David van der Heijden – Composer, Musician, Songwriter, Sound Designer

Hi there, and welcome! Here, you’ll find a glimpse into my world and examples of my work. But honestly? I always believe the best is yet to come. So, if you have an inspiring idea for a film, musical, theatre piece, or commercial—let’s team up and bring it to life.

While I pride myself on being a musical chameleon, there is one constant thread through everything I create: raw feeling, real connection.
Some might call it melancholy, but it’s always delivered in just the right dose.

Hope to connect with you soon.

P.S. For those of you who only ended up here because you couldn’t find me on social media—welcome! I’ve chosen to skip the socials, so a little help from real people goes a long way. If you enjoy my music on Spotify or any other streaming service, please consider liking my music or adding it to your playlists. It really helps the algorithm treat me kindly. And, of course, feel free to share my work on your own channels!

So what’s going on right now? I’m sharing this NPOsouljazz post. Exception makes the rule 🙂 Proud to be on their Soul & Jazz Top 50 with

O Último Abraço  https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Nsp0HZi2gH7yx0qO4CRsG?si=d4963a62ef0c448d

Filmography
2000 Wild Mussels / Erik de Bruyn
Feature film (Best film, Dutch Film Critics Award)
2002 Erwtje / Sylvia Holstijn
Children’s televisions series (Prix Jeunesse)
2002 The Chinese Wall / Sytske Kok
Short (Best film International Film Festival Berlin / Public’s Award International Film Festival Lyon, Lausanne, Ankara and Sao Paulo)
2002 Nachtbijter / Chris Mitchell
Short
2003 Jigsaw / Chris Mitchell
Short
2004 The Dunning brothers /Juul Bovenberg
Documentary
2005 Deep / Simone van Dusseldorp
Feature film (Best film IFF Tout Ecran Genève)
2005 Springsong / Erik de Bruyn
Short
2005 Tippe / Martine Nijhoff
Children’s television series
2006 Anderman / Jaap van Heusden
Documentary
2006 De Getuige / Erik de Bruyn
Short
2006 Birthday Boy / Chris Mitchell
Short
2007 Nadine / Erik de Bruyn
Feature film
2008 Here I am / Jessie van Vreden
Documentary
2008 Firuze / Hilt Lochten
Short
2009 Until There’s A Cure, a short history of the AIDS epidemic /Pierre Peyrot
Documentary
2010 Deadly Dilemma /Juul Bovenberg
Documentary
2010 Silencing the press / Pierre Peyrot
Documentary
2011 BV Het gezin / Juul Bovenberg
Documentary
2012 Aldus Libelle / Juul Bovenberg
Documentary
2013 Ashodaya / Pierre Peyrot
Documentary
2014 Smeris (Force) Season 1 / various directors
Police series 10 episodes
2015 Smeris (Force) Season 2 / various directors
Police series 10 episodes
2015 Paradise Trips / Raf Reyntjens
Feature film Winner of 3 Flemish Film Awards (Best Actor, Best Costume, Industry Award)
Flemish Youth Prize: Best Flemish Film 2015
2016 Hope / Erik de Bruyn / TV film
2016 Smeris (Force) Season 3 / various directors
Police series 10 episodes
2016 Les Missionnaires des Chin Hills /Pierre Peyrot /  Documentaire de 52min sur les Missionnaires des Chin Hills
2017 Silk Road / Mark de Cloe TV film (nominated best music Milano International Film Festival)
2017 release album: ‘Silk Road Cues’, a selection of cues I made for the film ‘Silk Road Cues’
2017 Voetbalmaffia (Match fixing)  directors Mark de Cloe and Iván López Núñez
Drama / thriller series about matchfixing in football  8 episodes
2017 release album: ‘Deadly Dilemma’, a selection of the cues I made for ‘Deadly Dilemma’.
2017 release album: ‘Smeris (Score)’, a selection of the cues I made for ‘Smeris’
2018 Smeris (Force) Season 4  directors Marc Willard and Jeroen van Koningsbrugge
Police series 10 episodes
2018 De Jongerenrechtbank / Juul Bovenberg / Short documentary for Zapp
2018 release album: ‘De Jongerenrechtbank’, a selection of cues I made for ‘De Jongerenrechtbank’
2018 Homo Sentient AI /Soundscape for Petra Ardai’s audio installation for the Robot Love exhibition.
2019 Safe Zone/Soundscape for Hilde Tuinstra’s street theatre performance
2019 release single: ‘Stoned Dancing Remix’
2020 Smeris (Force) Season 5 / various directors
Police series 3 episodes
2020 release solo album: ‘The Butterfly and the Whale’ by The Butterfly and the Whale
2021 music for the ESOT (European Society for Organ Transplantation) Congress 2021 in Milan
2021 release solo album: ‘Let her fly, let her dream’ by The Butterfly and the Whale
2023 release solo album: ‘Reaching For The Star’ by The Butterfly and the Whale
2023 music for the ESOT (European Society for Organ Transplantation) Congress 2023 in Athens
2025 release solo album: ‘At Ease’ by David van der Heijden
2025 release album: ‘Scored’, a selection of the cues I made for 4 different films
2026 De Laatste Mens – The Last Human / Soundscape for Petra Ardai’s audiotour / www.spaceexplorers.nl
2026 release single: ‘Guovssahas’

 

 

And commercials for (a.o.):
Delta Loyd
BlueBand
Rama
Milda
Andrelon
Vifit
UPC
Johma
Krasloten
Simpel
TUC