Matthijs Vermeulen

Matthijs Vermeulen (born Mat­theus Christia­nus Franciscus van der Meulen) (February 8, 1888 – July 26, 1967), was a Dutch composer and music journalist.

Early life
Vermeulen was born in 1888 as the son of a blacksmith. After an accident in his father's workshop he abadoned the idea to take of the family business and went to study in a Jesuit seminary - here he first came into contact with music. At the age of 14 he wrote a letter to his brother stating that he had had a kind of epiphany: from that moment on he would aspire to be a composer.

He received private tuition from the the well-known Dutch composer Alphons Diepenbrock, becoming well acquainted with his teacher and his family. So much so that he chose Diepenbrock's daughter Thea as his (second) wife. Their daughter Odilia would be born on January 18, 1949.

Apart from composing, Vermeulen was also active as a publicist. From 1909 to 1920 he worked as a music critic for several magazines and newspapers, such as De Groene Amsterdammer and De Telegraaf. It was in this capacity that he was to claim his greatest public notoriety.


The 'Vermeulen Incident'
Vermeulen's dissatisfaction with the artistic policies of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and its leader Willem Mengelberg came to a head in November of 1918. After a performance of the Seventh Symphony of Cornelis Dopper, conducted by the composer, Vermeulen stood up and shouted Long live Sousa! from the stands of the Concertgebouw (a part of the audience thought that the socialist leader Troelstra, who had attempted a revolution days earlier, was meant and therefore interpreted Vermeulen's words as incitement), leading to great turmoil and a flurry of publications. The orchestra considered whether or not they could ban specific journalists from the hall. The incident also highlighted the already lumbering conflict between traditionalists (represented by Cornelis Dopper and chief conductor Willem Mengelberg) and avant-garde figures such as assistant conductor Evert Cornelis.

Even though the Concertgebouw's board would admit Vermeulen again after a while, his relations with the orchestra were tainted forever. As a consequence, Vermeulen's Second Symphony, written 1919–20 and entitled Prelude à la nouvelle journée, had to wait until the 1950s for its premiere; Mengelberg publicly stated that he would not even look at it (though see also this link[1]). As a result of numerous conflicts, Vermeulen decided to settle and work abroad for many years, particularly in France and the then Dutch East Indies (Indonesia).


Works
His symphonies, especially the last six of his seven, are tonal but also extremely contrapuntal, involving very many musical lines combining simultaneously. In this he resembles Allan Pettersson in some ways. His fifth symphony, which (according to the liner notes of its one recording, on the Dutch label Donemus, anyway) has been performed successfully only during the rehearsals and performance for that recording, shows these tendencies at their extremes. Vermeulen's work has been quoted as seminal by influential Dutch composers such as Louis Andriessen, but his direct influence is much more difficult to trace - his style, after all, is eclectic and highly personal. Moreover, his actual collaboration with other composers remained very limited. Almost all of his recognition took place well after his death.

His works also include lieder with piano and with orchestra, chamber music including two cello sonatas, a string trio (1923)[1] and a string quartet, and incidental music for The Flying Dutchman.