Louis Peter Grijp Lecture

On 9 January 2016, Louis Grijp passed away at his residence in Driebergen-Rijsenburg at the age of 61. He had made a name for himself internationally as a researcher of Dutch song and musical culture and as a musician in the Camerata Trajectina ensemble.

Louis studied musicology at Utrecht University and piano and lute at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague. Since 1990, he had been working as a researcher at the Meertens Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). Later on, he also held coordinating and executive positions there, such as head of the Documentation and Research Centre for Dutch Song. In addition, he was appointed full professor at Utrecht University in 2001, holding the chair of ‘Dutch song culture in past and present’. In 2003, he joined the KNAW as a member.

Annual lecture

Louis Grijp meant a great deal to his profession. The Meertens Institute and the Dutch Song Working Group (in formation) wish to pay homage to this fact by the introduction of an annual lecture series. Rather than working on a personal research plan, Louis promoted the development of an entire field of research and a method that has already helped answering numerous questions and will be an infinite source of inspiration. Also, he taught about song culture with great pleasure and verve to instill the younger generation with enthusiasm for his subject and his expertise.

To give concrete shape to the ‘Grijp school’, the Dutch Song Working Group and the Meertens Institute introduced the so-called Louis Peter Grijp lecture, which is to be held every year, on or around the Day of Dutch Song – 10 May, the day on which, in 1932, the Wilhelmus was established as the Dutch national anthem – by an excellent researcher in the field of song.

The first lecture in the series was held by Mike Kestemont on 10 May 2016. He discussed computational methods that might enable to establish the authorship of the Wilhelmus. The lecture can be watched on Vimeo.