Introduction Schipper’s incentive: [home]

At age 21, Schipper finished his study of composition 8 years sooner than he expected, and he had just lost his beloved teacher Willem Frederik Bon, who died at age 42. For Barend Schipper this was an existential period: the time in which he searched for his personal musical style. At age 22 he read the biography of Michelangelo, by Irving Stone. In the book the creation process of Michelangelo is described in detail. Reading the book, Barend felt drawn to the process, and longed to make music in a similar way.

This creation process consisted of a.o. the following elements:

1: thorough craftmanship,

2: learning from the Classical masters

3: intense emotional visualization of the subject

4: a clear philosophy translated in physicality 5: physical and mental will power

This longing to “make the most beautiful music he could imagine” stimulated him to develop in the following years, leading to the music you find on this site. [read more...]