Joseph Callaerts

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Joseph Callaerts (born August 11, 1830 in Antwerp , † March 3, 1901 in Antwerp) was a Belgian organist , bell player , composer and university professor .

Live and act

Joseph Callaerts began his musical training as a choir singer at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Antwerp . He then studied harmony at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels with Jean-Henri Simon and the organ with Jacques-Nicolas Lemmens (1823-1881), and he won a first prize for organ in 1856. From 1850 on he was organist at the Jesuit college of his Hometown. In May 1855 he succeeded Charles Delin on the position of organist at Antwerp Cathedral, after having been his deputy for two years. In addition, in January 1863 he was appointed Municipal Carilloneur de la ville in place of Jan Frans Volckerick . From 1867 on he taught the subjects of organ and harmony at the Antwerp Music School ( Antwerpse Muziekschool ), which was renamed the Royal Flemish Conservatory ( Koninklijk Vlaamsch Muziekconservatorium ) in 1898 at the instigation of its director Peter Benoit (1834–1901) . Callaerts directed the organ class at this music school until his death in 1901.

Callaerts was also a valued organ-building consultant , and his expertise had been requested by the contractor Pierre Schyven for the restoration of the great organ in Antwerp Cathedral. The inauguration concert on December 17, 1891 brought him together with Alphonse Mailly (1833–1918) and Charles-Marie Widor (1844–1937) from Paris.

His symphony for large orchestra and his trio with piano were awarded a prize by the Royal Belgian Academy.

meaning

The revived openness to the romantic organ music of the 19th century has recently led to a general re-evaluation of Joseph Callaerts' organ works. The long time only limited distribution of his works is certainly the one back to being his works from the traditional German, on the Bach revival foot prospective school are characterized, because he so new, that of Hector Berlioz , Franz Liszt and César Franck represented Was rather alien to currents; the other reason is probably his inconspicuous life and work as an organist and organ teacher in Antwerp - he had only left his hometown a little in his life. However, he maintained many friendly contacts with well-known composers of his time at home and abroad (France, England, United States of America and Germany), with Felice-Alexandre Guilmant and Charles-Marie Widor in Paris worthy of special mention (both are like him Lemmens pupil) and Uso Seifert (1852–1912) in Dresden. Callaerts trained a large number of students; one of them was the future director of the Antwerp Conservatory Émile Wambach , also a meritorious organist.

Callaert's work includes vocal music (songs, arias, sacred and secular choral works as well as masses, motets, cantatas and choirs), orchestral works (including a four-movement symphony and the symphonic poem Le Retour d'Ulysse , “The Return of Odysseus”), piano works, chamber music and the one-act opera Le Retour imprévu (“The unexpected return”); his organ work contains nearly sixty titles. On the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of the composer's death, the German premiere of his Concerto for Organ and Orchestra in F minor op.18 took place on May 5, 2001 (as part of the 11th International Organ Festival at the St. Elisabeth Church in Bonn ) (Soloist: Otto Depenheuer , also the Cologne Cathedral Chapel , direction: Karl Kühling).

Works (selection)

  • Stage works
    • Opera Le Retour imprévu (Antwerp 1889)
  • Works for orchestra (with and without solo instrument)
    • Grande Fantaisie de Concert for organ and orchestra op.4
    • Symphonic poem Le Retour d'ULysse
    • Symphony in four movements (1879)
  • Vocal works
    • Lentevreugd for two tenors and two bass voices
    • Mass for soprano, alto, bass and organ op.24
    • Cantata Te Temps des Etudes for solo, choir, piano and orchestra
  • Chamber music
    • Trio in A minor for piano, violin and violoncello op.15 (1882)
    • Andante sostenuto for violoncello or violin and piano op.16
  • Piano works
    • Piano sonata op.3
    • Impromptu op.6
    • Caprice op.8
    • Fantaisie-Barcarolle op.11
    • Air de Ballade op.15
    • Roosje uit de dalen
    • Symphony for piano four hands
  • Organ works
    • Quinze Improvisations op.1 (fifteen improvisations)
    • Grande Fantaisie de Concert op.5
    • 24 pieces for organ in 2 series of 4 booklets each:
      • Book I: Pastorale, Méditation, Marche Solennelle op.20
      • Book II: Adoration, Canzone, Sortie Solennelle op.21
      • Book III: Prière, Petite Fantaisie, Marche Nuptiale op.22
      • Book IV: Cantilène, Communion, Toccata et Final op.23
      • Book V: Mélodie, Invocation, Marche de Fête op.28
      • Book VI: Toccata, Offertoire et Duo, Marche Funèbre op.29
      • Book VII: Prière (No. 2), Allegro Giocoso, Marche Triomphale op.30
      • Book VIII: Elégie, Bénediction Nuptiale, Scherzo op.31
    • Adoration
    • Intermezzo in B flat minor (1898)
    • Invocation
    • Prayer No. 1 and No. 2
    • Solennelle marche
    • Tantum ergo
    • Two sonatas: No. 1 in C minor, No. 2 in A major (posthumously, published 1908)

Literature (selection)

  • EGJ Gregoir: Les Artistes-Musiciens Belges au XVIII me et au XIX me siècle, Bruxelles 1885
  • Hedwige Baedk-Schilders: Joseph Callaerts (1830–1901), een protagonist van de 19 de -eeuwse Belgische Orgelschool, in Orgelkunst, XXII, 1999 No. 3 (September)
  • Algemeene Muziek-Encyclopedie (J. Robijns / Miep Zijlstra), Vol. 2, Haarlem 1980, page 99

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Heddo Heide: Joseph Callaerts, a Belgian contemporary of Rheinberger, and his organ concert, in Ars Organi 49 (September 2001) , page 141
  2. ^ Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, 8th Edition 1992, Schirmer Books (A Division of Macmillan Inc. New York)
  3. ^ Franz Pazdírek: Universal Handbuch der Musikliteratur, Vol. II, Verlag Frits Knuf, Hilversum 1967
  4. ^ Lexicon of the organ, edited by Hermann J. Busch and Matthias Geuting, 2nd edition, Laaber-Verlag Laaber 2008, ISBN 978-3-89007-508-2
personal data
SURNAME Callaerts, Joseph
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Belgian organist, bell player, composer and university professor
DATE OF BIRTH August 11, 1830
PLACE OF BIRTH Antwerp
DATE OF DEATH March 3, 1901
Place of death Antwerp