Armand Preud'homme (21 February 1904, in Peer – 7 February 1986, in

Brasschaat Brasschaat () is a municipality located in Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium, and in the Flemish province of Antwerp. The municipality only comprises the town of Brasschaat proper. In November 2006, Brasschaat won the LivCom-Award 200 ...

) was a Belgian componist and organist.

Biography

Preud'homme studied at the Limburg Organ and Singing School in

Hasselt Hasselt (, , ; la, Hasseletum, Hasselatum) is a Belgian city and municipality, and capital and largest city of the province of Limburg in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is known for its former branding as "the city of taste", as well as its ...

with

Arthur Meulemans Arthur Meulemans (19 May 1884 in Aarschot – 29 June 1966 in Etterbeek) was a Belgian composer, conductor, and music teacher. Biography Meulemans’ father was an artisan and a music lover who composed dance music. As a child, Arthur Meulemans ...

and at the Lemmens Institute in

Mechelen Mechelen (; french: Malines ; traditional English name: MechlinMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical contex ...

with

Jules Van Nuffel Jules Van Nuffel (21 March 1883 – 25 June 1953) was a Belgian priest, musicologist, composer, and a renowned expert on religious music. Biography Born on 21 March 1883 in Hemiksem, Belgium, Van Nuffel studied at the Grand Seminary of Mechele ...

Marinus De Jong Marinus de Jong (14 January 1891, Oosterhout - 13 July 1984, Ekeren) was a Belgian composer and pianist of Dutch origin. Biography Marinus de Jong was born in Oosterhout (The Netherlands) to a working-class family with twelve children. His musical ...

and

Flor Peeters Franciscus Florentinus Peeters, Baron Peeters (4 July 1903 – 4 July 1986) was a Belgian composer, organist and academic teacher. He was director of the Conservatorium in Antwerp, Belgium, and organist at Mechelen Cathedral from 1923 to his deat ...

. From 1930 to 1943 he played the organ in the Saint Amandus Church in

Geel Geel () is a city located in the Belgian province of Antwerp, which acquired city status in the 1980s. It comprises Central-Geel which is constituted of 4 old parishes a/o towns: Sint-Amand, Sint-Dimpna, Holven and Elsum. Further on around the cen ...

.Jan Dewilde
Preud' homme, Armand
Studiecentrum voor Vlaamse Muziek He composed the music to hundreds of songs and

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...

s with the texts of particularly

Jozef Simons Jozef Simons (21 May 1888, in Oelegem – 20 January 1948, in Turnhout) was a Flemish writer and poet. Jozef Simons was active in the socio-cultural life of the Campine, among other things as a President of the ''Association of Campine writers'' ...

and Eugeen De Ridder. Favorite themes of his were connectivity of people and the nostalgia for his birth region. His most popular operetta ''Op de purp'ren hei'' with text of De Ridder was performed by the Royal Flemish Opera ( nl, fr). His most popular song was arguably ''Kempenland''; he wrote the music in 1938 and Simons wrote the text during the occupation of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Many paramilitary groups used it as their march music. He became the director of the music school of

Mortsel Mortsel () is a city and municipality close to the city of Antwerp located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality only comprises the city of Mortsel proper. In 2021, Mortsel had a total population of 26,170 people. The total area is ...

in 1943. In the years of economic repression after the war he accepted work as an organist in restaurants and cinema's for a living. He was a mentor for the choir of Saint Lieven in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

and from 1957 to 1968 he was a music teacher in Hasselt. In 1959 a television movie on his music was released, called ''Melodieën van Armand Preud'homme''. From 1990 to 2018 the

Armand Preud'homme Museum The Armand Preud'homme Museum was a museum in Peer, Belgium, that was dedicated to the Belgian composer Armand Preud'homme (1904-1986). From 1990 to 2018 the museum formed a combination with the Heemkundig Museum (local museum) upstairs, called t ...

in his birth house remembered to his work and life.Openbaar Kunstbezit Vlaanderen
Armand Preud'homme Museum

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Preudhomme, Armand Belgian composers Male composers Belgian organists Male organists 1904 births 1986 deaths 20th-century organists 20th-century Belgian male musicians