In Memoriam Louis Andriessen

We were very sad to learn of the death of the Dutch composer. Louis Andriessen, at the beginning of July. We had the great good fortune to get to know this wonderful man, widely regarded as one of the seminal figures in the international new music scene, in 2001 when Clark Rundell, Director of Contemporary Music at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, suggested that Arc might be interested in publishing a translation of Andriessen’s book of essays on his own and others’ music, Gestolen Tijd: alle verhalen, to coincide with a proposed festival of Andriessen’s music at the RNCM in 2002. We leapt at the suggestion, and after finding the perfect translator in Clare Yates, embarked on a succession of trips to Amsterdam, initially to discuss the project with his publisher, his editor, Mirjam Zegers, and, of course, the composer himself, and later to go through the translation and proofs with Mirjam in minute detail. Looking back, it's hard to believe that everyone worked so quickly and intensively on the book, but we were all determined that it should be ready for the Lust for the Ears Festival of the Music of Louis Andriessen (Artistic Director Clark Rundell) in June 2002 – and it was. After its launch at the RNCM, The Art of Stealing Time received its London launch at Passion, a major festival of the music of Louis Andriessen at the South Bank Centre in October 2002.

To add a personal note, here is a photograph of Louis, Mirjam and Tony (taken by Angela on one of our trips to Amsterdam) and a picture of Louis and Angela (taken by Tony at the RNCM). We have very happy memories of our times with this remarkable and charismatic man.