As a COMPOSER Peter Visser is actually autodidact from the time he stopped his lessons with Van Baaren at the conservatory.In 1972 he resumed composition, first in a rather experimental way (Impulses for viola and spinet, 1976). Then he composed for a while in a kind of neo-romantic style with links to Janácek, Bartók, Bruckner and Mahler. Since 1981 (Rilke Songs, Music for Piano) more expressionistic with some dodecafonist elements and patterns borrowed from the Indian music (Rupaka for guitar, Songs of Unity, Raga Music), sometimes also looking to composers as Sjostakovitsj and Messiaen. Influences of folk music are found in works such as the Fantasy on two British Folk Songs for violin and piano, the first String Quartet (1977), Sonata Slavica for violin and piano (1989), the First Symphony (1991) and the Hora Bulgarica (2000) for ensemble. He composed a large quantity of works for amateurs, such as the Sinfonietta Hasonica, Music for Aquarius and Four Impressions, all for amateur orchestra, and for youth ensembles (Second Symphony "Confrontations" for four youth orchestras).
Because of his work at the royal Conservatory he regularly composed for wind ensembles (Gothic Fantasy and Ricercare for double wind quintet), Divertimento for wind quintet (2012). As member of the board of directors of the Haagse Kunstkring, Visser often met painters and writers, hence the source of many compositions with extra-musical inspiration, such as "Zodiac Variations" for guitar or piano, "12 Artist Portraits" for piano,
the piano trio "Mountains" (1984) and the piano quartet "Hills" (1992), " Orient Express" for saxophone, viola and piano, "Tatiana" based on the movies by the famous French filmmaker Jacques Tati for Saxophone Quartet, string trio "Space". During a short period (1994/1995), Peter Visser experimented with spatial notation, as was the case in ten etudes "Neumen" for piano, Ascensione" for several flutes and the trio "Landscapes"
SONGS have always had an important place in Vissers works, especially in his first period. There are songs on poems of his own, like the socio-critical Protestsongs (1980) and Vagant Song with violin solo, on modern poems by the Dutch poets Jozef Eijckmans and Paul van Ostayen and… Mao Tse Tung. Alongside these, we find songs on older poems (Rilke, Shakespeare), with several instruments (French Rilke Songs with flute, "The Clouds" with cello on poems by Goethe (1979), " Unda" for flute, alto, guitar and mezzo-soprano on an Ode by Paul Claudel.
Peter Visser composed several Choral Works: "Songs of Solitude" for chamber choir and "Poems of the Wind" with accompaniment of double wind quintet, "Pater Noster" for chamber choir and string orchestra, "Salute to the Whole World" (Walt Whitman) for soprano, baritone, mixed choir and orchestra. Very special are three song cycles on Frisian poems from Vissers native ground: there are not many songs written in the Frisian language. Remarkable are many works in the style of other composers, as there are compositions in the style of Visser's examples Schubert and Brahms. Working after these examples even signified the starting point of Peter Vissers compositorial development. He also made transcriptions of works by Janácek, Ravel, César Franck, Schubert (orchestration "Grand Duo" for piano four hands) and other composers. The last years (starting from 2009) Visser changed his style by looking for much more consonance and simplicity ( "Atmosferi" for string quartet) and is in search for a personal tonal system (pianocycle "New Twelve-tone Composition") He is also concerned about the combination voice-instrumental music and wrote several vocalising choral works and songs.
