Jules de Corte
Encyclopedia
Julius de Corte (March 29 1924, Deurne – February 16 1996, Eindhoven) was a famous blind singer-songwriter from the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

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Early life

De Corte was born to Peer de Corte and Anna van Eijk. His father had socialist ideals and in 1923 led a strike the failure of which had a significant impact on the already poor family. At fourteen months, Jules developed a middle ear
Middle ear
The middle ear is the portion of the ear internal to the eardrum, and external to the oval window of the cochlea. The mammalian middle ear contains three ossicles, which couple vibration of the eardrum into waves in the fluid and membranes of the inner ear. The hollow space of the middle ear has...

 infection, which eventually led to him becoming blind. He would spend the rest of his childhood in two Catholic institutions for the blind in Grave, which provided him with a good education but no affection. In the last year of the Second World War, allied soldiers were accommodated in the institute and De Corte sang songs for them and played the piano.

Post-war years

In 1945 De Corte became a professional musician. Initially he played at dance schools and parties and so on, but soon afterwards he began to make radio and stage appearances. Over the years, he colloborated with many other famous performers, including Louis van Dijk
Louis van Dijk
Louis van Dijk is a Dutch pianist. He studied solo piano at the Amsterdam Conservatorium....

, Albert Mol
Albert Mol
Albert Mol was a popular Dutch author, actor and TV personality, who appeared in movies and TV shows in a career that spanned nearly 60 years....

 and Rita Reys
Rita Reys
Rita Reys is a jazz singer from the Netherlands.At the 1960 jazz festival of Juan Les Pins , she received the title 'Europe’s first lady of jazz'.-Early career:...

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Although he did other work too, De Corte is best known for his songs, such as Ik zou wel eens willen weten. It is estimated he wrote over 3,000 songs, some poetic and sad, others funny.

Prizes

De Corte received the following prizes:
  • Edison award in 1962, for the LP Liedjes die eigenlijk niet mogen
  • Visser-Neerlandia Prize in 1967, for his complete works
  • Gouden Harp (Golden Harp) in 1969
  • Louis Davids Prize in 1975, for the song Het land van de toekomst
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