News from Catholic Romantic Music: Belgians
  • Jeffrey Quick
    Posts: 2,245
    Here's what's new on my pet wiki, Catholic Romantic Music:

    I've taken a deep dive into Belgian composers, and the results can be seen at https://jeffreyquick.com/catholicromantic/index.php/Category:Belgian_composers There are 44 composers represented, and they are “done-er” than most (nothing is ever done on this site), with scans, editions, Spotify and Youtube links, biographical information and even a few learning tracks. So many of the Belgians successfully integrated sacred music writing with symphonic music writing (really integrated, not like every French parlor song writer who had an Ave Maria in him). Many of them managed to find a true religious spirit that did not sound like warmed-over Palestrina, and did so in 2 or 3 voices, making their work valuable for small scholas. There aren't many early-20th c. scores, as they tended to be a long-lived lot (must be the monastic ales), but the major composers are represented by works lists and recordings at least. Several composers are well-represented by both scores and recordings, and worth particular examination:

    Peter Benoit: Considered the founding father of Romantic Belgian music.There's a lovely recording of the Vingt Motets for 3-equal and organ) and a modern reprint, and most are represented digitally.

    Lodewijk de Vocht: the 14 Cantica for 3-equal with optional organ have been well-recorded, and the Catacomben Mis looks potentially useful as a Novus Ordo Ordinary

    August de Boeck: not a lot of his substantial output is available, but two works are well-loved: his Ave Maria in F for SATB and organ, and O beata Mater for soprano, SATB chorus, and orchestra or organ.

    In addition (and what got me cleaning up the Belgians), I discovered St. Norbert College's digitizations of works by Norbertine composers L.A.Dobbelsteen, Mathias J. van den Elsen, and Robert A. Sromovsky. There are also new names, and improvements to old ones. This was intended more as a scholarly resource than a one-stop shopping source for busy music directors (though it could become that as well), and some of you complained that “I can't get my Bruckner here”, so I finally made a Bruckner page. There are currently 744 composer pages, and with the names on the master list that have yet to have pages made, it would easily top 1000. It's still kind of a slum on the Infobahn graphically. But I hope somebody will find it potentially interesting and useful.