Napoleon Distelmans
Encyclopedia
Napoleon Distelmans was a Flemish
violist
with the Antwerp Conservatory in the early 1900s.
Distelmans's father was a shoemaker who dreamed of training his children to be musicians. Distelmans's mother died while giving birth to her sixth child, and the children's father raised them to play in a string quartet. As a young man, Napoleon won the prestigious Prix de Rome
viola, which awarded him a scholarship to study with one of the leading viola players of this era in London.
The language of study at the Antwerp Conservatory had just been changed from French to Dutch at the instigation of Flemish
nationalist composer Peter Benoit when the Distelmans brothers enrolled there. The school remained a breeding ground for Flemish nationalism long afterwards. The cello-playing brother of the quartet particularly became a fierce nationalist, which contributed to the dissolution of the quartet during World War II
.
Napoleon also was the viola soloist for some time in the Orchestra of the Antwerp Zoological Society. The concerts of the Society were known to attract, at times, Gustav Mahler
, Maurice Ravel
, Igor Stravinsky
and Sergei Rachmaninoff
to conduct their own works there in the hall next to Central Railway Station.
Flemish people
The Flemings or Flemish are the Dutch-speaking inhabitants of Belgium, where they are mostly found in the northern region of Flanders. They are one of two principal cultural-linguistic groups in Belgium, the other being the French-speaking Walloons...
violist
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
with the Antwerp Conservatory in the early 1900s.
Distelmans's father was a shoemaker who dreamed of training his children to be musicians. Distelmans's mother died while giving birth to her sixth child, and the children's father raised them to play in a string quartet. As a young man, Napoleon won the prestigious Prix de Rome
Prix de Rome
The Prix de Rome was a scholarship for arts students, principally of painting, sculpture, and architecture. It was created, initially for painters and sculptors, in 1663 in France during the reign of Louis XIV. It was an annual bursary for promising artists having proved their talents by...
viola, which awarded him a scholarship to study with one of the leading viola players of this era in London.
The language of study at the Antwerp Conservatory had just been changed from French to Dutch at the instigation of Flemish
Flemish people
The Flemings or Flemish are the Dutch-speaking inhabitants of Belgium, where they are mostly found in the northern region of Flanders. They are one of two principal cultural-linguistic groups in Belgium, the other being the French-speaking Walloons...
nationalist composer Peter Benoit when the Distelmans brothers enrolled there. The school remained a breeding ground for Flemish nationalism long afterwards. The cello-playing brother of the quartet particularly became a fierce nationalist, which contributed to the dissolution of the quartet during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Napoleon also was the viola soloist for some time in the Orchestra of the Antwerp Zoological Society. The concerts of the Society were known to attract, at times, Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then Austria-Hungary, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic...
, Maurice Ravel
Maurice Ravel
Joseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects...
, Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
and Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music...
to conduct their own works there in the hall next to Central Railway Station.