(b. 25 August 1959, Mortsel – d. 17 December 2015, Antwerp).
Belgian composer of mostly orchestral and chamber works that have been performed throughout the world.
Prof. Brewaeys studied composition with André Laporte and conducting with Ronald Zollman at the Koninklijk Conservatorium in Brussels from 1979–84. He also studied composition with Franco Donatoni at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena in 1981–82 and attended the Ferienkurse in Darmstadt in 1982. He studied privately with Iannis Xenakis in Paris from 1980–84.
Among his many honours were Third Prize in the competition for young composers from Europe in Amsterdam (1985, for Symphony No. 1, '...e poi c'era...'), the selected work in the category Under-30 at the UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers in Paris (1986, for Symphony No. 1, '...e poi c'era...'), the Prix de la Musique Contemporaine du Québec (1988, for his œuvre), Premier Prix in the Concours pour Compositeurs Européens des Rencontres Internationales de Musique Contemporaine de Metz (1988, for Symphony No. 2, 'Komm! Hebe dich...'), the Prijs voor Muziek van de Vlaamse Gemeenschap (1989), the SABAM-Prijs (1990), the Premio Musicale Città di Trieste (1991, for Symphony No. 3, 'Hommage'), two prizes from the Belgische Muziekpers (1996, for recordings of his orchestral music), and the Blanlin-Evrart Cultuurprijs from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (1999, for his œuvre). He was a member of the Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie van België voor Wetenschappen en Kunsten from 2008–15. His music has been featured at the Week voor Hedendaagse Muziek in Ghent (1989), the festival Dicht bij huis in Tilburg (2001), the festival Ars Musica in Brussels (2004), and the festival November Music (2007).
He was also active in other positions. He worked as a producer at VRT from 1985–2015 and was active as both a conductor and pianist, most often heard in contemporary music. He served as composer-in-residence at the cultural centre deSingel in Antwerp in 1988–89 and to the city of Saint-Nazaire in 1991–92. He was later a guest composer of the orchestra I Fiamminghi in Brussels in 2001 and served as composer-in-residence at the cultural centre BOZAR in Brussels in 2003–04.
He lectured on computer music and electronic music at the Koninklijk Conservatorium in Brussels from 1991–94 and taught composition and orchestration as a professor at the Hogeschool Gent Conservatorium in Ghent from 1998–2000. He gave masterclasses on composition and conducting at the Universidade de Aveiro in 1998. He taught as a guest professor of composition at Codarts in Rotterdam from 2009–15.
SELECT LIST OF WORKS
STAGE:
Antigone (lyric tragedy, text by Dirk Opstaele), 4 mixed voices, mixed chorus, 2 percussion, fixed media, 1991
Jocasta (monodrama, text by Elisabeth Buzzard), mezzo-soprano, small orchestra (15 players), live electronics, 2003
L'Uomo dal fiore in bocca (opera in 1 act, libretto by Birgit Van Cleemput, the composer, after Luigi Pirandello, Torquato Tasso), tenor, baritone, 3 female voices, orchestra (8 winds, 10 brass, harp, 3 percussion, 31 strings), 2006
ORCHESTRAL:
Symphony No. 1, '...e poi c'era...', 1985
Due Cose belle ha il mondo: l'amore e la morte, piano, small orchestra (flute, oboe, clarinet, soprano saxophone [+ tenor saxophone], bassoon, French horn, trumpet, trombone, harp, electric guitar, 3 percussion, 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass, bass guitar), live electronics, 1986, revised 1988
Symphony No. 2, 'Komm! Hebe dich...', large orchestra (16 winds, 14 brass, 2 harps, piano, 6 percussion, strings), 1987
Symphony No. 3, 'Hommage', 1991
Dalí's Dream?, youth orchestra, 1991
Symphony No. 4, 'Kientzyphonie', saxophones (1 player), symphonic band, 1992
Only very unusual matters, electric guitar, double bass, drum kit, large orchestra, 1992
Talisker, clarinet, contrabass clarinet, French horn, 2 percussion, small orchestra (2 E-flat clarinets, 12 clarinets, 3 alto clarinets, 4 bass clarinets, contrabass clarinet, 6 percussion), 1992–93
Symphony No. 5, 'Laphroaig', distant ensemble (flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, French horn, trumpet, trombone, harp, 2 violins, viola, cello, piano, 3 percussion) (with conductor), large orchestra, live electronics, 1993
Nobody is perfect! (André Laporte Sixty-five), small orchestra (15 players), 1996
Fasten Seat Belts! (Nightmare), large orchestra, 1997
Symphony No. 6, orchestra, live electronics, 2000
Benché nessuno..., sorride, 14 strings, 2001
Symphony No. 7, 2 distant ensembles (French horn, trombone each), orchestra, 2001–02, revised 2007
Symphony No. 8, 5 French horns, large orchestra, 2003–04
Stolen Silence, small orchestra (13 players), 2004
