Rozalie Hirs (Gouda, April 7, 1965) is a contemporary Dutch composer and a poet. Her poetry and music are lyrical as well as experimental. The principal concerns of her work are the adventure of listening, reading, and the imagination. Her music consists of vocal, orchestral, and electronic compositions. She often combines traditional instruments with electronic sounds. Her poetry includes both printed collections and digital poetry: interactive poems created in collaboration with visual artists, and graphic designers.
Performers of her music include the Amsterdam Sinfonietta, ASKO|Schönberg, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Bozzini Quartet, the Formalist Quartet, Klangforum Wien, Musikfabrik, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, and Slagwerk Den Haag; she is herself a regular performer of her compositions for voice and electronic sounds, mostly on international festivals. Her music scores are published by Deuss Music, her CDs by Attacca Productions, her poetry books by Singeluitgeverijen|Querido, Amsterdam, and kookbooks, Berlin.
Hirs holds degrees from Columbia University (Composition; Doctor of Musical Arts, 2007), the Royal Conservatoire, The Hague (Composition; Master of Music, 1998), and Twente University (Chemical Engineering; Master of Science, 1990).
table of contents
-> introduction
-> music
-> poetry
-> publications
-> research, software
-> media
-> biography, distinction, photo
-> external links
introduction
“Composing music and writing poetry are very closely related for me. By nature I am a dreamer, and while working I see play to be my main activity. The act of creation itself is in the first place intuitive and subconscious, reflection and awareness always follow later in the creative process. I play with the material, with words, sounds, meanings, notes. It’s an attitude that leads to intense experiences. You can only create something new when you take risks. Then the outcome can be a new experience for you as well as for others. Why do we love art? We like to have an experience that we haven’t had before, giving us new insights, or reminding us of something we have felt at some point yet have forgotten about. We wish to learn, get to know something about ourselves, about our world, our emotions, our thought. As long as language exists, poetry is as unavoidable as one’s own life. In the best of cases, poetry and life lead to a beneficial expansion of consciousness. Poetry is language overflowing its boundaries. I think poetry shows our urge towards change, and movement. It’s not in our nature to (be able to) accept the limits of language (or life). A poet openly resists the limits of language. Poetry is a manifesto of resistance.”
music
“Purified, as if washed clean—that is one way one might characterize the music of Rozalie Hirs (1965). Her work reveals itself with the greatest clarity; she creates a world in a few gestures. Within that world, sonic beauty is of greater importance than the display of technique or structure. Indeed, though Hirs’s points of departure are almost always austere and sober, she permits herself a great measure of intuition. The listener hears a number of associations that occur within the framework of the plot the composer has laid out. This is not to say that the she only works intuitively when constructing her works–quite the contrary. At first hearing, her gestures may seem simple but beneath them refined methods are hidden, rooted in mathematical or physical ideas. The unwary listener need not, in fact, be occupied with the mathematical rules underlying her music. Hirs seems to be most eager to bring about the soft, gleaming skin of sound. Each successive piece becomes more and more soulful and warm-blooded.” Anthony Fiumara, Platonic ID liner notes
“‘what is inside? / inside a word you mean?’, are the opening lines of Rozalie Hirs’s text for her electronic composition, Pulsars. Apt words for a composer whose work shows a marked interest in the inner workings of sound and language, on the physical level of acoustics and perception as well as on the level of expression and meaning. In fact, for Hirs, “meaning” itself is a physical phenomenon, always being produced and received by the neurology of our bodies. That makes words physical entities, not only because they are, as sounds, subject to the laws of acoustics, but also because meaning itself is a process that happens within the body, and is therefore produced by nature. Thus it is nature that we can find at work “inside” words. At the same time, of course, meanings are cultural – they are the means by which we communicate. That aspect, too, can be found within the lines quoted: the questions are addressed to a ‘you’. This ‘you’, however, appears only after the main question: what is inside, inside a word? Which might suggest that culture follows nature: the nature of our bodies and our neurology makes it possible for us to have words and meanings, and on the basis of that, culture.” Samuel Vriezen, Pulsars liner notes
orchestral music (15 musicians or more)
• avatar (2022) 8′
2fl, 2ob, 2cl, 2fg, 2cor, 2trp, tba, trb, timp, 2perc, string orchestra (minimum 8-6-4-4-2)
• lightclouds (2019) 15′
brass quartet (cor, trp, btrb, tba) & ensemble (fl, ob, cl, fg, perc, pf, keyboard, 2vln, va, vc, cb), electronic sounds
• the honeycomb conjecture (2015) 15′
2fl, ob, cl, bcl, fg, 2cor, 2trp, btrb, 2perc, pf, 2vln, 2va, 2vc, cb, electronic sounds
• atlantis ampersand (music, text: Rozalie Hirs; 2015) 22′
2fl, cl, bcl, cfg, cor, trp, trb, acc, 2perc, pf, 8-part soloists’ choir 2-2-2-2 (or choir 32 voices minimum), 2vln, va, vc, cb, electronic sounds
• lichtende drift (2014) 10′
strings 6-6-5-4-2 divisi
• roseherte (2008; 2014) 15′
3-3-3-3, 4-3-3-1, 4perc, cel, pf, arp, str 16-14-12-10-8, electronic sounds (version for symphony orchestra, 2008)
2-2-2-2, 2-2-2-1, 2perc, pf, arp, strings 6-6-4-4-2 divisi, electronic sounds (version for orchestra, 2014)
• platonic ID (2006) 18′
picc, fl, cl, bcl, pf 4-hands, 2vln, 2va, 2vc, cb (or with a string orchestra)
• book of mirrors (film: Joost Rekveld; 2001) 11′
fl, ob, cl, fg, cor, trp, trb, arp, e-gt, pf, 2perc, 2vln, 2va, 2vc, cb
music for ensemble (4-14 musicians)
• artemis (German; music, poetry; 2022) 27′
sop, trp, trb, 2perc, egit, pf, vc, electronic sounds
• hand in hand (music, poems: Rozalie Hirs; German; 2020) 15′
sop, 2vln, va, vc
• dreams of airs (music, poems: Rozalie Hirs; multilingual; 2017-18) 60′
sop, fl, basscl/cl, perc, egt, pf, vln, va, vc, electronic sounds
• parallel world and sea (2017-18) 25′
i. parallel world [breathing]
ii. parallel sea [to the lighthouse]
fl, cl, cor, trp, 2arp, 2perc, vln, va, vc, cb, electronic sounds
• parallel sea [to the lighthouse] (2018) 12′
fl, cl, cor, trp, 2arp, 2perc, vln, va, vc, cb, electronic sounds
• parallel world [breathing] (2017) 13′
fl, cl, 2arp, perc, vln, va, vc, electronic sounds
• Nadir (2014) 20′
2vln, va, vc, electronic sounds
• Arbre généalogique (music, poem: Rozalie Hirs; French translation: Henri Deluy; 2011) 20′
fl/afl, ob/ca, cl/bcl, fg/cfg, cor, perc, pf, sop, 2vl, va, vc, cb, electronic sounds
• Zenit (2010) 15′
2vln, va, vc
• Venus [evening star] [invisible] [morming star] (2010) 20′
6perc (vibraphones, crotales, bell plates, bowed cymbals, sixxen), electronic sounds
• a-book-of-light (2003; in revision) 17′
fl, ob, cl, cor, trp, pf, perc, vln, va, vc, cb, electronic sounds
• Sacro Monte (1997) 11′
fl, cl, cor, perc, pf, 2vln, va, vc, cb
chamber music (1-3 musicians)
• bee sage (2023) 11′
cbcl/bcl, vc
Published by Deuss Music, The Hague, The Netherlands
• article 10 [prismes] (2021) for cello solo 11′
Published by Deuss Music, The Hague, The Netherlands
• meditations (2017)
i. on continuity
ii. on repetition
iii. on tenderness
iv. on lines
v. on imitation
pf, electronic sounds
• On Tenderness (2017) 7′
pf, electronic sounds
• infinity stairs (2014) 10′
fl, bcl, e-gt, electronic sounds
• article 8 [infinity] (2014) 11′
fl, electronic sounds
• article 6 [six waves] (2013) 10′
