Autobiography
(curriculum vitae)

by Jos Kunst (ca. 1993)

Jos Kunst was very fond of the drawing (made by his younger son Jaap Kunst).
English translation by Jan Pieter Kunst.

[Portrait of Jos Kunst by Jaap Kunst] Jos Kunst (1936-?) Studies:
1953: Romanic Literature
1961: Mathematical Logic
1963: Music
1990: History of Platonism in Antiquity

1967, 1969: Gaudeamus prizes
1972: [i.e. 1970. JPK] Prize for Composition
His works can be found at Donemus (Amsterdam), Peters (London) and the Institute for Sonology (The Hague).

1975: Stops composing: has lost all confidence in the existence of any culture-group that shows, if only to the slightest degree, some vitality and a committment to make the so called "new" classical music viable, and with which he could, if only from a distance, feel some form of association. Wants to keep involved with music however and chooses therefore the long detour of a scholarly, in this case musicological, existence.
1978: Dissertation: Making Sense in Music (Ghent, Communication & Cognition)
1982: Poems: Niemand blijft ooit zichzelf [Nobody ever remains his/her true self] (Amsterdam, Meulenhoff)
1988: After thirteen years he decides to end the long journey. Farewell book: Filosofie van de Muziekwetenschap [Philosophy of Musicology] (Leiden, Martinus Nijhoff)

1989: Composes again, but directs his musical activity only at his own goals. Thus, he withdraws from most social rituals that, er, "liven up" musical life.