Jean Absil

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Jean Absil (May 23, 1893 – February 2, 1974) was a Belgian modernist music composer, organist, and professor at the Brussels Conservatory.

Absil was born in Hainaut, Belgium. He originally studied organ and harmony at the Brussels Conservatory , but upon graduating, decided to concentrate on composition instead. In 1934, Absil won the Prix Rubens, which allowed him to travel to Paris, France. Here, he met fellow contemporary composers Ibert, Milhaud, and Honegger. Absil gained international prominence with the premiere of his first piano concerto (op. 30).^[1] In 1930, Absil began teaching harmony at the Brussels Conservatory, becoming a professor of Fugue 6 years later. He also taught at Chapelle Musicale Reine Elisabeth and the Etterbeek Music School. In 1955, he was elected to the Belgium Royal Academy. In 1974, at the age of 80, Absil died in Uccle, Brussels.

[edit] Compositions

Among his many other compositions are the Ballade, op. 129, for solo piano (which is played with the left hand only) as well as 3 Pièces (played with the right one only).

Being a skilled pianist Absil composed a lengthy repertoire for the instrument, including three sonatinas (written in 1937, 1939, and 1965 respectively) and two Grand Suites. The Grand Suites (Op.110, composed in 1965) served as a tribute to Frederic Chopin. In 1946, he composed another work, Hommage à Schumann and eleven years later the Passacaglia in Memoriam Alban Berg, both of them for piano. He also composed a cycle of five symphonies, the first of which (op. 1) he composed at 27, when he was a pupil of Paul Gilson. It won the Prix Agniez in 1921. He was also awarded the Belgium Prix de Rome His last composition was the Piano Concerto no. 3, op. 162.

[edit] Style

Initially, Absil was influenced by the late Romantic school, particularly Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss. Around the time Absil made his trip to Paris in 1934, Absil began to adopt a more modern style. This included the use of polyphony and polymodal structures, influenced by contemporary composers such as Milhaud and Schoenberg.^[2]