François Van Campenhout
François Van Campenhout , also Frans Van Campenhout [ vɑn ˈkɑmpənhʌu̯t ] (born February 5, 1779 in Brussels ; † April 24, 1848 ibid) was a Belgian opera singer (tenor), conductor and composer, who was primarily known as the composer of the Belgian national anthem, the Brabanconne , became known.
Life
Born as the son of a landlord, his musical talent showed up at an early age. He received violin lessons from the well-known violinist and composer Engelbert Pauwels. At the age of 16, at the request of his parents, he embarked on a legal career, but broke it off after a short time and became an assistant violinist at the Théâtre de la Monnaie . But it didn't last long there either because he recognized his vocal potential.
He also acted in the amateur troupe La Société de la Comédie bourgeoise , initially mainly in the light genre. When he became aware of him in Brussels, he also received dramatic singer roles in Ghent (Retoricatheater), Brussels and Antwerp . His talent as a singer was discovered in Dalayrac's opera Azémia in 1798. Success also emerged on foreign opera stages: between 1801 and 1828 he sang in Brest , Paris , Amsterdam (where French composers employed at the Dutch court taught him harmony and where he wrote his first opera Gratius ou le Château de Loewenstein in 1808 ), The Hague , Rouen , Bordeaux and Lyon. For the French audience, he did without the prefix "Van".
He was also recognized as a composer, and when his singing career came to an end in 1828, Campenhout switched entirely to composing. His work - consisting of several operas, orchestral and sacred music - is almost all forgotten today.
He was almost on his way to The Hague , where he was offered a chair at the Royal Conservatory and the management of the theater in the royal residence when the Belgian Revolution broke out. He refused in favor of his homeland, he did not fight on the barricades, but he supported the revolution in other ways: he wrote a melody for a four-verse song by the poet Jenneval that would later become the Belgian national anthem as Brabançonne . But he also sat on the organizing committee at charity events for fighters or the wounded. Wherever he went he was asked to sing "his" Brabançonne , which quickly made him popular.
After the revolution, in early 1831, Van Campenhout would have been the ideal person to head the reopened Théâtre de la Monnaie because of his talent and experience . However, the six months it took to reopen it were enough to let it sink into oblivion. Twice another applicant was preferred to him. Soon Van Campenhout was out of work. In 1835 he received the Iron Cross, a gold medal and a diamond needle for his musical achievements, but no money. Only after the intervention of Félix Delhasse and a suggestion by Charles Rogier was he granted a pension of 1,200 francs in 1845, just under three years before his death .
Van Campenhout was a member of the Brussels Masonic Lodge Les Amis Philanthropes .
literature
- Xavier Maugendre: L'Europe des hymnes dans leur contexte historique et musical. Mardaga, Sprimont 1996.
- BEM Speybroeck (Ed.): L'hymne national. Origine avatars et réhabilitation de la Brabançonne. Journal du Corps of June 15, 1987. Brussels (?) 1987.
- Harry D. Schurdel: National Anthem of the World . Atlantis Schott, Mainz 2006.
Web links
- François Van Campenhout at Operissimo on the basis of the great lexicon of singers
Individual evidence
- ^ Eugen Lennhoff, Oskar Posner and Dieter A. Binder: International Freemasons Lexicon . 5th edition 2006, Herbig Verlag, ISBN 978-3-7766-2478-6 , p. 168
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Van Campenhout, François |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Van Campenhout, Frans |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Belgian opera singer (tenor), conductor and composer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 5, 1779 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Brussels |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 24, 1848 |
| Place of death | Brussels |