Category: musical works

codex lilium (2025)
2025, chamber, musical works, news

codex lilium (2025)

codex lilium (2025) is a new composition for string trio by Rozalie Hirs. The piece was written for the Prisma Trio (Janneke van Prooijen, violin; Elisabeth Smalt, viola; Michiel Weidner, cello) and is dedicated to the performers.

charms, symmetries (2024)
2024, calendar, chamber, ensemble, musical works, news

charms, symmetries (2024)

22 August 2024. charms, symmetries (2024) by Rozalie Hirs is a new music composition for saxophones (soprano saxophone, 2 alto saxophones, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, in various combinations), trombone, vibraphone, piano and electric (bass) guitar. The piece was commissioned by Ensemble Klang. In Memoriam Louis Andriessen (1939-2021).

list of musical works
2025, calendar, musical works, news

list of musical works

List of musical works by Rozalie Hirs. Orchestral scores. Works for ensemble. Chamber and solo works. Instrumental works with or without electronic sounds. Works for spoken voice, based on own poetry, with or without electronic sounds. Electroacoustic or electronic music.

bron (2023)
2023, calendar, musical works, news, orchestra

bron (2023)

bron (2023) is a new orchestral work by Rozalie Hirs, commissioned by the NTR Zaterdagmatinee and Stichting Vrienden van de Matinee. bron (2023) is dedicated to the memory of György Ligeti.

Its world premiere took place during the NTR Zaterdagmatinee at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, on 16 December 2023. The work was performed by the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Elena Schwarz (conductor). The concert was broadcast live on NPO Radio 4.

adonis blue (2023)
2023, calendar, chamber, musical works, string quartet

adonis blue (2023)

17 May 2023. adonis blue (2023) is a new string quartet composed by Rozalie Hirs, commissioned by the Ruysdael Quartet. The new work owes its title to the adonis blue, a butterfly species (Latin: Lysandra bellargus; English: Adonis blue; French: le Bel-Argus, l’Azuré bleu céleste, l’Argus bleu céleste, l’Argus bleu […]

bee sage (2023)
2023, calendar, chamber, musical works

bee sage (2023)

contents 1. listen 2. summary 3. programme notes 4. details 5. performances listen Listen to the recording of bee sage (2023) by Rozalie Hirs, performed by Fie Schouten and Katharina Gross, on the eponymous CD Bee Sage via Bandcamp. The CD also features compositions by Andrikopoulos, Rotaru, Saariaho, and Tüzün. […]

hand in hand (2020) for string quartet and soprano
2020, calendar, chamber, ensemble, multidisciplinary, music with own poetry, musical works, string quartet, vocal

hand in hand (2020) for string quartet and soprano

Rozalie Hirs composed hand in hand (2020) for soprano and string quartet, based on her own poetry. This commission from Kulturkreis für Neue Musik Heilbronn is inspired on the life and ideas of the German poet Hölderlin. The world premiere takes place on his two-hundred-and-fiftieth birthday, a day later followed by a performance next to his birthhouse in Lauffen am Neckar, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

ways of space (2019)
2019, calendar, installations with poetry or music, multidisciplinary, musical works

ways of space (2019)

The intermedial architectural sound installation Ways of Space (2019) by architect Machiel Spaan and composer Rozalie Hirs was developed in close collaboration during their artist-in-residence at Van Doesburg House, Meudon, France, from September through December 2019. The work is inspired by the concept of the “open floorplan” (Dutch: open plattegrond) Theo Van Doesburg (1883-1931) developed for his architectural work, including his own residence at rue Infroît, Meudon, France. In addition, the colors of Theo Van Doesburg and his De Stijl contemporaries inspired Hirs towards new musical harmonies.

lightclouds (2019)
2019, calendar, ensemble, musical works, orchestra

lightclouds (2019)

→ Nederlands contents 1. programme notes, review 2. technical details: orchestration, other technical requirements, duration, publisher 3. performances programme notes Rozalie Hirs: lightclouds (2019) lightclouds (2019) is inspired by so-called noctilucent clouds (Deutsch: leuchtende Nachtwolken; Nederlands: lichtende nachtwolken; Français: nuages noctulescents), a metereological phenomenon of high clouds, that seem to […]

press photographs
2025, calendar, musical works, news

press photographs

Press photgraphs of Rozalie Hirs by Sara Anke Morris, Bianca Sistermans, Marco Borggreve, Richard Ayres, Patrick Post|Hollandse Hoogte, Philip Mechanics. All rights reserved by the photographers ©1998-2018.

