Breda  |  The Netherlands  |  March 8, 2024

A hundred years of Maassen

In 2023, attention was paid to the fact that in Breda members of the Maassen family have been city carillonneur for 100 years. Therefore, after the WCF congress in Utrecht, a special carillon concert was given during a post-congress day in Breda. A lecture, an exhibition, and a symposium followed in the fall. In short: four generations of Maassen.

Jac. Maassen (° 1887 - † 1946) turned out to have a passion for music. He became an organist, director of several choirs, music teacher and composer. The appointment as city carillonneur followed in 1923. Although he did not study carillon in Mechelen, he modelled his playing as much as possible on the example of Jef Denyn and developed into a well-known and respected musician. His unexpected death was big news in Breda newspapers and was also reported by dailies elsewhere.

Peter Maassen (° 1910 - † 1992), like his father, was active as a choir director, organist, and music teacher and graduated from the Mechelen carillon school in 1935: "with distinction". In 1937, he won first prize at the fifth international carillon competition in Maastricht. When his father died in 1946, he became Breda's city carillonneur. Peter was an introverted man who had little desire to be in the limelight, but was certainly a passionate, valued, and competent carillonneur.

Jacques Maassen (° 1947 - † 2013) studied Musicology in Utrecht and carillon at the Netherlands Carillon School in Amersfoort. Having previously won several first prizes, he became the third Dutch carillonneur to be awarded the Prix d'Excellence in 1972. In 1975, he became city carillonneur of Breda. Jacques was also a successful avant-garde style carillon composer. In 1979, he became president of the NKV and five years later director of the NBS in Amersfoort, where he also taught. He was the first Dutch carillonneur to give concerts in Japan.

Jacques has dozens of publications to his name. As a musicologist, he had a special interest in the history and musical development of the carillon. Until 1985, he was a member of the editorial board of the NKV magazine 'Klok en Klepel', for which he also wrote several articles.

A huge promoter of the "carillon-plus" principle, he often joined events in the city. During the 1980 National Tattoo held in Breda, parts of Wim Franken's carillon composition 'De Geuzen' were performed, with the carillon playing together with several military orchestras. In 2009, Jacques was appointed Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau.

Paul Maassen (° 1981), like his father and grandfather, grew up in a house full of music. He took piano lessons at an early age and proved to have a strong affinity for jazz. In 2004, he obtained a bachelor's degree in jazz piano.

From students at the Netherlands Carillon School, Paul received his first carillon lessons. Lessons from Flemish carillonneur Carl Van Eyndhoven taught him to look at carillon music from his perspective as a jazz musician. He is still active as a jazz pianist. In 2012, Paul succeeded his father when he retired.

Paul has his own ideas about the office of carillonneur: "A carillon is sometimes a folkloric item, for Saint Nicholas, King's Day and so on, but there is a danger that [...] the idea arises that the carillon is only folklore. And folklore lives in the past. For me, it's precisely about connecting with society, as an artist on an instrument in the public space, without becoming political, without becoming populist, and finding a healthy balance in, on the one hand, the collective ownership of the Breda people (with accessible, appealing repertoire and projects) and, on the other hand, the concert instrument that it should also be."