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De Brabander, Karel

° Geel, 31/03/1913 — † Watermaal-Bosvoorde, 20/11/1984

Kim De Brabander (translation: Joris Duytschaever)

Music producer, conductor and composer Karel De Brabander was born on 31 March 1913 in Geel. Already at an early age Karel became interested in the arts. During secondary education, majoring in the Greek/Latin section of St Aloysius High School, this interest expressed itself mainly in the writing of poems. Especially in his last year the seventeen-year-old boy proved his mettle as a talented poet. On the other hand, Karel’s interest in music was stimulated in the first place by his father, Florimond De Brabander, a great music buff. For starters, Karel explored music at the music academy of Geel, where his father was director.

After graduating, in 1930, De Brabander enrolled at the Jesuit university ‘Notre Dame de la Paix’ in Namur to study philosophy and letters. In the subsequent year he quit and decided to apply himself to music. After a year at the Lemmens Institute he became a student at the Royal Flemish Music Conservatory in Antwerp from 1932 to 1935. There he studied piano with Emmanuel Durlet, harmony with Edward Verheyden and counterpoint with Flor Alpaerts. The same year that he graduated in saw him emerge as a composer: he earned the international composition prize ‘Henry Le Boeuf’ with his Didactische Suite (Didactic Suite) for chamber orchestra.

After his advanced studies, in 1936, De Brabander started working for the NIR (National Radio Institute), which in those days showed a great deal of interest in music by Belgian composers. He was hired as a sound editor and music producer at the department of radio plays. This was for him a period of intense musical activity. He wrote quite a few works, mainly for chamber music or for smaller ensembles, pioneering works which in those days were considered as being at the cutting edge.

His life during the war and its aftermath is not well-documented. What remains indubitable is that the war interfered with the normal course of events and consequently also had a certain influence on the musical choices of the composer. From an interview with Maurice De Wilde the following transpired about his life and about the activities of the NIR. During the occupation the NIR became controlled by the Germans, and from 31 July 1940 it was replaced by a German military organisation: ‘Zender Brussel’ (Broadcasting Station Brussels) for the Flemish public and ‘Radio Bruxelles’ for the Francophone public. The compact majority of the former NIR collaborators were hired again by the new radio station. Most of them did not wonder about the implications too much, acting on professional motivation only. De Brabander remained in office too, now in charge of easy listening music. Later he also served as a choral and orchestral conductor.

In 1941 De Brabander was for a short time affiliated with the military unit ‘Het Vlaamse Legioen’ (the Flemish Legion’), looking after the entertainment of the Flemish volunteers for the Russian front. In this period he also composed the militant song for the Flemish Legion on a text by Bert Peleman, aptly entitled Het Vlaamsch legioen. Another task was the musical supervision of the National Socialist Youth in Flanders (NSJV). In this youth movement he coached the girls’ performance club, a music unit founded with the intention to stimulate the cultural consciousness of the youngsters.

De Brabander stayed with the NIR till 1944. A few days before the liberation of Belgium (September 1944), he moved with a group of colleagues of the former NIR eastwards, so as to evade the imminent denazification or persecution of (suspected) collaborators, a category applicable to a segment of NIR employees. De Brabander stayed in the Rhineland in different villages, working for the so-called freedom broadcasting station. When this station was dismantled, the larger part of the group went to Berlin. At that moment De Brabander decided to return to Belgium, where he remained in hiding until 1947.

From 1950 to 1973 De Brabander was employed full-time by the ‘Internatonal Visual Aid Centre’ (IVAC), a company specialized in didactic and audiovisual materials. In this period he applied himself mainly to this job, keeping a low profile as a composer. It was only later that he proved his mettle as a composer again. In the eighties some of his compositions were performed by the philharmonic orchestra of the Belgian Radio and Television. Furthermore he shone in 1983 as laureate of the composition competition ‘Baron Flor Peeters’ with his Triptiek for organ.

De Brabander’s broad interest in the arts provided him with quite a few exciting vantage points. He was fascinated by the avantgarde and was partial to musical modernists such as Bela Bartok. In his own compositions he always started with a simple classical structure, trying to achieve a serene balance. It is remarkable that he managed to combine classical tonality with the harmonic acquisitions of his generation (e.g. Variaties, koraal en fuga on a twelve-tone series for wind quartet).This aspect underpinned his oeuvre rather consistently. Also in his vocal works he used a tonal harmonic basis which he mixed with an expressive singing style that is somewhat more extravagant.

De Brabander’s oeuvre is very varied. His musical legacy includes orchestral works, piano and organ pieces, chamber music and a great deal of choral works (sacred and profane choral songs) and songs. He also wrote stage music and a ballet entitled Reinaert. In total some hundred and fifty works by him are known. From 1980 on De Brabander started to collect his works systematically with a view to donating them to the Royal Library. Since his death the Music department of the Royal Library in Brussels holds all of his autograph manuscripts, except for some 15 manuscripts of juvenile works in the library of the VRT (Flemish Radio and TV).

The significance of Karel de Brabander lies not only in what he accomplished as a music producer for the NIR, but also in his compositions because of their progressive ideas, providing him with a niche of his own in the avantgarde of the Thirties in Flanders, together with composers such as Jef van Durme, Karel Albert, Marcel Poot and Willem Pelemans. Among his works the Didactische suite stands out as the most famous and the most characteristic piece.

Bibliografie

Anderen over deze componist

  • De Schrijver, K.: Brabander, Karel de, in: Bibliografie der Belgische toonkunstenaars sedert 1800, Leuven, 1958, p. 24.
  • De Strijckers, L.: NS-liederen in België 1940-1944, via http://www.ethesis.net/ns_liederen/ns_hfst_14.htm (online op 27 mei 2011).
  • De Wilde, M.: [interview met Karel De Brabander], opgenomen op 30/08/1976 en bewaard op cassette door de familie De Brabander.
  • Elsevier, A.: De Brabander, Karel, in: Winkler Prins Encyclopedie van Vlaanderen, Brussel, 1972, dl. 1, p. 456.
  • Heughebaert, H.: Brabander, Karel de, in: Algemene Muziek Encyclopedie, dl. 2, Haarlem, 1980, p. 16.
  • Levaux, T.: De Brabander, Karel, in: Dictionnaire des compositeurs de Belgique du moyen âge à nos jours, Ohain-Lasne, 2006, p. 155.
  • Roquet, F.: De Brabander, Karel, in: Lexicon Vlaamse componisten geboren na 1800, Roeselare, 2007, p. 161.
  • Van de Vijver, H.: Het cultureel leven tijdens de bezetting, in: België in de Tweede Wereldoorlog, Kapellen, 1990, dl. 8, p. 62-67.
  • Vangenechten, K.: De adolescent Karel De Brabander, in: Ossagenda, Geel, jrg. 38, nr. 1, 1985, p. 21-32.
  • Werda, C. en Ghesquiere, R.: de Brabander, Karel, in: Muzikaal handwoordenboek, Turnhout, s.d, p. 164.
  • Weyler, W.: Vlaamsche toondichters, Brussel, 1937, dl. 2.
  • Willaert, H.: Karel de Brabander, in: Muziek en woord, jrg. 6, nr. 65, 1980, p. 20.
  • Informatie van Mieke De Brabander en Luc Menu (Karel De Brabanders dochter en haar echtgenoot).

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