Jef van Hoof was a
much respected and highly regarded Flemish
composer with a sizeable output to his
credit. Though he composed a good deal
of vocal and choral music, the backbone
of his output lies in his six symphonies,
of which the Sixth is unfinished. All
but one can now be had in commercial
recordings (the First and Fourth on
Phaedra 92013, and the Second on Marco
Polo 8.225101 or Naxos 8.554461/2).
A recording of the Third, once on Phaedra
Mouseion 492001, is no longer available.
Van Hoof had strong
views as to what music (his music)
was to be. "The composer wants
his music to sing with inner dramatic
tension; expression must have the power
of austerity, melody must grip the hearer
directly" (van Hoof quoted in Luc
Leytens’ excellent notes). Though he
roughly belonged to the same generation
as Bartók, Stravinsky, Kodály
and Prokofiev he stuck fast to great
classical symphonic principles. He deliberately
chose to express himself in a warmly
lyrical late-Romantic language. He adhered
to this throughout his career, as the
late symphonies recorded here amply
show. There are very few traces of Impressionism
in his music. It remains deliberately,
almost stubbornly, indebted to Romantic
models. What may distinguish it from
its most obvious models, is the clarity
of the orchestration and its straightforward
expressive range. The Scherzos of the
Fifth and the Sixth Symphonies have
an earthy, peasant-like quality reminiscent
of folk song, although he rarely quotes
any, in his symphonies at least. His
music also displays irony or humour,
even black humour, as is clearly heard
in his Second Symphonic Suite of 1952.
The Symphony
No.5 in E minor, completed in
1954, is in four movements laid-out
in the traditional pattern, with a short
Scherzo placed third. Van Hoof’s lyrical
gifts are particularly evident in the
beautiful slow movement.
Composed two years
earlier, the Second Symphonic
Suite is lighter in mood, and
displays irony and humour (e.g. in the
third and fifth movements). The deeply-felt
hymn-like fourth movement, scored for
strings, displays van Hoof’s mysticism,
and the second movement his compassion
"for one that must live with a
limp". Some of the movements have
autobiographical connotations, e.g.
the opening movement White Slacks
(the composer used to wear white slacks
when on holiday at the seaside, where
the suite was actually written) and
the fourth movement (Better I).
The Symphony
No.6 in B flat major was left
unfinished at the time of the composer’s
death. The first three movements were
fully scored but van Hoof had only scored
the first three bars of the Finale,
an assertive brass fanfare playing for
ten seconds. It is (or – rather – should
have been) in four movements of broadly
equal length. Though for standard symphony
orchestra, the scoring is much lighter,
more transparent. Had the Sixth Symphony
been completed, it might have been van
Hoof’s Sinfonia Semplice.
The five orchestral
songs recorded here date from various
periods of van Hoof’s composing life.
The earliest (’t Is Stille,
on words by Guido Gezelle) dates from
1903 whereas the most recent (De
Lotusbloem) was completed as
late as 1957. Slaaplied
("Lullaby", again on words
by Gezelle), Nachtdeun
("Night Song") and Suja,
nu Suja! date from 1910, 1924
and 1930 respectively. All of them are
fairly clearly modelled on the songs
of Duparc and Fauré. They are
all straightforward, beautifully written
for the voice and subtly scored; and
often quite moving in their apparent
simplicity.
Full marks to all concerned
for playing and singing such unfamiliar
stuff with so much commitment and conviction.
If you know any of van Hoof’s music,
you will know what to expect, although
the beautifully moving simplicity of
the songs and the varied expressive
nature of the Second Symphonic Suite
might pleasantly surprise. All in all,
a really lovely release that I warmly
recommend to all who relish beautifully
crafted, colourful and tuneful late-Romantic
music.
Hubert CULOT
Ann De Renais (soprano)a 
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