Joey Roukens

Contemporary Composer

Recent works

Check out my latest compositions

Requiem

Live Recording November 2022. Performed by Nederlands Kamerkoor and Amsterdam Sinfonietta, conductor Sofi Jeannin. The piece was commissioned by November Music Den Bosch for their concert series 'Bosch Requiem' and Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ Amsterdam.

Orchestral

Night Flight - 2021

 

For orchestra

Scherzo from Symphony No.1. It can be performed as a stand-alone piece. As such, it was the compulsory work for the finalists of the International Conducting Competition Rotterdam 2022.

Duration: 8'

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Distorted Fantasia - 2021

After J.P. Sweelinck 

For orchestra

Commissioned by Stichting Sweelinck 2021. Written for the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the death of Dutch composer J.P. Sweelinck (1562-1621).

Duration: 14'30

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Symphony No. 1 ‘Kaleidoscopic’ - 2021

 

For orchestra

I. Always with forward motion
II. Ayre
III. Scherzo: Night Flight
IV. Landscape


Commissioned by the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra.

Duration: 42'

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In Unison - 2017

 

For two pianos and orchestra

I. Neon Toccata
II. What if
III. Dark Ride.


Double piano concerto written for Lucas & Arthur Jussen and the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest. Commissioned by NTR ZaterdagMatinee.

Duration: 32'

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Morphic Waves - 2016

 

For orchestra

A kind of symphony in one big movement written for the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra as part of my residency with this orchestra during the 2015-16 concert season.

Duration: 23'

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Ensemble

Boundless (Homage to L.B.) - 2016

 

For string orchestra, harp, keyboards and percussion

I. Manically
II. Glacially
III. Propulsively


Commissioned by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, written for the centennial of Leonard Bernstein's birth.

Duration: 16'

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Visions at Sea - 2016

Version for string orchestra 

For string orchestra

This is a version for string orchestra of my third string quartet ' Visions at Sea' I made for Amsterdam Sinfonietta.

Duration: 16'

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Chamber Music

Forgotten Dutch Melodies - 2023

String Quartet No. 5 

String Quartet

I. From a 17th-Century Songbook
II. Deianira, Ick Kent
III. A Tune from the North
IV. Country Dance


Duration: 19'

Riffs - 2021

 

For violin and piano

Commissioned by the Nationaal Vioolconcours (Davina van Wely Prize).

Duration: 5'

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Unleashed - 2020

 

For 5 string players and percussion

Written for the ensemble FUSE.

Duration: 4'

Three Rameau Pieces - 2019

after harpsichord pieces by Jean-Philippe Rameau 

For string quartet

I. Les Trois Mains
II. Les Soupirs
III. La Joyeuse


Commissioned by the String Quartet Biennale Amsterdam.

Duration: 10'

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What Remains - 2019

String Quartet no. 4 


I. Strange Oscillations
II. Motectum


Written for the Dudok Quartet Amsterdam. Commisioned by the String Quartet Biennale Amsterdam.

Duration: 26'

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Sarasvati - 2018

 

For violin and piano

Written for Noa Wildschut and Elisabeth Brauß. by Concertgebouw Amsterdam and the European Concert Hall Organisation in the framework of ECHO Rising Stars.

Duration: 12'30"

Solo Instrumental

Piano Sonata No.1 - 2023

 


In One Movement


Duration: 17'

Christmas Sonatina - 2022

 

For solo piano

A three-movement sonatina I wrote in december 2022, each of the movements is freely based on old Christmas melodies.

Duration: 8'

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Roaming Empty Streets - 2020

 

For solo piano

Written for Ralph van Raat.

Duration: 4'40"

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Summer Preludes - 2020

 

For solo piano

1. Summer Nostalgia
2. Flowing
3. Quiet Summer Night
4. The weather has changed
5. Little Meditation I
6. Gray July Days
7. Raindrops
8. After the Rain (Little Meditation II)
9. Autumn in Summer
10. Heatwave (Little Meditation III)
11. Tropical Days
12. An August Morning
13. Epilogue - End of Summer


Duration: 28'

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Autumn Prayer - 2016

 

For solo piano

Duration: 6'

We once lived here - 2016

Five Pieces for Piano 

For solo piano

1. Dark Highway
2. Floating Away
3. Clouds and Swells
4. That Familiar Lonely Place
5. Here at last


A cycle of 5 piano pieces, compiled in 2016 but composed over several years (during the 2010s).

Duration: c. 20'

Vocal Music

Requiem - 2022

 

For SATB chorus, percussion and string orchestra

Part One
1. Invocatio
2. Introitus
3. Graduale: Si ambulem
4. Dies
5. Oro supplex - Lacrimosa

Part Two
6a. Praeludium
6b. Interludium I (Under the wide and starry sky)
7a. Invocatio
7b. In Paradisum
8. Interludium II (I am not there)
9. Offertorium
10. Agnus Dei
11. Postludium (Good night)


Commissioned by November Music (written for their Bosch Requiem series) and Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ. First performance on 3 November 2022 by Nederlands Kamerkoor & Amsterdam Sinfonietta conducted by Sofi Jeannin.

Duration: 60'

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Angeli - 2018

Version 1 for female voices and 8 celli 

For 5 female voices and 8 celli (also version for 5 female voices and organ)

Written for vocal ensemble Wishful Singing and Cello Octet Amsterdam. Commissioned by the Cello Biënnale Amsterdam.

Duration: 20'

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Angeli - 2018

Version 2 for female voices and organ 

Version for 5 female voices and organ

Duration: 20'

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Herbstlieder - 2016

 

3 Lieder for alto or mezzo-soprano and piano

1. Der Herbst des Einsamen (Trakl)
2. Herbst (Morgenstern)
3. Im Blätterfallen (Bierbaum)


Duration: 10'30"

Stage Works

Dorian: Ballet in two acts - 2022

After 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' by Oscar Wilde 

For orchestra.

Commissioned by the Dutch National Ballet, this two act ballet was written for a collaboration between classical dancers of the Dutch National Ballet (Junior Company) and hiphop dancers of ISH Dance Collective. Choreography by Ernst Meisner (Dutch National Ballet) and Marco Gerris (ISH).

Duration: c. 75'

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