Simeon ten Holt

Simeon ten Holt (born in Bergen, Netherlands, 24 January 1923, died in Alkmaar, 25 November 2012) was a Dutch composer. Ten Holt studied with Jakob van Domselaer, eventually developing a highly personal style of minimal composition. Ten Holt generally uses consonant, tonal materials and his works are organized in numerous cells, made up of a few measures each, which are repeated ad libitum according to the player’s preference. Many of Ten Holt’s works (as, for example, Canto Ostinato) employ harmonies quite similar to those used by European composers of the Romantic period. Thus, his style of minimal composition is truly European in its orientation and has been little influenced by North American minimal composers, whose works draw more often on rock, jazz, and world musics. Van Domselaer’s influence on ten Holt’s musical philosophy has been considerable, with the younger composer picking up van Domselaer’s interests in the links between music and visual art, in music’s relationship with mathematics, and in the use of the piano as a principal instrument in his compositions. Indeed, many of ten Holt’s works are for piano or ensembles of multiple pianos. One of the best known interpreters of the music of Simeon ten Holt is the Dutch pianist Kees Wieringa. He has recorded several CDs of ten Holt’s music.