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Verheyden, Edward

° Antwerpen, 8/10/1878 — † Antwerpen, 10/04/1959

Lien Alaerts (translation: Jo Sneppe)

Edward Verheyden's musical career began in 1889 when as an 11-year-old choirboy he started singing with the choir of St Augustine's Church in Antwerp. Very soon he developed a taste for music and taught himself to read and sing musical notes. Three years later he decided to take up violin lessons at the Antwerp Conservatory with Antoine Bacot, who was also the conductor of his boys' choir. Family circumstances as yet unspecified, however, put a spoke in his wheels. That same year Verheyden was compelled to suspend his lessons and get to work for a pittance as a typesetter. But far from getting down-hearted he composed on his own a first piece of music, l’Angelus-Fragment symphonique. This brought him in touch with Peter Benoit, who urged him to attend the harmony class. Yet it wasn't until 1894 that Verheyden could continue his studies in Antwerp, and for sure not without success, as one year later he was already appointed as a violinist with the orchestra of the Flemish Opera, where he stayed for 11 years. Meanwhile he also worked as a soloist for the French Theatre in Ghent. In 1897 he went to the Conservatory of Brussels to complete his violin studies with Eugène Ysaye. He composed three songs, published them and sent a copy to Lodewijk Mortelmans. So in 1900 he found himself in the tutelage of this master, who gave him a technical and aesthetic formation in matters of harmony, counterpoint and fugue.

In 1905 Verheyden earned an honourable mention in the Prix de Rome with his cantata La mort du roi Renaud.

On 1 December 1906 Verheyden was appointed as assistant for solfège at the Royal Flemish Conservatory of Antwerp. One year later he was able to trade in this position for an appointment as teacher of harmony. People like Renaat Veremans, Ivo Mortelmans, Daniël Sternefeld and Jef Van Durme were trained by him. On 1 October 1941 Verheyden, being the oldest teacher of the Conservatory, was appointed to director as temporary successor of Flor Alpaerts. He stayed in this function until Jef Van Hoof was elected in 1942. Only in 1944 did Verheyden take up his retirement as a teacher.

Another merit of Verheyden was his commitment to the composers' statute in general, through a better collection of the copyrights. As it happens he was co-founder of Navea (Nationale Vereniging voor Auteursrechten / National Copyrights Society), later known as Sabam.

Edward Verheyden composed and mastered a large oeuvre in various genres, but his modest nature stood in the way of a large distribution of his works among a broader public. If any of his music had some popular appeal at all, then it was mainly his vocal work.

As a composer he followed in his work the line of Benoit's school: the melody prevails and seldom does the harmonisation deviate from the familiar. Thus his composition Feestklanken (Festive Sounds, 1911) is characterised by a fluent melody line and a coloured, yet at times heavy orchestration. In the song Lentebode (Messenger of Spring) the melody and the piano accompaniment so accurately follow the poem that it might almost be called a textual representation.

Verheyden composed some works for orchestra, such as Symfonische schets (Symphonic Sketch), Vaderland - for (symphonic) wind and percussion band - and the above-mentioned Feestklanken. Often, too, the orchestra plays an accompanying role with choral works, for instance in Ave Verum Corpus, Bloemen in huis (Flowers at Home) and Moorse ballade (Moorish Ballad). His oeuvre counts a great amount of songs: De oude harpspeelster (The Old Harpist Woman) for alto, Jonker Meiwind (Squire May Breeze) for tenor and orchestra, Little wild white rose (sic) and the series of Marialiederen (Marian Songs, 1953). Here as well the lyrical element is always prominent. In the field of chamber music he composed a Fantasia for violin and clavier (1926), a Sonate for violin and piano and several organ compositions. Finally, moreover, he wrote two operas: Heibieke (Little Heather Bee, 1908) on a libretto of Raf Verhulst and De Geest (The Spirit, 1924) on a libretto of Hendrik Van Rooy, both created in the Royal Flemish Opera of Antwerp.

Muziek-Warande, jrg. 4, nr. 12, 1925.

Bibliografie

Eigen werk

  • Verheyden, E.: De klaroen in de volksmuziek, in: Muziek-Warande, jrg. 3, nr. 12, 1 december 1924, p. 269-272.
  • Verheyden, E.: Een phase in de kunst van harmoniseeren, in: Muziek-Warande, jrg. 1, nr. 5, 1 mei 1922, p. 104-106.
  • Verheyden, E.: Lodewijk Mortelmans (bij het verschijnen van zijn kompositieën voor klavier), in: Muziek-Warande, jrg. 2, nr. 1, 1 januari 1923, p. 1-2.
  • Verheyden, E.: Paul Gilson: “Traité d’harmonie” en deux volumes. Bruxelles A. Cranz, in: Muziek-Warande, jrg. 1, nr. 12, 1 december 1922, p. 279.
  • Verheyden, E. en Sabbe, M.: Peter Benoit, Richard Wagner en Franz Liszt, in: Muziek-Warande, jrg. 1, nr. 2, 1 februari 1922, p. 27-30.

Anderen over deze componist

  • De Schrijver, K.: Edward Verheyden, in: Levende componisten uit Vlaanderen 1865-1900, Leuven, 1954, p. 55-60.
  • De Schrijver, K.: Edward Verheyden, in: Vlaanderen, november 1966, p. 411-413.
  • De Schrijver, K.: Verheyden, Edward, in: Bibliografie der Belgische toonkunstenaars sedert 1800, Leuven, 1958, p. 111.
  • Horemans, J.: Edward Verheyden, in: Muziek-Warande, jrg. 4, nr. 12, 1 december 1925, p. 265-271.
  • Pieters, F.: Edward Verheyden, in: Ook zij schreven voor blaasorkest, Wormerveer, 1996, p. 107.
  • N.N.: Besprekingen, in: Muziek-Warande, jrg. 3, nr. 4, 1 april 1924, p. 87.
  • Robijns, J. en Zijlstra, M.: Verheyden, Edward, in: Algemene muziekencyclopedie, Haarlem, dl. 10, 1980, p. 125.
  • Roquet, F.: Verheyden, Edward, in: Lexicon Vlaamse componisten geboren na 1800, Roeselare, 2007, p. 869-870.
  • Sabbe, M.: De muziek in Vlaanderen, Antwerpen, 1928, p. 37.
  • Slogan: Edward Verheyden, in: La revue musicale belge, jrg. 13, nr. 8, 20 april 1937, p. 14-15.

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