![Van Dyck 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Van_Dyck_2.JPG)
Ernest Van Dyck (2 April 1861 – 31 August 1923) was a
Belgian
Belgian may refer to:
* Something of, or related to, Belgium
* Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent
* Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German
*Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...
dramatic
tenor
A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...
who was closely identified with the
Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
ian repertoire.
[ Forbes, Elizabeth. Ernest arie HubertVan Dyck. In: ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera.'' Macmillan, London and New York, 1997.]
Biography
A native of
Antwerp, where he was educated in a
Jesuit school, Van Dyck studied both
law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
and
philosophy in
Leuven before deciding to become an
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...
singer. The notary under whom he was studying introduced him to the conductor
Joseph Dupont. He became a journalist, working for ''
Le Courrier de l'Escaut'' in Antwerp and "
La Patrie" in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
.
[ l'Art Lyrique Français website: Ernest VAN DYCK page.](_blank)
accessed 14 February 2015.
From his arrival in Paris and debut at the
Concerts Lamoureux
The Orchestre Lamoureux () officially known as the Société des Nouveaux-Concerts and also known as the Concerts Lamoureux) is an orchestral concert society which once gave weekly concerts by its own orchestra, founded in Paris by Charles Lamoureu ...
in the first act of ''
Tristan und Isolde
''Tristan und Isolde'' (''Tristan and Isolde''), WWV 90, is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the 12th-century romance Tristan and Iseult by Gottfried von Strassburg. It was comp ...
'' he studied with
Chabrier and became a close friend of the composer. The singer repaid Chabrier by advocating for performances of his operas in
Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...
and other places where he appeared. During the years appearing at the
Lamoureux concerts, Van Dyck sang in ''
La Damnation de Faust
''La damnation de Faust'' (English: ''The Damnation of Faust''), Op. 24 is a work for four solo voices, full seven-part chorus, large children's chorus and orchestra by the French composer Hector Berlioz. He called it a "''légende dramatique'' ...
'', fragments from ''
Sigurd
Sigurd ( non, Sigurðr ) or Siegfried (Middle High German: ''Sîvrit'') is a legendary hero of Germanic heroic legend, who killed a dragon and was later murdered. It is possible he was inspired by one or more figures from the Frankish Merovin ...
'', ''
Tristan und Isolde
''Tristan und Isolde'' (''Tristan and Isolde''), WWV 90, is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the 12th-century romance Tristan and Iseult by Gottfried von Strassburg. It was comp ...
'', ''
Die Walküre
(; ''The Valkyrie''), WWV 86B, is the second of the four music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nibelung''). It was performed, as a single opera, at the National Theatre Munich on ...
'', ''Les Sept péchés capitaux'' of
Goldschmidt, and the premiere of ''Le Chant de la Cloche'' by
Vincent d'Indy
Paul Marie Théodore Vincent d'Indy (; 27 March 18512 December 1931) was a French composer and teacher. His influence as a teacher, in particular, was considerable. He was a co-founder of the Schola Cantorum de Paris and also taught at the P ...
.
In Paris he studied singing with Saint-Yves Bax before making his stage debut at the
Théâtre Éden on 3 May 1887; the occasion marked the French
premiere of ''
Lohengrin
Lohengrin () is a character in German Arthurian literature. The son of Parzival (Percival), he is a knight of the Holy Grail sent in a boat pulled by swans to rescue a maiden who can never ask his identity. His story, which first appears in Wolf ...
''. Intensive study with
Felix Mottl followed before he appeared as
Parsifal
''Parsifal'' ( WWV 111) is an opera or a music drama in three acts by the German composer Richard Wagner and his last composition. Wagner's own libretto for the work is loosely based on the 13th-century Middle High German epic poem ''Parzival ...
at the
Bayreuth Festival in 1888, with great success. The intensity of his acting was praised in particular and he was invited back to Bayreuth on repeated occasions, where he became a proponent of the
Sprechgesang
(, "spoken singing") and (, "spoken voice") are expressionist vocal techniques between singing and speaking. Though sometimes used interchangeably, ''Sprechgesang'' is directly related to the operatic ''recitative'' manner of singing (in which ...
style of operatic vocalism.
The
Vienna State Opera
The Vienna State Opera (, ) is an opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August ...
soon engaged him, and he remained with the company for a decade, during which time he created the title-role in
Massenet
Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are ''Manon'' (1884) ...
's ''
Werther
''Werther'' is an opera (''drame lyrique'') in four acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Édouard Blau, Paul Milliet and Georges Hartmann (who used the pseudonym Henri Grémont). It is loosely based on Goethe's epistolary novel '' Th ...
'' (16 February 1892). He also made guest appearances throughout Europe; among these, he featured in the world premiere of
Wilhelm Kienzl's ''
Der Evangelimann
''Der Evangelimann'' (''The Evangelist'') is an opera in two acts by the Austrian composer Wilhelm Kienzl. The libretto, by the composer, is based on short story "". It was adapted in 1924 as a silent film '' The Evangelist''.
Composition hi ...
