Jef van Hoof
Jef van Hoof (8 May 1886 - 24 April 1959) was a Belgian composer and conductor with a Flemish ethnic background.
Born in Antwerp, Van Hoof was a pupil of Paul Gilson and was heavily influenced by the works of Peter Benoit. He studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp, of which he was the director from 1942 to 1944. In 1933 he founded the Flemish National Song Festival (Vlaams Nationaal Zangfeest) where he worked as a conductor for many years. He also conducted concerts associated with the Flemish Movement. He died in Antwerp in 1959 at the age of 72.
He composed chamber music, symphonic works, art songs, works for solo piano, carillon, organ, as well as sacred music. He is particularly known for writing the famous Flemish patriotic song Groeninghe which uses a text by Guido Gezelle.
References
- Biography by Luc Leytens
- Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel now houses most works and manuscripts of van Hoof, after the bankruptcy of CeBeDeM in 2015.
