On Saturday, June 21, 2025, the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra will bring a powerful tribute in the Koningin Elisabethzaal to two forgotten voices from Flemish music history: Denise Tolkowsky and Daniel Sternefeld. Both Jewish composers from Antwerp had to go into hiding during World War II, but continued to compose despite everything. Their music, long forgotten, is now brought back to life in the concert 'Klanken van Vlaanderen: talent van eigen bodem', conducted by Karel Deseure. Pianist Wouter Valvekens performs the work of Tolkowsky as soloist.
Central to the programme is the Pianoconcerto by Denise Tolkowsky (1918 – 1991), a moving work from 1958 that she composed for her husband Alex de Vries, himself a pianist and composer. During the war, the young Jewish couple lived hidden in a kitchen cellar in Gent for three years. In those dire circumstances, Tolkowsky continued to compose: "we saw no other option than to work hard", she later said about it to the press. Her piano concerto breathes both darkness and hope, with a percussive, rhythmic virtuosity that showcases the unique playing style of De Vries. The premiere of this work took place in 1958 under the direction of Daniel Sternefeld, who himself led a shadowy existence as a Jewish conductor in wartime.
The concert opens with the world premiere of Danses Macabres, a new symphonic work by Erik Desimpelaere inspired by Pieter Brueghel's apocalyptic masterpiece The Triumph of Death. With this, Desimpelaere enters into dialogue with the sonic world of his predecessors, and creates a contemporary reflection on themes such as death, conflict and human resilience.
The final work on the programme is the monumental Second Symphony 'Brueghel' (1981 – 1983) by Daniel Sternefeld (1905 – 1986), a symphonic tetralogy inspired by paintings by Pieter Brueghel the Elder. Sternefeld, who lost his post at the Koninklijke Vlaamse Opera during the war and went into hiding, wrote his First Symphony in C during that period. His later Brueghel Symphony is a vivid musical evocation of works such as Peasant Wedding Dance and Parable of the Blind, with as finale the fiery The Triumph of Death – in a striking parallel with Desimpelaere's new work.
Prior to the concert, a symposium takes place at 11:00 am, where Jewish composers in Antwerp around World War II will be discussed. Historian Herman Van Goethem and musicologist Jan Dewilde place the lives and careers of Tolkowsky and Sternefeld in historical perspective. The symposium is framed musically by soprano Ekaterina Levental and pianist Frank Peters.
"With this concert, we want not only to pay tribute to forgotten composers", says Joost Maegerman, intendant of Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, "but also to honour the resilience of artists who, even in times of oppression and danger, continued to create. Their rediscovered music holds a mirror up to us today, in a world where many are once again under pressure to remain silent."
Symposium: Jewish composers in Antwerp around World War II
Saturday, June 21, 2025 – 11:00
Koningin Elisabethzaal, AntwerpenHerman Van Goethem historian
Jan Dewilde musicologist
Ekaterina Levental soprano
Frank Peters pianoKlanken van Vlaanderen: talent van eigen bodem
Saturday, June 21, 2025 – 15:00
Koningin Elisabethzaal, Antwerpen
Erik Desimpelaere Danses Macabres
Denise Tolkowsky Pianoconcerto, opus 38
Daniel Sternefeld Symphony no. 2 'Brueghel'