(Flem. Antwerpen; Fr. Anvers).
City in Belgium. For centuries it has been an important musical centre and has played a leading role in the music of the Low Countries. Around 1410 the choir school of the church of Our Lady (Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk; later the cathedral) began to develop an active musical life. Up to the 17th century its choirmasters, organists and singers included such composers as Pullois, Ockeghem, Barbireau, Obrecht, Waelrant, Gérard de Turnhout, Séverin Cornet, Pevernage, Opitiis and John Bull; in addition Rore, Lassus and Monte all spent some time in the city. Secular music was promoted by the establishment of the town players (before 1430) and the formation of a musicians’ guild (c1500). Musicians who either came from Antwerp or were active there outside the cathedral included the composers Faignient, Hèle, Canis, Verdonck, Luython and Messaus, and the lute virtuosos Adriaenssen, Huet and Hove. Music printing flourished after 1540 through the work of Cock, Susato, Waelrant & Laet, Phalèse & Bellère and Plantin. The Antwerp harpsichord builders of the 17th and 18th centuries were famous: the Ruckers family, Jan Couchet and J.D. Dulcken.
To benefit a fund for the poor, a Theatrum Musicale was founded in 1671 by the city almoners, where operas and later public concerts were given. The first opera performed there was Lully's Proserpine. The repertory was mainly French and Italian. Musicians performing on their own account or in other theatres had to pay a third of their income to the poor fund. The almoners listed the performers by name, preserving a precious record of 18th-century opera and concert life in Antwerp.
Following an economic crisis in the 17th century there was a decline in the city’s musical life; in the 18th century, however, the musical life of the cathedral flourished once more with composers such as Eve, Fesch, J.-H. Fiocco, Croes, Blavier, Trazegnies, Raick and Bosch. The French Revolution put an end to the dominating position of the Church, and music education was thenceforth entrusted to civic foundations such as the Ecole de Musique de la Ville d’Anvers (1842). Musical taste was dictated by the Italian and French opera performed at the Théâtre Royal (1802–1933, see illustration). Brought up in this atmosphere, Albert Grisar devoted himself to the genre of comic opera, with which he later scored an unrivalled triumph at Paris. Through the auspices of Peter Benoit, champion of Flemish nationalism, the Vlaemsch Muziekschool (1867) was raised in status in 1898, becoming the Koninklijk Vlaemsch Conservatorium. Benoit’s Romantic oratorios and cantatas, to Flemish texts, were intended to rouse national consciousness. With his enthusiastic support the Nederlandsch Lyrisch Tooneel was founded in 1890 with the aim of performing the Flemish and other Germanic repertory. In 1893, through the efforts of the bass Hendrik Fontaine and the composer Edward Keurvels, this became the Vlaamsche Opera. Its first production was Weber's Freischütz, sung in Flemish. Slavic and Scandinavian works were added to the repertory. In 1907 the company moved to its own building on the Frankrijklei. By 1914 it had given the premières of 16 new Flemish operas, among them De Herbergprinses (‘The Princess of the Inn’, 1896) by Jan Blockx. Renamed the Koninklijke Vlaamsche Opera in 1920, the company won international fame during the 1920s for its Wagner productions with the tenor Ernest van Dijck and ballets with Sonia Korty. The Ring has been given regularly and Parsifal annually at Easter. Works are now given in the original language and there are also concert performances. In 1981 the Antwerp and Ghent opera houses were joined as Opera voor Vlaanderen, renamed Vlaamse Operastichting in 1988 under intendant Marc Clémeur, who raised the company to international recognition. One-act operas and works using smaller forces were given by the Vlaamse Kameropera (1958), replaced in 1987 by the touring company Transparant.
