Vermeulen, Matthijs (1888–1967)

Dutch composer. He wrote a small number of symphonies and other pieces that have been likened to the work of the atonal US composer Charles Ives. Largely ignored in his lifetime, he was later hailed as a formative influence by a younger generation of Dutch composers.

Vermeulen worked as a music critic in Paris 1921–46. His own compositions were built around a free-flowing, non-recapitulating, many-voiced polyphony. Even in his First Symphony (1912–14), this produced a highly original music utterly unlike that of his European contemporaries.