Piet
van Dijk, former solo trombonist of the Marine Band of the Royal
Netherlands Navy and the "The Hague Philharmonic Orchestra", passed
away February 6, 2003, in The Hague, The Netherlands at the age of 82.
Piet van Dijk 1920-2003
Van Dijk joined the Marine Band of the Royal Netherlands Navy in 1945 as solo trombonist
Piet van Dijk as soloist with the
Marine Band of the Royal Netherlands Navy in
New York/Rockefeller Center, 1955
and achieved the rank of Major before he went to the The Hague Philharmonic Orchestra as their solo-trombonist in 1957.
Piet van Dijk during World War II
He
played there until his retirement in 1982. Van Dijk played under well
known conductors such as Antal Dorati, Otto Klemperer, Leonard
Bernstein, Carlo Maria Giulini, Pierre Boulez, Claudio Abbado, Karl
Boemm and many more. He received many compliments and positive reviews
for his natural phrasing and beautiful sound on both the tenor-trombone
and the tenor-tuba.
Joop Hellemond, Piet van Dijk, Frans Sanders en Bas Dekker
One
of the major highlights in his flamboyant career was the performances
of the big trombone solo in Mahler's 3rd Symphony in 1960 under Willem
van Otterloo. He was the first to perform this Symphony in Holland
after the Second World War and received many compliments in the reviews
of these concerts.
Piet van Dijk with the "Hague Philharmonic Orchestra" in the time
of Mahler's third symphony performances.
With
both orchestras he made numerous international tours around the world,
among them were three big USA tours in 1953, 1962 and 1968.
His
son, Ben van Dijk, remembers his father as a real family man who loved
his wife, children and grandchildren. Next to his family, the trombone
was the most important thing in his life. After his retirement van Dijk
kept playing the trombone only for the joy it gave him and the
duet-sessions he had with his friend who is also named Piet van Dijk
and his son, Ben.
Ben will never forget all the hours of
conversation they had about everything that had to do with music. The
musical skills of Piet van Dijk had great influence on Ben's career.
The beautiful singing legato style and sense for a most natural
phrasing will be in his mind
forever.
Piet van Dijk in "de Koperen Knopen Band"
Ben wishes to thank all
the members of the ITA for giving him the ITA 2003 Award, something
what made his father so very happy and proud in his last days in this
life.