Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

Armand-Marie Ghislain Limnander van Nieuwenhove (born 22 May 1814 in

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

– d. 15 August 1892 at the Château de Moignanville, a village in the department of

Seine-et-Oise Seine-et-Oise () is a former department of France, which encompassed the western, northern and southern parts of the metropolitan area of Paris. Its prefecture was Versailles and its administrative number was 78. Seine-et-Oise was disbanded in ...

, France) was a Belgian composer of choral and orchestral works and church music. Knight of the Order of Leopold, he was the founder and conductor of the choral chamber ensembles ''Société Symphonique'' and ''Réunion Lyrique'' in Belgium.

Biography

Born to a family who formerly belonged to the bar of the late Council of Flanders, ennobled in 1683, Armand Limnander van Nieuwenhoven was raised in the village of Malines. Thys, Augustin (1855),
Historique des sociétés chorales de Belgique
'' p. 173, De Busscher, He studied in Freiburg with Louis Lambillotte and in Paris with

François-Joseph Fétis François-Joseph Fétis (; 25 March 1784 – 26 March 1871) was a Belgian musicologist, critic, teacher and composer. He was among the most influential music intellectuals in continental Europe. His enormous compilation of biographical data in the ...

, director of the

Royal Conservatory of Brussels The Royal Conservatory of Brussels (, ) is a historic conservatory in Brussels, Belgium. Starting its activities in 1813, it received its official name in 1832. Providing performing music and drama courses, the institution became renowned par ...

.Rice, Albert R. (2009),
From the Clarinet D'Amour to the Contra Bass: A History of Large Size Clarinets, 1740-1860
'' p. 373,

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, From 1838 to 1847 he conducted with great distinction the direction of an amateur choral society entitled ''Réunion Lyrique'' composed of 25 members, for which he wrote a number of musical pieces for male voices and which eventually came to establish his reputation in festivals and competitions. In 1845, prompted by the desire to work for the stage, he left for Paris. The following year he performed at the chateau des

Tuileries The Tuileries Palace (, ) was a palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the Seine, directly in the west-front of the Louvre Palace. It was the Parisian residence of most French monarchs, from Henri IV to Napoleon III, until it was b ...

, in the presence of King

Louis Philippe I Louis Philippe I (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850), nicknamed the Citizen King, was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, the penultimate monarch of France, and the last French monarch to bear the title "King". He abdicated from his throne ...

, three choir excerpts from his ''Scènes druidiques'' with orchestral accompaniment under the direction of

Daniel Auber Daniel-François-Esprit Auber (; 29 January 178212 May 1871) was a French composer and director of the Paris Conservatoire. Born into an artistic family, Auber was at first an amateur composer before he took up writing operas professionally whe ...

. In 1847 Limnander decided to settle in the French capital, where his dramas and lyrical operas such as ''The Montenegrins'' (1848), by

librettist A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major ...

Gérard de Nerval Gérard de Nerval (; 22 May 1808 – 26 January 1855), the pen name of the French writer, poet, and translator Gérard Labrunie, was a French essayist, poet, translator, and travel writer. He was a major figure during the era of French romantici ...

and Jules-Édouard Alboize de Pujol, which premiered there on 31 March the following year, was very well received along with his ''Le Château de la Barbe-Bleue'' (1851). In the course of 1853 the composer was working on two books, one for the

Opera House An opera house is a theater building used for performances of opera. Like many theaters, it usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, backstage facilities for costumes and building sets, as well as offices for the institut ...

and the other to the

Opéra-Comique The Opéra-Comique () is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular Théâtre de la foire, theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief riva ...

of Paris. The first of these pieces ''Le Maitre à Chanter,'' a grand opera in two acts set to a libretto of Henri Trianon, choreographed by Joseph Mazilier, successfully premiered at the Academy of Music on 17 October 1853. His opera ''Yvonne'' (1859), set to a libretto by

Eugène Scribe Augustin Eugène Scribe (; 24 December 179120 February 1861) was a French dramatist and librettist. He is known for writing "well-made plays" ("pièces bien faites"), a mainstay of popular theatre for over 100 years, and as the librettist of man ...

, premiered at the ''Theatre de l'Opéra-Comique'' on 29 November 1859 and was also well received. His religious music is composed of a

Te Deum The ( or , ; from its incipit, ) is a Latin Christian hymn traditionally ascribed to a date before AD 500, but perhaps with antecedents that place it much earlier. It is central to the Ambrosian hymnal, which spread throughout the Latin ...

, performed in 1845 on the anniversary of the avencement to the throne of King Leopold, a

Requiem A Requiem (Latin: ''rest'') or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead () or Mass of the dead (), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is ...

, written in honor of the citizens killed in the upheaval of 1830 and performed in Brussels in September 1852, the

Stabat Mater The Stabat Mater is a 13th-century Christian hymn to the Virgin Mary that portrays her suffering as mother during the crucifixion of her son Jesus Christ. Its author may be either the Franciscan friar Jacopone da Todi or Pope Innocent III.Saba ...

''La Messe de minuit,'' performed by the choir ''Harmonie à Bruxelles'' in April 1853, during the political majority of Prince Leopold, Duke of Brabant, and a national song for full orchestra with text by André Henri Constant van Hasselt, written for the celebration of the national festivities in Brussels in 1855.

Genealogy

Son of Benoit Jérôme Limnander de Nieuwenhod and of French Countess Mallet de Coupigny, married on 30 September 1835 at the chateau de Ramsdonck Éléonore-Euphémie-Antoinette-Ghislain (21 August 1808 – 13 October 1848), née de Meester, daughter of François-Théodore and Ignace-Julie de Giey. His first daughter was Elmire-Philomème-Celine Marie-Ghislain (17 January 1837). His first son was Albert-Antoine-Victoire-Marie-Ghislain Limnander de Nieuwenhove (5 November 1838). Athanase-Antoine-Marie-Ghislain (5 November 1840), Raoul-Auguste-Théodore-Antoine-Marie-Ghislain (8 October 1841 – 1845), and Théodore-Hubert-Marie-Ghislain (18 August 1843). Armand Limnander was made Knight of the Order of Leopold from 1850, and married on 7 June 1850 in Paris, Rose Caroline Blin, daughter of Louis François Toussaint and Marie Caroline Gosselin. His first son was Louis-Armand-Victor-Marie-Ghislain Limnander de Nieuwenhover (7 December 1850 – 7 August 1853), Fernand Louis Marie Ghislain Limnander de Nieuwenhover (20 December 1854) and Gaston Eugène Marie Ghislain Limnander de Nieuwenhover (20 March 1856).

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Limnander, Armand 1814 births 1892 deaths 19th-century Belgian classical composers Belgian classical composers Belgian male classical composers 19th-century Belgian pianists Musicians from Mechelen Romantic composers 19th-century Belgian composers Male pianists 19th-century Belgian male musicians