e-gt, electronic sounds
• article 7 [seven ways to climb a mountain] (2012) 13′
bcl, electronic sounds
• article 5 [dolphin, curved time] (music, text: Rozalie Hirs; 2008) 8′
sop
• article 4 [map – la carte géographique – landkaartje] (2004) 10′
vln (va)
• article 1 to 3 [the] [aleph] [a] (2003) 12′
pf
• article 0 [transarctic buddha] (2000) 8′
perc (vibraphone, cowbells or thai gongs, crotales, 23 pitched stone slabs)
vocal (sung) music, based on own poetry
• artemis (German; music, poetry; 2022) 27′
sop, trp, trb, 2perc, egit, pf, vc, electronic sounds
• hand in hand (music, poems: Rozalie Hirs; German; 2020) 17′
sop, 2vln, va, vc
• silenced (music, text: Rozalie Hirs; English; 2018) 4′
sop, pf
• atlantis ampersand (music, text: Rozalie Hirs; multilingual; 2015) 22′
2fl, cl, bcl, cfg, cor, trp, trb, acc, 2perc, pf, 8-part soloists’ choir 2-2-2-2 (or choir 32 voices minimum), 2vln, va, vc, cb, electronic sounds
• Three songs for Curvices: Proofs of Love, Words roll into brightness, This singing of tongues (music, poems: Rozalie Hirs; English; 2013) 8′
voice, e-gt, b-gt, drums
• Arbre généalogique (music, poem: Rozalie Hirs; French translation: Henri Deluy; 2011) 22′
fl/afl, ob/ca, cl/bcl, fg/cfg, cor, perc, pf, sop, 2vl, va, vc, cb, electronic sounds
• article 5 [dolphin, curved time] (music, poem: Rozalie Hirs; Dutch or English; English translation: Donald Gardner; 2008) 8′
sop
music with spoken voice, based on own poetry
• dreams of airs (music, poems: Rozalie Hirs; multilingual; English translation: Donald Gardner; German translation: Rozalie Hirs, Daniela Seel; 2017-18) 60′
sop, fl, basscl/cl, perc, egt, pf, vln, va, vc, electronic sounds
• tijd en sintel (music, poem: Rozalie Hirs; Dutch or English; English translation: Mia You; 2016) 8′
spoken voice, 31-tone organ & electronic sounds
• in state of [war] (music, text: Rozalie Hirs; Dutch; 2013) 8′
12 spoken voices
• seven tracks for Curvices: Six destinations, Aurora borealis, Ladders of escape, Too many snakes here, Climbing a small rock, Substance of memory, Lines of moving about desert, salt water, cities (music, poems: Rozalie Hirs; English; 2013) 21′
spoken voice, electroacoustic & electronic sounds
• bridge of babel (music, collage poem: Rozalie Hirs; multilingual; 2009) 7′
spoken voice, electronic sounds
• curved space (music, poems: Rozalie Hirs; Dutch or English; English translation: Donald Gardner; 2009) 27′
spoken voice, fl, bcl/cbcl, try/lapsteel gt, pf, cb, live electronics
• poetry pieces I-III [heaven bleak, dolphin, family tree] (music, poems: Rozalie Hirs; Dutch or English or German; English translations: Willem Groenewegen, Donald Gardner; 2008) 5′
spoken voice, soundtrack
• pulsars movement IV (music, poem: Rozalie Hirs; English; 2007) 6′
spoken voice, prerecorded voices, electroacoustic soundtrack
• vlinders, gras (music, poem: Rozalie Hirs; Dutch; 2007) 5′
4 spoken voices
• to the sun/ Aan de zon, de wereld (music, poems: Rozalie Hirs; Dutch, English, or German; several translators; 2006-11) 11′
spoken voice, electroacoustic soundtrack
• van het wonder is woord (music, poem: Rozalie Hirs; Dutch; 2005) 3′
spoken voice, prerecorded voices, electronic sounds
• klangtext, textklang (poems: Rozalie Hirs; music: Rozalie Hirs, James Fei; German; 2004) 27′
spoken voice, live analogue electronics (open score for improv)
• a throwaway coincidence that determined everything (music, poem: Rozalie Hirs; multilingual; film: Paul Leyton; 2004) 2′
spoken voices, soundtrack for film
• in la (music, poem: Rozalie Hirs; Dutch, 2003; English, 2010) 18′
6 spoken voices
electroacoustic or electronic music
• ways of space (2019) 15′
quadrophonic electronic sound sculpture (spatial design: Machiel Spaan, M3H architecten)
• luisterhuis (2017) 37′
electroacoustic composition for architectural installation/ sculpture (design: Machiel Spaan, M3H architecten)
• hilbert’s hotel (2015) 8′
31-tone MIDI controlled player organ, electronic sounds
• interlude for curvices (2013) 18′
electroacoustic
• pulsars movements I-III, V (2007) 22′
electroacoustic
• geluksbrenger (2010) 10′
electronic music for website
• for morton feldman (2000) 12′
electroacoustic
works of youth
Most of her other early music compositions composed during the 1990s and the early 2000s can be regarded as mere works of youth.
poetry
“It is her most daring and possibly most personal collection to date, in the sense that the poet’s voice sounds more pervasively forceful than ever” (Helena Van Praet, Poëziekrant)
“The best-kept secret of Dutch poetry. Rozalie Hirs writes poems like no one else does. Lyrical, musical, intuitive and very precise.” (Joost Baars, De Dolfijn)
“That way the words of Hirs, who is also active as a composer, are like music: the chords flow into one another rhythmically, quite oblivious of the boundaries of a sentence.” (Jeroen Dera, De Standaard)
“Hirs has managed to fashion a very urgent contemporary problem, climate change, into a lyrical stream of words. Doing so, she connects the magic of poetry to the biting irony of protest.” (Helena Van Praet, Poëziekrant)
“The reader of this collection will be poised between despair and being profoundly moved.” (Dietske Geerlings, Tzum)
“This is because Hirs succeeds at seamlessly weaving together climate problems and (poetic) images of what makes us human, such as love or spirituality.” (Helena Van Praet, Poëziekrant)
“These verses without punctuation teem with ambiguities.” (Jeroen Dera, De Standaard)
“In other words, language has a dual function here: the words in these poems do not merely call our behavior into question, they also render homage to the unendingness of nature, life, and our imagination. This vital idea of space helps to explain why Hirs hardly uses any punctuation and tends toward destabilizing techniques such as apokoinou and asyndeton, such that sentences seem to run on forever. Hirs’s masterful use of apokoinou is to be understood in this context of a condensed, vitalist manner of communicating.” (Helena Van Praet, Poëziekrant)
“Just as much as life on earth, the use of language obliges you with every choice you make by its consequences. That is why it is so impressive how Hirs makes the reader into a participant: you cannot read this collection without making choices, without considering what you are doing.” (Dietske Geerlings, Tzum)
“The lingual power to create a world comes with obliging consequences; the idea of care, not only for each other but also for Earth, is a central concern of this collection.” (Helena Van Praet, Poëziekrant)
“In the ‘ecologic’ of poetry, Hirs notates this ecological mix-up, without diminishing the deep sense of beauty she still experiences in nature.” (Jeroen Dera, De Standaard)
“From this it follows that there is still a lot we do not know (yet) and that (pristine) nature also has a dark, unknown side that we should honor.” (Helena Van Praet, Poëziekrant)
“Reading is at the same time creating and living, just as writing is.” (Dietske Geerlings, Tzum)
“That way, this poetic Atlantis, both gorgeous and ominous, vacillates between hope and bewilderment, poetry and discourse.” (Helena Van Praet, Poëziekrant)
“The Dutch poet for readers with ears is Rozalie Hirs. You could always hear in her work that she is a composer, somebody who is used to listening to the world and to language.” (Marc van Oostendorp, Neerlandistiek)
“Once more, in this collection Hirs proves that she can create a play of poetic language like nobody else. (…) Hirs’s ingenious tour de force stands right in the twenty-first century.” (Helena Van Praet, De Reactor)
“Departing from this moment of receptivity, Hirs embarks on a surprising and overwhelming exploration of language, time, space, humanity, nature, perception, memory.” (Anne ter Beek, Awater)
“The new collection is titled oneindige zin, and all meanings of the word ‘zin’ apply. This poetry is sensual, has an appetite for enjoyment and is looking for meaning, but can also be read as one unending complete sentence without punctuation.” (Piet Gerbrandy, Poëziekrant).
