# Renske Vrolijk

> Composer


## Posts

- [Fantastic Women with Bauwien van der Meer and Caecilia Boschman](https://rvsmile.com/fantastic-women-with-bauwien-van-der-meer-and-caecilia-boschman/): Fantastic Women by Bauwien van der Meer plays with the 19th-century recital form in response to the election of a sexist as President of the United States.Read more See also: True Love song cycle

## Pages

- [Maggie: A Dramatic Scene for Baritone and Ensemble](https://rvsmile.com/works/maggie/): Maggie is a theatrical chamber music work of 9 minutes for baritone, narrator, and ensemble. In this piece, the Romantic glorification of female suffering clashes with economic autonomy. Written for fellow musicians of Splendor Amsterdam as a response to Schubert’s Gretchen am Spinnrade. for musicians and concert programmers The Balance Sheet of Tragedy In the classical canon, the suffering woman is often the most lucrative business model. Goethe’s Gretchen sits at her spinning wheel, heart breaking for Faust. Meanwhile, the audience consumes her grief as an aesthetic delicacy. Maggie refuses this role. Here, the Romantic hero’s ‘burning soul’ is not […]
- [gRound: An Ode to Machaut with a Modern Twist](https://rvsmile.com/works/ground-for-large-ensemble/): For large ensemble A musical pattern that is at once familiar and endlessly surprising. In gRound, Renske Vrolijk performs a clinical dissection of temporal structures, bridging seven centuries of musical architecture. The work functions as a collision between the rigid mathematical determinism of the medieval era and the kinetic, high-voltage friction of a modern large ensemble. By retooling the concept of the “ground,” Vrolijk examines the tension between historical structuralism and contemporary psychological lightness. for performers and concert programmers About the composition The title gRound is a linguistic and structural portmanteau, merging the medieval rondeau—a fixed poetic and musical form—with […]
- [America for Carillon](https://rvsmile.com/works/america-for-carillon-2/): What happens when you hear the tone of the daily news not from a speaker, but from the bells of a carillon? Composer Renske Vrolijk explores this in her work America for carillon. The piece translates the sound and rhythm of news reports from the United States into a composition for carillon. Here, the melody of spoken language determines the musical lines. for performers and concert programmers Premiere at the Chicago Carillon Festival The work America premiered in late May 2018. This took place during a carillon festival at the Rockefeller Memorial Chapel in Chicago. The initiative for the composition came from […]
- [Libera Me for Choir, Soloist, and Ensemble](https://rvsmile.com/works/libera-me-utregs-requiem-for-choir-soloist-and-ensemble/): What does freedom mean if you have to leave your own country to be true to your faith? That is the central question in Libera Me (Liberate Me), a poignant movement from the Utregs Requiem. Indeed, the piece tells the true story of Mohty, who was persecuted for her beliefs and ultimately had to flee. It is a musical narrative about oppression, courage, and the search for a safe haven. for performers and concert programmers What if you had to flee to be allowed to believe? What does freedom mean if you have to leave your own country to be […]
- [Lam Gods for Choir, Soloist, and Ensemble](https://rvsmile.com/works/lam-gods-for-choir-soloist-and-ensemble/): How can an act of pure altruism also be an act of self-neglect? That is precisely the core question of Lam Gods from the Utregs Requiem. Indeed, the piece exposes the complex tension between unconditional care for others and the necessary care for oneself. This tension is then made tangible through one man’s life story. for performers and concert programmers Lam Gods’ within the Utregs Requiem This work is a key part of the 2019 Utregs Requiem. This project, led by director Ellen Blom, is a unique community art project and is therefore not a traditional mass for the dead. […]
- [Stumbling Chronos for ensemble](https://rvsmile.com/works/stumbling-chronos-for-ensemble/): Imagine a clock that keeps perfect time… until it doesn’t. Stumbling Chronos for ensemble short, minimalist work for ensemble that depicts the structured, yet fragile, nature of time. for musicians and concert programmers About this composition In 1991, female composition students were invited to compose a piece of no more than three minutes for the ‘Beyond Biography’ congress, an event organized by the ‘Vrouw en Muziek’ (Woman and Music) foundation. The performance was given by the renowned Nieuw Ensemble, conducted by Loes Visser. Depicting a Faltering Clock This short piece of minimal music is, in all its simplicity, a depiction […]
- [Drift](https://rvsmile.com/works/drift/): For Saxophone Quartet A ford is a shallow place to cross a river. This piece is a place to cross five centuries of time. In Drift, Renske Vrolijk dissolves the boundary between the 15th century and the present day. Commissioned by the renowned sonic.art quartett, this work for saxophone quartet is an ‘acoustic installation’ designed to interact with the architecture of the performance space. for musicians and concert programmers The Concept: A Bridge Between Worlds The title Drift refers to the South African English term for a “ford”—a safe crossing point in a river. Vrolijk uses this metaphor to guide […]
