Jan Pieter Hendrik [Jan] van Gilse (11/05/1881 - 08/09/1944), a Dutch composer and conductor; born in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, died in Oegstgeest, The Netherlands. Jan van Gilse lived for his art, always seeking the best and the highest attainable goal in music, inspired by idealistic motives. As a conductor and organizer, he militantly championed the interests of Dutch music. The Germans certainly could have made good use of a man like van Gilse, were it not for his fierce anti-fascist convictions and the fact that he always managed to elude the Nazi regime. As a composer, van Gilse was no pioneer. As he had studied in Germany, his music was initially influenced by the Germano-Austrian tradition. After conducting French Impressionistic orchestral repertoire (e.g. Debussy, Ravel, and Roussel), he incorporated a number of distinctive stylistic characteristics in his own music. Gradually, he was able to develop his own style.