Brussels

Since the second half of the 15^th century, choristers, professional singers, a choirmaster and an organist added lustre to the services in the cathedral of St Michael and St Gudule and the church was an important music centre until the end of the 18^th century. Nevertheless, the best musicians worked at the Burgundian or Spanish court which didn’t reside permanently in Brussels and of which the palace has disappeared now; thus Belgium’s capital and leading music centre doesn’t represent the prime of Franco-Flemish renaissance music as  much as some other cities do.

The church of St Nicholas was since the 14^th century the seat of the ‘Brotherhood of St Job’, a guild of musicians which had the monopoly to take care of the music at all civilian feasts. In later centuries, its power declined as a result of competition from court- and theatre musicians and of internal conflicts, until the guild was discontinued in 1894.

After the short-living Opéra du Quai au Foin, a Théâtre de la Monnoye was built in 1700 and replaced  in 1819. It offered mostly French repertoire and became famous on 25.VIII.1830, when the air Amour sacré de la Patrie [holy patriotism] from Auber’s Muette de Portici unchained a revolt which became the first step towards Belgium’s independence. The theatre was reconstructed after a fire in 1855, which only spared the exterior walls and the beautiful portico. The last great renovation was in 1985/86. Meanwhile, the Monnaie­/Munt has developed into one of the leading opera and ballet theatres of Europe. The ballet companies of Béjart and De Keersmaeker (Rosas) became famous.

L’Archiduc is one of the best known jazz platforms of Brussels. Brussels offers also a jazz festival, each year in May, the ‘Jazz Marathon’.

Birthplace of the famous harmonica virtuoso Jean-Baptiste ‘Toots’ Thielemans (1922-2016). He appeared with the greatest artists and created a new standard of jazz harmonica playing.

Éditions Jacques Brel  was established in 1980 by France Brel, the daughter of the legendary singer-song writer (1929-78). It keeps a large archive of manuscripts, photos, posters and other documents. The visitor can enjoy audio and video recordings. Brel was born in Brussels (>1031); among the great number of French chansons, a few songs are in Dutch.

The well known art nouveau architect Victor Horta designed this building for concerts and exhibitions in 1922. The Salle Henri leBoeuf is the main concert hall of Brussels; every two years in May, many countries broadcast the TV registration of the Queen Elisabeth contest finals here. After several years of negligence, the hall  regained its beauty in 2000.

The Museum of Musical Instruments houses one of the best collections of the world. Of the stock of over 2000 items ─ masterpieces as well as curiosa ─, c 1200 are displayed, of which 200 can be listened to from headphones.   cf. www.mim.be

The Royal Conservatory of Brussels was founded in 1832; the first ninety-four years of its existence it was directed by only two notable musicologists, F.A. Fétis until 1871 and F.A. Gevaert until 1908; their successors included the composers Tinel, Jongen and Poot. The education is on the highest level; teachers of the violin class for example include the celebrities: de Bériot, Vieuxtemps, Wieniawski, Ysaÿe, Gertler and Grumiaux. In 1969, the conservatoire was divided into a French and a Flemish institution. The concert hall, with 600 seats and a Cavaillé-Coll organ, and the famous library with 750.000 manuscripts/prints and 10.000 opera librettos remain communal. Moreover, the building houses CeBeDeM, the Belgian Centre for Music Documentation, a state institute for the propagation of contemporary Belgian music.

The musical division of the Royal Library Albert I includes manuscripts and prints from the court of Margaret of Austria (1506-30) and of various closed monasteries, besides private collections, such as the entire library of F.J. Fétis and the large Bartók collection of Denys Dille.

The statue of Don Quixote – a hero of Telemann, Massenet and R. Strauss ─  got the company of Béla Bartók, whose monument by Tibor Varga was erected here in 1995. The composer visited Brussels various times in the 1920s and ’30s, but the Bartók collection in the Royal Library also could have been the reason for this monument.

Giacomo Puccini was treated with x-rays on throat cancer in the clinic of dr. Ledoux and operated at 24.XI.1924; five days later he died. His mortal remains were transferred to Milan and after two years to his villa in Torre del Lago, where he rests since.

House of the composer and violinist Henri Vieuxtemps during the time of his chair at the conservatory.

Birthplace of Jacques Brel, °1929 (>1009).

There is a mausoleum for the famous opera singer Maria Malibran née Garcia, whose short life (1808-1836) ended shortly after her marriage with the renowned violinist Charles-Auguste de Bériot (1802-70), who was interred here too.  Finally: the grave of the pianist Camille Moke (†1875), the fiancée of Berlioz, who unexpectedly married the composer and piano maker Camille Pleyel during Hector’s stay in Italy (1831).

Theatre with 370 seats with performances and master classes of world music. www.muziekpublique.be

Flagey was built in 1938 in ‘streamline style’ for the Belgian broadcast company and became a cultural centre in 1974. The large concert hall is the home of the Brussels PO.

House of the composer Jean Absil (1893-1974). His vast and versatile oeuvre compasses all genres and still merits international esteem. He was the director of the music academy of Etterbeek (1922-58), which bears his name.

House of the composer Marcel Poot (1901-1988). His oeuvre, preferably for orchestra and wind orchestra, includes seven symphonies and the well known Vrolijke Ouverture [merry overture]. Before adding a French dressing and a dab of humour, one can compare this music with that of Prokofiev. Between 1939 and 1966, he worked at the conservatory, from 1949 as its director.

Grave of the violin virtuoso and composer Eugène Ysaÿe (1858-1931).

The last house of Eugène Ysaÿe; he lived here from 1886 until his death in 1931. A reconstruction of his study is displayed in Liège  (> 3309).

Monument, a bust by Marnix d’Havelooze, of the great pianist and modest composer Arthur de Greef  (1862-1940). He taught at the Conservatory from 1921.

House of the organist, teacher and composer Joseph Jongen (1873-1953) from 1909 to 1939. He is one of the best

Belgian composers, especially his chamber music is frequently performed. From 1920 until 1939, he worked at the

Conservatory as teacher and, from 1926, as its director.