Arnold Marinissen: ‘For me, creating music is all about immersing. Warmth and pulse are words that come to mind when I try to describe my music. Voice and text are important; I like to follow the route that a text lays out for me, to deal with breath, diction, nuances of intonation, and I’m intrigued by the personality of each individual voice.’
With his background in percussion he also likes to write for this multi-coloured family of instruments. But he equally gladly dedicates himself to strings, winds and keyboards, electro-acoustic music and music for dance and film.
His works were performed by, amongst others, Residence Orchestra string trio, Asko|Schoenberg Ensemble, Storioni Trio, Slagwerk Den Haag, Silbersee, Calefax Reed Quintet, Ensemble SCALA, Ensemble Variances (France), Maat Saxophone Quartet, Asko Kamerkoor, Pinquins Percussion Trio, Prisma Strijktrio, and performers such as Katharina Gross (cello), Helena Rasker (voice), Michel Marang (clarinet), Goska Isphording (harpsichord), Ernestine Stoop (harp), Claire Edwardes (percussion), Tatiana Koleva (percussion), Raymond Honing (flute). He created work for choreographer/dancer Ederson Rodrigues Xavier, for the Dutch cinema film Bernard, and for an audio visual installation by the Italian artist Pierluigi Pompei.
His vocal quintet Von Pferden, Gräsern, Sonnen, Menschen was nominated for the Toonzetters Best Dutch Work of 2012 Prize. It was performed by VOCAALLAB in the Holland Festival 2012, and by EXAUDI in the UK. His work has been performed throughout the Netherlands, in the Biennale di Venezia, the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, the PASIC and Zeltsman Marimba Festival (USA), Sao Paolo (Brazil), Taipei (Taiwan), Zagreb (Croatia) and Wellington (New Zealand), amongst others.
His music also sounded in the Dutch cinema film Bernard and in dance productions by Club Guy & Roni, Korzo Productions and Scapino Ballet; it was broadcast by the BBC and in The Netherlands.