Douwe Eisenga

Who is Douwe Eisenga?

Douwe Eisenga is a Dutch composer. His most known work is Requiem Aeternam 1953, composed on an occasion of the 50th North Sea flood of 1953 anniversary.

Eisenga is a self-taught musician and has begun composing music for theatre and films in 1980s. From 1990 to 1996, he studied composition with Julius Ament and Wim Dirriwachter at Prins Claus Conservatorium in Groningen.

In the last years, he composed various works for musical ensembles as Xenakis Ensemble, Francis B. Quartet or the pianists Gerard Bouwhuis and Marcel Worms. In 1999, his CD Rivius II recorded by pianist Rien Balkenende was published. Then, in 2001, his piece Growing worm, stabbing his back-part slowly into the blues was published on his CD More new blues for piano. In the same years Eisenga appeared in Vlissingen to make premiere performance of Kabaal, his chamber music piece about Michiel de Ruyter, at the Zeeland Nazomer Festival.

In 2003, his work Requiem Aeternam 1953, a composition for choir and orchestra, was premiered at the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the North Sea flood of 1953. In 2004, a large part of his works was premiered at a concert in the Center for New Music in Zeeland.