Eduard van Beinum

Born in Arnhem in 1900, Eduard van Beinum mastered several instruments by the age of 14, with a particular emphasis on the piano. By the time he was 16 he was playing viola in an Arnhem-based orchestra led by his father. After entering the Amsterdam Conservatoire, Beinum began to conduct local choruses and provincial orchestras throughout the Netherlands. Beinum's talents as a pianist brought him to the <a href="spotify:artist:2HqNckz4bPVT37fWkhugTZ">Concertgebouw Amsterdam</a> in 1927, and he made his debut as a guest conductor there in 1929. In 1931 he was named to the post of assistant to chief conductor <a href="spotify:artist:15C0u91ymHEGnLv9HpX6R5">Willem Mengelberg</a>. In 1938 Eduard van Beinum was promoted to joint leadership of the <a href="spotify:artist:2HqNckz4bPVT37fWkhugTZ">Concertgebouw</a> alongside <a href="spotify:artist:15C0u91ymHEGnLv9HpX6R5">Mengelberg</a>, but did not take full control of the orchestra until 1945 when <a href="spotify:artist:15C0u91ymHEGnLv9HpX6R5">Mengelberg</a> was suspended from his post and exiled after being declared a Nazi collaborator.

Musicians responded strongly to Beinum's leadership -- he represented the antithesis of <a href="spotify:artist:15C0u91ymHEGnLv9HpX6R5">Mengelberg</a>'s autocratic manner. Beinum preferred to work with an orchestra in a collaborative sense, and his evenhanded approach was what the <a href="spotify:artist:2HqNckz4bPVT37fWkhugTZ">Concertgebouw</a> needed in the postwar period when tensions were running high. In 1949 Beinum was named principal conductor of the <a href="spotify:artist:3PfJE6ebCbCHeuqO4BfNeA">London Philharmonic</a>, premiering several works of <a href="spotify:artist:7MJ1pB5d6Vjmzep2zQlorn">Benjamin Britten</a> and encouraging the efforts of aspiring composer <a href="spotify:artist:5kM4H3hu2dxxk9erCAZA2e">Malcolm Arnold</a>. Beinum took the <a href="spotify:artist:2HqNckz4bPVT37fWkhugTZ">Concertgebouw</a> on a successful tour of the United States in 1956, dividing the conducting duties with <a href="spotify:artist:1JlF2VuyOSOasy8ZxCbD6C">Rafael Kubelik</a>. Beinum also accepted the job of musical director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic beginning in 1956. It was during a rehearsal with the <a href="spotify:artist:2HqNckz4bPVT37fWkhugTZ">Concertgebouw</a> in April 1959 that Beinum suffered a fatal heart attack at age 58.

Beinum is first heard in radio air checks from 1939, and his full-fledged recording career did not get underway until Telefunken recorded him with the <a href="spotify:artist:2HqNckz4bPVT37fWkhugTZ">Concertgebouw</a> in November 1941. Beinum made up for lost time quickly at war's end, recording frequently and well for the English Decca and Philips labels, primarily with the <a href="spotify:artist:2HqNckz4bPVT37fWkhugTZ">Concertgebouw Amsterdam</a> and the <a href="spotify:artist:3PfJE6ebCbCHeuqO4BfNeA">London Philharmonic</a>. His recorded output is well invested in Romantic literature, and his interpretations of Beethoven's Die Geschöpfe des Prometheus and <a href="spotify:artist:2bM3j1JQWBkmzuoZKu4zj2">Bruckner</a>'s Symphony No. 7 are justly famous. But Beinum was also greatly interested in the contemporary music of his time, making many first recordings of works by <a href="spotify:artist:7ilZR3G7jelNCAOLmTkmyJ">Pijper</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3ukDC1TsUSMuvAHC7RWcXW">Diepenbrock</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6s4CF1WV4g9L7PvnNMfFzn">Badings</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2zeJd0rV9PMRXcxxLLsy9h">Hendrik Andriessen</a>, in addition to those of <a href="spotify:artist:5zyNXVd952fWOjkdGHCvPd">Bartók</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7MJ1pB5d6Vjmzep2zQlorn">Britten</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:7ie36YytMoKtPiL7tUvmoE">Stravinsky</a>.