“The title of the section ‘de magie van een mogelijk heden’, too, is very meaningful, as there are many possibilities [‘mogelijkheden’] in language, but all those lingual constructions will always again form a possible present: the moment of writing, the moment of reading, the moment of listening.” (Dietske Geerlings, Tzum)
“It pays to read these poems out loud, because then the continuous play with sonic and verbal associations and contrasts comes into focus all the more. (…) Reinforced by alliterations and assonances, a composed, dazzling fabric of language unfolds.” (Anne ter Beek, Awater)
“Often, the poet makes use of a narrative style full of imagery, which helps a tentative reading. Language smoothly flows onward by way of a play of rhythm and sound.” (Pauliene Kruithof, Friesch Dagblad)
“That way, Rozalie Hirs’s infinite sense is connected to infinite being, which keeps on flowing after our death. Hirs captures bits of this stream in her poetry and renders the heartbeat of language audible and palpable, constantly appealing to the reader to co-create an imaginary world in which poet and reader fleetingly coincide in language.” (Dietske Geerlings, Tzum)(
“Hirs has managed to push poetry beyond language without leaving it entirely and that is an impressive achievement.” (Anne ter Beek, Awater)
“In the work of Rozalie Hirs, poetry and music flow into one another in a natural manner. (…) Music full of glimmering sonic poetry, and a poetry that sings beyond the sentence.” (Mark van de Voort, VPRO Gids)
“There are only very few collections that I read voraciously directly upon publication. This is one. It looks like one big exercise in deconstruction, but Rozalie Hirs is a poet of natality, of the most radical ‘yes’ I know. And verdere bijzonderheden is simply once again better than her last one. What an oeuvre this is becoming.” (Joost Baars, Nomination Awater Poetry Prize, Winter 2018)
“I love the playful, musical, and at the same time meaningful poetry of Hirs. In this collection, inside their formal solidity, the poems are exceptionally mercurial and exciting.” (Edwin Fagel, Nominatie Awater Poetry Prize, Winter 2018)
“What surprises me time and again, collection after collection, is her ingenuousness, that takes the form of an infectious enthusiasm and well-meaning curiosity. Consequently, in her work, she keeps asking questions, without any pathetic ordeals and in all freshness, as to the how, the what, and the why of, in this case, poetry.” (Alain Delmotte, Dighter)
“All sorts of things emerge, distant and close by, by which the condition of the words and the images is guarded in such a way that they do remain free to connect, at will, temporarily, to the words next to them but also to a sentence further down in the poem. There is no end to new creation, transformation, connection and disappearance. And that’s not even talking about how words with their sounds (rhymes) and meanings give rhythm to sentences and then suddenly hold back their pace again. A continuous being born and disappearing to her senses and mind; an organic happening, presented to us by this fantastic poet.” (Maud Ockers, Vrouwenbibliotheek)
“Rozalie Hirs celebrates life in this collection: sensually, singing” (Remco Ekkers, Tzum weblog)
“Quietly, Hirs is working on a remarkable body of work. In it, the entire cosmos is always heard, and it’s the question if we’re dealing with one cosmos, or several. At the same time, verdere bijzonderheden is her most grounded collection, her most embodied one too, with a remarkable number of poems being about birth. Every fibre of Hirs’s poetic nature is saying ‘yes’ to the world into which we are thrown.” (Nadine Ancher: interview with Joost Baars, AD/ BN De Stem)
“Upon opening verdere bijzonderheden (further particulars), the sixth poetry volume of Rozalie Hirs, immediately a distinct voice starts to sound, a modest, yet clear voice, that takes advantage of the musicality (as well as the semantics) of language in optimal fashion.” (Edwin Fagel, Awater, The Netherlands, 2018)
“Hirs likes to go all the way, and thereby reaches for the highest points. She is a composer as well. Her best poems ‘sing’ and have a powerful melody. Ever since her debut collection from 1998, her development can be traced clearly. If the poems in Locus (1998) and Logos (2002) seemed traditional when taken by themselves, already the second collection was conceptually organized. Logos is a through-composed opus about the human body. In reading poem by poem, you can escape the concept, but on the middle pages it is clear as daylight what the poet’s intentions are. There, a skinned body points to two- or three-letter codes referring to the alphabetically ordered poems in the collection. Here, I think, Hirs made use of the constructive achievements of her education in chemical technology and composition. It was the first impulse for three subsequent volumes of poetry of ideas. In Speling (2005) the concept was still very modest. On the first 39 pages, the poems grow, more or less regularly, one line at a time. Then the system falters, and finally the lines fall apart all across ten pages. In Geluksbrenger (2008) Rozalie Hirs made further strides towards disintegration, especially syntactically. Her poetry did no longer obey linguistic laws. Her lines escape the rules of language and started even to swarm about guided by the typesetter’s hand. gestamelde werken (work in stuttering), too, finds Hirs toying with the rules of communicative language. Rather than in proclamation her message is in sound and the atmosphere that is evoked thereby. A happy example of that is offered by one of the shortest poems in the collection. In her longer poems, Hirs constructs such atmospheres in no less sonorous ways. […] Hirs’ poetry intrigues me. Her stammering may be constructed, most of all she seems to be out on an investigation. And her investigations are a poetic adventure. Also for readers who are curious.” (Arie van den Berg, NRC Handelsblad, The Netherlands, 2013)
“The poet Rozalie Hirs is an impressionist who likes to reveal how her work comes about. Instead of merging splinters into a natural whole, she breaks unities down to sparkling shards. What remains is often a stuttering, yet not that of a desperate poet who is not able to word the unsayable. Rather, Hirs tries joyfully to factorize the sayable. Her poetry is constructed through and through, while her starting point often is an experience of the senses, reminding of the Dutch poet Herman Gorter. She writes sensitive verses that ideosyncratically strive for a balance between romanticism and mathematics. [..] An important motif in gestamelde werken (work in stuttering) is the dawn of a new day, waking up to open your eyes for the light. In the first poem, the eyes set off into the morning like butterflies. In subsequent lines, poppies and cornflowers bloom and dreams are compared with silkworms that go to meet a sun in love. What they spin, however, is not silk but language. As soon as you try to see what it says on the level of words and word groups, you get lost, but if you read the poem out loud a few times, a convincing whole emerges. The second series involves an intriguing process of dismantling and repeated assembly. The material is given by the opening poem. [..} Hirs makes groups of words and sentences flow into one another in such a way that a polysemous stream of language arises. Some lines further on, the human figure is strikingly described as a ‘skin rock of water’. We are at once solid and fluid. The same holds for the poems, thorough constructions that are as ungraspable as water.” (Piet Gerbrandy, De Groene Amsterdammer, The Netherlands, 2012)
“Hirs’ work goes straight into the cosmic noise and calls for action in utter subjectivity. See, just as you are seen. Name, just as you are named. Create, just as you are created. And read like a creator: stammering.” (Joost Baars, Poëziekrant, Belgium, 2012)
“The musical poetry of Geluksbrenger (Lucky Charm) is constructed along the line of a ‘counterpoint’. Within a poem, Hirs seems to be stacking different poems on top of each other, processing them, splicing them, mixing them, shaking them, letting them flow into one another. And this is one single motion. In one breath. In sustained breath. However composed and constructed her poems may be: the writing never feels artificial. Her poems desire. Her poems are blazing with exuberance, offering a large choice of possibilities. […] And the mill keeps turning many a poem long, the words keep on coming, the words are streaming. A stormy homecoming. Technically, she achieves this word-stream effect by eliding the punctuation marks (consistently every poem starts with a capital, surely a detail, but indicative of a striking meticulousness). Ever since Apollinaire this technique is an old trick but it works. Sentences seem to form bridges across each other, to overcome one another, to be ahead of each other, to inflate one another. This way poems appear that are chock full of anacolutha: a deconstructive stylistic device that is being used throughout the collection and that, as has been mentioned, keeps its effect of surprise.” (Alain Delmotte, Poëzierapport, Belgium, 2009)
interactive poetry and apps
• Curvices Amsterdam (in collaboration with Ines Cox, Lauren Grusenmeyer, Yvan Vander Sanden, Machiel Spaan), 2015.
• Curvices (in collaboration with Cox & Grusenmeyer, Yvan Vander Sanden, Machiel Spaan), 2013. Commissioned by Musica, Belgium, for Klankenbos.
• zichtboek van gestamelde werken (virtual persona on five different social networks; in collaboration with Ines Cox, Lauren Grusenmeyer, Donald Gardner). Based on Hirs’ poetry book gestamelde werken Querido, Amsterdam, 2012.
• Geluksbrenger online, (in collaboration with Harm van den Dorpel), 2011. Based on Hirs’ poetry book Geluksbrenger, Querido, Amsterdam, 2008.
• Family Tree app (in collaboration with Harm van den Dorpel), 2006.
• Logos Digital (in collaboration with Matt Lee, Noëlle von Eugen), 2003. Based on Hirs’ poetry book Logos, Querido, Amsterdam, 2002.
poetry and music
Since the mid-1980s Hirs has experimented with the integration of poetry in music and vice versa, initially as a singer songwriter in collaboration with her new wave band Boolean, then, during the 1990s, through sung and spoken voice in electronic or instrumental music compositions. Since 2003 she has developed a highly personal style of the music and poetry hybrid, where poetry is composed into simultaneous streams of spoken voices, or of spoken voice and electronic sounds. The music compositions In LA (2003), Pulsars (2006-07), Bridge of Babel (2009) appeared on the CD Pulsars (2010) with Attacca Productions. She performs these and other pieces with spoken voice and electronic or electroacoustic sounds regularly at international festivals. See below for full lists of vocal music and music with spoken voice.
libretto
In 2005 Rozalie Hirs wrote the libretto of the opera De genezing van de krekel (E: The Cricket Recovers; D: Die Grille) by Richard Ayres, commissioned by Almeida, London, and Aldeburgh Festival, based on the novella with the same name by Toon Tellegen. The libretto was translated into English by John Irons; the stage set was designed by the Brothers Quay. The opera has received subsequent productions, at Holland Festival, directed by Pierre Audi (2011), with Junge Oper Stuttgart (2007), at Theater Basel (2017), and Tanglewood (2019).
publications (solo)
poetry books (dutch)
• ecologica. Bleiswijk: Vleugels, The Netherlands, 2023. ISBN 978-94-93186-86-6. 64 pp.
• oneindige zin. Amsterdam: Uitgeverij Querido, The Netherlands, 2021. ISBN 978-90-214-3664-7. 88 pp.
