Karel Goeyvaerts
Encyclopedia
Karel Goeyvaerts was a Belgian
composer
.
in Paris
with Darius Milhaud
and analysis
with Olivier Messiaen
. He also studied ondes martenot
with Maurice Martenot
, who invented the instrument (Delaere 2001).
In 1951, Goeyvaerts attended the famous Darmstadt New Music Summer School
where he met Karlheinz Stockhausen
who was five years younger. Both were devout Catholics and found ways of integrating religious numerology into their serial compositions. They found themselves deep in conversation, and performed a movement from Goeyvaerts's "Nummer 1", Sonata for Two Pianos
, in the composition course by Theodor Adorno there. They were both astonished upon hearing for the first time Messiaen
's "Mode de valeurs et d'intensités" (from Quatre Études de rhythme), in a recording by the composer which Antoine Goléa played at a lecture. These experiences together convinced Stockhausen he should study with Messiaen.
Goeyvaerts became very excited in 1952 when he learned that Stockhausen had access in Paris to a generator of sine waves. Goeyvaerts saw them as an important discovery for music: the purest sound possible. At the time, Stockhausen did not share his enthusiasm, owing partly to the inability with the equipment at hand to superimpose sine tones. Only later, after taking up his new post at the NWDR
Electronic Music Studio in Cologne
, did Stockhausen find more suitable equipment, in July 1953 (Toop 1979). One of the first works produced there was Goeyvaerts's Nr. 5 with Pure Tones
, which Stockhausen helped his friend to realize. (When Stockhausen seemingly abandoned his work with sine waves and returned to writing compositions for solo piano, Goeyvaerts felt that Stockhausen was abandoning an important discovery and took up the matter from a philosophical point of view himself.)
There has been some controversy about who wrote the first European "total" serial composition. His Nummer 2
(1951) for 13 instruments is one of the contenders (Delaere 1994, 13), as is his Nummer 1 (1950) Sonata for Two Pianos, and the Sonata for Two Pianos by Michel Fano (1950), depending on definitions of "total serialism" (Toop 1974).
After withdrawing from the musical world for a while, he accepted a position in 1970 at the Institute for Psychoacoustic and Electronic Music (IPEM) in Ghent
, which led to several other prestigious appointments in Belgium. His works from after 1960 take on aspects of minimalism
, the best-known examples being his series of five Litanies (1979–82) and his final work, the opera Aquarius
(1983–92). Though minimalism is ordinarily thought of as a reaction against serialism, for Goeyvaerts both techniques were merely subcategories of a non-dynamic, "static music" (Delaere, Beirens, and Staples 2004, 32–33). Analyses of his early serial compositions (especially the electronic Nr. 4, met dode tonen [with dead tones] and Nr. 5, met zuivere tonen [with pure tones]) reveal how close the connections actually are (Sabbe 1977). Goeyvaerts died suddenly in 1993.
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
.
Life
After studies at the Royal Flemish Music Conservatory in Antwerp, Goeyvaerts studied compositionMusical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
with Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud was a French composer and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as The Group of Six—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions are influenced by jazz and make use of polytonality...
and analysis
Musical analysis
Musical analysis is the attempt to answer the question how does this music work?. The method employed to answer this question, and indeed exactly what is meant by the question, differs from analyst to analyst, and according to the purpose of the analysis. According to Ian Bent , analysis is "an...
with Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen was a French composer, organist and ornithologist, one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex ; harmonically and melodically it is based on modes of limited transposition, which he abstracted from his early compositions and improvisations...
. He also studied ondes martenot
Ondes Martenot
The ondes Martenot , also known as the ondium Martenot, Martenot and ondes musicales, is an early electronic musical instrument invented in 1928 by Maurice Martenot. The original design was similar in sound to the theremin...
with Maurice Martenot
Maurice Martenot
Maurice Martenot was a French cellist, a radio telegrapher during the first World War, and an inventor.Born in Paris, he is best known for his invention of the ondes Martenot, an instrument he first realized in 1928 and spent decades improving. He unveiled a microtonal model in 1938...
, who invented the instrument (Delaere 2001).
In 1951, Goeyvaerts attended the famous Darmstadt New Music Summer School
Darmstadt New Music Summer School
Initiated in 1946 by Wolfgang Steinecke, the Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik, Darmstadt , held annually until 1970 and subsequently every two years, encompass both the teaching of composition and interpretation and include premières of new works...
where he met Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Another critic calls him "one of the great visionaries of 20th-century music"...
who was five years younger. Both were devout Catholics and found ways of integrating religious numerology into their serial compositions. They found themselves deep in conversation, and performed a movement from Goeyvaerts's "Nummer 1", Sonata for Two Pianos
Sonata for Two Pianos (Goeyvaerts)
Sonata for Two Pianos , also called simply Opus 1 or Nummer 1, is a chamber-music work by Belgian composer Karel Goeyvaerts, and a seminal work in the early history of European serialism.-History:...
, in the composition course by Theodor Adorno there. They were both astonished upon hearing for the first time Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen was a French composer, organist and ornithologist, one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex ; harmonically and melodically it is based on modes of limited transposition, which he abstracted from his early compositions and improvisations...
's "Mode de valeurs et d'intensités" (from Quatre Études de rhythme), in a recording by the composer which Antoine Goléa played at a lecture. These experiences together convinced Stockhausen he should study with Messiaen.
Goeyvaerts became very excited in 1952 when he learned that Stockhausen had access in Paris to a generator of sine waves. Goeyvaerts saw them as an important discovery for music: the purest sound possible. At the time, Stockhausen did not share his enthusiasm, owing partly to the inability with the equipment at hand to superimpose sine tones. Only later, after taking up his new post at the NWDR
Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk
Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk was the organization responsible for public broadcasting in the German Länder of Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein and North Rhine-Westphalia from 22 September 1945 until 31 December 1955. Until 1954, it was also responsible for broadcasting in West Berlin...
