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Wim Sonneveld

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Wim Sonneveld was born in Utrecht in 1917. His mother died when he was five. As a boy he already sang in an amateur choir, and in 1934 he formed a duo with Fons Goossens. Later he lived in Amsterdam, played small roles, sang chansons and in 1937 performed in cabarets in France. After the outbreak of the war he returned to the Netherlands. In 1943 he founded his own company, Rim Ram, with which he staged a large number of programmes until 1959. Cabaret Wim Sonneveld followed.

Music and breakthrough

In 1960 he played the role of Professor Higgins in the Dutch version of the musical My Fair Lady. He brought the show to the Netherlands after a visit to America and played the part in 702 performances. After that he went solo, including with television shows and the full-length stage show Een avond met Wim Sonneveld in 1964. His songs include Het dorp, an adaptation of La montagne. He died in 1974 after two heart attacks.

Influence

Sonneveld is regarded, together with Toon Hermans and Wim Kan, as one of the three greats of Dutch cabaret. He was considered subtler and more complex than Hermans, and became a cultural icon of theatre, musical and song. In the story of Nederpop in School of Rock he stands at the origin, together with Hermans and Jules de Corte, as one of the great names from the time when the Dutch song still came out of the theatre.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Het dorp by Wim Sonneveld. Notice how the song's story is told with very little accompaniment and how the singing slowly grows more intense.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

Mentioned in other articles

See also

Categories: ArtistsKleinkunst