dreams of airs (2017-18)
2018, calendar, ensemble, multidisciplinary, musical works

dreams of airs (2017-18)

dreams of airs (2017-18) is a cycle of poetry and music by Rozalie Hirs. Its sound world features eight musicians, a singer who speaks, and electronic sounds. The new full-length composition by the Netherlands-based composer/ poet Rozalie Hirs offers a unique listening experience. The listener is guided through mesmerizing accelerandos and rallentandos in a lounge-like environment. The combination of spoken word, music, and visuals serves to stimulate various senses at once. The visual artists Boris Tellegen and Geert Jan Mulder designed a live video installation for the performance. The duration of the performance is around 60 minutes.

meditations (2017)
2017, calendar, musical works, solo

meditations (2017)

contents 1. program notes 2. technical details: orchestration, technical requirements, duration, publisher 3. performances program notes program notes [English; German below] meditations for piano and electronic sounds (2017) was premiered by Philip Thomas at the Dutch contemporary music festivals November Music (Den Bosch) and Sounds of Music (Groningen) in November […]

parallel world [breathing] (2017)
2017, calendar, musical works

parallel world [breathing] (2017)

parallel world [breathing] (2017) by Rozalie Hirs, commissioned by Concertgebouw Orchestra and University of Amsterdam, with support of the Dutch Performing Arts Fund, is scored for flute, clarinet, 2 harps, percussion, electronic sounds, violin, viola, and cello.

the honeycomb conjecture (2015)
2015, calendar, ensemble, musical works, orchestra

the honeycomb conjecture (2015)

the honeycomb conjecture for large ensemble and electronic sounds (2015) by Rozalie Hirs is a commission by Philharmonie, Essen, Germany, for Festival NOW! Prismen. The instrumentation consists of 2 flutes, oboe, clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon, 2 French horns, 2 trumpets, bass trombone, 2 percussionists, keyboard, piano, 2 violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos, double bass.

curvices amsterdam (2015)
2015, calendar, installations with poetry or music, multidisciplinary, musical works

curvices amsterdam (2015)

Curvices Amsterdam (2013, 2015) is an interactive song cycle, a virtual poetry and music installation, for cell phones and mobile devices, that accompanies you on your walk around the concert venue Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. By Rozalie Hirs (music, poetry, voice), Cox & Grusenmeyer (design, animation), Yvan vander Sanden (software design, realization), Machiel Spaan (spatial design).

hilbert’s hotel (2015)
2015, calendar, musical works

hilbert’s hotel (2015)

25 April 2015. Rozalie Hirs’ Hilbert’s Hotel (2015) for 31-tone Fokker Organ and electronics takes its inspiration from the mathematician David Hilbert’s famous paradox of the infinite hotel, as well as the concept of Hilbert spaces in higher-dimensional mathematics. The work explores musical “rooms” created by comparing overtone spectra and allowing only shared partials to sound. These spectral intersections generate unique harmonic environments that shift and expand across the 31-tone organ, extending to the limits of human hearing.

article 8 [infinity] (2014)
2014, calendar, musical works, solo

article 8 [infinity] (2014)

article 8 [infinity] (2014) by Rozalie Hirs is a microtonal work for flute and electronic sounds that explores the overtone worlds developed across her articles series. Rooted in spectralism yet guided by an intuitive ear, the piece envelops lyrical flute melodies within electronic glissandi generated from pure sine waves, binaural beatings, and ring modulation.

article 6 [waves] (2013)
2013, calendar, musical works, solo

article 6 [waves] (2013)

article 6 [waves] (2013) by Rozalie Hirs is a lyrical, virtuosic work for electric guitar and electronic sounds. The guitar’s microtonal lines move through and across electronic glissandi synthesized from pure sine waves, using only binaural beating and ring modulation. These electronic textures unfold in large wave-like gestures, alternately enveloping or being cut through by the guitar.
Closely linked to article 7 [ways to climb a mountain] (2012) and article 8 [infinity] (2014), the work reinterprets overtone material from its predecessor and provides the starting point for its successor. Together, the three can be performed as independent solos or simultaneously as the trio infinity stairs (2014).

arbre généalogique (2011, 2025 rev.)
2011, calendar, ensemble, multidisciplinary, musical works

arbre généalogique (2011, 2025 rev.)

