WIM MERTENS

Biography

Belgian composer Wim Mertens is an internationally acclaimed artist who has performed countless concerts—both as a soloist and with his ensemble—throughout Europe, North and Central America, Japan and Thailand. He is also the author of American Minimal Music (1980), the first book to offer an in-depth analysis of the American minimalist movement.
Since making his recording debut in 1980 with For Amusement Only, an electronic composition created for pinball machines, Mertens has released more than 70 albums.
Among his early landmark works are Vergessen and Struggle for Pleasure (1982). With Maximizing the Audience (1985), he introduced the human voice into his music, singing in a language of his own invention. His catalogue ranges from short Lieder to ambitious multi-part cycles for solo piano, chamber ensemble and symphony orchestra, including the monumental Qua cycle (37 CDs, begun in 1991) and the Moment box set (2003), comprising 13 albums and 80 compositions.
Mertens has also composed extensively for theatre and film, including music for the performances of Jan Fabre, The Belly of an Architect by Peter Greenaway (1987), Je pense à vous by the Dardenne brothers (1992), and Father Damien by Paul Cox (1999). He also wrote original scores for the silent films La femme de nulle part and The Land Beyond the Sunset (1993).
To mark the 40th anniversary of his career, Mertens released the box set Inescapable (2019), followed by a two-year international tour, the double album Heroides, and the ensemble version of Voice of the Living (2023). More recent releases include Ranges of Robustness (2024) and As Water is to Fish (2025).
In concert, Mertens performs in a variety of settings: solo piano, duo (violin or trumpet and piano), trio (violin or trumpet, cello and piano), and with symphony orchestra.