Emmanuel Hiel (30 May 183427 August 1899), was a
Flemish
Flemish may refer to:
* Flemish, adjective for Flanders, Belgium
* Flemish region, one of the three regions of Belgium
*Flemish Community, one of the three constitutionally defined language communities of Belgium
* Flemish dialects, a Dutch dialec ...
-Dutch
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...
and prose writer.
Hiel was born at
Sint-Gillis-bij-Dendermonde
Sint-Gillis-bij-Dendermonde () is a part of the municipality of Dendermonde in the Denderstreek in East Flanders in Belgium, a typical agricultural village in the Dendervallei near the junction of the railroads to Ghent, Mechelen and Brussels. It ...
. During his life he held various jobs, from teacher and government official to
journalist
A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism.
Roles
Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...
and bookseller, busily writing all the time both for the theatre and the magazines of North and South Netherlands. His last posts were those of librarian at the Industrial Museum and professor of declamation at the Conservatoire in
Brussels
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
.
Hiel took an active and prominent part in the so-called
Flemish movement
The Flemish Movement (, ) is an umbrella term which encompasses various political groups in the Belgium, Belgian region of Flanders and, less commonly, in French Flanders. Ideologically, it encompasses groups which have sought to promote Flemis ...
in Belgium, and his name is constantly associated with those of
Jan van Beers,
Jan Frans Willems
Jan Frans Willems (11 March 1793 – 24 June 1846) was a Flemish writer, and the father of the Flemish movement.
Willems was born in the Belgian city of Boechout while it was under French occupation. He started his career in the office of a n ...
, and
Peter Benoit
Peter Benoit (17 August 18348 March 1901) was a Flemish people, Flemish composer of Belgian nationality.
Biography
Petrus Leonardus Leopoldus Benoit was born in Harelbeke, Flanders, Belgium in 1834. He was taught music at an early age by his fa ...
. Benoit set some of Hiel's verses to music, notably in his oratorios ''Lucifer'' (performed in London at the
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272.
Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...
and elsewhere) and ''De Schelde'' ("The Scheldt"). The Dutch composer Richard Hol (of
Utrecht
Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...
) composed music for Hiel's ''Ode to Liberty'', and
van Gheluwe used Hiel's verses in his ''Songs for Big and Small Folk'' (second edition, much enlarged, 1879). That music greatly contributed the popularity of Hiel's writing in schools and among Belgian choral societies.
Hiel also translated several foreign lyrics. His rendering of
Tennyson
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (; 6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's ...
's ''Dora'' was published in Antwerp around 1871. For the national festival of 1880 at Brussels, to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of Belgian independence, Hiel composed two
cantata
A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...
s, ''Belgenland'' ("The Land of the Belgians") and ''Rer Belgenland'' ("Honour to Belgium"), which, set to music, were much appreciated.
Hiel's efforts to counteract
Walloon influences and bring about a ''rapprochement'' between the Netherlanders in the north and the
Teutonic racial sympathizers across the Rhine made him very popular with both. A volume of his best poems was in 1874 the first in a collection of Dutch authors published in
Leipzig
Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...
,
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
.
He died in 1899 at
Schaerbeek
(French language, French, ; former History of Dutch orthography, Dutch spelling) or (modern Dutch language, Dutch, ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels, Brussels-Capital Reg ...
.
Bibliography
Among his better-known poetic works are:
*''Looverkens'' ("Leaflets," 1857)
*''Nieuwe Liedekens'' ("New Poesies," 1861)
*''Gedichten'' ("Poems," 1863)
*''Psalmen, Zangen, en Oratorios'' ("Psalms, Songs, and Oratorios," 1869)
*''De Wind'' (1869), an inspiriting cantata, which had a large measure of success and was crowned
*''De Liefde in Leven'' ("Love in Life," 1870)
*''Elle'' and ''Isa'' (two musical dramas, 1874)
*''Liederen voor Groote en Kleine Kinderen'' ("Songs for Big and Small Folk," 1879)
*''Jakoba van Beieren'' ("Jacquelein of Bavaria," a poetic drama, 1880)
*''Mathilda van Denemarken'' (a lyrical drama, 1890)
His collected poetical works were published in three volumes at
Roeselare
Roeselare (; ; ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Roeselare proper and the towns of Beveren, Oekene and Rumbeke.
The name of the city is derived from two ...
in 1885.
See also
*
Flemish literature
Flemish literature is literature from Flanders, historically a region comprising parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. Until the early 19th century, this literature was regarded as an integral part of Dutch literature. After B ...
References
Sources
*
External links
Emmanuel Hiel in "Flemish Writers" collection (Dutch)Emmanuel Hiel in the Digital Library of Dutch Arts (Dutch)Koninklijk Atheneum Emmanuel Hiel(school named after Emmanuel Hiel)
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hiel, Emmanuel
1834 births
1899 deaths
Flemish poets
Flemish activists
19th-century Belgian poets
19th-century Belgian male writers
People from Dendermonde