Donemus

Donemus
Name	Donemus
Founded	1947
Founder	E.J. (Eric) de Jonge
Country	Netherlands
Headquarters	Amsterdam
Publications	Sheet music, catalogues, recordings
Genre	Contemporary classical music

Donemus Donemus is a Netherlands-based music publishing house and archive specializing in contemporary classical composition and twentieth- and twenty-first-century avant-garde repertoire. It serves as a repository, publisher, and promoter of Dutch and international composers, maintaining catalogues, microfilms, and digital scores used by performers, scholars, ensembles, and institutions. Donemus collaborates with orchestras, conservatories, broadcasters, and festivals across Europe and beyond.

History

Founded in 1947 by E.J. (Eric) de Jonge, the organization emerged in the wake of World War II alongside institutions such as the Concertgebouw and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra to address postwar publication gaps for contemporary composers. Early collaborators and associated figures included Willem Pijper, Peter van Anrooy, Henk Badings, Piet Kee, and Sem Dresden, while later decades saw interaction with composers from the Gaudeamus Music Week circuit. Donemus worked with Dutch organizations such as the Hilversum Radio networks, the Netherlands Broadcasting Corporation, and the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam on premieres and archival projects. During the Cold War era, Donemus engaged with international festivals like the Darmstadt International Summer Courses for New Music and institutions such as the BBC Proms and the Festival d'Automne à Paris, extending its catalog through exchanges with publishers like Schott Music, Universal Edition, and Boosey & Hawkes.

Mission and Activities

Donemus' mission aligns with promoting contemporary composition through publishing, archiving, and distribution, engaging with ensembles such as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Asko Ensemble, Netherlands Chamber Choir, Holland Festival, and Insomnio Ensemble. It supports performances at venues like the Het Muziektheater, De Doelen, and the TivoliVredenburg complex, while cooperating with conservatories including the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague, the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, and the Utrecht Conservatory. Donemus liaises with broadcasters such as AVROTROS, VPRO, and NTR for recordings and radio premieres, and with research centers like the Netherlands Music Institute and the Institute of Sonology for preservation and scholarship.

Publications and Catalogues

The organization issues critical and practical editions, photocopies, and digital files, maintaining searchable catalogues used by orchestras, soloists, and libraries like the British Library, the Library of Congress, and the Bibliothèque nationale de France. Its cataloguing work references composers linked to labels and publishers including Nonesuch Records, Deutsche Grammophon, Naxos, Mode Records, and Columbia Records. Donemus produces thematic catalogues and matrices comparable to projects such as the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis, the Köchel catalogue, and the RISM database, working across formats similar to Universal Edition’s Neue Ausgabe and editorial projects like the Henle Verlag critical editions. Distribution partnerships have included collaborations with Music Sales Group and archival initiatives with institutions like the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision.

Notable Composers and Works

Donemus has represented or published works by major Dutch and international composers such as Louis Andriessen, Matthijs Vermeulen, Hendrik Andriessen, Ryoji Ikeda, Ton de Leeuw, Misha Mengelberg, Georges Aperghis, Erik Satie, Peter Schat, JacobTV, Theo Loevendie, Jan van Vlijmen, Derk Bogarde?, Klaas de Vries, Wim Henderickx, Gérard Grisey, György Ligeti, Iannis Xenakis, Karlheinz Stockhausen, John Cage, Béla Bartók, Olivier Messiaen, Pierre Boulez, Luciano Berio, Helmut Lachenmann, Elliott Carter, Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Arvo Pärt, Sofia Gubaidulina, Alexander Goehr, Michael Nyman, Kaija Saariaho, Olga Neuwirth, Salvatore Sciarrino, Gavin Bryars, Louis Andriessen (ensemble collaborator), Hendrik Hofmeyr, Rudolf Escher, Wim Mertens, Claudio Monteverdi, Adrian Utley, Nicolas Flagello, Julius Eastman, Christian Wolff, Alfred Schnittke, Aribert Reimann, Hans Zender, Bernd Alois Zimmermann.

(Notable works in the Donemus files include chamber, vocal, orchestral, and electroacoustic scores used in performances at Gaudeamus Music Week, ISCM World Music Days, the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, and the MATA Festival.)

Educational and Research Programs

Donemus collaborates on pedagogical projects with institutions such as the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague, the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, Codarts Rotterdam, Tilburg University, and research bodies including the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research and the European Research Council. Programs have encompassed score-study seminars, composer residencies with ensembles like Asko-Schönberg Ensemble and the Netherlands Wind Ensemble, workshops at festivals such as Gaudeamus, and archival training with the Netherlands Music Institute and the International Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres. Donemus-supported research has contributed to dissertations and projects at universities such as Leiden University, Utrecht University, University of Amsterdam, and Oxford University.

Organizational Structure and Funding

As a foundation-style institution, Donemus has operated with a lean administrative staff, editorial boards, and advisory panels including representatives from the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague, the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, ensemble directors, and musicologists from centers like the Netherlands Music Institute. Funding sources historically included grants from the Dutch Ministry of Culture, sponsorships from municipal bodies such as Gemeente Amsterdam, project funding from the Netherlands Fund for the Performing Arts, and contributions from private foundations like the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds and the Fonds Podiumkunsten. Donemus has also generated revenue through sales, licensing, rental of parts to orchestras including the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, and cooperative agreements with international publishers and cultural agencies such as the British Council and the Institut français.

Category:Music publishing companies of the Netherlands