Sigiswald Kuijken

Category:muzikant, dirigent, solist, oude muziek
Dilbeek, 1944
Genre(s):barok, classicisme, romantiek
Instrument(s):barokviool, viool
Actual/previous member of:La Petite Bande, Kuijken Kwartet

Biography

SIGISWALD KUIJKEN
Sigiswald Kuijken was born in 1944 close to Brussels. He studied violin at the conservatories of Bruges and Brussels, completing his studies at the latter institution with Maurice Raskin in 1964. He came into contact with early music at a very young age, together with his brother Wieland. Studying on his own, he gained a thorough knowledge of specific 17th- and 18th-century performance techniques and conventions of interpretation on violin and viola da gamba This led to the introduction, in 1969, of a more authentic way of playing the violin, whereby the instrument was no longer held under the chin, but lay freely on the shoulder; this was to have a crucial influence on the approach to the violin repertoire and was consequently adopted by many players starting in the early 1970s.

From 1964 to 1972, Sigiswald Kuijken was a member of the Brussels-based Alarius Ensemble (with Wieland Kuijken, Robert Kohnen and Janine Rubinlicht), which performed throughout Europe and in the United States. He subsequently undertook individual chamber music projects with a number of Baroque music specialists, chief among which were his brothers Wieland and Barthold and Robert Kohnen, as well as Gustav Leonhardt, , Frans Bruggen Anner Bylsma and René Jacobs.

In 1972, with the encouragement of Deutsche Harmonia Mundi and Gustav Leonhardt, he founded the Baroque orchestra La Petite Bande, which since then has given innumerable concerts throughout Europe, Australia, South America, China and Japan, and has made many recordings for a number of labels (including Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, Seon, Virgin, Accent, Denon, Hyperion, Challenge, ...).

In 1986 he founded the Kuijken String Quartet (with François Fernandez, Marleen Thiers and Wieland Kuijken), which specialises in the quartets and quintets (with Ryo Terakado as first violist) of the Classical period. Recordings of quartets and quintets by Mozart and Haydn have appeared on Denon.

Since 1998 Sigiswald Kuijken occasionally brings together two generations Kuijken (his daughters Veronica and Sara and his brother Wieland) to perform string quartets of later periods (Debussy, Schumann, Beethoven, Schubert) often combined with Lieder by Marie Kuijken, soprano and also daughter of Sigiswald, and Veronica Kuijken, piano. Recordings of the two generations have been made for Arcana and Challenge Records.

In 2004 Sigiswald Kuijken reintroduced in practical performance the Violoncello da spalla (shoulder cello, very probably the instrument Bach had in mind when writing his six cello solos): concerts and recordings of Bach, Vivaldi, ...

From 1971 to 1996, Sigiswald Kuijken taught Baroque violin at the Koninklijk Conservatorium in The Hague and from 1993 to 2009 at the Koninklijk Muziekconservatorium in Brussels. In addition, he has for many years been in demand as a guest teacher at a number of institutions (including the Royal College of Music in London, Salamanca University, the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, the Conservatoire of Geneva, the Musikhochschule of Leipzig).

Since 1998, Sigiswald Kuijken occasionally conducts "modern" symphonic orchestras in romantic programs ( Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms, Mendelssohn).

On 2 February 2007, Sigiswald Kuijken received an honorary doctorate of the K.U. Leuven.
He was granted in February 2009 the prestigious 'Life Achievement Award of the Flemish Government'.

In December 2015 he received the 'Golden medal from the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Sciences and Arts', and in January 2016 he received the 'Klara career prize' from Klara.

In 2018, Sigiswald was awarded a 'Lifetime Achievement Award' by Rema.

