van Loon, Raoul

Annelies Focquaert (translation: Joris Duytschaever)

On the maternal side Raoul (Rafaël) van Loon descended from the German family of organists Ernemann. His grandfather and great-grandfather both served as organist and music teacher at the minor seminary in Hoogstraten. His mother, a teacher of music and concert pianist, started his piano lessons at age ten. Concurrently with his secondary education at St Stanislas high school in Berchem (Antwerp) he took music lessons of harmony, plainchant and organ with Jules Vijverman, who served till 1935 as music teacher there and subsequently graduated to the position of director at the Lemmens Institute in Mechelen. On 17 September 1932 van Loon entered the Cistercian order in Bornem, adopting the monastic name of Rafaël. On 17 December 1938 he received the holy orders. After five years as assistant organist he became principal organist of the monastery.

After the second world war van Loon pursued advanced studies of counterpoint and fugue, free composition, improvisation and higher organ literature with Alex Paepen, professor at the Royal Flemish Conservatory and organist at Our Lady's Cathedral in Antwerp. He wrote several piano and organ pieces and songs, preserved as manuscripts. At his concerts he often played the Toccata Jeanne d'Arc, composed after viewing the film Jeanne d'Arc, la prise d'Orléans (Jean Delannoy, 1953).

He was also very interested in the building of musical instruments, and for his designs and realizations of improvements in piano mechanics he was granted in 1944 two patents which he applied in a pedal piano with two keyboards. For organ building he was an apprentice with the firm Willis & C° in London and with the firm Jos Stevens in Duffel. For the latter he served several times as advisor for new instruments as well as for restoration. In 1948 he revamped the monastery organ himself, and he restored and maintained several organs in the area of Klein-Brabant, as well as taking care of the restoration of the old organ in Vlassebroek (1956).

(based on sources of the Wuilmus family, which in January 2015 donated Rafaël van Loon's manuscripts to the SVM and allowed access to the family documents)