Electronic Music Studio in Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
, did Stockhausen find more suitable equipment, in July 1953 (Toop 1979). One of the first works produced there was Goeyvaerts's Nr. 5 with Pure Tones
Nummer 5
Nummer 5 met zuivere tonen is a musical work by the Belgian composer Karel Goeyvaerts, realized in 1953 and one of the earliest pieces of electronic music.-History:...
, which Stockhausen helped his friend to realize. (When Stockhausen seemingly abandoned his work with sine waves and returned to writing compositions for solo piano, Goeyvaerts felt that Stockhausen was abandoning an important discovery and took up the matter from a philosophical point of view himself.)
There has been some controversy about who wrote the first European "total" serial composition. His Nummer 2
Nummer 2
Nummer 2 for thirteen instruments is a composition written in 1951 by the Belgian composer Karel Goeyvaerts....
(1951) for 13 instruments is one of the contenders (Delaere 1994, 13), as is his Nummer 1 (1950) Sonata for Two Pianos, and the Sonata for Two Pianos by Michel Fano (1950), depending on definitions of "total serialism" (Toop 1974).
After withdrawing from the musical world for a while, he accepted a position in 1970 at the Institute for Psychoacoustic and Electronic Music (IPEM) in Ghent
Ghent
Ghent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...
, which led to several other prestigious appointments in Belgium. His works from after 1960 take on aspects of minimalism
Minimalist music
Minimal music is a style of music associated with the work of American composers La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass. It originated in the New York Downtown scene of the 1960s and was initially viewed as a form of experimental music called the New York Hypnotic School....
, the best-known examples being his series of five Litanies (1979–82) and his final work, the opera Aquarius
Aquarius (opera)
Aquarius is an opera for eight sopranos, eight baritones, and orchestra by Karel Goeyvaerts It was begun in 1983 and completed in April 1992, to a libretto by the composer in eight languages, incorporating lines from the Revelation of St...
(1983–92). Though minimalism is ordinarily thought of as a reaction against serialism, for Goeyvaerts both techniques were merely subcategories of a non-dynamic, "static music" (Delaere, Beirens, and Staples 2004, 32–33). Analyses of his early serial compositions (especially the electronic Nr. 4, met dode tonen [with dead tones] and Nr. 5, met zuivere tonen [with pure tones]) reveal how close the connections actually are (Sabbe 1977). Goeyvaerts died suddenly in 1993.
Selective List of Works
Selective list of works- Opera: AquariusAquarius (opera)Aquarius is an opera for eight sopranos, eight baritones, and orchestra by Karel Goeyvaerts It was begun in 1983 and completed in April 1992, to a libretto by the composer in eight languages, incorporating lines from the Revelation of St...
(L'ère du verseau) (1983–92) - Orchestra
- Violin Concerto No. 1 (1948)
- Violin Concerto No. 2 (1951)
- Zomerspelen (1961)
- Al naar gelang (1971)
- Litanie III (1980)
- Aquarius (concert version) (1991)
- Ensemble
- Tre Lieder per sonar a venti-sei (1949)
- Nr. 2 voor 13 instrumentenNummer 2Nummer 2 for thirteen instruments is a composition written in 1951 by the Belgian composer Karel Goeyvaerts....
(1951) - Nr. 3 met gestreken en geslagen tonen (1952)
- Nr. 6 met 180 klankvoorwerpen (1954)
- Pour que les fruits mûrissent cet été, for 14 Renaissance instruments (1975)
- Erst das Gesicht... (1978)
- Zum Wassermann (1984)
- Avontuur (1985)
- De Heilige Stad (1986)
- Das Haar (1990)
- Vocal-instrumental
- Elegische muziek (1950)
- Mis voor Paus Johannes XXIII (1968)
- Bélise dans un jardin (1972)
- Litanie IV, for soprano, flute, clarinet, piano, violin, and cello (1981)
- De Stemmen van de Waterman (1985)
- Choir: Mon doux pilote s'endort aussi (1976)
- Chamber music
- Op. 1, Sonata for 2 pianosSonata for Two Pianos (Goeyvaerts)Sonata for Two Pianos , also called simply Opus 1 or Nummer 1, is a chamber-music work by Belgian composer Karel Goeyvaerts, and a seminal work in the early history of European serialism.-History:...
(1951), - Ach Golgatha!, for percussion, harp, and organ (1975)
- Honneurs funèbres à la tête musicale d’Orphée, for 6 ondes MartenotOndes MartenotThe ondes Martenot , also known as the ondium Martenot, Martenot and ondes musicales, is an early electronic musical instrument invented in 1928 by Maurice Martenot. The original design was similar in sound to the theremin...
(1978) - Litanie II, for 3 percussionists (1980)
- Aemstel Kwartet (1985)
- De Zeven Zegels, for string quartet (1986)
- Voor Strijkkwartet (1992)
- Op. 1, Sonata for 2 pianos
- Piano
- Litanie I (1979)
- Pas à Pas (1985)
- Tape:
- Nr. 4 met dode tonen (1952)
- Nr. 5 met zuivere tonenNummer 5Nummer 5 met zuivere tonen is a musical work by the Belgian composer Karel Goeyvaerts, realized in 1953 and one of the earliest pieces of electronic music.-History:...
(1953) - Nr. 7 met convergerende en divergerende niveaus (1955)
- Nachklänge aus dem Theater I–II (1972)
- Instrument(s) plus tape:
- Stuk voor piano en tape (1964)
- Piano Quartet (1972)
- You'll Never Be Alone Anymore (1975)
- Litanie V, for harpsichord and tape (1982)