Armand Preud'homme (21 February 1904, in Peer – 7 February 1986, in Brasschaat) was a Belgian componist and organist.

Biography

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

Hasselt Hasselt (, , ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg in the Flemish Region of Belgium. As of 1 August 2023, Hasselt had a total population of 80,846. The old ...

with Arthur Meulemans and at the Lemmens Institute in

Mechelen Mechelen (; ; historically known as ''Mechlin'' in EnglishMechelen 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 context. T ...

with Jules Van Nuffel, Marinus De Jong and Flor Peeters. From 1930 to 1943 he played the organ in the Saint Amandus Church in

Geel Geel () is a municipality and 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. Furthe ...

.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 including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...

s with the texts of particularly Jozef Simons 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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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

Mortsel Mortsel () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city close to the city of Antwerp located in the Belgium, Belgian province of Antwerp (province), Antwerp. The municipality only comprises the city of Mortsel pr ...

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 (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

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

References

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