• verdere bijzonderheden. Amsterdam: Querido, 2017. ISBN 978-90-214-0857-6. 56 pages.
• gestamelde werken. Amsterdam: Singeluitgeverijen|Querido, The Netherlands, 2012. ISBN 978-90-214-4243-3. 88 pages.
• Geluksbrenger. Amsterdam: Singeluitgeverijen|Querido, The Netherlands, 2008. ISBN 978-90-214-3503-9. 76 pages.
• Het komt voor (image: Marijke van Warmerdam). Hilversum: Uitgeverij 69. 2008. The Netherlands. Bibliofile (chapbook). 14 pages.
• Speling. Amsterdam: Singeluitgeverijen|Querido, The Netherlands, 2005. ISBN 90-214-6734-8. 56 pages.
• Logos. Amsterdam: Singeluitgeverijen|Querido, The Netherlands, 2002. ISBN 90-214-6708-9. 48 pages.
• Locus. Amsterdam: Singeluitgeverijen|Querido, The Netherlands, 1998. ISBN 90-214-6643-0. 56 pages.
poetry books in other languages
• spor al lykkebringer (Danish translation: Birthe Lundsgaard), Copenhagen: Melodika Forlaget, Danmark, 2021. ISBN 978-87-972522-5-3. 96pp.
• ahora es una rosa (Spanish translation: Diego Puls), Montevideo: Yauguru Books, Uruguay, 2019. ISBN 978-9974-890-33-6. 48pp.
• gestammelte werke (Dutch, English, German: original languages; German translation: Daniela Seel, Rozalie Hirs, Ard Posthuma; French translation: Henri Deluy, Kim Andringa, Daniel Cunin; Spanish translation: Diego Puls; English translation: Donald Gardner, Willem Groenewegen, Moze Jacobs; Russian translation: Nina Tarhan Mouravi; Swedish translation: Boerje Bohlin; Chinese translation: Aurea Sison; Albanian translation: Papleka Anton; Serbian translation: Jelica Novaković; Croatian translation: Radovan Lucic; Lithuanian translation: Ausra Gudaviciute, Gytis Norvilas), Berlin: kookbooks, 2017. Germany. ISBN 978-39-374-4567-0. 240pp. Buy at Amazon.
• život mogućnosti (Serbian, Croatian translation: Jelica Novaković, Radovan Lučić). Banja Luka: Kuća Poezije/Biblioteka Prevodi, Bosnia & Herzegovina, 2014. ISBN 978-99-955-8050-6. 124 pages.
• ein tag (German translation: Ard Posthuma, Jan Oberländer, Rozalie Hirs). Berlin: hochroth Verlag, Germany, 2014. ISBN 978-3-902871-50-3. 40 pages. Buy at hochroth.
• Curvices and musicles (English; original language). Bleiswijk: Uitgeverij Vleugels, The Netherlands, 2013. Bibliophile (chapbook). 24 pages.
portrait albums
• Pulsars (music, poetry). Amsterdam: Attacca Productions, The Netherlands, 2010.
• Platonic ID (music). Amsterdam: Attacca Productions, The Netherlands, 2007.
• In LA (music, poetry). Boxtel: Drukkerij Tielen. The Netherlands. 2003.
• Sacro Monte (music). Amsterdam: MCN, NMClassics, The Netherlands, 1998.
• Invisible Self (music). Enschede: CSTM, The Netherlands, 1997.
publications (music, poetry) in anthologies, magazines, collections
poems in anthologies, magazines
Hirs’ poems appear in anthologies and literary magazines in The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, China, and Mexico.
music in anthologies
Her music compositions appear on the following cds.
• Electric Language, Wiek Hijmans (works by Morton Feldman, Christian Wolff, Rozalie Hirs, Alison Cameron, and others), Amsterdam: Attacca Productions, The Netherlands. 2018.
• Six, Slagwerk Den Haag (works by Peter Adriaansz, Maarten Altena, Luiz Yudo, Tom Johnson, Xenakis, Steve Reich, and Rozalie Hirs), Amsterdam: Attacca Productions, The Netherlands. 2015.
• Ladder of Escape 11, Fie Schouten (works by Stockhausen, Kagel, Rozalie Hirs, Robin de Raaff, Unsuk Chin), Amsterdam: Attacca Productions, The Netherlands. 2014.
• Takao Hyakutome: Works for solo violin (works by Applebaum, Berio, Hirs, Hyakutome, Kimura, Luppi), 2011.
• Anthology of Dutch Electronic Music 1999-2000, Amsterdam: Basta Music/ MCN, 2011.
• Red, White & Blues, Marcel Worms, Amsterdam: Attacca Productions, 2010.
• Traces, Spuren. Johannes Fischer. Leipzig: Genuin/ Deutschlandradio, 2009.
• Works for Percussion (works by Cage, Xenakis, Ferneyhough, Volans, Javier Alvarez, Rozalie Hirs, Arnold Marinissen, Willem Boogman, Michel van der Aa), Arnold Marinissen, Amsterdam, 2002.
• Soundscape Amsterdam. Ssccd 001. Amsterdam: Staalplaat. 1995.
• Music Box. 32 composities voor speeldoos. EW 9413. Hilversum: VPRO Eigen Wijs, 1994.
columns in magazines
During the 2013/14 season Rozalie Hirs was columnist for Preludium, the programme book of Concertgebouw and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
• R. Hirs, ‘Zo ben je, zo ben je niet’, Preludium Vol.72 issue 10, Amsterdam, June 2014.
• R. Hirs, ‘Longkruid’, Preludium Vol.72 issue 8, Amsterdam, April 2014.
• R. Hirs, ‘Spiegelen’, Preludium Vol.72 issue 7, Amsterdam, March 2014.
• R. Hirs, ‘Pingpongballen’, Preludium Vol.72 issue 4, Amsterdam, December 2013.
• R. Hirs, ‘Luisteren’, Preludium Vol.72 issue 2, Amsterdam, October 2013.
research, software
• R. Hirs, ‘Zeitgenössische Kompositionstechniken und OpenMusic: Murail’s Le Lac’ (vert. L. Haselböck), Klangperspektiven (herausgegeben von Lukas Haselböck), Wolke Verlag, Hofheim, Germany, 2011. pp 119–164. ISBN 978-393-600-081-8.
• R. Hirs, B. Gilmore, eds., Contemporary Compositional Techniques and OpenMusic, Collection Musique/Sciences, Paris: Editions Delatour/IRCAM, France, 2009. ISBN 978-275-210-080-1.
• R. Hirs, ‘Frequency-based compositional techniques in the music of Tristan Murail’, Contemporary Compositional Techniques and OpenMusic, Collection Musique/Sciences, Paris: Editions Delatour/IRCAM, France, 2009. pp 93–196. ISBN 978-275-210-080-1.
• R. Hirs, ‘On Murail’s Le lac’, D.M.A. dissertation, Columbia University/New York, Ann Arbor: ProQuest, United States, 2007; Contemporary Compositional Techniques and OpenMusic, Collection Musique/Sciences, Paris: Editions Delatour/IRCAM, France, 2009. pp 45–89. ISBN 978-275-210-080-1.
Book and softwaremedia about rozalie hirs
interviews (solo)
• Een nieuwe muzikale taal [interview, photographs]. Machiel Swillens (text), Roger Cremers (photograph), Ruby Cruden (photograph). De Klank 1/ Jaargang 10, seizoen 2022/23, BcM Uitgevers, 9 September 2022.
• Je wordt van moment voortgestuwd door je verlangen [interview, photograph]. Marjoleine de Vos (text), Roger Cremers (photograph). NRC Boeken (newspaper), Amsterdam, 11 maart 2022.
• Jij bent als lezer de muzikant van dat gedicht, je geeft het vorm [interview, photograph]. Marjoleine de Vos (text), Roger Cremers (photograph). NRC Boeken (online), Amsterdam, 10 maart 2022.
• oneindige zin [interview, podcast]. Ingmar Hetze (interview, host). Camping De Vrijheid op safari #1 [SoundCloud]. Internationaal Literatuurfestival Utrecht (ILFU), 16 February 2022.
• oneindige zin [interview]. Elke de Rijcke. Beeldspraak #10 [SoundCloud, Spotify]. Poëziecentrum Gent. 14 December 2021.
• hand in hand [1-5] [reading, music]. Wouter Pleijsier. NTR Podium/ Radio 4, 11 December 2021.
• Drang naar het hogere [interview, photgraph] Mark van de Voort, Ruby Cruden. VPRO Gids (week 49), Hilversum, 3 December 2021.
• Rozalie Hirs – oneindige zin [interview, photograph]. Jos Verdonk, Marco Borggreve. 020 Schrijft. MUG Magazine (krant en online), 25 October 2021.
• Ja, ik houd van jou, gedicht [interview, photograph] Hester van Hasselt, Bianca Sistermans. Een mogelijk begin van veel. Uitgeverij Querido, Amsterdam, 17 October 2021.
