Mortelmans, Lodewijk

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Mortelmans, Lodewijk

Mortelmans, Lodewijk , Belgian conductor, teacher, and composer, father of Ivo (Oscar) Mortelmans; b. Antwerp, Feb. 5, 1868; d. there, June 24, 1952. He was a chorister in the Dominican Church, then studied with Benoit in Antwerp. In 1889 he won the 2ndBelgian Prix de Rome, gaining 1st prize with his cantata Lady Macbeth in 1893; then taught at the Antwerp Cons, from 1902. In 1921 he made a tour in the U.S. He was director of the Antwerp Cons, from 1924 to 1933. His finest creations were his songs to Flemish texts, which prompted Gilson to call him the “Prince of the Flemish song.”

Works

dramatic: opera: De kinderen der Zee(Antwerp, 1920). orch.: 5 symphonic poems: Helios (1894), Mythe du printemps (1895), Avonlied (1928), Weemoedig aandenken (1942), and Eenvoud (1950); Symphonie homérique (1898); 4 elegies: In memoriam (1917), Elevation du coeur (1917), Solitude (1919), and Treurdicht (1925). piano: 3 sets of Miniatures; 27 Old Flemish Folksongs. vocal:Jong Vlaanderen, church cantata (1907); songs.

Bibliography

J. Broeckx, L. M. (Antwerp, 1945).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis Mclntire