“I really have to fight against the tendency to write all those staves full of notes”.
Hundreds of notes express the enthusiasm and inner necessity with which composer Luc Brewaeys (1959-2015) gave expression to the continuous stream of sounds in his head. Not that he conjured up new work as if it were ‘a ready-made frozen meal’ (just as he never lacked inspiration, the composer also never lacked humour). Composing was hard and sometimes unruly work, but his music always enchanted.
Brewaeys developed an entirely personal style within spectralism, celebrated the richness of sound and timbre in both orchestral and solo works, and put Flanders on the international map with numerous prestigious prizes, commissions and residencies.
Brewaeys Unfolding – a nod to the composition Black Rock Unfolding – takes the listener behind the vibrant pages of Brewaeys’ scores. An exhibition, a book and a webpage let you discover and rediscover his music from different angles, and introduce you to Luc Brewaeys as a composer and as a human being.
Brewaeys Unfolding is an initiative of MATRIX [Centre for New Music] on the occasion of the transfer of Luc Brewaeys’ artistic archive to the University Archives of KU Leuven. It has been realised in collaboration with KU Leuven Libraries and the Musicology Research Group, and with the support of the Flemish Community and Klara.
Composers in the crosshairs of our attention