Home » Jazz Musicians » Douwe Eisenga

Douwe Eisenga

After a short career in pop music, Douwe Eisenga studied composition at the Conservatory in Groningen (NL). Firmly shaken by all sorts of contemporary composing techniques, it took a while until Eisenga found his own sound after his study.

Around 2001 this own musical language developed rapidly, which resulted in the chamberopera Kabaal, the large-scale Requiem and the premiere of his Piano Concerto in Yokohama, Japan.

He worked with the writer David Mitchell for the project Cloud Atlas, and with theatre company Schweigman+ for the danceperformance Wiek.

Since 2010 his music attained more and more attention worldwide. Pianists as Jeroen van Veen (NL), Lisa Kaplan (US), Nicolas Horvath (FR) & Francesco di Fiore (IT), and harpist Assia Cunego (Germ) play Eisenga’s music in America, Canada, China and Europe.

His Requiem was done again in Rumania, the Italian ensemble PADS recorded the album House of Mirrors and harpist Lavinia Meijer premiered several compositions.

The Claudia Schreier Dance Company premiered the ballet Harmonic in NYC, followed by Charge and Pulse, all set on Eisenga’s music. In 2014 followed the music for The Writer, his Wife, her Mistress, performed by the Aurelia Saxophone Quartet.

Follow-up projects were Momentum as part of the National Celebration of Liberation in 2015, the premiere of Bliss by Cello8tet Amsterdam and Echoes for the Belgian ensemble Origami and a mini-tour with the Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble.

In 2017 the pianopiece For Mattia rose to no 53 in the Dutch Heart & Soul List, a list of the 300 most populair classical pieces, chosen by Dutch radio-listeners.

Tags

5
Album Review

Douwe Eisenga: Poetry of a City

Read "Poetry of a City" reviewed by James Fleming


Poetry of a City begins with the gentle, rolling arpeggios of “Have I Not Tried." Douwe Eisenga's triplets stretch the tension in the chord out across the beat. The melody is played in double stops to add weight to the rhythm's swing. A violin enters, far below the piano, drawing out long, mournful notes. The chord progression loops back on itself, ushering in the jagged syncopation of the strings and the hard slamming of the percussion. This is one of ...

7
Album Review

Douwe Eisenga: The Border

Read "The Border" reviewed by James Fleming


The brass section on The Border's opening track, “At The Coast," tolls like a foghorn through its two-note riff, pauses, then returns, pierced this time by a synthesizer's shimmering. Douwe Eisenga's piano does not make an appearance until the second track, “Encounter." He rolls through an arpeggio, changing just one note every bar to transform the voice of the chord, as the music moves from piano to forte, a bass drum pulses, and the saxophone glides a long, flowing melody ...

4
Album Review

Douwe Eisenga: Open

Read "Open" reviewed by James Fleming


Douwe Eisenga's riffs cycle around slight, subtle variations, echoing through the space of the studio. His right hand on “Left Out I," the opening piece, explores the possibilities his left hand opens up for it: two riffs on the left; chiming melodies on the right. “Bruno" feels like it has always been here, moving along a chord progression which waltzes upwards through the ascension's anticipation, then drops back to the starting riff, teasing the listener deeper into the arpeggios' rolls ...

3
Album Review

Douwe Eisenga: For Mattia

Read "For Mattia" reviewed by James Fleming


The music on Douwe Eisenga's For Mattia flows like a ballet dancer's movements. Its nine songs, all solo piano compositions, glitter with a lyricism many vocalists cannot manage. As if Eisenga is playing with light as well as melody. Weaving the two about each other like threads of sound and aether. This is a record of deep sadness. Mattia, of the title track, was a young woman who committed suicide. Her parents commissioned Eisenga to write this piece--a ...

Read more articles

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

The Border

V2 Music
2023

buy

Poetry of a City

Butler Records
2023

buy

Open

V2 Records
2021

buy

For Mattia

Trptk
2019

buy

Videos

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.