Oscar van Hemel (3 August 1892 – 9 July 1981) was a Dutch-Belgian violinist, music teacher and composer of contemporary classical music. His work includes two operas and symphonies.
Oscar van Hemel | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Oscar van Hemel (1962) | |
| Born | 3 August 1892 Antwerp, Belgium |
| Died | 9 July 1981 (aged 88) Hilversum, Netherlands |
| Education | Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp |
| Spouse | Anna Johanna (Anneke) Wouters |
| Children | 6 daughters, 4 sons |
Life and education
editVan Hemel was born in 1892 in Antwerp, Belgium, where he studied with August de Boeck and Lodewijk Mortelmans[1] at the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp.[2] During World War I he was wounded at the Battle of Halen. With the help of the Red Cross, he fled in May 1915 to Roosendaal in the Netherlands during the bombardment of Antwerp.[3] He subsequently played violin in the orchestra of the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam.[4][5]
In 1918 he moved to Bergen op Zoom, where he became a teacher of violin, piano, and music theory at the municipal music school.[4] Here, he also met his future wife, Annie Wouters, whom he married in August 1923. Together they eventually had 10 children.[2] From 1931 to 1933 he studied music composition with Willem Pijper in Rotterdam.[2][4] In 1949, van Hemel and his family moved to Hilversum, where the Katholieke Radio Omroep (Catholic Radio Broadcasting) commissioned an opera, Viviane on a libretto by Louis Lutz, to celebrate its 25th jubilee.[2]
Works and reception
editVan Hemel composed chamber music, sacred music, songs and choral music, music for orchestra, including symphonies, and for concert band, and two operas, Viviane[6] and De prostituée (The Prostitute).[7]
Van Hemel's music was at times praised as "lovely" and spontaneous, albeit at times "constructed". His Pianokwartet was praised as "powerful, quirky interbellum music".[8] Others were more critical and lamented a lack of originality.[5] Nevertheless, in the 1950s, van Hemel's music was very popular in the Netherlands.[5]
In 1962, van Hemel received the ANV-Visser Neerlandiaprijs for his Quartetto di strumenti ad arco no. 6.[4] In the same year, he was knighted in the Order of Orange-Nassau.[4]
References
edit- ^ Romijn, Clemens (2001). "Hemel, Oscar van (1892–1981), composer". Grove Music Online. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.12762.
- ^ a b c d "Biografie". www.oscarvanhemel.nl (in Dutch). Stichting Oscar van Hemel. Retrieved 2019-03-07.
- ^ "Oscar van Hemel" (in Dutch). Donemus Publishing House of Contemporary Classical Music. November 2016. Retrieved 2019-01-01.
- ^ a b c d e "Oscar van Hemel". Muziekencyclopedie van Beeld en Geluid (in Dutch). Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision. Retrieved 2019-01-01.
- ^ a b c Samama, Leo (2006). Nederlandse muziek in de 20-ste eeuw: voorspel tot een nieuwe dag (in Dutch). Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. pp. 139–142. ISBN 9789053568620.
- ^ "Munich Invites 300 To Attend Opera Festival". Victoria Daily Times. No. 147. 1951-06-23. Retrieved 2019-03-07.
- ^ "Werken". www.oscarvanhemel.nl (in Dutch). Stichting Oscar van Hemel. Retrieved 2019-03-07.
- ^ van der Waa, Frits (2018-05-31). "In het werk van Oscar van Hemel hoor je de opkomst en ondergang van het modernisme terug (****)". de Volkskrant (in Dutch). Retrieved 2019-01-01.
Further reading
edit- Romijn, Clemens (1992). Oscar van Hemel, 1892-1981: componist tussen klassiek en atonaal (in Dutch). Alphen aan den Rijn: Canaletto. ISBN 90-6469-681-0.
- "Oscar van Hemel – List of works". Muziekweb (in Dutch). Retrieved 2019-01-01.
External links
edit
- Stichting Oscar van Hemel (in Dutch; English: Oscar van Hemel Foundation)