Vocht, Lodewijk de

Preface

Lodewijk De Vocht – Woudgetover (Forest enchantment)

(Antwerp, 21 September 1887 – ‘s Gravenwezel, 27 March 1977)

(1924)

Lodewijk De Vocht is best known as a choral composer, but that does not do justice to the orchestral works that are also part of his oeuvre. At the beginning of his career, he composed some fresh symphonic poems, such as Morgenstemming (Morning mood) (1906), Ontwaking (Awakening) (1908), In Ballingschap (In Exile) (1914), Woudgetover (Forest enchantment) (1924) and Naar hoger licht (To higher light); this was followed by concertante works for cello, violin and recorder, as well as some chamber music and instrumental solo works.
After Morgenstemming and Ontwaking, Woudgetover is the third orchestral work in which De Vocht aims to express his being enchanted by nature and its sounds. What is striking in this impressionistic work is the density of sound: truly all orchestral instruments, two harps and a celesta included, are engaged from beginning to end, albeit in nuances between pianissimo and mezzo-forte. At times, the volume gradually swells, only to fade back into soft, nuanced tones. While in the orchestra ‘everything that has life moves’, the sounding result is curiously a sense of motionlessness. Consequently, there is no modulation in Woudgetover: E as tonic and B as dominant are throughout the piece the foundations on which everything is based.
De Vocht created the work on March 17, 1924, in Antwerp with the Orchestra of the Society of New Concerts, which he conducted from 1921 to 1933. Apparently he was not satisfied with this introverted work for his standards; he would never perform the work (or have it performed) again. In 1986, Hans Swinnen revised and edited the work based on the autograph manuscript, and the following year the work was recorded by the BRT Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Fernand Terby on the occasion of the composer’s centenary.

Jan Dewilde

Facsimile of a copy of the library of the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp (KVC 135913), published in collaboration with the Centre for the Study of Flemish Music (www.svm.be).

read German and Flemish preface  > HERE