Lucien Goethals

Category:componist, hedendaagse componist, koor
Gent, 26.06.1931 - Gent, 12.12.2006
Genre(s):20ste eeuw

Biography

Lucien Goethals was born on 26 June 1931 in Ghent. His spent his most important formative years in Argentina, where he studied at the Dima Conservatory of Buenos Aires (1933-1946). When he returned to Belgium, he continued his studies at the Royal Conservatory in Ghent until 1956. Here he earned his first prize in organ, music history, counterpoint and fugue. Despite the conservative climate of the Flemish musical landscape, Goethals’ musical interest turned increasingly to the new international developments (serialism, electronic music, aleatory music). This interest was further stimulated by Norbert Rosseau, who introduced him to dodecaphonic techniques, although Goethals was largely self-taught in his evolution towards and thinking through of total serialism. As a composer and a producer for the Belgian radio, he was, like Louis de Meester, associated with the Institute for Psycho-Acoustic and Electronic Music (IPEM) in Ghent, from its founding in 1963. This offered him the opportunity to experiment with tape and electronic sound generators. He continued to work there until 1987. His many years of commitment to the IPEM explains the large share of electro-acoustic compositions in his oeuvre. Together with other young composers and musicologists, he was part of the SPECTRA work group (1963-1967).

Goethals’ intensive involvement with the musical avant-garde of the 1960s was also evident in his participation in courses in Darmstadt and Bilthoven. Besides studies with Gottfried Michael Koenig, he furthered his studies in Utrecht (Instituut voor Sonologie) as well as in the use of the computer as a compositional medium. From 1971 he taught music analysis at the conservatory in Ghent. His students have included such composers as Filip Rathé, Petra Vermote and Frank Nuyts. In 1996 the Lucien Goethals Society was founded. This society concentrates both on the dissemination of the music of Goethals and his generation, and on the promotion of contemporary music in general. Goethals has already been awarded numerous prizes, most recently the ANV-Visser Neerlandiaprijs (1999). Lucien Goethals died in Ghent on 12 December 2006.

Selective discography

Hedendaagse Belgische MuziekHedendaagse Belgische Muziek (1970)
20th century, Electro-Acoustic music
Louis De Meester, Herman Sabbe, Emmanuel Van Weerst, Pierre Bartholomée, Didier Gazelle, Lucien Goethals, Lucien Goethals, Henri Pousseur (...)
Goethals Lucien - Espacios y tiempos, Electronica partGoethals Lucien - Espacios y tiempos, Electronica part
20th century
Lucien Goethals, Lucien Goethals

Selectieve discografie als componist

Pluriversum - Over Lucien GoethalsPluriversum - Over Lucien Goethals (2016)
20th century
Spectra Ensemble, Lucien Goethals
IPEM. 50 years of electronic and electroacoustic music at the Ghent universityIPEM. 50 years of electronic and electroacoustic music at the Ghent university (2013)
Electro-Acoustic music
Diverse uitvoerders, Louis De Meester, Lucien Goethals, Didier Gazelle, David Van De Woestijne, Stefan Beyst, Helmut Lachenmann, Boudewijn Buckinx (...)
Musica Gandaviae: Organa, ArtificesMusica Gandaviae: Organa, Artifices (2007)
20th century
Frank Heye, Adolph d'Hulst, Gabriël Verschraegen, Lucien Goethals, Julien Mestdagh
Al Amin DadaAl Amin Dada (2007)
21st century / contemporary
Françoise Vanhecke, Lucien Goethals
Residentieconcerten Den Haag 2004-2005Residentieconcerten Den Haag 2004-2005 (2005)
20th century, classicism
Aram Van Ballaert, Spectra Ensemble, Het Collectief, SimoensTrio, Lucien Goethals, Joseph Haydn, Miroslav Tadic, Jean-Luc Fafchamps (...)
Gouden Vleugels: Jong talent & klassieke muziek 2004-2005Gouden Vleugels: Jong talent & klassieke muziek 2004-2005 (2004)
20th century, romanticism
La Folata, anoniem, SimoensTrio, Johannes Brahms, Duo XXI, Frédéric Devreese, Robert J. Rosen, Lucien Goethals (...)
Lucien GoethalsLucien Goethals (2001)
20th century
Lucienne Van Deyck, Ex Tempore, Spectra Ensemble, Lucien Goethals, Filip Rathé
Lucien GoethalsLucien Goethals (1999)
20th century
Spectra Ensemble, Rolande Van der Paal, Harry Sparnaay, Polo de Haes, Lucien Goethals, Filip Rathé
Nieuwe Muziek in VlaanderenNieuwe Muziek in Vlaanderen (1998)
20th century
Anne Cambier, Henk Lauwers, Johan Van Cauwenberge, Ludo Mariën, Werner van Mechelen, BRTN Koor, BRTN Filharmonisch Orkest, Geoffrey Madge (...)
The thrilling trombone of FlandersThe thrilling trombone of Flanders (1996)
Wim Becu, Koen Severens, Claude Coppens, Joris De Laet, Lucien Goethals, Janpieter Biesemans, Wilfried Westerlinck, Raoul De Smet (...)

Related Items

Organisations:IPEM - Instituut voor Psycho-akoestische en electronische muziek (bibliotheek, archief, studiecentrum, muziekorganisaties, lab voor hedendaagse muziek, hedendaagse muziek)
Documents:Contemporary Music in Flanders I (book)
Contemporary Music in Flanders VI (book)
External links:Componistenfiche Lucien Goethals