Rokus de Groot
Western compositions based on Indian and Turkish classical traditions
Curriculum vitae
| 1947 | born in Aalst |
| … | MA musicology, University of Amsterdam |
| PhD at the University of Utrecht (Paul Op de Coul, Jos Kunst) | |
| 1992 | visiting professor at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico City |
| 1993-1994 | fellow at NIAS |
| 1994-2000 | “bijzonder” professor in music in the Netherlands since 1600, Utrecht University |
| 2000-2012 | professor in musicology, the University of Amsterdam |
| 2009 | visiting professor at the American University of Cairo (AUC), Dept. of English and Comparative Literature |
| 2003 | visiting professor at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico in Mexico City |
| 2012-present | emeritus professor |
Special activities and positions
- Participant in various conferences among which the international conference commemorating Rabindranath Tagore”s 150th birthday, held at the Asiatic Society, Kolkata, 2011
- Lectures and guest courses at universities and music institutions in West- and East-Europe (a.o. Prague, Moscow, Athens, Ghent and Tirana), India (Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Banares and Kolkata), the Americas and South-Africa
- Co-organizer of international conferences a.o. The Arts and Ideas of Rabindranath Tagore (Amsterdam 2001) and the international conference India-Iran: Confluence of musical cultures, held in January 2005 at NCPA, Mumbai
- Composer of songs based on Indian poetry by Rabindranath Tagore and Mirabai and music based on the North Indian rāga Chandrakauns
- Organiser of music and dance performances around Mirabai, during the celebrations of the 50th Anniversary of Indian Independence in the Netherlands in 1997 and 1998
- Conductor of field research in North India (1992, 1997) on present-day interpretations of the legacy of the 16th-century mystic poetess Mirabai
Sources
- personal page on website University of Amsterdam
Selected publications
De Groot’s publications related to Indian and Persian music are included only.
1995 “Westerse muziek voor een Indiaas publiek.” Buma Stemra Magazine 12,2: 28-29.
1997 “De devotie van Mirabai: muziek en bhakti in India.” India Nu 110: 6-8.
1998 & Dick Plukker, Verliefd op de donkere: leven en liederen van Mirabai, Abcoude: Stichting India Muziek, 111 p.
1999 “Van Eeden en Tagore: ethiek en muziek.” Tijdschrift van de Koninklijke Vereniging voor Nederlandse Muziekgeschiedenis 49,2: 98-147.
2001 “De Indiase cultuur als bron van inspiratie voor Nederlandse kunstenaars.” In: Louis Peter Grijp et al. (eds), Een muziekgeschiedenis der Nederlanden, Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, pp. 683-688.
2002 “De klank van het ‘oosten’: transformaties in de westerse klassiek muziek onder invloed van concepten over het oosten, klank en spiritualiteit.” Krisis: tijdschrift voor filosofie 3,4: 96.
2006 “The reception in the Netherlands of an Indian singing saint: Meerabai in film, in translation and in concert.” Tijdschrift van de Koninklijke Vereniging voor Nederlandse Muziekgeschiedenis 56,1: 25-66.
– “Rabindranath Tagore and the Netherlands.” In: A. Biswas & Ch. Gordon-Graham (eds), Rabindanath Tagore, a creative unity, London: The Tagore Centre UK, pp. 47-59.
– “Mirabai: een interculturele ontmoeting in de liefde: Nederlandse culturele bijdrage aan de India-EU top 2005.” India Nu 159: 18-20.
– “The Arabic-Persian story of Laila and Majnun and its reception in Indian arts.” Journal of the Indian Musicological Society 36-37 (Special Issue Indo-Iranian Music: Confluence of Cultures, with discussion), pp. 120-148.
2007 “Composition: a concept for performance.” In: S. Suvarnalata Rao (ed.), Composing, composition & composers in music, Mumbai: ITC Sangeet Research Academy, pp. 25-35.
2008 “On composition and performance.” Journal of the Indian Musicological Society 39: 88-102.
2009 “Transcendent sounds: festival of sacred music in Tiruvaiyaru, South India.” The Hindu, March 29: 5.
2010 “Music, religion, and power: Qawwali as empowering disempowerment.” In: M.B. ter Borg and Jan Willem van Henten (eds), Powers: religion as a social and spiritual force, New York: Fordham University Press, pp. 243-264.
– “Rumi en het verlangen.” In: A. Seyed-Gohrab (ed.), Essays over het leven en werk van Mowlânâ Jalâl al-Din Rumi, Leidschendam: Quist, pp. 25-61.
– “Rabindranath Tagore and Frederik van Eeden: reception of a “Poet-King” in the Netherlands.” In: J. Bor et al. (eds), Hindustani music: thirteenth to twentieth centuries, Delhi: Manohar, Rotterdam: Codarts, pp. 521-576.
2011 “Rumi and the abyss of longing.” In: L. Lewisohn (ed.), The Mawlana Rumi Review vol. 2, Cyprus: Rumi Institute, Near East University, and Exeter: the Rumi Studies Group of the Institute for Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, pp. 60-93.
– “Tagore en Nederland: een blik op de geschiedenis.” India Nu 194: 18-20.
2012 “The legacy of Umar Khayyâm in music of the Netherlands.” In: A.A. Seyed-Gohrab (ed.), The great “Umar Khayyâm”: a global reception of the Rubáiyát, Leiden: Leiden University Press, pp. 143-160.
– “Rumi en muzikaliteit.” In: Liber Amicorum voor Jos Biegstraaten, Woubrugge: Nederlands Omar Khayyam Genootschap/Avalon Pers, pp. 50-52.
– “Mirabai.” In: C. Ceton et al. (eds), Vrouwelijke filosofen: een historisch overzicht, Amsterdam/Antwerpen: Atlas, pp. 136-143.