Hendrik Marie Jacobus [Henk] Bijvanck (06/11/1909 - 05/09/1969), a Dutch composer. He was born in Kudus on the isle of Java (Indonesia), a Dutch colony at the time. He died on September 5, 1969 in Heemstede (The Netherlands). He studied piano and music theory with Carl Oberstadt in The Hague. In 1929 Bijvanck went to Vienna where Franz Schmidt was his teacher for composition and Mrs. Prof. Andrasszy for piano.
From 1932 to 1938 he worked in Vienna as a pianist. In 1938 he returned to The Netherlands (The Hague) where he remained until 1943. From 1943 to 1945 Bijvanck worked at the 'Institut der Wiener Sängerknaben' and at the 'Wiener Volksoper' in Vienna. From 1945 to 1947 Bijvanck was a piano teacher at the Muzieklyceum in Amsterdam. He also worked for the Dutch broadcasting.
In the period 1938 - 1943 he wrote several pieces for piano, a piano concerto, a requiem, a string quartet, sonatas for violin and piano and a large number of songs. In Vienna he wrote a violin concerto, the Bevrijdingssymphonie (Liberation symphony) and a mystery play Il Santo, which took the form of a mimed ballet with orchestral accompaniment and 'Sprechgesang', the mass providing the unifying element to the ten danced episodes. In 1945 he wrote a dramatic opera in four acts Jozef und seine Brüder (Joseph and his brothers). In 1946 the Concertgebouw orchestra, conducted by Hein Jordans, performed the Bevrijdingssymfonie. Since 1946 Bijvanck composed songs for all types of voices, three Harpsongs of King David (on words by Joost van den Vondel), sonata for violoncello, compositions for piano, a symfonietta for string orchestra and the Lourdes symphony with an extended final chorus 'Koor der zieken' ('chorus of the afflicted').