- [Catalog of Works](https://rvsmile.com/works/): Accompanying the description of each composition, you will find an audio sample, where available. MAGGIE 2025 baritone and ensemble SCHUBERTS ERLKÖNIG 2025 soprano, 2 baritones and ensemble LOOS 2025 ensemble and soprano MISERERE 2025 orchestra and choir (SATB) THE NOSE 2024 ensemble and narrator DROOMSTAD 2024 choir (SATB) TRUE LOVE SONG CYCLE 2023 soprano and piano HARTZEER 2023 reed quartet DRIFT 2023 saxophone quartet UNCUT 2020/21 chamber choir, ensemble, mezzo-soprano, tenor and child soprano PRELUDE – B WEIRD 2019 piano solo LIBERA ME 2018 ensemble, choir (SATB) and mezzo-soprano AGNUS DEI 2018 ensemble, choir (SA) and baritone TRUE LOVE 2018 […]
- [Colofon](https://rvsmile.com/music-composed-by-renske-vrolijk/colofon/): Design and text Renske Vrolijk Website WordPress Twenty Twenty Four theme Photos Renske Vrolijk Milagro Elstak Melle Meivogel Simon van Boxtel Illustrations Ixi Gaude Hosting Hostinger
- [After Dinner Toast for vocal ensemble & harmonium](https://rvsmile.com/works/after-dinner-toast-for-vocal-ensemble-and-harmonium/): After Dinner Toast
- [Ghost Wall for recorder quartet and live electronics](https://rvsmile.com/works/ghost-wall-for-recorder-quartet-and-live-electronics/): Ghost Wall originated as an April Fools' joke about a device retrieving sounds from ancient walls. In Renske Vrolijk's composition, this fictional device becomes reality. The music, featuring live electronics, transports you to sounds from centuries past. The recorder quartet Brisk performed this intriguing work. A unique sonic journey full of imagination.
- [Loos for soprano and ensemble](https://rvsmile.com/works/loos-for-soprano-and-ensemble/): A 17th-century runaway. A subverted folk song. A demand for power. In LOOS, Renske Vrolijk reclaims the famous Dutch folk song “Daar was laatst een meisje loos”, transforming it from a nursery rhyme into a study of female ambition. for performers and concert programmers The text moves from confinement to command. In the spoken 17th-century narration, the protagonist laments that “the world is a small cage for a woman,” longing for the salt air and the sea. By the finale, the traditional folk song is dismantled and rebuilt into a hymn of victory: she refuses to be the cabin boy—she becomes the […]
- [MISERERE (The Economy of Salvation)](https://rvsmile.com/works/miserere-for-choir-and-orchestra/): For Choir & Symphony Orchestra “Why do you hunt for money? Why do you seek to be proud?” In Miserere, Renske Vrolijk explores the timeless marketplace of human vanity. Scored for the monumental forces of a choir and symphony orchestra, this is not a passive prayer; it is a biting critique of “Spiritual Tourism”—the eternal human attempt to buy a comfortable seat on the road to salvation. for musicians and concert programmers The Concept: The “Rolling Suitcase” Pilgrim Inspired by the moral chaos of Jheronimus Bosch, the piece draws a direct line between the Medieval Indulgence and the modern “Rolkofferpelgrim” (Rolling Suitcase Pilgrim). In the 15th century, […]
- [Blink Blink for wind ensemble](https://rvsmile.com/works/blink-blink-for-wind-ensemble/): What happens when a musical joke about a mooing cow leads to a remarkable coincidence involving world-renowned composer John Adams? The answer is Blink Blink: a short, impulsive composition for wind ensemble and piano that captures a shared, fleeting moment in music history. for musicians and concert programmers About the Composition The story behind Blink Blink is a series of coincidences that created an unexpected connection between a young composer and a great master. A Haiku and a Surprised Master It all began when the American composer John Adams visited a composition class at the Amsterdam Conservatory. There, he came across the score for Hai Koe, […]
- [Boilerplate for bass clarinet, piano and soundtrack](https://rvsmile.com/works/boilerplate-for-bass-clarinet-piano-and-soundtrack/): In marketing, a ‘boilerplate’ is a standard text. But what if that standard language becomes the product itself? Boilerplate is a composition for bass clarinet, piano, and soundtrack that examines the seductive and hollow language of progress—a language that makes us desire, and makes us buy. voor musicians and concert programmers About the Composition Boilerplate was commissioned by the renowned bass clarinetist Henri Bok. The piece stretches the concept of ‘boilerplate’ to the very essence of marketing: the promise. Language as the Product This composition is not about a specific product, but about the language used to promote products. After all, with every new phone or car, […]
- [Lachrymae for saxophone quartet](https://rvsmile.com/works/lachrymae-saxophone-quartet/): Lachrymae is a contemplative work for saxophone quartet that translates grief and resignation into music. Inspired by the masters of the Renaissance, this composition for saxophone quartet offers a moment of profound introspection. It is a piece for ensembles seeking expressive and layered contemporary chamber music. for musicians and concert programmers About the Composition This work was commissioned by the International Organ Festival Haarlem. At the core of the composition lies a dialogue between two historical pillars of European music. A Bridge to the Renaissance The primary source of inspiration is the melancholic song Flow, my tears (or Lachrymae) by John Dowland. The profound […]