The directors of the conservatory who followed Benoit – Blockx, Emiel Wambach (1857–1924), Mortelmans, Flor Alpaerts, Hoof, Vocht and Peeters – adhered to a nationalist style in their compositions, as did Karel Candael and Renaat Veremans (1894–1969). Contemporary composers of more modern outlook included Jong, Baeyens, Karel Albert, Maes, Durme, Velden, Kersters and the avant-garde Goeyvaerts. Notable in the next generation are Luc Van Hove, Luc Brewaeys and Wim Henderickx. In 1970 the structure of the Belgian royal conservatories was fundamentally altered, and they became restricted to the domain of higher education, providing professional tuition of a high standard; the conditions of entry became a certificate of higher secondary education and proof of maturity, in addition to proof of artistic capability. In 1975 this new structuring was adopted at the Antwerp Conservatory. Beginners, amateurs and performers at the pre-professional stage are catered for in the Rijksmuziekacademie (1970), which covers primary and secondary music education. In 1972 the Kunsthumaniora, the music department of the Institute of Higher Secondary Artistic Education, was founded under the auspices of the conservatory. In 1995 the conservatory was incorporated into the University of Antwerp as a department of dramatic art, music and dance (director Michael Scheck). The Halewynstichting (1951) opened the first non-subsidized music schools for young people providing an elementary music education based on the methods of Orff and Kodály, directed towards the performance of music in the home and choral singing. The municipal music academies of the suburbs of Borgerhout, Hoboken, Berchem, Deurne, Wilrijk, Merksem and Mortsel provide primary and secondary music tuition and are held in high regard.
A number of concert organizations cater for an active and diverse concert season: symphony concerts with guest ensembles and soloists (the Cofena and deSingel concerts); early music at the Rubenshuis and Vleeshuis; recitals and chamber music at the conservatory, the Elzenveld concerts and the Middagconcerten; and organ recitals and choral concerts in churches. The Royal Flanders PO (Koninklijk Filharmonisch Orkest van Vlaanderen, 1955) gives subscription concerts, often featuring guest conductors and soloists. Other performing ensembles are Anima Eterna (directed by Jos Van Immerseel) and the clarinet choir (Walter Boeykens). The Antwerp section of Jeunesses Musicales, Jeugd en Muziek (1948), has a senior and a youth orchestra (1962). The regional station of Belgian Radio (Radio 2 Antwerpen) sponsors and organizes public concerts.
The tradition of concert masses with choir, soloists, organ and full orchestra in St Pauluskerk has existed since 1878. The Artiestenmis (‘Artists’ mass’) in the St Carolus-Borromeuskerk, in which vocal and instrumental ensembles and soloists cooperate, was set up in 1943 to benefit needy Antwerp artists. Among the numerous choirs, the oldest surviving is Arti Vocali (1910). Also noteworthy are those of the cathedral (1928), under the direction of Jan Schrooten, and Audite Nova (1961), directed by Kamiel Cooremans. The Chorale and Capella Caecilia (1968), directed by Frans Dubois, is the successor to the Koninklijke Chorale Caecilia (1915–68), which under its founder and director Lodewijk de Vocht gave premières of vocal works of Milhaud, Honegger, Stravinsky, Kodály and others. Antwerp is also the headquarters and documentation centre of the Algemeen Nederlands Zangverbond, a choral federation with the aim of stimulating folksong and choral music through festivals, including the annual Vlaams Nationaal Zangfeest. The annual Festival van Vlaanderen/Antwerpen and Middelheim Jazz Festival (1969) are both broadcast.
Beiaardconcerten (carillon concerts), given by the city carillonneur Geert D'Hollander and by guest carillonneurs, have become a tourist attraction. Because of its pure tone the city carillon, acquired in 1540, is held to be one of the best in the Netherlands. It has 49 bells, the oldest dating from 1459, and a four-octave compass, and chimes mechanically every quarter-hour. The main part, consisting of 36 bells, was made between 1655 and 1658 by the Hemony brothers. The two deepest bass bells were acquired in 1990.
