SKU: IS.FP7297EM

ISBN 9790365072972.

Peter Benoit, one of the great Flemish Romantic composers and often considered the origin of the Flemish School, was better known for his piano and choral music than for his wind music. Nevertheless, his one entry into the flute repertoire - the Concerto - is an exemplary piece of high Romanticism that combines symphonic writing with idiomatic, virtuosic flute technique. Composed as part of a ‘legendary triptych’ - the Stories and Ballads for Piano, the Symphonic Tale for Piano and orchestra, and the Flute Concerto - the three movements show the Concerto for the tone poem it is at heart. The first Preludium (Will-o’-the-Wisps) begins with a fiery orchestral fanfare, with an equally grand entrance by the soloist that introduces the first theme and launches the movement into the formidable back-and-forth between soloist and orchestral forces. The second, Melancholia, somewhat resembles the Molique Andante in its construction - a clear, wistful theme is embellished and carefully expanded into a full musical showpiece for flute. The Finale (Dance of the Wisps) then immediately launches into a display of the flutist’s agility, moving through various permutations of the theme before coming to an exuberant, grateful landing.

SKU: IS.V6143EM

ISBN 9790365061433.

Peter Benoit was born at Harlebeke on 17 August 1834 and died in Antwerp on 8 March 1901. He was, without doubt, the most important Flemish composer of the nineteenth century, responsible for the foundation of a Flemish national school of music. He studied at the Brussels Conservatory, where his teachers included Fétis, and won the Grote Rome Prize, the highest musical distinction in Belgium. He made use of the money from the prize for a study tour through Germany and Bohemia and afterwards settled in Paris where, in 1862, he became conductor of the Buffes-Parisiens. The following year he returned to Brussels and achieved phenomenal success with his Quadrilogie religieuse for choir and orchestra and with the oratorio of 1866, Lucifer. From then onwards he laid aside instrumental music and concentrated almost exclusively on vocal and choral music with Flemish texts. In 1867 he settled in Antwerp, where he was appointed director of the local music school, which under his leadership became the Royal Flemish Music Conservatory. In addition to his activity as a composer, he proved himself to be a remarkable educator, conductor and music administrator.

SKU: IS.OP4179EM

ISBN 9790365041794.

In 1901, Flor Alpaerts finished his music studies at the Flemish School of Music of Antwerp, which later became the Royal Flemish Conservatory. He studied harmony and composition with Jan Blockx. In 1903 he became professor at this institute and from 1934 until 1941 its director. For one season (1922-1923) he was also director of the Royal Flemish Opera House of Antwerp together with the bass Arthur Steurbaut. His fame, as a composer and a conductor, came shortly after World War I, when he succeeded Eduard Keurvels in 1919 as conductor of the concerts organized by the Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp and as artistic director of the Peter Benoit Fonds. He also conducted the choral group Arti Vocali. As a composer, Flor Alpaerts was the leading figure in the Flemish impressionistic movement, utilizing an impressionism that came closer to Richard Strauss and Ottorino Respighi than to Claude Debussy. A highlight in this direction was the symphonic poem Pallieter (1921-1924). With his suite James Ensor, inspired by four works of the Ostend painter, he created an expressionistic work. In his later compositions he turned to neo-classicism. Though mostly known for writing larger scale works during his life, this Concertstuk for oboe and piano, composed towards the end of his life came at a time when he unexpectedly because to compose chamber music. In addition to this work for oboe, he composed a solo piece for clarinet, as well as four string quartets during his final years.

SKU: IS.VLP4190EM

ISBN 9790365041909.

In 1901, Flor Alpaerts finished his music studies at the Flemish School of Music of Antwerp, which later became the Royal Flemish Conservatory. He studied harmony and composition with Jan Blockx. In 1903 he became professor at this institute and from 1934 until 1941 its director. For one season (1922-1923) he was also director of the Royal Flemish Opera House of Antwerp together with the bass Arthur Steurbaut. His fame, as a composer and a conductor, came shortly after World War I, when he succeeded Eduard Keurvels in 1919 as conductor of the concerts organized by the Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp and as artistic director of the Peter Benoit Fonds. He also conducted the choral group Arti Vocali. As a composer, Flor Alpaerts was the leading figure in the Flemish impressionistic movement, utilizing an impressionism that came closer to Richard Strauss and Ottorino Respighi than to Claude Debussy. A highlight in this direction was the symphonic poem Pallieter (1921-1924). With his suite James Ensor, inspired by four works of the Ostend painter, he created an expressionistic work. In his later compositions he turned to neo-classicism.

SKU: IS.TRP4208EM

ISBN 9790365042081.

Jozef (Jef) Schampaert's 1952 Dramatische Fantaisie (Fantaisie Dramatique) for trombone and piano, dedicated to trombone professor Peter Roupcinsky, was written as a concours piece for the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp in Belgium. While the rest of the Belgian school was experimenting with a return to lush romanticism (Alpaerts, Maes, and the musical progeny of Benoit), or beginning to prod the tonal bounds of listenable 12-tone and serialism (Constant and Verbesselt), Schampaert took towards a different sound: that of the Impressionists, transmuted through his distinctly Flemish touch.