Victor Legley

Category:componist, hedendaagse componist
Hazebrouck, 18.06.1915 - Oostende, 28.11.1994
Genre(s):20ste eeuw

Biography

Victor Legley was born in Hazebrouck on 18 June 1915 and died in Oostende on 28 November 1994. He received his first music lessons – in viola, harmony and counterpoint – with Lionel Blomme in Ypres. In 1935 he began his full-time musical education at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels, where he earned first prizes in viola, chamber music, counterpoint and fugue. From 1936 to 1948 he played viola in the Symphony Orchestra of what was then the NIR (National Broadcasting Corporation). On the advice of fellow violist Gérard Ruymen, he began to take lessons in composition with Jean Absil in 1941, a study that was rewarded in 1943 with the Second Rome Prize. After the war he played in the orchestra of the opera in Brussels and in the Déclin Quartet, in which he became acquainted with the music of Bartók and Schönberg. In 1947, he became a progammer for the NIR, and then advisor-department head for “serious music” and for the third programme of the Flemish radio broadcasts. In this function, he attempted to promote contemporary music and Belgian composers in particular. From 1948 to 1950 he was a teacher at the Municipal Conservatory in Leuven. In 1949 he was named professor of harmony at the conservatory in Brussels and in 1956 professor of composition and analysis at the Muziekkapel Koningin Elisabeth. He held both functions until 1979. In 1965 Legley became a member of the Royal Academy of Belgium and was its chairman until 1972. He was also the author of numerous articles for the proceedings of the Royal Academy for Sciences, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium. Legley was chairman of SABAM (the authors’ rights association) from 1980 to 1992, and of the Union of Belgian Composers from 1986 to 1990. He has also often served as jury-member or chairman at international competitions, such as the Queen Elisabeth Competition, the Verviers International Competition of Lyrical Song, and the Bösendorfer-Empire International Piano Competition. In 1986 he was appointed officer of the Order of Leopold. The Vrije Universiteit Brussel granted him an honorary doctorate in 1987. In addition, he has received a great many prizes and distinctions, both for specific works and for his complete oeuvre. He has also represented Belgium at various foreign festivals and new music conferences.

 

Selectieve discografie als componist

Anthology of Flemish Band Music, vol. 5Anthology of Flemish Band Music, vol. 5 (2008)
20th century
Nationaal jeugd fanfare orkest, Peter Benoit, Jules Demersseman, Paul Gilson, August de Boeck, Marcel Poot, Gaston Brenta, Jean Absil (...)
Victor Legley - DKO West-VlaanderenVictor Legley - DKO West-Vlaanderen (2007)
20th century
Victor Legley
Music for Oboe and OrchestraMusic for Oboe and Orchestra (2002)
classical
Piet Van Bockstal, Czech Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, Victor Legley, Willem Kersters, Frits Celis, August de Boeck, Gabriël Verschraegen, Jacques Leduc (...)
Orchestral Music IOrchestral Music I (2001)
20th century
Vlaams Radiokoor (VRK), Vlaams Radio Orkest, Flor Alpaerts, Norbert Rosseau, Peter Benoit, Victor Legley, Arthur Meulemans, Edgar Tinel (...)
Lexicon van de muziek in West-Vlaanderen 1Lexicon van de muziek in West-Vlaanderen 1 (2001)
20th century
Herman Roelstraete, Victor Legley, Elias Gistelinck, Louis De Meester, Willy Ostijn, Jan Decadt, Jules Bouquet, Georges Maes (...)
The Millenium ViolinThe Millenium Violin (2000)
20th century
Jenny Spanoghe, Jean-Claude Vanden Eynden, Victor Legley, Elias Gistelinck, Marcel Poot, César Franck, Jacques Leduc, Claude Ledoux (...)
Belgische PianomuziekBelgische Pianomuziek (1998)
20th century, romanticism
Jozef De Beenhouwer, Victor Legley, Lodewijk Mortelmans, Peter Benoit, Marinus de Jong, Joseph Jongen
Victor Legley - Chamber MusicVictor Legley - Chamber Music (1996)
20th century
Daniel Blumenthal, Jenny Spanoghe, Victor Legley
Contemporary String QuartetsContemporary String Quartets (1996)
20th century
Jenny Spanoghe, Gaggini strijkkwartet, Elias Gistelinck, Piet Swerts, Wilfried Westerlinck, Victor Legley
Harmonie nouvelles en 12 mouvements pour l'EuropeHarmonie nouvelles en 12 mouvements pour l'Europe (1994)
20th century
Quatuor Arte del Suono, Gerhard Sporken, Peter Cabus, Daniël Capelletti, Victor Legley, Jean-Marie Simonis, Jan Van Der Roost, Paul-Bauduin Michel (...)

Author of

Academiae AnalectaAcademiae Analecta (1981)
[et al.], Victor Legley, Jozef Robijns
Muziek en propagandaMuziek en propaganda (1978)
Victor Legley
Hedendaagse muziekHedendaagse muziek (1976)
20ste eeuw
Victor Legley
Actuele aspecten voor een compositieleerActuele aspecten voor een compositieleer (1970)
20ste eeuw
Victor Legley
Muziek en radioMuziek en radio (1967)
Victor Legley

Related Items

Documents:Contemporary Music in Flanders II (book)
Actuele aspecten voor een compositieleer (book)
Hedendaagse muziek (book)
Muziek en propaganda (book)
Muziek en radio (book)
External links:Componistenfiche Victor Legley