'' in London in 1897. Van Dyck made his American debut on 29 November 1898, singing
Tannhäuser
Tannhäuser (; gmh, Tanhûser), often stylized, "The Tannhäuser," was a German Minnesinger and traveling poet. Historically, his biography, including the dates he lived, is obscure beyond the poetry, which suggests he lived between 1245 and ...
at the
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is oper ...
. He stayed in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
until the 1901–02 season, singing not only
Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
roles but also parts in
French operas. Having made his debut at
Covent Garden in 1891, in 1907 he undertook a season of
German opera Opera in German is that of the German-speaking countries, which include Germany, Austria, and the historic German states that pre-date those countries.
German-language opera appeared remarkably quickly after the birth of opera itself in Italy. ...
there. In 1914 he appeared in the first
Parisian performances of ''
Parsifal
''Parsifal'' ( WWV 111) is an opera or a music drama in three acts by the German composer Richard Wagner and his last composition. Wagner's own libretto for the work is loosely based on the 13th-century Middle High German epic poem ''Parzival ...
''. For the Musica journal, n° 13, October 1903 he wrote an article on 'Richard Wagner et l’interprétation'.
Van Dyck sang in the first performance of
Debussy
(Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...
's ''
L'enfant prodigue'' in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
on 27 July 1884.
[Noel, Édouard, Stoullig, Edmond. Les Annales du Théâtre et de la Musique, dixième année, 1884. G. Charpentier, Paris, 1885, p.377.] With Camille de Roddaz, Van Dyck provided the libretto for Massenet's ballet set in
Courtrai
Kortrijk ( , ; vls, Kortryk or ''Kortrik''; french: Courtrai ; la, Cortoriacum), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders.
It is the capital and larges ...
('Légende mimée et dansée en un acte') ''Le Carillon'', for the
Vienna State Opera
The Vienna State Opera (, ) is an opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August ...
in February 1892.
He appeared regularly at the
Theatre de la Monnaie in Brussels in 1894, where his repertoire included Wagner (
Lohengrin
Lohengrin () is a character in German Arthurian literature. The son of Parzival (Percival), he is a knight of the Holy Grail sent in a boat pulled by swans to rescue a maiden who can never ask his identity. His story, which first appears in Wolf ...
,
Tannhäuser
Tannhäuser (; gmh, Tanhûser), often stylized, "The Tannhäuser," was a German Minnesinger and traveling poet. Historically, his biography, including the dates he lived, is obscure beyond the poetry, which suggests he lived between 1245 and ...
,
Tristan
Tristan (Latin/ Brythonic: ''Drustanus''; cy, Trystan), also known as Tristram or Tristain and similar names, is the hero of the legend of Tristan and Iseult. In the legend, he is tasked with escorting the Irish princess Iseult to we ...
) and Massenet (
Werther
''Werther'' is an opera (''drame lyrique'') in four acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Édouard Blau, Paul Milliet and Georges Hartmann (who used the pseudonym Henri Grémont). It is loosely based on Goethe's epistolary novel '' Th ...
,
Des Grieux).
Van Dyck made a few acoustic records in the early 1900s (for
Pathé,
Fonotipia and
Homophone
A homophone () is a word that is pronounced the same (to varying extent) as another word but differs in meaning. A ''homophone'' may also differ in spelling. The two words may be spelled the same, for example ''rose'' (flower) and ''rose'' (p ...
) which show a voice prematurely past its prime after a dozen years of hard, declamatory use in heavy Wagnerian parts. He died in
Berlaar
Berlaar () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises the towns of Berlaar proper and . In 2021, Berlaar had a total population of 11,710. The total area is 24.57 km².
History
The current munic ...
in 1923.
He was awarded several civic honors:
Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...
, orders of Léopold de Belgique, François-Joseph d'Autriche, and Saint-Stanislas de Russie, the lion de Zaeringhen, of Baden, the star of
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
.
The
South-West Brabant Museum in
Halle has a collection on his life and work.
[Openbaar Kunstbezit Vlaanderen]
Zuidwestbrabants Museum
Gallery
File:Van Dyck Materna.jpg, Ernest van Dyck and Amalie Materna as Parsifal
''Parsifal'' ( WWV 111) is an opera or a music drama in three acts by the German composer Richard Wagner and his last composition. Wagner's own libretto for the work is loosely based on the 13th-century Middle High German epic poem ''Parzival ...
and Kundry at Bayreuth in 1889.
File:Van Dyck as Lohengrin (1895).jpg, Van Dyck as Lohengrin
Lohengrin () is a character in German Arthurian literature. The son of Parzival (Percival), he is a knight of the Holy Grail sent in a boat pulled by swans to rescue a maiden who can never ask his identity. His story, which first appears in Wolf ...
, 1895
References
* David Ewen, ''Encyclopedia of the Opera: New Enlarged Edition''. New York; Hill and Wang, 1963.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dyck, Ernest Van
1861 births
1923 deaths
Belgian operatic tenors
Fonotipia Records artists
19th-century Belgian male opera singers
Musicians from Antwerp