• De woorden en klanken van Rozalie Hirs [interview, video stream]. Ineke Holzhaus. Poëzie op Zondag, Openbare bibliotheek, Amsterdam, 16 May 2021.
• Bewegen door gekleurd geluid [interview, photograph]. Jacob Haagsma. Leeuwarder Courant, Friesland, 14 February 2020.
• Luisteren naar kleuren in Drachten [interview, photograph] Vincent Meininger. Friesch Dagblad, Friesland, 6 February 2020.
• TAMA: Rozalie Hirs. Interview by Cathy Cox (host). TAMA Music Festival, Tokyo, Japan, 11 January 2020.
• Musikfabrik im WDR (Concert 70). Interview by Johannes Zink. Westdeutscher Rundfunk 3, Cologne, Germany, 20 May 2019.
• Zaterdagmatinee. Interview by Hans Haffmans (host). Karien Guinée (editor). NTR Radio 4, Hilversum, The Netherlands, 18 May 2019.
• Matinee Café: Rozalie Hirs. Hans Haffmans (host), Myrthe van Dijk (editor). NTR Radio 4, Hilversum, The Netherlands, 14 July 2018.
• Mijn muziek stroomt, intuïtief, zacht. Joep Stapel. Cultuur, NRC, The Netherlands, 11 May 2018.
• Inspiratie is de ruimte waar nieuwe dingen ontstaan. Joep Stapel. NRC online, The Netherlands, 9 May 2018.
• Alles is onderzoek: een gesprek met Rozalie Hirs [interview; Dutch]. Johan de Boose. Poëziekrant 6/2017. Poëziecentrum, Ghent, Belgium, 2017.
• van roos tot enig glaswerk [reading]. Frans van Gurp (editor), Wouter Pleijsier (presenter). NTR Podium/ Radio 4, The Netherlands, 2017.
• Het Luisterhuis [interview, radio reportage; Dutch]. Robert-Jan Booij. NTR Podium/Radio 4, The Netherlands, 2017.
• Tussen toon en woord. Rozalie Hirs, onderzoeker van klank en woorden [interview; Dutch & English]. Joep Christenhusz. Muziek mèt, November Music, Den Bosch The Netherlands, 7 November 2014.
• Leven, mogelijkheden [interview; Dutch]. Mila Vojinovic. Paukenslag! Nr.14, Universiteit van Belgrado, Serbia, 2014.
• Het gaat allemaal over keuzes maken [interview; Dutch]. An Prudon, Aafje de Roest. Vooys, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2014.
• De schrijfkamer: Rozalie Hirs [interview, lecture; Dutch]. Kenneth van Zijl. Knetterende Letteren, NTR televisie, The Netherlands, 2013.
• Podcast: Rozalie Hirs [interview]. Ryan Van Winkle. Scottish Poetry Library, UK, 2012.
• De Avonden: Rozalie Hirs en gestamelde werken [interview, lecture; Dutch]. Jeroen van Kan. VPRO Radio, The Netherlands, 2012.
• Bij een beschaving hoort kunst [interview; Dutch]. Claudia Kammer. NRC weekend, 2011.
• Een ode aan het leven [interview; Dutch]. Vrouwkje Tuinman. Opzij, The Netherlands, 2010.
• Dubbeltalenten: Rozalie Hirs [interview; Dutch]. Victor Schiferli. Hollands Diep, The Netherlands, 2007.
• Dialogisch 44: Rozalie Hirs. Peter de Groot. Krakatau 44 , Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 2007.
• Cantina: Rozalie Hirs [interview; Dutch]. Aad van Nieuwkerk. VPRO Radio, 2006.
• Café Sonore: Rozalie Hirs’ Pulsars [interview; Dutch]. Armeno Alberts. VPRO Radio, The Netherlands, 2006.
• Na zeshonderd milliseconden [interview; Dutch]. Remco Ekkers. Poëziekrant 5, september-oktober 2005, Poëziecentrum, Gent, Belgium, 2005.
• De Avonden: Rozalie Hirs en Platonic ID [interview; Dutch]. Wouter Pleijsier. VPRO Radio, The Netherlands, 2005.
• De kleine zaal: Rozalie Hirs [interview; Dutch]. Arnoud van Adrichem. De Contrabas, The Netherlands, 2005.
• Rozalie Hirs toont de zachte glimmende huid van de klanken in haar muziek en poëzie [interview; Dutch]. Anthony Fiumara. Trouw, The Netherlands, 2005.
• Rozalie Hirs [interview; Dutch]. Erik Voermans. Het Parool, The Netherlands, 1999.
• Hallo noten [interview; Dutch]. Ivo Postma. De Gelderlander, The Netherlands, 1999.
essays (solo)
• “Je blaast woorden het weten in – Cognitief-affectieve bevraging in Rozalie Hirs’ poëzie”. Helena Van Praet. Spiegel der Letteren Vol. 64/2 (pp. 155-178; DOI: 10.2143/SDL.64.2.3291066), Edition Peeters, Leuven, Belgium, December 2022.
• “Ligt het aan mij of bewegen de woorden? – een intersemiotische studie naar de digitale adaptatie van het gedicht ‘stamboom’ (2008) van Rozalie Hirs”. Durim Morina. Master’s thesis (supervisors: prof. dr. Hans Vandevoorde & prof. dr. Ronald Geerts). Faculteit der Letteren en Wijsbegeerte. University of Brussels, Belgium. 5 June 2020.
• Zingen in tongen – Over de poëzie van Rozalie Hirs [review, essay; Dutch]. Alain Delmotte. De Schaal van Digther. Wingene, Belgium, 8 June 2018.
• Vrijheid van inkt. Logos (2002) van Rozalie Hirs [essay; Dutch]. Jeroen Dera. Bundels van het nieuwe millenium. Vantilt|Poëziecentrum, Gent, Belgium, 2018.
• ‘Ritmische analyse: Hirs’, ‘Tekstbetekenis zonder ritme: Hirs’, ‘Bijdrage van ritme aan de betekenis: Hirs’. Organized Violence in Performance Poetry: Cognitive Rhythmical Analyses of Rozalie Hirs’ “Stamboom” and Bardthesque’s “Handelsreiziger in intertekstualiteit”. Master’s thesis. Maarten Robberechts. Vrije Universiteit Brussel, België, 2015. pp 38-50, 57-62, 69-76.
• Curvices Amsterdam van Rozalie Hirs. Een poëtische verkenning van geest en wereld [essay; Dutch]. René van Peer. The Netherlands, 2015.
• Voelen denken [essay; Dutch, Serbian]. Laurens Ham. život mogućnosti, Kuća Poezije/Biblioteka Prevodi, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2014.
• Zonder een lettergreep knoppen betasten [essay; Dutch]. Piet Gerbrandy. nY #20, The Netherlands, 2014.
• Zeg me of hinkelend een werkelijkheid gaat [essay; Dutch]. Jeroen Dera. DW B 2013/ 4, Dietsche Warande & Belfort, Gent, Belgium, 2013.
• Gekromde ruimtes [essay; Dutch, French]. Jeroen Dera. Ons Erfdeel, Septentrion, n° 2, The Netherlands, 2012.
• ‘Vormen’ van Rozalie Hirs [essay; Dutch]. Hans Groenewegen. Met schrijven zin verzamelen , Uitgeverij Wereldbibliotheek, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2012.
• Onontregeling [essay; Dutch]. Laurens Ham. nY #11 (in druk), 2011; nY web (online), The Netherlands, 12 December 2011.
• Tussen klank en kristal [essay; Dutch]. Joep Stapel, Muziekcentrum Nederland, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2010.
• Vogels, woorden en sterren [essay; Dutch, English]. Samuel Vriezen. Pulsars, Attacca Productions, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2010.
• Intertekstualiteit in de poëzie van Rozalie Hirs. Master’s thesis [Dutch]. Renske Ankoné (begeleider: Prof. Jaap Goedegebuure). Taal en Cultuur, Universiteit Leiden, The Netherlands, 2010.
• De zachte, glimmende huid van klank [essay; Dutch, English]. Anthony Fiumara, Platonic ID, Attacca Productions, 2007.
• Dichtende componisten: Rozalie Hirs [essay; Dutch]. Els van Swol. Mens en Melodie 6/6, 2004.
• Speling [essay; German]. Künstlerblätter der Werkstatt Junge Akademie 2004. Cees Nooteboom. Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Germany, 2004.
reviews (solo)
• Een labyrint van woekerende waterdromen. Helena Van Praet. Poëziekrant Nr 4, Poëziecentrum, Ghent, Belgium, 27 June 2023.
• aɪ ɔː ɪ iː aɪ – waarom Rozalie Hirs beluisteren? Marc van Oostendorp. Neerlandistiek Online tijdschrift voor taal en letterkunde, 23 June 2023.
• Geen hek houdt de mieren tegen. Jeroen Dera. De Standaard (De Letteren: Het gedicht), Brussels, Belgium, 20 May 2023.
• zwanger van betekenis, vooruitgeworpen door ogen. Dietske Geerlings, Tzum, 7 May 2023.
• trek je naaktheid aan. Dietske Geerlings. Tzum, 31 January 2022.
