Jaap van Benthem

Jacob Barend "Jaap" van Benthem (23 December 1937 – 9 January 2023) was a Dutch musicologist. He was specialized in the field of fifteenth-century Franco-Flemish composers.
Biography.
Van Benthem was born in Rotterdam in 1937. He was the eldest child in a family of teachers. As a result of the German bombing of Rotterdam in 1940, the family became homeless, after which they found shelter in Delft. In Delft he attended primary school. He attended secondary school in Rotterdam. Like his family members, he studied for becoming a teacher. However, from the age of 12 years old he also studied piano at the Conservatory of Rotterdam by Jaap Callenbach. He also studied music theory in Utrecht. In 1963 he started working as a teacher of music theory at Utrechts Conservatorium, and became also appointed in Rotterdam and Amsterdam. From 1972 he taught at the Utrecht University. After his retirement he remained active at the university for a long time. He also held a number of administrative positions, including being the vice-chairman of the Association for Dutch Music History. In 2017 the association published a "Festschrift" in honor of his 80th birthday. He was made an honorary member of the association in 2022.
Van Benthem became known for his studies on various Dutch composers from the fifteenth century. He had special interest in Josquin des Prez (1450-1521). He wrote numerous articles about the composer and edited a number of volumes of the New Josquin Edition, in which all works by the fifteenth-century composer were published. He co-edited a new edition of the masses and motets by Johannes Ockeghem (1410-1497). In one of his last studies, Van Benthem was able to trace and perform works of composer Johannes Tourout, who was hardly known until then. Another specialty was the music of Dutch composers from the period 1880-1940, including co-writing a biography of Johan Wagenaar.
Van Benthem gave small-scale concerts, including in Nieuwerbrug and Linschoten. He was was married to the soprano singer Louise de Koning. They lived in Woerden. Van Benthem died there on 9 January 2023, at the age of 85. He was cremated in Utrecht.