- [PRELUDE – B WEIRD](https://rvsmile.com/works/b-weird/): For Piano Solo “Bach moved through every key. I refused to move at all.” In Prelude – b weird, Renske Vrolijk engages in a structural argument with music history. Written as a response to Johann Sebastian Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, this solo piano work is not a polite tribute; it is a motoric study in stasis. for musicians and concert programmers The Concept: A Deconstruction of Tradition The work was commissioned for a project where 24 composers were invited to respond to the 24 keys of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier—the “Old Testament” of classical music, famous for proving that instruments could modulate […]
- [True Love (The Rhetoric of Control)](https://rvsmile.com/works/true-love-song-cycle/): A Theatrical Song Cycle for Soprano & Piano “When you are a star, they let you do it.” In TRUE LOVE, Renske Vrolijk dissects the language of patriarchal privilege. By setting the raw, verbatim rhetoric of sexual assault and Christian Nationalism to music of deceptive lightness, the cycle exposes the horrifying seductiveness of power. for performers and concert programmers The Concept: A Dual Portrait The work is constructed as a dialogue between the Male Gaze and the Female Reality. The libretto collages historical sources—from the 17th-century diaries of Samuel Pepys to the speeches of the modern American populist archetype—to tell the story of “Mary,” a woman […]
- [The Nose](https://rvsmile.com/works/the-nose/): A Theatrical Family Concert (8+) In a world where lying is a status symbol, the truth is a disability. Commissioned by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, The Nose is a satirical music theatre work for actress and septet. Renske Vrolijk flips the Pinocchio myth to explore a sharp, modern dilemma: the intoxication of popularity and the high cost of maintaining a false image. The Concept: The Perfect Liar Nena lives in a world where noses grow when you lie. In this society, a long nose is the norm—a visible badge of storytelling. Nena, however, discovers a dangerous superpower: she can lie […]
- [uncut](https://rvsmile.com/works/uncut/): Music Theatre for Three Soloists, Choir & Ensemble Identity is not a chronological sequence, but a simultaneous collision of the selves we used to be and the selves we are forced to become. In uncut, composer Renske Vrolijk applies her “Documentary Music” methodology to the architecture of gender transition. Moving beyond the flat, biographical tropes of the “before and after” narrative, Vrolijk presents a psychological interrogation of the self. The work operates on the thesis that transition is not a line, but a polyphonic overlap where the child, the adolescent, and the adult exist in a permanent state of friction. […]
- [Hear and See](https://rvsmile.com/hear-and-see/): Hear and See is the weblog of composer and documentary photographer Renske Vrolijk. In this blog she tells about current projects. She also publishes some of her printed photos. She shows these photos with a brief description.
- [Contact](https://rvsmile.com/music-composed-by-renske-vrolijk/contact-en/): You can use the form below to contact me for fan mail (always welcome!), questions about my music, or composition inquiries. For questions about purchasing or renting sheet music, please contact my publisher, Deuss Music. I send a newsletter two to four times a year, which you can subscribe to by ticking the box. I am a composer, not a marketer, and I promise to share only meaningful updates and a personal perspective—not to clutter your inbox with marketing mail. My contact form is currently out of order, so please send an email to .
- [Renske Vrolijk | Composer](https://rvsmile.com/en/): Acoustic. Narrative. Human. Renske Vrolijk captures the raw complexity of human character through the power of the acoustic instrument. She describes her work as “documentary music” and “theatrical portraiture.” Whether translating verbatim interviews into a score or subverting 17th-century folklore into a modern anthem, Vrolijk’s goal remains the same: to dismantle the social constructs and psychological frictions that define us, revealing the raw emotional truth that lies underneath. Her sound is resolutely organic. By stripping away electronic filters, she places the focus entirely on the human voice and the physical texture of the ensemble. The result is a body of work that feels urgent and […]
- [Photography](https://rvsmile.com/photography/)
- [Office job](https://rvsmile.com/photography/office-job/)
- [Biography](https://rvsmile.com/music-composed-by-renske-vrolijk/biography-renske-vrolijk/): In 2022, Renske Vrolijk (1965) stepped into the spotlight when the Netherlands Chamber Choir performed her semi-autobiographical music theatre piece, #uncut. This performance guides the audience through her journey to becoming the composer she is today. It perfectly captures the essence of her art: for Vrolijk, vocal and instrumental music is a medium to convey a message and an emotion. The foundation: a vat of vocal music Vrolijk describes her musical start as ‘falling into a vat of magic potion’. This transformative experience happened at a young age at choir school. Vocal music has since formed the foundation of her […]
- [New music](https://rvsmile.com/photography/new-music/)
- [Shaken](https://rvsmile.com/photography/shaken-life/)
- [Unmoved](https://rvsmile.com/photography/unmoved-life/)
- [home](https://rvsmile.com/home/)


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