Selective discography

Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro / Don Giovanni / Cosi Fan TutteMozart: Le Nozze di Figaro / Don Giovanni / Cosi Fan Tutte (2022)
classicism
La Petite Bande, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Sigiswald Kuijken
J.S. Bach - The Harpsichord Concertos, Original versions & adaptations vol.1J.S. Bach - The Harpsichord Concertos, Original versions & adaptations vol.1 (2022)
Baroque
La Petite Bande, Johann Sebastian Bach, Sigiswald Kuijken, Mario Sarrechia
Mozart en familleMozart en famille (2022)
classicism
Sigiswald Kuijken, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Sara Kuijken, Marie Kuijken
Mozart: Eine Kleine NachtmusikMozart: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (2021)
classicism
La Petite Bande, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Sigiswald Kuijken
J.S. Bach - Kantaten im JanuarJ.S. Bach - Kantaten im Januar (2021)
Baroque
La Petite Bande, Johann Sebastian Bach, Sigiswald Kuijken
Heinrich Schütz - Resurrection of ChristHeinrich Schütz - Resurrection of Christ (2019)
Baroque
La Petite Bande, Heinrich Schütz, Sigiswald Kuijken
The Complete Lithurgical Year in 64 CantatasThe Complete Lithurgical Year in 64 Cantatas (2017)
Baroque
La Petite Bande, Sigiswald Kuijken, Johann Sebastian Bach
L'ApocalypseL'Apocalypse (2016)
Baroque
Johann Sebastian Bach, Sigiswald Kuijken, Trondheim Barokk, Dietrich Buxtehude, Vox Nidrosiensis, Christian Geist
Bach J.S. - WeihnachtsoratoriumBach J.S. - Weihnachtsoratorium (2014)
Baroque
La Petite Bande, Johann Sebastian Bach, Sigiswald Kuijken
Bach Johann Sebastian - Cantatas 54, 134, 168 en 186Bach Johann Sebastian - Cantatas 54, 134, 168 en 186 (2014)
early music
La Petite Bande, Sigiswald Kuijken, Johann Sebastian Bach, Siri Thornhill, Elisabeth Hermans, Yeree Suh, Petra Noskaiova, Christoph Genz (...)

Author of

Sigiswald Kuijken - La gratitude
Sigiswald Kuijken - La gratitude
Musica Antiqua RevisitedMusica Antiqua Revisited (2010)
oude muziek
Björn Schmelzer, Sigiswald Kuijken
Op de JakobswegOp de Jakobsweg (2007)
Sigiswald Kuijken, Marleen Thiers

Selectieve discografie als medewerker

Heinrich Schütz - Resurrection of ChristHeinrich Schütz - Resurrection of Christ (2019)
Baroque
La Petite Bande, Heinrich Schütz, Sigiswald Kuijken
van Beethoven Ludwig - Strijkkwartetten op. 59 en Strijkkwintet op. 29van Beethoven Ludwig - Strijkkwartetten op. 59 en Strijkkwintet op. 29 (2011)
classicism
Kuijken Kwartet, Marleen Thiers
A guide to period instrumentsA guide to period instruments (2010)
early music, Baroque, romanticism
Diverse uitvoerders
Bach Johann Sebastian - Das Musikalisches OpferBach Johann Sebastian - Das Musikalisches Opfer (2006)
Baroque
Kuijken Kwartet, Johann Sebastian Bach
German Church Cantatas and AriasGerman Church Cantatas and Arias (1992)
Baroque
René Jacobs, Het Kuijken Consort, Het Parnassus Ensemble
German Church Cantatas and AriasGerman Church Cantatas and Arias (1979)
Baroque
René Jacobs, Het Kuijken Consort, Dietrich Buxtehude, Het Parnassus Ensemble, Johann Christian Bach, Georg Philipp Telemann
De Vlaamse Barok ten tijde van RubensDe Vlaamse Barok ten tijde van Rubens (1967)
Baroque, early music
Philippus Van Wichel, Alarius Ensemble, Vocaal kwartet van Brussel, Nicolaus a Kempis, Carolus Hacquart, Gaspar van Weerbeke, Pierre De la Rue, Antoine Brumel (...)

Related Items

News:Klara's 2015 uitgereikt (01.02.2016)
Sigiswald Kuijken wint prijs algemene culturele verdienste (03.02.2009)
Press Clips:
(Wat is dit?)
Haydn - Die Tageszeiten (03.2013)
Bach - Wie Schön Leuchtet Der Morgenstern (08.2008)
Notable cantatas from Herreweghe and Kuijken, the latter often revelatory (08.2008)
Haydn - Harpsichord concertos in F and G. Divertimento in F. (06.2008)
Old Europe resounds in the French countryside (10.2007)
Sigiswald Kuijken (05.2005)
Kuijken and La Petite Bande (01.2004)
Documents:Musica Antiqua Revisited (brochure)
La Petite Bande (book)
External links:Sigiswald Kuijken op Spotify