Walter Hus (born 2 July 1959) is 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 language ...

composer and musician. He studied at the music conservatories in

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

and Brussels. In 1984, he graduated with excellence (''Diplôme supérieur'') for

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

with Prof. Dr. Robert Steyaert and soon became involved with new music in many different expressions. He performed improvised piano recitals (1984: LP ''Eight Etudes on Improvisation''); occasionally flirted with

free jazz Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians during ...

(Belgisch Pianokwartet) and rock (Simpletones); collaborated with painters (Michel Thuns) and video artists (Walter Verdin, Marie André). He wrote film scores for ''Suite Sixteen'' (

Dominique Deruddere Dominique Deruddere (born 15 June 1957) is a Belgian film director, actor, screenwriter and producer. Career Dominique Deruddere was an actor before he became a director. Filmography * '' Crazy Love'' (1987) * ''Wait Until Spring, Bandini'' ( ...

) and ''

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'' (

Peter Greenaway Peter Greenaway, (born 5 April 1942) is a Welsh film director, screenwriter and artist. His films are noted for the distinct influence of Renaissance and Baroque painting, and Flemish painting in particular. Common traits in his films are the ...

); toured the world with his ensemble Maximalist! and wrote and performed for theatre and ballet (amongst others

Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker Anne Teresa, Baroness De Keersmaeker (, born 1960 in Mechelen, Belgium, grew up in Wemmel) is a contemporary dance choreographer. The dance company constructed around her, , was in residence at La Monnaie in Brussels from 1992 to 2007. Biography ...

Wim Vandekeybus Wim Vandekeybus (Herenthout, 30 June 1963) is a Belgian choreographer, director and photographer. His company Ultima Vez is located in Sint-Jans-Molenbeek (Brussels). Together with Jan Fabre, Alain Platel and Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Wim Vand ...

, Roxanne Huilmand,

Needcompany Needcompany is an international performance group formed in 1986. The two artists at the heart of Needcompany are Jan Lauwers and Grace Ellen Barkey. Lauwers is the company's founder and artistic director. Their associated performing artists ar ...

, Bud Blumenthal, Discordia, Beukelaars, Kortekaas, Ritsema). From the nineties on, he appeared less on stage and concentrated on composition as his main interest. He was commissioned by a number of music institutions and festivals, such as the ,

deSingel deSingel is a Belgian arts center. It is located on the Desguinlei in Antwerp. Its various stages, concert halls and exhibition spaces offer a manifold program of music, dance, theater and architecture. It is also home to the Royal Conservatory ...

, the , ,

Festival van Vlaanderen Festival of Flanders ( nl, Festival van Vlaanderen) is an annual music event at different locations in Flanders. It started initially as a "Summer Festival", but now its activities are spread from January to May, with a peak in late summer and earl ...

, Antwerpen '93, Happy New Ears,

Vooruit Vooruit ( nl, Kunstencentrum Vooruit, ) is a historic complex in Ghent, Belgium. Vooruit was originally the festival and art center of the Ghent-based labor movement, with a ballroom, cinema, theater, etc. It is now mainly used for concerts an ...

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and the . Recent works include four String Quartets ("La Théorie", "Le Désir", "Le Miroir" and "La Folie") and their symphonic transcriptions; chamber music for various combinations of instruments; music for choir and wind-ensembles; one Violin Concerto; one Piano Concerto; solo pieces; two song cycle; a children's opera ("de Nacht"); "Orfeo", an opera His trilogy of operas ("Meneer, de zot & tkint" / "Bloetwollefduivel" / "Titus Andonderonikustmijnklote"), lyrics by

Jan Decorte Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Numb ...

, toured in Belgium and other European countries and were described as "masterpieces of stilistic venom ..flawless little lessons in opera eshthetics" He composed a cycle of twenty-four preludes and fugues in four volumes, for multiple combinations of instruments. In 2004 he performed Books II & III of ''Preludes and Fugues for 2 pianos'' with pianist/composer

Frederic Rzewski Frederic Anthony Rzewski ( ; April 13, 1938 – June 26, 2021) was an American composer and pianist, considered to be one of the most important American composer-pianists of his time. His major compositions, which often incorporate social an ...

. In 2012, Hus created an opera based on

Chris Ware Franklin Christenson "Chris" Ware (born December 28, 1967) is an American cartoonist known for his ''Acme Novelty Library'' series (begun 1994) and the graphic novels ''Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth'' (2000), ''Building Stories'' (2012 ...

's ''Lint'' (

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#20). Since 2004, Walter Hus is artist in residence at

Namahn Namahn is a human-centered design consultancy based in Brussels, Belgium. Considered a pioneer in human-centered design in Belgium, Namahn is primarily active in the fields of interaction design, service design and safety-critical design. Clients ...

. Walter Hus' recording studio, featuring a

Decap organ Decap may refer to: *Decapsulation machinery, a type of Sample preparation equipment Sample preparation equipment refers to equipment used for the preparation of physical specimens for subsequent microscopy or related disciplines - including failu ...

, is located in the Namahn spaces. In recent years, Hus is best known for his work with the Decap organ. He started transcribing sheet music for Decap's new instruments in the early 2000s and "fell completely in love with the whole instrumentarium and saw far greater potential in it". Decap lent him an instrument, and Hus continues composing for and performing with the organ. In 2010, Hus composed a Decap version of

Universal Nation "Universal Nation" is a song by Belgian DJ/producer Mike "M.I.K.E." Dierickx under his alias Push. What began as small trance studio project in late 1997, became an international commercial success over the years. The song was first released in 1 ...

for the documentary

The Sound of Belgium ''The Sound of Belgium'' is a 2012 Belgian documentary film directed by Jozef Devillé and produced by independent Belgian production company Visualantics. The film had its world premiere on 19 October 2012 at the Flanders International Film Fes ...

. In 2015, he received the

Ensor Award The Ensor Award (for the first two years ''Vlaamse Filmprijzen'') is an accolade presented by the Ensor Academy of Belgium to recognize cinematic achievement in the film industry and is the highest film honour in the Flemish speaking part of the ...

at the Oostende International Film Festival for his soundtrack to the film ''N-the madness of reason'' by Peter Krüger.

References

External links

*
Walter Hus at the Living Composers Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hus, Walter Belgian composers Male composers Belgian male musicians 1959 births Living people Factory Records artists