He doesn’t know exactly why Samama became a composer. He does remember that he already tried to compose as a teenager. Around 1970 Samama heard a long-playing record with a string quartet by a Dutch composer (Samama doesn’t remember who that was) and thought that work was so bad that he thought he could do better and got started right away. Then he started composing seriously and decided to really want to learn the trade. He took the first steps with Bruno Maderna as a stimulating guide. But soon he decided to take a serious lesson.
During his studies in musicology at Utrecht University from 1970 to 1977, he therefore studied composition with Rudolf Escher for several years. The choice to take lessons from Escher was a conscious choice; Samama, who played the flute as a child, was introduced to some of Escher’s flute works at the time and was very impressed by them. After his studies, Samama held numerous positions in Dutch music life as a musicologist and developed further as a composer.
As a composer, Samama does not use a fixed method or system. It is a process of improvising behind the piano, a lot of composing in the head and thinking deeply about the desired end result. Samama rarely adjusts anything after a performance or rehearsal of his music, aside dynamic indications. He has a clear idea of how it will sound. He composes music that is a logical part of what he himself is or who he wants to be. In an interview, he symbolically mentions the different ‘jaces’ he can put on. For example, in his clarinet quintet he puts on a ‘Jewish coat’.
When composing, two things are essential for Samama, firstly that his music can develop organically and naturally (he often has the facade that he runs after his ideas like a rod) and secondly that his music communicates, tells a story, however abstract that story can sometimes be.