Vreuls, Victor (Jean Léonard)

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Vreuls, Victor (Jean Léonard)

Vreuls, Victor (Jean Léonard), Belgian composer and music educator; b. Verviers, Feb. 4, 1876; d. Brussels, July 27,1944. He studied at the Verviers Cons., with Dupuis (harmony) and Radoux (counterpoint) at the Liège Cons., and with d’Indy in Paris. After serving as a prof, of harmony at the Schola Cantorum in Paris (1901-06), he was director of the Luxembourg Cons. (1906-26). In 1925 he was elected a member of the Belgian Royal Academy in Brussels. His major works were written in an expansive Romantic style.

Works

dramatic: Opera: Olivier le simple (1909-11; Brussels, March 9, 1922); Un Songe d’une nuit d’été,after Shakespeare (1923-24; Brussels, Dec. 17,1925). Ballet: Le Loup-garou (1935). ORCH.: 3 symphonie poems: Cortège héroïque (1894), Jour de fête (1904), and Werther (1907); Sym. (1899); 2 poèmes for Cello and Orch. (1900, 1930); Elégiefor Flute and Chamber Orch. (1917); Morceau de concertfor Trumpet and Orch. (1917); Fantaisiefor Horn and Orch. (1918); Romancefor Violin and Chamber Orch. (1924); Capricefor Violin and Chamber Orch. (1924); Suite de danses (1939); Ouverture pour un drame (1940). CHAMBER: Piano Quartet (1894); Piano Trio (1896); 2 violin sonatas (1899,1919); String Quartet (1918); Cello Sonata (1922). VOCAL: Choruses; songs.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire