Over the past few years, we have been fortunate enough to provide percussion ensemble sheet music and percussion method books to between 800 and 1000 percussionists, band, ensemble, teachers, and music schools each year. Because so many people know us, they often ask about other suppliers and publishers in the Netherlands.
We are keen on being honest about our competition and we want to inform our customers as well as possible. That's why I have compiled a list of suppliers with a solid history of publishing percussion ensemble sheet music.
You can roughly divide the suppliers of percussion ensemble sheet music in the Netherlands into three different groups:
- Companies specialized in percussion ensemble sheet music
- Wind music publishers that also offer percussion ensemble sheet music
- Musicians who offer their percussion ensemble sheet music on their own website
Companies specialized in percussion ensemble sheet music
In the Netherlands, you'll find several publishers specialized in producing music books and sheet music for percussionists. The two largest ones currently are:
Dutch Music Partners
This merged company, in existence since 2002, is actually one of the few Dutch companies that has truly specialized in publishing percussion methods and ensemble music for a wide variety of instrumentations.
Drums2Play
Active since 2006 and run by Dennis Smits, offering a wide range of sheet music for various types of percussion ensembles. One of the few companies in the Netherlands where you can also find music for steel bands.
Wind music publishers that also offer percussion ensemble sheet music
Because many Dutch community bands have both a wind band and a drumline or percussion group, there are traditionally some wind music publishers that have also started to publish percussion ensemble sheet music. These include:
Tierolff Muziekcentrale
This company, which used to have a music store in Roosendaal, has been around since 1899. Tierolff has increasingly specialized in publishing sheet music for wind orchestras over the years. Here, you can still find many traditional drum marches by composers like Sandrie Egberts.
Molenaar Edition
What's unique about Molenaar Edition (founded in 1933) is that they have their own record label and were the first company in the 1970s to start recording their publications with professional (military) wind orchestras. The famous drum school by A. van Veluwen has been published by Molenaar.
De Haske/Hal Leonard
De Haske (founded in 1983) was established by composer and conductor Jan de Haan and is now part of the American company Hal Leonard. De Haske has published all the books and sheet music by Gert Bomhof and is, of course, the publisher of one of the most popular drum methods of this moment: Real Time Drums by Arjen Ooosterhout.
AM Music Distribution & Publishing
AM Music (founded in 2017) is led by Alma Muller and is a continuation of Geert Bruinsma Muziek and North Music Holland, which have always published a lot of music for percussion ensembles by composers from the northern part of our country.
Himalaya Music
Himalaya Music (founded in 2006) is the company of Ivo Kouwenhoven and specializes in sheet music for youth orchestras, orchestras with variable arrangements, and ensembles. Additionally, pieces for junior percussion ensembles are also published at Himalaya.
Musicians who offer their percussion ensemble sheet music on their own site
The so-called self-publishing has gained quite a bit of popularity in recent years. Currently, the most prominent self-publishing composers are:
Martijn Oostra
This young composer (born in 1993) from Bolsward has provided quite a bit of new repertoire for melodic percussion ensembles in recent years. You might be familiar with his work "Elements," which he composed specifically for the ONSK in 2017.
Etienne Houben
Etienne Houben (born in 1982) from Obbicht has a passion for conducting and composing for various types of percussion ensembles. In addition to the pieces he self-publishes, pieces by him have also appeared in recent years at DMP, Tapspace, and C. Alan Publications.
There might be more...
We realize that this is only a small part of what is available in the field of percussion ensemble sheet music in the Netherlands. Do you think you have good additions or that we have forgotten something? Please let us know.
You may also like to take a look at some of these great resources:
About Dirkjan van Groningen: Professional percussionist, teacher, composer, and musical entrepreneur. Helps percussionists to function more effectively in bands and ensembles by providing valuable additional resources with his method books and sheet music!