Legley, Victor

Victor Legley was a composer, violist and teacher. He received his first music lessons in Ypres, studied at the Brussels Conservatoire and took composition lessons with Jean Absil. As a violist, he played in the NIR Orchestra and the Déclin Quartet, among other ensembles. Later, through his work at the public broadcaster, he championed contemporary music, particularly that of Belgian composers. He taught at the Brussels Conservatoire and the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel.

His output includes eight symphonies, concertos, five string quartets, piano music, songs and an opera. Influenced chiefly by Hindemith and Absil, he developed a personal musical language combining modern techniques with tonal reference points and classical forms. Communication with the listener remained central to his approach. Among his best-known works is the symphonic poem De stalen kathedraal (The Steel Cathedral, 1958), inspired by a painting by Fernand Stevens. From the late 1970s onwards, his musical language became gentler, and music for wind band assumed an important place in his output.