Joep beving biography templates

Witnessing pianist/composer Joep Beving performing “Hanging D” live at a Yellow Lounge in Amsterdam has left me feeling both nervous and exhilarated every time I listen to it. Nervous, because when I first heard it, the effect of the music rooted me to the ground, the pulse thumping through my brain, my heart squeezing tighter as the piece persisted. Exhilarated, because I am curious to observe the unexpected manner in which my body and mind reacts every time I hear the insistent D note coursing throughout the 5 minute 32 second duration of the music.

The constant and seemingly never ending D note reminded me of the persistent voices we can often have in our heads – the nasty little voices that try to convince us that we’re not good enough, smart enough, attractive enough or simply, not enough. As the world goes on around us and our minds fill with thoughts of our daily lives, the feeling of being eternally trapped, unable to break free from worries or negative thoughts, haunts us.

Sure enough, this piece symbolizes the engulfing anxiety that Joep experienced at times in his life. It was inspiring to hear him share the deep meaning behind “Hanging D” and refreshing to listen to an artist speak openly about his emotions. Some of the most powerful works of art come from the darkest places in our lives and can ultimately affect so many people. So, why be afraid of them?
–Esther Yoo

Header Photo © Rahi Rezvani

Joep Beving has created a rich new sound world for his latest extended track, Post. The piece evolved gradually and organically from a string intro composed several years ago into a piece also featuring synthesizers, ney flute, percussion and female voices. “I always felt Post needed to be a soundtrack to a story,” says Beving. “I was waiting for the story to reveal itself.” The idea came as he was writing lyrics for the choir and has now been realized in a short film by Hugo Keijzer, which portrays a mother helping her daughter move from a place of darkness towards recovery. Together, music and images send out a message of love and hope for anyone struggling with the challenges of life today.

You began working on what became Post five years ago. The piece grew into not only an independent piece for strings, synths, ney flute, percussion and a female Bulgarian folk choir, but also a striking synthesis of music and film. How did Post evolve to the place where it is now?

Joep Beving: I’d already worked on the string introduction of Post for my last but one album, Henosis. But it felt like a new beginning or something that didn’t belong on that recording. I didn’t know where it would lead, so it was a bit like running towards a cliff and stopping just before diving over the edge. Christian Badzura, Deutsche Grammophon’s Vice President A&R New Repertoire, suggested that I should take up that track and see where it went. I experimented with it but wasn’t happy with the results, so I let it be. And then came the Corona pandemic, which gave me an opportunity to develop the song’s ending.

I struggled to find a fulfilling resolution, partly because the piece had no protagonist and partly because I didn’t have the skills to get the mix to where I wanted it. For the latter, I received help from some very talented people; for the former, I realized while I was writing the lyrics for the c

Dutch composer and pianist

Musical artist

Joep Beving (born 9 January 1976 in Doetinchem) is a Dutch composer and pianist.

Life and work

Music has been a passion of Beving’s since childhood. The son of a schoolteacher, he formed his first band at the age of 14. He later won a place at a conservatoire, but repetitive strain injury to his wrist forced him to abandon his piano studies after a year. Instead, he studied public policy and administration.

He then went to work in the advertising business, where he was mainly responsible for the music of numerous commercials. He also composed soundtracks for the short filmsHortum (2010) and Het cadeau (2015).

In 2015 Beving released his first album - Solipsism, with modern classical atmospheric piano pieces. He himself describes his compositions as "accessible music for complex emotions". In 2017 his second album, Prehension, appeared in a similar style to his debut album. In 2018 he made Conatus. He wrote several excerpts in Oxford.

Discography

All of his recordings have been released by Deutsche Grammophon/Universal Classics:

• Solipsism (2015)
• Prehension (2017)
• Conatus (2018)
• Henosis (2019)
• Trilogy (2021)
• Hermetism (2022)
• vision of contentment (2024)

List of released singles:

• For Mark (2022)
• Nocturnal (2022)
• Sinfonia (After Bach, BVW 248) (2021)
• Antoinette (From "Mijn vader is een vliegtuig") (2021)
• Sinfonia (2021)
• Ala (2019)
• Venus (2019)
• Unus Mundus (2019)
• Into the dark blue (2019)
• Prelude(2018)
• Hanging D (2018)
• Sonderling (2017)
• Ab Ovo (2017)

Musical style and influences

Beving cites his musical influences as Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett, Philip Glass, Arvo Pärt, Chopin, Satie, Radiohead and Mahler. His favourite classical composers are Scriabin, Prokofiev (especially his 3rd Piano Concerto), Mahler, Brahms, Arvo Pärt, Peteris Vas