Maldere, Pieter van 

Pieter (Pierre) van Maldere – Sinfonia I a più strumenti, op. 5/1 (VR 73)

(Brussels, October 16, 1729 – Brussels, November 1, 1768)

(from: Sei sinfonie a più strumenti, op. 5)

Pieter van Maldere: his name is still more of a buzz in the minds of music connoisseurs than it is on concert posters. This is a pity, because his pointed symphonies are certainly not inferior to the early classical symphonies that saw the light of day in Paris, Mannheim or Vienna at the time. Later, his orchestral music was inevitably overshadowed by the masterful symphonies of Haydn and Mozart and his work largely disappeared into oblivion.

Pieter van Maldere, son of a Brussels school teacher, more than likely received his music education from Jean-Joseph Fiocco (1686-1746) and from Henri-Jacques De Croes (1705-1786), both of them then associated with the court chapel in Brussels. At seventeen Van Maldere naturally became second violinist at the court chapel, the beginning of a musical career in the service of Charles of Lorraine (1712-1780), governor and governor-general of the Austrian Netherlands. Only three years later, in 1749, Van Maldere was promoted from the second violins to the coveted position of concertmaster, where he replaced De Croes, who in the meantime had succeeded Fiocco as music director. …

Full preface (English, German and Flemish version) > HERE