music.wikisort.org - Composer

Arthur De Greef (10 October 1862 – 29 August 1940) was a Belgian pianist and composer.

Life and career

Born in Louvain, he won first prize in a local music competition at the age of 11 and subsequently enrolled at the Brussels Conservatoire. His main teacher there was Louis Brassin, a former pupil of Ignaz Moscheles, although he also took lessons from other staffers at the institution, including Joseph Dupont, François-Auguste Gevaert and Fernand Kufferath.[1]

After graduating with high distinction from the Conservatoire at the age of 17, De Greef went to Weimar to complete his studies under Franz Liszt. He was a pupil of Liszt for two years.[2]

Following the Weimar sojourn, De Greef embarked on a career as a concert pianist, travelling widely. He was a friend of Edvard Grieg, whose Piano Concerto he had played publicly in 1898, and who called him "the best performer of my music I have met with". In addition, he enjoyed the endorsement of Camille Saint-Saëns. British critic Jonathan Woolf has written: "De Greef was, in all respects, an intensely musical, non-sensationalist, eloquent and impressive musician and whilst not being averse to some of the interventionist tactics of his contemporaries (retouching of the score) remained sympathetically self-effacing".[2]

De Greef composed a sizeable quantity of music, virtually all of which is now unknown. Among his works are two piano concertos. He was a devoted teacher, and taught piano at the Brussels Conservatoire for many years.[2]

Honours

• 1919 : Commander of the Order of the Crown.[3]

Selected compositions

Orchestral

• The Marketeeress (1878)
• Slanting rays of the sun (1913)
• Humoresque (1928)
• Italian Suite
• Suite for Orchestra in G (sometimes referred to as Flemish Suite)
• Autumn Impressions
• Four Flemish songs with accompaniment of Vielles
• Ballade in Form von Variationen über ein flämisches Volkslied (Ik zag Cecilia komen)

Concertante works

• Fantasy on Flemish Folk Songs for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 3 (1892)
• Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 1 in C minor (1914)
• Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 2 in B-flat minor (1930)[4]
• Cinq chants d'amour, for Soprano and Orchestra
• Piano Concertino (Concerto pour piano et petit orchestre)

Chamber music

• Quatre pièces caractéristiques pour violon et piano (ca. 1883).
• Sonata No. 1 in D for violin and piano (1896)
• Sonata No. 2 in C for violin and piano
• Six New Concert Studies
• Trio in F for violin, cello, and piano (1935)

Piano

• Coucher de Soleil
• Slanting rays of the sun (1913; Orchestrated version exists)
• Five études in concert form (Cinq études de concert) (1914–1918)
• Sonata in C minor for 2 Pianos (1928; 2 pianos)
• Valse-caprice (2 Pianos)

Recordings

His was the first complete recording of Grieg's Piano Concerto in A minor, but he had earlier recorded a cut version. He also recorded with Isolde Menges.[5]

Other recorded works included

Liszt:

• Concertos Nos. 1 & 2

Chopin

• Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor, Op 35
• Waltz No. 1 in E-flat, Op. 18
• Waltz No. 5 in A-flat, Op. 42
• Waltz No. 6 in D-flat, Op. 64, No. 1
• Waltz No. 11 in G-flat, Op. 70, No. 1

Schubert

• Soirée de Vienne No. 6, arr. Liszt

Moszkowski

• Serenata in D, Op. 15, No. 1
• Etude in G, Op. 18, No. 3
• Waltz in E, Op. 34

Saint-Saëns

• Piano Concerto in G minor, Op. 22 (with the New Symphony Orchestra of London and Landon Ronald)

A complete discography can be found Earthlink here.

External links

• Free scores by Arthur de Greef at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)

References

На других языках

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[de] Arthur De Greef

Arthur De Greef (* 10. Oktober 1862 in Löwen; † 29. August 1940 in Brüssel) war ein belgischer Pianist und Komponist.

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- [en] Arthur De Greef (composer)

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[ru] Де Греф, Артур (композитор)

Артур Де Греф (нидерл. Arthur De Greef; 10 октября 1862, Лёвен, Бельгия — 29 августа 1940, Брюссель, Бельгия) — бельгийский композитор, пианист и педагог.

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