Music of the Netherlands
Sometimes partly based and raised upon the tradition of Indorock, new acts with a mixture of Mainstream pop music, Dance, Jazz, Funk and Soul emerged in the mid-1980s.
Most of the best-known DJs in the EDM scene (and the world) hail from the Netherlands, including Tiësto, Don Diablo, Armin van Buuren, Ferry Corsten, Sander van Doorn, Fedde le Grand, Hardwell, Showtek, Afrojack, Oliver Heldens, Ran-D, and Martin Garrix, all of whom consistently rank high in the DJ Mag Top 100 DJs and other rankings.
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (May 1562 – October 16, 1621) was a Dutch composer, organist, and pedagogue whose work straddled the end of the Renaissance and beginning of the Baroque eras.
Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer (1692–1766) was an accomplished baroque composer, whose work Concerti Armonici erroneously was attributed to Giovanni Battista Pergolesi.
Louis Andriessen (June 6, 1939 – July 1, 2021) was a composer whose early works show experimentation with various contemporary trends: postwar serialism (Series, 1958), pastiche (Anachronie I, 1966–67), and tape (Il Duce, 1973).
Large-scale pieces such as De Staat ['Republic'] (1972–76), for example, were influenced by the energy of the big band music of Count Basie and Stan Kenton and the repetitive procedures of Steve Reich, both combined with bright, clashing dissonances.
He also played a role in providing alternatives to traditional performance practice techniques, often specifying forceful, rhythmic articulations, and amplified, non-vibrato, singing.
In the early part of the 20th century, however, a number of urban intellectuals travelled to the countrysides to record with local musicians, a process paralleled in other European countries, such as Spain.
In the 1970s, the Netherlands underwent a roots revival, led by artists like Gerard van Maasakkers, Jos Koning, Dommelvolk and RK Veulpoepers BV, Fungus and Wolverlei.
Many of the folk songs performed by these musicians was collected by Cobi Schreijer and Ate Doornbosch, the latter of whom broadcast them on his radio program Onder de groene linde (Under the green lime).
The mainstream popularity of the Dutch roots revival was short-lived, but it continued in Friesland, where a handful of groups, starting with Irolt in the mid-1970s, sang in the West Frisian language.
Modern revivalists include the Groningen band Törf, Folkcorn, Pekel and Twee Violen en een Bas, Lirio, Dubius, Mus, Matzko, Wè-nun Henk.
In 1967 he co-founded the Instant Composers Pool, an organisation which promoted avant garde Dutch jazz performances and recordings, with Han Bennink and Willem Breuker.
He often performed in a duo with compatriot Bennink, and with other musicians including Derek Bailey, Peter Brötzmann, Evan Parker, Anthony Braxton.
Well known representatives from that period: Doe Maar, Het Goede Doel, Frank Boeijen Groep and Toontje Lager, and during the late 80s De Dijk, The Scene[4] and Tröckener Kecks.
[5] They stemmed from the Indo community in The Hague, which was also the center of the succeeding genre Nederbeat when Dutch musicians formed bands influenced by British beat groups and rock music.
These clubs, like Amsterdam's Paradiso and Melkweg, were stepping stones for many alternative rock bands on their first European tour and the Dutch crowd stayed well informed about new British and American acts.
Girl groups Luv' and Dolly Dots but also disco bands Spargo and Time Bandits were among the most successful, alongside the Golden Earring, which scored some of their biggest hits with "Radar Love", "Twilight Zone' and "When The Lady Smiles".
The Nits developed a large audience outside the Netherlands, including Finland, Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium, Greece and Canada and in 1989 were the first Dutch band to play in the (then still) Soviet Union.
Ferry Corsten, Tiësto, Armin van Buuren, DJ Jean and Bart Claessen started their careers in the 1990s and became the stars of their era.
[7][8] Current pop acts include Esmée Denters, Anouk, Sharon Doorson, Davina Michelle, Maan, Nielson, Eva Simons, Ilse DeLange, Toni Willé (Pussycat), Celine Cairo and Belgian-Dutch girl group K3.
hosts nights in venues where many international touring avant garde rockbands like Health, Enon, Miracle Fortress, Mahjongg, These Are Powers, Pre perform as well as local indie and noise rock acts like The Moi Non Plus, Bonne Aparte, Adept, Hospital Bombers, Pfaff.
Starting in the late 1980s and early 1990s, bands like Pestilence, Sinister, Asphyx, Altar, Gorefest, and God Dethroned gained popularity both inside and outside of Europe.
At the present, bands like Pyaemia, Disavowed, Prostitute Disfigurement, Hail of Bullets, The Monolith Deathcult, Inhume, Callenish Circle, Rompeprop, Legion of the Damned, MaYaN and Severe Torture enjoy a similar status.
Carach Angren, Cirith Gorgor, Israthoum, Dodecahedron, Ordo Draconis, Funeral Winds, Lugubre, Slechtvalk and Urfaust are some of the best-known.
The Dutch musical culture has a small experimental music scene with a few artists that tour international such as Machinefabriek, solo projects of members of The Ex, Toktek, Gijs Gieskes, Knalpot, Yuri Landman, Jaap Blonk, Wessel Westerveld, Wouter van Veldhoven, Michiel van de Weerthof, Bram Stadhouders, his brother Jasper Stadhouders, Lukas Simonis and Michel Banabila .
Important groups and DJs in happy hardcore include Charly Lownoise and Mental Theo, Party Animals and Flamman & Abraxas.
Other popular DJs from the Netherlands include Afrojack, Hardwell, Laidback Luke, Fedde le Grand, Nicky Romero, Dash Berlin, D-Block & S-te-Fan, DJ Isaac, Wildstylez, Headhunterz, Brennan Heart, Sander van Doorn, W&W, Ummet Ozcan, R3HAB, Yellow Claw, Ran-D and Martin Garrix.
The Urban Dance Squad, led by Rude Boy (who later also played with Junkie XL), produced an original mix of rock and rap, laying the foundation for the nu metal hype of the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Other important Dutch rappers are The Opposites, De Jeugd van Tegenwoordig, Pete Philly & Perquisite, Extince, Kempi, Brainpower, Opgezwolle, Spookrijders, Snelle, Polderkartel, Typhoon, and Def Rhymz.