The conservatory library contains a rich music collection, while precious early music prints are also to be found in the Plantinmuseum and the Stadsbibliotheek. The notable music library of J.A. Stellfeld was sold by his heirs in 1952 to the University of Michigan. The Archief en Museum voor Vlaams Cultuurleven offers documentation on all aspects of the musical life of the city, in the form of press cuttings, letters, manuscripts, photographs etc. In addition Antwerp has a public record library and a collection of instruments in the Vleeshuismuseum. The museum is also the headquarters of the Ruckers Genootschap (1970), which promotes the study and restoration of Flemish harpsichords through colloquia and publications. The Koninklijke Antwerpse Vereniging voor Muziekgeschiedenis was founded in 1931 and publishes the important series Monumenta Musicae Belgicae. The Peter Benoit Fund was set up in 1902 with the intention of disseminating and publishing the work of Benoit; Jef van Hoof’s work is promoted by De Crans (1917), which also offers a biennial composition prize and publishes the music of other Flemish composers. The Emmanuel Durlet fund (1976) organizes an international biennial piano competition and publishes Durlet's works. The oldest and most important firm of music publishers in Antwerp, Metropolis, publishes mostly instrumental music of contemporary Belgian composers, but also tutors and books on musical history.
AMe (G. Spiessens)
GroveO (C. Pitt)
MGG2 (‘Antwerpen’; G. Spiessens)
E. Gregoir: Notice historique sur l'opéra français à Anvers et à Bruxelles (Antwerp, 1877)
A. Goovaerts: Histoire et bibliographie de la typographie musicale dans les Pays-Bas (Antwerp, 1880)
L. Theunissens: ‘La musique à Anvers aux XIVe, XVe et XVIe siècles: copie du manuscrit de M. le Chevalier Léon de Burbure’, Annales de l’Académie royale d’archéologie de Belgique, lviii (1906), 159–256
J.A. Stellfeld: ‘Bronnen tot de geschiedenis der Antwerpsche clavecimbel- en orgelbouwers in de XVIe en XVIIe eeuwen’, Vlaamsch jb voor muziekgeschiedenis, iv (1942), 3–110
W. Dehennin: ‘Bronnen voor de Geschiedenis van het muziekleven te Antwerpen’, RBM, viii (1954), 19–40
R. Verbruggen: KVO Antwerpen: gedenk-klanken 1893–1963 (Antwerp, 1965)
G. Spiessens: ‘Geschiedenis van de gilde van de Antwerpse speellieden’, RBM, xxii (1968), 5–50; xxviii–xxx (1976), 24–111; xxxvi–xxxviii (1984), 53–64, 88–132; xli (1987), 79–95; xlii (1988), 149–92; xliv (1990), 79–122
G. Spiessens: ‘De Antwerpse stadsspeellieden’, Noordgouw, x (1970), 1–53; ibid., xviii (1978), 107–85; Provinciale Commissie voor Geschiedenis en Volkskunde, Provincie Antwerpen: Jaarboek, iii (1993), 4–62; ibid., iv (1994), 5–71
Gouden jubileum gedenkboek van het kathedraalkoor (Antwerp, 1978)
G. Persoons: De orgels en de organisten van de Onze Lieve Vrouwkerk te Antwerpen van 1500 tot 1650 (Brussels, 1981)
M. Reybrouck: ‘De Koninklijke Vlaamse opera te Antwerpen (1907–1914) en de Vlaamse muziek’, Mededelingen van de KAWSK van Belgie: Academiae analecta, klasse der schone kunsten, xlii/1 (1981), 35–96
R. Rasch: De cantiones natalitiae (Utrecht, 1985)
G. Spiessens: ‘Muziekleven en muzikanten te Antwerpen, 1700–1750’, Jaarboek van het Vlaams centrum voor oude muziek, i (1985), 73–108
K. Forney: ‘Music, Ritual and Patronage at the Church of Our Lady, Antwerp’, EMH, vii (1987), 1–57
J. Lambrechts-Douillez: Orgelbouwers te Antwerpen in de 16de eeuw (Antwerp, 1987)
E. Baeck and H. Baeck-Schilders: Het concertleven te Antwerpen in het midden van de 19de eeuw (Brussels, 1996)
H. Vanhulst and G. Spiessens: Antwerpse muziekdrukken: vocale en instrumentale polyfonie (16de–18de eeuw), Plantinmuseum, 29 June – 29 Sept 1996 (Antwerp, 1996) [exhibition catalogue]
G. Persoons, ed.: Koninklijk Vlaams conservatorium (Antwerp, 1998)
GODELIEVE SPIESSENS