Jef van Hoof (8 May 1886 - 24 April 1959) was a Belgian composer and

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Music * Conductor (music), a person who leads a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra. * ''Conductor'' (album), an album by indie rock band The Comas * Conduction, a type of structured free improvisation ...

with a Flemish ethnic background. Born in Antwerp, Van Hoof was a pupil of Paul Gilson and was heavily influenced by the works of

Peter Benoit Peter Benoit (17 August 18348 March 1901) was a 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 father and the v ...

. He studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp, of which he was the director from 1942 to 1944. In 1933 he founded the (Vlaams Nationaal Zangfeest) where he worked as a conductor for many years. He also conducted concerts associated with the

Flemish Movement The Flemish Movement ( nl, Vlaamse Beweging) is an umbrella term which encompasses various political groups in the Belgian region of Flanders and, less commonly, in French Flanders. Ideologically, it encompasses groups which have sought to prom ...

. He died in Antwerp in 1959 at the age of 72. He composed

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small num ...

, symphonic works,

art songs An art song is a Western world, Western vocal music Musical composition, composition, usually written for one voice with piano accompaniment, and usually in the classical music, classical art music tradition. By extension, the term "art song" is ...

, works for solo

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a musica ...

carillon A carillon ( , ) is a pitched percussion instrument that is played with a keyboard and consists of at least 23 cast-bronze bells. The bells are hung in fixed suspension and tuned in chromatic order so that they can be sounded harmon ...

, organ, as well as

sacred music Religious music (also sacred music) is a type of music that is performed or composed for religious use or through religious influence. It may overlap with ritual music, which is music, sacred or not, performed or composed for or as ritual. Relig ...

. He is particularly known for writing the famous Flemish patriotic song ''Groeninghe'' which uses a text by

Guido Gezelle Guido Pieter Theodorus Josephus Gezelle (1 May 1830 – 27 November 1899) was an influential writer and poet and a Roman Catholic priest from Belgium. He is famous for the use of the West Flemish dialect. Life Gezelle was born in Bruges in ...

References

Biography by Luc Leytens

Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel
now houses most works and manuscripts of van Hoof, after the bankruptcy of CeBeDeM in 2015.

External links

1886 births 1959 deaths 20th-century classical composers 20th-century conductors (music) 20th-century Belgian male musicians Belgian composers Belgian conductors (music) Composers for carillon Flemish composers Male classical composers Male conductors (music) Musicians from Antwerp {{Belgium-composer-stub