• Wervelende compositie in taal. Anne van Beek. Awater (Winter 2022/1), Poëzieclub, Amsterdam, 21 January 2022.
• Eerste indrukken 301: Rozalie Hirs – tuin. Dietske Geerlings. Ooteoote, 17 January 2022.
• Tussen betoverend en bevreemdend. Helena Van Praet. De Reactor, 15 January 2022.
• Wording als het ware. Piet Gerbrandy. Poëziekrant Nr 1/ januari-februari 2022, Ghent, Belgium, 12 January 2022.
• Reizen tussen je ziel en de ruimte. Pauliene Kruithof. Friesch Dagblad, Leeuwarden, 21 December 2021.
• Terloops geluk. Paul Roelofsen. Meander Magazine, 15 December 2021.
• Een indrukwekkende compositie van adem en avontuur. Thomas Möhlmann. Athenaeum, 21 October 2021;
• Recensie portretconcert Rozalie Hirs: infinity stars. Frits van der Waa. Volkskrant), Amsterdam, 16 May 2021.
• Ronald Rijken: Rozalie Hirs’ klankwereld van de binaural beats, Klankgat online, 12 November 2018.
• Zingen in tongen – Over de poëzie van Rozalie Hirs [review, essay; Dutch]. Alain Delmotte. De Schaal van Digther. Wingene, Belgium, 8 June 2018.
• Zingen in de bus [column; Dutch]. Els van Swol. Literair Nederland, The Netherlands, 11 June 2018.
• Verdere bijzonderheden door Rozalie Hirs [Dutch]. Maud Ockers. Vrouwenbibiliotheek. Utrecht, The Netherlands, 25 May 2018.
• Rozalie Hirs – Wakkere paarden [Dutch]. Remco Ekkers. Ooteoote weblog, The Netherlands, 16 February 2018.
• In Sprachen denken [German]. Bernd Leukert. Faust Kultur, Germany, 25 January 2018.
• Zes bestemmingen [Dutch]. Edwin Fagel. Awater Winter 2018, The Netherlands, 23 January 2018.
• Voelen slokt denken [Dutch]. Remco Ekkers. Tzum weblog, The Netherlands, 16 January 2018.
• Kies je vrijheid en wel nu [Dutch]. Dieuwertje Mertens. Parool, The Netherlands, 30 December 2017.
• Gedichten om hardop van te genieten [Dutch]. Eric van Loo. Meander Magazine, The Netherlands, 22 December 2017.
• Polyfone Bedeutungsströme [German]. Marcus Neuert. Fixpoetry, Germany, 14 August 2017.
• Zeg maar ja tegen het leven [Book of the Day; Dutch]. Leidsch Dagblad, The Netherlands, 1 August 2013.
• De rijpgrage bomen buigen [Dutch]. Arie van den Berg. NRC Boekenbijlage, The Netherlands, 4 January 2013.
• Poëzie voor scheppende lezers [Dutch]. Joost Baars. Poëzekrant 7-8/12, Poëziecentrum, Gent, Belgium, 2 January 2013.
• Een huidrots van water [Dutch]. Piet Gerbrandy. De Groene Amsterdammer, The Netherlands, 31 October 2012.
• Tussen wonderschoon en bevreemdend in [Dutch]. Ricco van Nierop. De Recensent, The Netherlands, 10 October 2012.
• Uitslaande vleugels [Dutch]. Jane Leusink. Tzum weblog, The Netherlands, 3 October 2012.
• Rozalie Hirs: Pulsars [Dutch]. Jochem Valkenburg. NRC, The Netherlands, 2010.
• Door het water gladgemaakte kiezels [Dutch]. Edwin Fagel. De Recensent, The Netherlands, 23 September 2009.
• Rozalie Hirs: Geluksbrenger [Dutch]. Paul Demets. De Morgen, Belgium, 1 Juli 2009.
• Boek van de week: Geluksbrenger [Dutch]. Bart Vonck. Vlabin-vbc, Belgium, 15 Juni 2009.
• Thuiskomen in een molen [Dutch]. Alain Delmotte. Poëzierapport, Belgium, 14 May 2009.
• Geluksbrenger [Dutch]. Albert Hagenaars. Nederlandse Bibliotheek Dienst, The Netherlands, February 2009.
• Het vlindert op en neer [Dutch]. Laurens Ham. Awater poëzietijdschrift, The Netherlands, Winter 2009.
• Anderer Umgang mit Sprache [German]. Bitterfeld, Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, 6 June 2008.
• Oorspronkelijk [Dutch]. Patricia Werner Leanse. Opzij, The Netherlands, October 2007.
• Hirs’ Platonic ID [Dutch]. Siebe Riedstra. Luister, Tijdschrift over klassieke muziek, The Netherlands, September 2007.
• Hirs’ Platonic ID – diverse instrumentale composities [Dutch]. Maarten Brandt. De Stentor, Apeldoorn, The Netherlands. September 2007.
• Aufgeregt bis zur letzten Zeile/ Spielerisch die Poesie entdecken [German]. Bitterfeld, Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, Germany, 26 August 2007.
• Tere wondertjes [Dutch]. Jochem Valkenburg. NRC, The Netherlands, 20 July 2007.
• Schellen en Keien [Dutch]. Roland de Beer. Volkskrant, The Netherlands, 12 July 2007.
• In het donker komt de taal tot leven [Dutch]. Rolf Bosboom. PZC, The Netherlands, 6 December 2006.
• Een lied om elkaar mee gedag te zeggen [Dutch]. Tsead Bruinja. VPRO Boeken, Avondlog, The Netherlands, 27 October 2005.
• Taal opslokken [Dutch]. Johan Sonnenschein. Awater Poëzietijdschrift, The Netherlands, Autumn 2005.
• Wat doen de regels? [Dutch]. Edwin Fagel. De Recensent, The Netherlands, 20 September 2005.
• Over een beginregel en zijn gevolgen [Dutch]. Alain Delmotte, Poëzierapport, The Netherlands, 17 August 2005.
• Avontuur van lichaam en kosmos [Dutch]. Remco Ekkers. De Leeuwarder Courant, The Netherlands, 28 June 2002.
• Locus [Dutch]. Dirk de Geest. Leesidee, The Netherlands, September 1998.
• Poëzie als brood [Dutch]. Remco Ekkers. De Leeuwarder Courant, The Netherlands, 28 August 1998.
• Hoor je stem van een andere zijde [Dutch]. Hans Groenewegen. HN-Magazine, The Netherlands, 15 August 1998.
• Lyrische scheikunde [Dutch]. Rogi Wieg. Het Parool, The Netherlands, 8 May 1998.
“Dreams of Airs is a complex piece of art, and very beautifully performed. In addition, it is also highly effective, for me any case. I feel clear and very energized.” Ronald Rijken: Rozalie Hirs’ klankwereld van de binaural beats, Klankgat online, 12 november 2018.
“And also here Nora Fischer takes the audience by the hand along the colourful words drawn out by Rozalie Hirs, reinforced with binaural beatings. With these beatings Rozalie Hirs seeks to evoke brain waves that bring us into a meditative state. She must be doing a pretty good job, because I have rarely encountered such a breathlessly listening audience.” Ronald Rijken: Rozalie Hirs’ klankwereld van de binaural beats, Klankgat online, 12 november 2018.
“Hirs’ poetry intrigues me. Most of all she seems to be out on an investigation. And her investigations are a poetic adventure. Also for readers who are curious.” Arie van den Berg, NRC
“In all, a highly multifaceted poetry. A musical poetry, too. A beautiful poetry that does not yield easily, that repulses and beguiles, that fascinates more and more, that ends up refusing to release the reader.” Edwin Fagel, De Recensent
“She makes the words dance. She writes poems wearing ballet shoes. Dancing is thinking in body language. The constructions of sensibility. And dancing is litheness, suppleness. Her poetry is curiously elastic. Her poems swing from sentence to sentence, ever faster, ever more reckless.” Alain Delmotte, Poëzierapport
“Especially in her solo compositions, every single one of them a tender miracle of concentration and imagination, the exploration of sonic possibilities by varied repetition seems to be among the most important procedures.” Jochem Valkenburg, NRC Handelsblad
“That the table of elements knows few secrets for Hirs is shown by the high, enchanting mixed sounds of her article 0, played by metal percussion and rocks tuned to pitch.” Roland de Beer, Volkskrant
“Hirs writes music of a refreshingly original character. She examines and dissects sounds to a microscopic degree; after all, the world is sound! In each atom resides music. From the perspective of the scientist, billions of different vibrations are possible. Hirs re-arranges them with a harmonic equilibrium that is immediately arresting. To listen to these ‘sonic spaces’ as she calls her pieces is an exceptionally captivating experience.” Patricia Werner Leanse, Opzij
collective reviews, essays, and interviews
• Donaueschinger Musiktage : musiques nouvelles? 2022, année de transition. Bernard Vincken. Crescendo Magazine, 1 November 2022.
• Croniques: Présences. Gilles Charlassier. Anaclase, Paris, France (online magazine), 19 February 2022.
