Karel Candael (

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) 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 Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

, 4 September 1883 –

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

, 27 March 1948) was a Belgian composer, music teacher, and conductor.

Biography

Karel Candael studied at the

Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp The Royal Conservatoire Antwerp () is a music school, conservatory of music, dance and drama in Antwerp, Belgium. It was founded in 1898 as the Royal Flemish Conservatoire by the Flemish people, Flemish composer Peter Benoit. The legislation on ...

with

Jan Blockx Jan Blockx (25 January 1851 – 26 May 1912) was a Belgian composer, pianist and teacher. He was a leader of the Flemish nationalist school in music. Biography Born in Antwerp, Blockx studied the piano with Frans Aerts, the organ with Joseph ...

, Emile Wambach, Jozef Tilborghs and

Lodewijk Mortelmans miniatuur Lodewijk Mortelmans (5 February 1868, Antwerp – 24 June 1952, Antwerp) was a Belgian composer and conductor of Flemish ancestry. Sometimes called ''de Vlaamse Brahms'' ("the Flemish Brahms"), Mortelmans composed in a number of forms, ...

. After finishing his education, Candael became a very active member of the local choir- and song movement and found the choir ''De Zangkapel''. In 1909 he was appointed as second conductor at the Royal Flemish Opera. Two years later, he became conductor of the ''Koninklijke Nederlandse Schouwburg'' of Antwerp. As of 1930, he also conducted the Casino Concerts of

Knokke Knokke () is a town in the municipality of Knokke-Heist, which is located in the province of West Flanders in Flanders, Belgium. The town itself has 15,708 inhabitants (2007), while the municipality of Knokke-Heist has 33,818 inhabitants (2009). ...

. As a teacher, Candael worked at the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp. After teaching music in Antwerp schools during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he became a teacher of

solfège In music, solfège (British English or American English , ) or solfeggio (; ), also called sol-fa, solfa, solfeo, among many names, is a mnemonic used in teaching aural skills, Pitch (music), pitch and sight-reading of Western classical music, W ...

at this conservatory. In 1934, he was promoted to teacher of

counterpoint In music theory, counterpoint is the relationship of two or more simultaneous musical lines (also called voices) that are harmonically dependent on each other, yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. The term originates from the Latin ...

and

fugue In classical music, a fugue (, from Latin ''fuga'', meaning "flight" or "escape""Fugue, ''n''." ''The Concise Oxford English Dictionary'', eleventh edition, revised, ed. Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson (Oxford and New York: Oxford Universit ...

. Candael is best known as a composer: among others, he wrote ballets titled ''De zeven hoofdzonden'' (1927) and ''Het Hooglied'' (1936), and the

oratorio An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...

''Het Marialeven'' (1941–1943). ''Het Marialeven'' was based on a text by Candael's friend

Maurice Gilliams Maurice, Baron Gilliams (Antwerp, 20 July 1900-Antwerp, 18 October 1982) was a Flemish writer and poet. Life and work Gilliams was the son of printer Frans Gilliams, and he learned to be a typographer. On 27 August 1935, he married Gabriëlle Ba ...

. This composition was made into a movie by

BRT BRT may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Bayrak Radio Television, a Turkish Cypriot broadcaster * Belgische Radio- en Televisieomroep (now ''VRT''), a Flemish broadcaster * Business Research and Training Center (BR&T), Ho Chi Minh Cit ...

Sources

Biografie of Karel Candael at SVM
1883 births 1948 deaths Belgian classical composers Belgian male classical composers 20th-century Belgian male musicians {{Belgium-composer-stub