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Welcome to the Golden Age of Belgian Mélodie:

Art Song from the Belle Epoque to the Roaring Twenties

 

Lecture Recital

Marc Scorca Hall, National Opera Center

Thursday, May 1, 2025

7PM

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Join us for an engaging lecture recital on May 1, 2025, at the Marc Scorca Hall at the National Opera Center in NYC, where we will explore the beautiful and underrepresented genre of Belgian art songs. This event will feature Belgian song specialist and soprano Pauline Lebbe, pianist Stijn DeCock from Florida State University, and our board member, mezzo-soprano Sahoko Sato Timpone, who is in residence at the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp during 2024-2025. 

 

Belgian Art Songs represent a rich and largely underexplored facet of European musical heritage. After Belgium’s independence in 1830, its cultural diversity and its interplay with broader European artistic movements made Belgium a welcoming environment for artists, especially those who were rejected by the more conservative Parisian establishment. Brussels became a hub for modernists and avant-gardists like Vincent D’Indy and Jules Massenet, who premiered works there, significantly impacting both French and Belgian music history. As a result, the Belle Époque and the first decades of the 20th century were a time of great artistic expression and flourishing cultural development. Notably, an innumerable legacy of art songs was composed, in an élan which was only stopped by the World Wars. 

 

Belgian composers during this period crafted songs that predominantly featured French texts, as French held an elite status over Flemish at the time. As the Flemish Movement gained ground, composers were encouraged to foster Flemish traditions and incorporate Germanic influences into their music. Despite these internal divisions, Belgian composers blended diverse influences into their works, creating a unique musical identity.

 

Despite this vibrant history, Belgian art songs have remained relatively obscure, even in Belgium. Recent efforts by institutions like Labo XIX&XX at the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp have sought to revive interest in these works, many of which remain unpublished and under-researched. In conversations with Belgian musicians and scholars, it has become clear that there is modesty in promoting Belgian music, compounded by the absence of a centralized music institution to promote this heritage.

 

Although English-language scholarship on Belgian art songs is limited, recent discoveries of unpublished works have reignited interest in this genre. Researchers and performers are now working on editing, publishing, and performing these hidden gems. Through this recital, we aim to shed light on these hidden gems, showcasing their historical importance and artistic beauty.

 

This program, presented in collaboration with Florida State University and Royal Conservatoire Antwerp, is a wonderful opportunity for music lovers and scholars to deepen their appreciation for this distinctive genre. Don’t miss this chance to hear rarely performed works by Lodewijk Mortelmans, August De Boeck, Peter Benoit, Irène Fuerison, Maria Matthijssens, Eva Dell’Acqua and others, brought to life by international artists and learn about the cultural and musical history behind them.

 

 

(September 14, 2024 - written by Sahoko Timpone and Pauline Lebbe)

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