• Gebundelde interviews met dichters vormen rommelige bundel met prachtige uitschieters. Dieuwertje Mertens. Kunst & Media. Het Parool, 28 October 2021.
• Het zingen in meerdere talen [column]. Maureen Ghazal. Awater Poëzietijdschrift, 7 April 2021.
• Rundt om Niels Viggo Bentzon. Peter Dürrfeld. Kristeligt Dagblad, Copenhagen, Denmark, 8 October 2019.
• Louis Andriessen Festival programme book. In honour/Ter ere. Rozalie Hirs: parallel world and sea. René van Peer. Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 23 May 2019.
• Draaikolken en nachtwolken met Musikfabrik. Mark van de Voort. Concertzender online, The Netherlands, 21 May 2019.
• Musikfabrik im Strudel von Schlammflocken und Straßentheater in Amsterdam. Michael Klier. Bachtrack online, Germany, 20 May 2019.
• Louis Andriesssen, interviews with Martijn Padding and Rozalie Hirs. Mark van de Voort. VPRO Gids, Hilversum, The Netherlands, 21 May 2019.
• Hoe Wiek Hijmans de elektrische gitaar solofähig maakt. Thea Derks. Cultuurpers. The Netherlands, 19 June 2018.
• Zoete kleuren rukken op in de boekwinkel, ook bij onzoete stof [review; Dutch]. Erik van den Berg. De Volkskrant, The Netherlands, 1 June 2018.
• Uit iedere noot van gitarist Wiek Hijmans spreekt een feilloze beheersing van toon en timbre [review; Dutch]. Frits van der Waa. De Volkskrant, The Netherlands, 31 May 2018.
• Réus, de grootete harp ter wereld [interview with Remy van Kesteren, preview; Dutch], Sandra Kooke, Trouw, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 11 May 2018.
• Ladder of Escape 16 – Electric Language – Wiek Hijmans [review; Dutch]. Siebe Riedstra. Opus Klassiek, The Netherlands. April 2018.
• Het vertaaljaar 2017 – De betrokken vertaalhemel [essay; Dutch]. Ton Naaijkens. Filter 25:1, Uitgeverij Vantilt, Nijmegen, The Netherlands, March 2018.
• Een pratende gitaar, die rare zinnen spreekt [interview; Dutch]. Erik Voermans. Het Parool, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 17 March 2018.
• Nabestaanden en natuurgoden [interview; Dutch]. Nadine Ancher. Algemeen Dagblad, AD/ BN De Stem, Breda, The Netherlands, 13 January 2018.
• Kees the boy. Een jolige Goethe, leuke Hirs en vreemde Thijssen trof Arjan Peters aan, ofwel drie varianten van humor [review; Dutch]. Arjan Peters. Volkskrant Magazine, 2 September 2017.
• Een poppenhuis bouwen is geen kinderspel. Kirsten Hannema. Volksrant Online, The Netherlands, 15 April 2017.
• Het luisterhuis. Kirsten Hannema. Volkskrant Magazine, The Netherlands, 15 April 2017.
• Manifestatie voor iedereen met een dosis durfkapitaal [review; Dutch]. Peter Rings. Theaterkrant, The Netherlands, 8 June 2015.
• Een stad, herrezen uit muziek [preview; Dutch], Frederike Berntsen, Trouw, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 28 May 2015.
• ‘Een nachtboot vol glinsterende athleten’, De lezer – van poëzie en mystiek [essay; Dutch]. Hans Groenewegen. Historische uitgeverij, The Netherlands, 2015. pp 144-181
• Organized Violence in Performance Poetry: Cognitive Rhythmical Analyses of Rozalie Hirs’ “Stamboom” and Bardthesque’s “Handelsreiziger in intertekstualiteit” [essay; Dutch]. Master’s thesis. Maarten Robberechts. Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium, 2015.
• De goddelijke kut. Kunst en poëzie als mystieke daad. Edwin Fagel. De Revisor 8 (print), De Recensent (online), The Netherlands. January 2015.
• Het strijkorkest klinkt als een reusachtige accordeon [review; Dutch]. Frits van der Waa. De Volkskrant Kunst & Cultuur, The Netherlands, 28 November 2014.
• Het hoort er allemaal bij, liefst niet in een hokje [review; Dutch]. Frits van der Waa. De Volkskrant Kunst & Cultuur, 10 November 2014.
• Een uitgebroed idee met vreemde delen [reportage; Dutch], Bas Baas, Trouw, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 25 October 2014.
• Sprachkunst seit zehn Jahren [review; German]. Martin Maurach. Frankfurter Allgemeine, Germany, 30 January 2014.
• Fliegende Augen mit Federnden Flügeln [review; German]. Gesa Esterer. Hessische/Niedersächsische Allgemeine, Kassel, Duitsland. 27 January 2014.
• Ladies’ time [review; Dutch]. Paul Demets. De Morgen, Belgium, 16 January 2013.
• Alles even mooi [essay; Dutch]. Bertram Mourits. De Gids nr. 7, The Netherlands, 2012.
• Men vindt geen einde er in [essay; Dutch]. Laurens Ham. Ons Erfdeel nr. 4, Belgium, 2012.
• Eeuwig nieuw [interview; Dutch]. Floris Don. NRC Cultureel Supplement, The Netherlands, September 2012.
• Tijdschrift: Het liegend konijn [review; Dutch]. Paul Demets. De Morgen, Belgium, 19 October 2011.
• Night of the Unexpected [review; Dutch]. Tim Sprangers, De Volkskrant, The Netherlands, 10 September 2011.
• Beyond the notes [interview; English], Gaudeamus Muziekweek, 1 September 2011.
• Talent, inspiratie en een beetje geluk [interview; Dutch]. Floris Don. Gaudeamus Muziekweek/ VPRO Gids, The Netherlands, 1 September 2011.
• Kunstenaarsfestival Watou 2011 [review; Dutch]. Remko Ekkers, Poëziekrant PK 5/1, Ghent, Belgium, July 2011.
• Zoek de speld in de hooiberg [essay; Dutch]. Yra van Dijk. NRC Boeken/Levende literatuur, The Netherlands, 12 May 2011.
• Vernipperd komt het verzet van kunstenaars op gang [article; Dutch]. Claudia Kammer. NRC weekend, The Netherlands, 23 April 2011.
• Klank en kleur: Inleiding [preview; Dutch]. Joost de Vries. Klank en Kleur, De Groene Amsterdammer, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 29 August 2010.
• Luisteren [essay; Dutch]. Elmer Schönberger. Klank en Kleur, De Groene Amsterdammer, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 29 August 2010.
• Gérard Grisey’s spacetime epic receives its U.S. premiere at REDCAT [review; English]. Marc Swed. Culture Monster, LA Times, USA, 10 May 2010.
• 15 must-reads – Our selection for this summer [selection; Dutch]. De Morgen, Belgium, 1 July 2009.
• Composers of one sex but numerous styles. Allan Kozinn. Music Review. New York Times, U.S.A. 20 March 2009.
• Vertrekpunt is de stem [interview with Michel van der Aa, preview; Dutch]. Anthony Fiumara. Trouw, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 19 March 2009.
• Hamels rare snuiters en oase van tijdeloosheid [Dutch]. Frits van der Waa. Volkskrant Kunst & Cultuur, The Netherlands, 10 November 2008.
• Oermuziek aan ‘t IJ [preview, Dutch]. Anthony Fiumara. Trouw, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 7 November 2008.
• Muziekpubliek wil zinnelijkheid [Dutch]. Guido van Oosrschot. Volkskrant, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 6 November 2008.
• Anke Brouwer en Rozalie Hirs [interview Anke Brouwer, Rozalie Hirs; Dutch]. Agnes van der Horst, Nederlandse Muziekdagen, NPO Television, The Netherlands, 2008.
• Red White Blues: In de ban van de blues [Dutch]. Roland de Beer. Volkskrant, 12 July 2007.
• Interessante nieuwe klanken gecombineerd met een natuurlijke adem [Dutch]. Kees Arntzen. Kritieken. Trouw, The Netherlands, 7 September 2006.
• Stekelritmes en platonische boventonen [Dutch]. Frits van der Waa. Volkskrant, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 25 February 2005.
• Eine Tragikomödie toter Pflanzen [German]. Sabine Conrad. Märkische Oderzeitung, Germany, 18 June 2004.
• Poesie voller Schönheit und Rätsel [German]. Dominique Hensel. Märkische Oderzeitung, Germany, 15 June 2004.
• Componisten bij de kassa [Dutch]. Frits van der Waa. De Volkskrant Kunst & Cultuur, The Netherlands, 9 April 1999
• Present [Dutch]. Emile Wennekes. NRC, The Netherlands, 27 March 1999.
• Voor dichten niet dom genoeg [Dutch]. Kees Fens. Cicero, Volkskrant, The Netherlands, 5 June 1998.
• La natura inspira i compositori [Italian]. La Stampa, Turin, Italy, 29 April 1997.
