Jos Cleber | |
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Cleber in 1974
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Background information | |
Birth name | Jozef Cleber |
Born |
Maastricht, Netherlands |
2 June 1916
Died | 21 May 1999 Hilversum, Netherlands |
(aged 82)
Genres | Classical, jazz |
Occupation(s) | Musician, conductor, composer, arranger |
Instruments | Trombone, violin |
Years active | 1931–1981 |
Labels | Phonogram, Chappell, Decca, His Master's Voice, Philips, Telefunken |
Associated acts | Cosmopolitain Orkest (Radio Batavia, later AVRO) |
Jozef "Jos" Cleber (Dutch pronunciation: [kle'bɛr]; 2 June 1916, Maastricht – 12 May 1999, Hilversum) was a Dutch trombonist, violinist, conductor, composer, arranger, and producer.
He wrote numerous arrangements (notably to Heel de wereld, the Dutch Eurovision Song Contest entry in 1958) and conducted De Zaaiers, one of the orchestras of Dutch radio, and many recordings on the Phonogram label until he left for South Africa in 1962. However, he may be best known for orchestrating the Indonesian national anthem Indonesia Raya.
Cleber was born in Maastricht, the youngest of eight children in the Roman Catholic family of Gerardus Josephus Cleber, the organist and choir conductor at the Basilica of Saint Servatius, and Anna Maria Bastian. His father gave him his first music lessons.
After high school, he attended the Maastricht Academy of Music, where he studied violin and piano, and at fifteen years old, he began playing viola with the Maastrichts Stedelijk Orkest. He later became fascinated by jazz and the music of Duke Ellington and thus chose to continue his studies at the Royal Conservatory of Liège in saxophone and clarinet. There he was advised to study trombone instead, because his lips were thought to be well suited for it.