In his compositions, Rokus de Groot explores the expressivity of melodic contours and polyphony. Examples of his works are: Kontur (1982), Promenades,Marches et Danses (1986), Winds of a far air (1991) and Tide of seasons (1995).
The première of Mehfil was given in 2004. This piece is based on the North Indian râga Chandrakauns; various forms of meend (glissando) are projected on the piano, by way of a special technique of pedaling and the holding/releasing of keys.
In 2005-6, together with the Theatre of the Royal Tropical Institute, he has initiated a festival on the Arabic-Iranian story of Layla and Majnun. His danced music theatre, A Composition about the Night, was premiered with guest dancers and musicians, from Europe, the U.S., Ecuador, Iraq and Turkey.
His compositions have been performed in the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Sweden, U.S., Mexico, Russia, Serbia, Albania and India.
De Groot holds the chair of musicology at the University of Amsterdam, after occupying a personal chair 'Music in the Netherlands since 1600', at the University of Utrecht (1994-2000).
Career: Rokus has given lectures and guest courses at universities and music institutions in West- and East-Europe, India, the Americas and South-Africa, about Western compositions based on musical models from Indian and Turkish classical traditions, as well as about the history and theory of Western music.
Also, Rokus has conducted field research in Scotland and North India on present-day interpretations of the mystic Mirabai legacy. During the celebrations of the 50th Anniversary of Indian Independence, he organised music and dance performances, as well as university seminars around Mirabai. He also published a book, Verliefd op de Donkere (1998), and composed song cycles on her poetry. Recently, he investigated the role of Rabindranath Tagore in Dutch cultural life since the mid-1910s.
Rokus was co-organizer of international conferences at which the subject of music and spirituality was a central issue of discussion, like Music, Poetry and Devotion (Utrecht, 1998), The Arts and Ideas of Rabindranath Tagore (Amsterdam, 2001), India-Iran: Confluence of musical cultures (Mumbai, India, 2005) and Symposium Galina Ustvolskaya: New Perspectives (Amsterdam, 2011).
On his retirement from the University of Amsterdam, he received the decoration of honour for special merits of the Faculty of Humanities, which was handed over to him by its dean, prof.dr. Frank van Vree, on May 25, 2012.
At this ceremony he also received Liber Plurium Vocum, by Sander van Maas, Carolien Hulshof and Paulien Oldenhave, in 2012.
Rokus de Groot was born in Aalst on July 27, 1947. He is the brother of composer Jan Rokus van Rosendael.
He obtained his MA in musicology with honours at the University of Amsterdam (Frank Ll. Harrison, Ton de Leeuw) and his PhD at the University of Utrecht (Paul Op de Coul, Jos Kunst). As a musician he received teaching from Cor Visser and Willem Vogel (organ) and Ernst Heins (Central-Javanese court gamelan). He obtained a diploma of cantor-organist in 1969.