Rozalie Hirs’ arbre généalogique (2011) is her first major work for lyrical soprano and large ensemble, expanding her exploration of harmony, timbre, and form through poetry and song. Setting her own poem ‘Stamboom’ (“family tree”) — in Henri Deluy’s French translation — Hirs creates a meditative sound world where ancestry and memory unfold through music.

venus (2010)
2010, calendar, chamber, ensemble, musical works

venus (2010)

Venus (2010) by Rozalie Hirs is a spatialized music composition for six percussionists and six-channel electronic sounds. It consists of three movements [evening star], [invisible], and [morning star]. Venus (2010) was commissioned by Slagwerk Den Haag, with support from the Eduard van Beinum Foundation. It was first performed around the BACH Pavilion, designed by architect Zaha Hadid, at Holland Festival in 2010.

zenit (2010)
2010, calendar, chamber, musical works, string quartet

zenit (2010)

“At the other end of history came the world premiere of Rozalie Hirs’ engrossing string quartet, Zenit, played by the superb new L.A.-based Formalist Quartet. Everything I might say about Hirs’ unsettled music I could also say the opposite. It is also quite settled. It forges ahead with tentative sounds and silences. It stops and starts yet flows. It has a hint of hard-hitting Dutch Minimalism, yet it offers a feast of radiant string harmonics, pulsating outside of rhythm.” (Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times)

roseherte (2007-08; 2014)
2008, 2014, calendar, musical works, orchestra

roseherte (2007-08; 2014)

Roseherte (“Rosedeer”/“Rosehart”) is an orchestral poem inspired by a mythical creature whose name intertwines the rose, the heart, and the deer. The music unfolds from pairs of dominant sevenths, transformed through transposition and ring modulation into radiant, prismatic harmonies. Alongside the 90-piece orchestra, live-triggered electronics surround the music in a shimmering halo. Acclaimed at its premiere for its vibrant play of colour and organic flow, Roseherte was nominated for the Toonzetters Prize in 2008.

platonic id (cd, 2007)
2007, calendar, ensemble, musical works

platonic id (cd, 2007)

Platonic ID (Amsterdam: Attacca Productions, 2007) is the first full-length portrait CD of Rozalie Hirs (*1965) with instrumental works: works for solo instruments (violin, piano, percussion) and for ensemble. The works for ensemble were commissioned by Asko|Schönberg, formerly known as Asko Ensemble. All works were financially supported by Netherlands Performing Arts Fund.

platonic id (2005-06, revised 2024)
2005, 2006, calendar, ensemble, musical works, orchestra

platonic id (2005-06, revised 2024)

platonic id for ensemble (2005, 2006 rev) is a music composition by Rozalie Hirs. The piece sets out with Plato’s so-called “world soul”, as described in his Timaeus. More concretely, it can be understood musically as several harmonic series with partial numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9 and 27. The harmonic world of platonic id consists of these resounding overtone series, as well as their corresponding undertone series, built on different fundamentals. Further materials come from the harmonic relationships between sounding overtones on string instrument and their respective fingerings, on strings of different lengths.

in la (2003)
2003, calendar, multidisciplinary, musical works, solo

in la (2003)

In LA (2003) is an electroacoustic music composition by Rozalie Hirs, based on her eponymous poem. In LA (2003, Dutch version) was composed as a portrait of the composer Louis Andriessen and is dedicated to him. The text is based on an interview with Andriessen that Hirs conducted in 2003 […]

logos digital (2003)
2003, calendar, multidisciplinary, musical works

logos digital (2003)

Logos interactive website (map: Noëlle von Eugen; design, programming in Flash: Matt Lee; poetry: Rozalie Hirs; 2002) was the first interactive online website of a full length Dutch poetry book. Available online September 2003 – November 2012. Available for download now as a standalone digital application [Mac OsX].

article 0 [transarctic buddha] (2000)
2000, calendar, musical works, solo

article 0 [transarctic buddha] (2000)

contents 1. listen 2. programme notes 3. technical details 4. performances listen Rozalie Hirs · Rozalie Hirs – article 0 [transarctic buddha] (2000) program notes article 0 [transarctic buddha] for percussion solo (2000) is a journey across the ancient, bold, cold head of a stone buddha – a journey around […]

sacro monte (1997, cd 1999)
calendar, ensemble, musical works

sacro monte (1997, cd 1999)

Rozalie Hirs’ sacro monte for ensemble (1997) was commissioned by La Nuova Arca, Turin, for the concert series ‘Il Suono dei Parchi’. During the Autumn of 2007, Ensemble Antidogma performed it at seven natural reserves in Piemonte, northern Italy.