did not give their seal of approval.
The first performance was in 1970 and after that many times in Holland (The Hague, Amsterdam, Oldenzaal) en abroad (Brussels, Madison, New York City, Philadelphia).
Monnikendam did not write Symphonies but rather "Symphonic Movements", where a close musical structure is developed from a basic thought in a dynamic-motor fashion (compare Honegger's Pacific 231).
An old Dutch folksong ‘Merck toch hoe Sterck’ was transformed twice by Monnikendam: first in a Sinfonia (1943) and secondly as Symphonic Variations (1954).
From a text of the contemporary French poet Robert Morel, Monnikendam composed the tripartite oratorio: Noé, ou la destruction du premier monde (1955).
Till the end of his life, Monnikendam possesses an extremely lively mind and remained very active on all fronts.
Based on the human heartbeat, Monnikendam wrote an instrumental work Heart-Rhythm (1975) in which a link is made with space travel.
On the occasion of the reopening as a concert hall of the restored New Church of The Hague (end of 1976) Monnikendam composed a Gloria for mixed choir, orchestra, organ and percussion.