• Twee aankomende componisten [interview Caroline Berkenbosch, Rozalie Hirs; Dutch]. Hugo Blom. VPRO Gids 51, The Netherlands, 1994.
• Monumenten van boeren: Tirade 350, Uitgeverij Van Oorschot [Dutch]. Margot Engelen. NRC Handelsblad, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 15 March 1994.
“Though the quality of performance and recording is impeccable in all four recordings, Sacro Monte by Rozalie Hirs has something unique, due to the fascinating performance by the Ives Ensemble. It’s a mysterious piece, with its Feldman-like, weightless weave of harmonics, buzzing metal sounds and its tinkling, widely spread piano tones. In spite of its quiet character the music is consistently in motion, and the mixture of timbres is so subtle that it takes a sharp ear to hear which instruments are at play. Even the CD case, which was designed like the three other ones by students of the Academie voor Beeldende Kunsten in Den Haag, reflects the balanced transparency of this work. A faultless little treasure.” Frits van der Waa, Volkskrant
“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, LA Times
bio, photo, distinctions, links
music biography
Rozalie Hirs (Gouda, April 7, 1965) is a contemporary Dutch composer and a poet. Her music and poetry are lyrical as well as experimental. The principal concerns of her work are the adventure of listening, reading, and the imagination. Her music consists of vocal, orchestral, and electronic compositions. She developed a highly personal spectral style, inspired, on the one hand, by the acoustic and psychoacoustic properties of timbre and sound, and on the other hand, by the clear classicist structures of the Hague School. She often combines traditional instruments with electronic sounds. Her poetry includes both printed collections and digital poetry: interactive poems created in collaboration with visual artists, and graphic designers. Performers of her music include the Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Asko|Schönberg, the Bozzini Quartet, Klangforum Wien, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, and Slagwerk Den Haag; she is herself a regular performer of her compositions for voice and electronic sounds, mostly on international festivals. Her music scores are published by Deuss Music, her CDs by Attacca Productions, her poetry books by Uitgeverij Querido.
She holds a Doctor of Music Arts degree from Columbia University, where she studied as a Fulbright fellow with Tristan Murail (1999-2002), and a Master of Music degree from the Royal Conservatoire, The Hague, where she studied with Diderik Wagenaar (1991-1994) and Louis Andriessen (1994-1998). During her time at the Royal Conservatoire she also took composition lessons with Gilius van Bergeijk and Clarence Barlow. At Columbia University she taught harmony and counterpoint as a Teaching Assistant; her thesis consisted of the essay Tristan Murail’s Le Lac, and her composition Platonic ID, a commission from Asko|Schönberg. Her debut publication as a composer, the CD Sacro Monte, appeared in 1999 and met with critical acclaim. In 2007, her CD Platonic ID featuring instrumental compositions was released by Attacca Productions, Amsterdam. In 2010, the CD Pulsars followed, with electroacoustic works on original texts.
Hirs’ compositions include commissions by the Amsterdam Sinfonietta (Lichtende Drift, 2014), Arnold Marinissen (article 0, 2000), ASKO|Schönberg (Book of Mirrors, 2001; Platonic ID, 2006; Arbre Généalogique, 2011, The honeycomb conjecture, 2015), Bozzini Quartet (Nadir, 2014), Formalist Quartet (Zenit, 2010), Holland Festival (Atlantis ampersand, 2015), the David Kweksilber Big Band (Ain Silabar Ain, 2013), Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra (Roseherte, 2008), November Music (Nadir, 2014), NOW! Prismen (The honeycomb conjecture, 2015), Slagwerk Den Haag (Venus, 2010), and the VPRO broadcasting organization (Pulsars, 2007). All of these works have received financial support from the Netherlands Performing Arts Fund, VPRO, or Eduard van Beinum Foundation. At the invitation of the Nieuw Ensemble, she developed and curated the course Contemporary Compositional Techniques and OpenMusic, which she taught at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam during the 2005-06 academic year, together with guest professors Tristan Murail, Mikhail Malt, and Benjamin Thigpen. In 2009 the book of essays on this subject, she co-edtied with Bob Gilmore was published as part of the Collection Musique/Sciences of IRCAM|Éditions Delatour in Paris. During the academic year 2010-2011, Rozalie Hirs was guest lecturer at the Composition Department at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London. Rozalie Hirs was chairman of the jury for the Gaudeamus Music Prize 2011.
poetry biography
Rozalie Hirs (Gouda, April 7, 1965) is a contemporary Dutch poet and a composer of new music. Her poetry and music are lyrical as well as experimental. The principal concerns of her work are the adventure of listening, reading, and the imagination. Her poetry includes both printed collections (six in Dutch, one in German, one in Serbian, one multilingual collection) and digital poetry: interactive poems created in collaboration with visual artists, and graphic designers. These projects include the Logos website (2003), the Family Tree app (2006), Geluksbrenger online (2011) and Sightbook of work in stuttering (2012). Hirs is herself a regular performer of her electroacoustic compositions based on her own poetry, mostly on international literary festivals. Her music consists of vocal, orchestral, and electronic compositions. She often combines traditional instruments with electronic sounds. Her music scores are published by Deuss Music, her CDs by Attacca Productions, her poetry books by Singel Uitgeverijen|Querido.
Listening and reading have influenced her poetry deeply. Playing with sound in multiple layers of meaning and with multiple possibilities for reading leads to a ‘fluid’ poetry. Among these layers, the reader may choose again and again, thus to a large extent shaping his or her own reading experience. The multitude of simultaneous reading possibilities and identities has become the essentially musical (i.e. ‘polyphonic’) trademark of Hirs’ poetry. In 2010, her CD Pulsars was released. On this CD, Hirs investigates polyglot language and the simultaneity of streams of meaning in three electroacoustic works using original texts.
The main part of her school years (1972-79) was spent in Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. At first Hirs wrote letters, diaries, and a short story in German. At fourteen after reading Voor wie ik liefheb wil ik heten by the Dutch poet Neeltje Maria Min, Hirs wrote her first poem in Dutch. On 10 May 1991, during the Pythische Spelen (Pythian Games), a cultural student festival, in Enschede, she performed some of her poems (‘Adam’ and ‘Atrium Vestae’) in public for the first time; she received the third prize for poetry and, subsequently, an invitation by Jan Kuijper, who at the time was the poetry editor of the renowned publishing house Singeluitgeverijen|Querido. In 1992, her poems appeared in the Dutch literary review De Revisor. In 1995 she received the first prize for poetry during the Pythische Spelen in Amsterdam. That year, the poetry jury consisted of Neeltje Maria Min and Martin Reints. In 1998 her first Dutch poetry book appeared with Singeluitgeverijen|Querido, Locus, followed by Logos (2002), [speling] (leeway; 2005), Geluksbrenger (Lucky Charm; 2008), gestamelde werken (work in stuttering; 2012), and verdere bijzonderheden (further particulars; 2017). In 2014 two poetry collections in translation, ein tag (Berlin: hochroth Verlag, 2014; German translations: Ard Posthuma, Rozalie Hirs) and život mogućnosti (Banja Luka: Biblioteka Prevodi, 2014; Serbian, Croatian translations: Jelica Novaković, Radovan Lučić) were published, followed by a multilingual compendium gestammelte werke (Berlin: kookbooks, 2017). Since 1992 her poems have appeared in numerous anthologies and literary magazines in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, China, and Mexico (alphabetical bibliography). Rozalie Hirs was jury member for the P. C. Hooft Award for poetry in 2015.
press photographs
foto ©2012 Marco Borggrgeve
More press photographs
distinctions
Book of Mirrors (2001) received the Boris and Edna Rapoport Prize 2002 of Columbia University. Roseherte (2008) and Zenit (2010) were selected for Toonzetters as ‘one of the ten most beautiful compositions of the previous year’. ‘Pulsars’ received the distinction ‘Recommended Work’ at the ‘Rostrum for Electronic Musis, Lissabon, Portugal, and was subsequently broadcast in twenty countries. As a composer Rozalie Hirs has received a two-year stipend from the Netherlands Performing Arts Fund in 2012-2013, a travel and development fellowship in 2011, as well as financial support for almost all commissions by ensembles, orchestras, and soloists since 2000. As a poet she has received awards and stipends for all her poetry books from either the Flemish Literary Fund, or the Netherlands Foundation for Literature. Rozalie Hirs is recipient of a Fulbright fellowship for her studies at Columbia University. Read more
external links
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Dutch music encyclopedia
Dutch poetry encyclopedia
publishers
Deuss Music, The Hague (NL)
kookbooks, Berlin (D)
Uitgeverij Querido| Singel Uitgeverijen, Amsterdam (NL)
Attacca Productions, Amsterdam (NL)
ensembles, orchestras
Asko|Schönberg
Amsterdam Sinfonietta
Bozzini Quartet
Klangforum Wien
Nieuw Amsterdams Peil/ Ensemble N.A.P.
Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Spectra Ensemble
festivals, venues
Holland Festival
Muziekgebouw aan’t IJ
November Music
visual art, design
Harm van den Dorpel
Michaël Snitker
Boris Tellegen