Along the Shores of Lorn, 2005 (version of OBAN)
Shadows with Melodies, large orchestra (piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, E-flat clarinet, 2 clarinets, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, 2 bassoons, 4 French horns, piccolo trumpet, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, harp, celesta, timpani, 4 percussion, strings), 2008
Fêtes à tensions : (les) eaux marchent, small orchestra (20 players), 2012
...sciolto nel foro universale del vuoto..., large orchestra (80 players), 2012–14
CHAMBER MUSIC:
Epitaphium, flute, 1977
Parametric permutations, bassoon, 1982
Trajet, piano, ensemble (flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, French horn, 2 violins, viola, cello, 2 percussion), ring modulator, 1982
Aouellaouellaouelle !, violin, piano, 1988
String Quartet No. 1, 1988
Very Saxy, bass saxophone, 1990
Dirge for Dina, soprano saxophone, 1991
Jacquerie – Jacques qui rit, French horn, 1991
Knockando, piano, percussion, 1991
Jocaste's (grand-)daughter, 2 percussion, fixed media, 1992
La Légende du vieux sonneur, synthesizer, fixed media, 1995
String Quartet No. 2, 'Bowmore', string quartet, 1995
Il Fiume del tempo passava..., accordion, 1996
OBAN, bass clarinet, bassoon, French horn, trombone, viola, cello, double bass, piano, percussion, 1996 (also version as Along the Shores of Lorn, orchestra)
Les Méandres de la Mémoire, recorders (1 player), piano, 1997
Per Roberto F., alto flute, 1997
Nobody is perfect! (Lukas Foss Seventy-five), string quartet, 1998
Nobody is perfect! (Jonathan Harvey Sixty), flute, clarinet, piano, 1999, revised 2007
Beyond the Deadline, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 2 French horns, 1999
Schumann's Ghosts, soprano ad libitum, flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, French horn, violin, viola, cello, double bass, 1999
Nobody is perfect! (João Pedro Oliveira Forty), violin, viola, cello, 1999
Violacello, viola, cello, 2000
Si sentiva un pò stanco..., trumpet, 2001
Haydn?, string quartet, 2003
Utopia, 4 violas, 2004
Hermesfanfare, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, percussion, 2005
Mozart's Ghosts, clarinet, French horn, viola, cello, piano, harpsichord, 2006
Nobody is perfect! (Frank Nuyts Fifty), flute, clarinet, violin, viola, cello, piano, percussion, 2008
Three Miniatures, violin, cello, 2008
Painted Pyramids, piano, ensemble (flute [+ alto flute], harp, violin, cello, vibraphone [+ crotales]), live electronics, 2008
Cardhu, flute (+ alto flute), clarinet (+ bass clarinet), bass trombone, violin, viola, cello, piano, percussion, 2008
Some Persistences of Music, flute, 3 saxophones, French horn, 3 trumpets, 2 trombones, bass trombone, bass guitar, piano, 2008
Black Rock Unfolding, cello, live electronics, 2009
Double Concerto, alto flute (+ bass flute), French horn, ensemble (oboe [+ English horn], clarinet [+ bass clarinet], trumpet, bass trombone, violin, viola, cello, piano, 2 percussion), fixed media, 2009
Per André L. 80, cello, 2011
Ni fleurs ni couronnes : Monument pour Jonathan Harvey, violin, fixed media (2/4 tracks), 2013
Eppur si muove, flute (+ alto flute), clarinet (+ bass clarinet), harp, 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass, 2014
CHORAL:
Come here, Ulysses (text by Homer), children's chorus, piano, 2002
I' vidi/La Vita fugge (text by Francesco Petrarca), mixed chorus, piano, 2003
vogliamo inneggiare all'uomo (text by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti), 4 amplified mixed voices, 4 amplified saxophones, amplified string quartet, 4 amplified percussion, 2009
Symphony No. 9, 40 mixed voices, large orchestra, 2007–15 (unfinished)
VOCAL:
Réquialm (text by Hans G. Helms), soprano, small orchestra (21 players), 1989
Non lasciate ogni speranza (text by Dino Buzzati), soprano, saxophones (1 player), orchestra, 1990
Credeva... in memoriam Franco Donatoni (text by Jan Fabre), 2 sopranos, orchestra, 2000
Fantasia con tre canzoni popolare napoletane (texts from folksongs from Naples), mezzo-soprano, flute (+ alto flute, piccolo), harp, cello, piano 5 hands, 2007
speechless song, seeming many, being one 'Sonnet no. 8' by William Shakespeare (text by William Shakespeare), voice (+ 2 crotales), 2010
PIANO:
Conuflinicty – 1 + 1 = 3, piano, fixed media (2 tracks), 1981
Namk'Cotts, piano 4 hands, 1989
Pyramids in Siberia, 1989
Nobody is perfect! (Michael Finnissy Fifty), 1996
In between..., 1997
Fred's Hallucination, 2009
FILM SCORES (DIRECTOR):
Het Raadsel van de sfinks, 1983 (Jef Cornelis)
Le Concert, 1992 (Samy Brunett)
ARRANGEMENTS:
Préludes, Premier Livre (nos. 2, 5–6, 8, 12) (Claude Debussy), large orchestra, 2002
Préludes, Premier Livre (nos. 1, 3–4, 7, 9–11) (Claude Debussy), large orchestra, 2004
Préludes, Deuxième Livre (Claude Debussy), large orchestra, 2005