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27-474: Philippe Boesmans has been composer-in-residence at Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, where he successfully showed Reigen in 1993, a literary opera after the play Reigen by Arthur Schnitzler, on a libretto by Luc Bondy . Now assisted by the writer Marie-Louise Bischofberger  [ de ] , Boesmans and Bondy created Wintermärchen after Shakespeare's play The Winter's Tale . The opera

54-505: A delegation of Salian Franks who had recently settled in Toxandria (the modern Campine region), to the north of Tongeren. They wanted peace but spoke "as if the ground they had seized were rightfully their own". Julian gave ambiguous replies and then after the meetings sent a surprise attack along the Maas or Meuse river, and "they met him with entreaties rather than with resistance, he received

81-621: A member of the Communist Party . In 1971 he won the Prix Italia for his composition Upon La-Mi for horn and voice which won him international recognition. In 1971, he participated in productions of the Centre de Recherches Musicales de Wallonie, collaborating with Pousseur. His works have been performed at the most important festivals of contemporary music, such as Darmstadt, Warsaw, Brussels, Royan, Metz, Avignon, Zagreb, Montréal and Paris. For

108-534: A self-taught composer. He attended courses at Darmstädter Ferienkurse . He was also active as a pianist with the Ensemble Musique Nouvelle. In 1961 he became assistant, and in 1971 producer, at the Radio Télévision Belge de la Communauté Française (RTBF), working with the radio orchestra there. From this experience he learned much about composing and orchestrating music. In 1965, he became

135-552: A short time, Boesmans taught piano and composition at the Royal Conservatory of Liège . He was composer in residence at the La Monnaie opera house in Brussels. Luc Bondy adapted four operas for him and subsequently staged their world premieres. When his opera Reigen was premiered in 1993, a reviewer of Le Monde wrote: "Reigen is perhaps the most successful opera of the last seventy years." His opera Au monde won

162-757: Is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg , in the southeastern corner of the Flemish region of Belgium. Tongeren is the oldest town in Belgium , as the only Roman administrative capital within the country's borders. As a Roman city, it was inhabited by the Tungri , and known as Atuatuca Tungrorum , it was the administrative centre of the Civitas Tungrorum district. The Romans referred to Tongeren as Aduatuca Tungrorum or Atuatuca Tongrorum , and it

189-628: Is dedicated to Bernard , Annick Foccroulle, and Harry Halbreich . The premiere on 10 December 1999 at La Monnaie was staged by Bondy on a set by Erich Wonder , conducted by Antonio Pappano and choreographed by Lucinda Childs . It was a great success, selling out eleven times. The production was shown in November 2000 at the Festival d’Automne in Paris. The opera was performed in 2001 in Braunschweig, in 2002 at

216-569: The Eburones were the largest of these tribes and the one living around Tongeren. Caesar referred to the fort of the Eburones as Aduatuca , and this has led to a widely accepted proposal that this can be equated to Tongeren. There are counter arguments that the word " Aduatuca " was probably a general word for a fort in this region, meaning that there might have been more places with the same name, and that Tongeren shows no signs of pre-Roman occupation, nor

243-630: The Germani . But many modern writers believe that the Gallo-Roman population of the area contained a significant amount of more recent Germanic immigrants from across the Rhine. Located on the important road linking Cologne to Bavay via the relay of Liberchies , and surrounded by the fertile lands of the Hesbaye region, Roman Tongeren quickly became one of the largest Gallo-Roman administrative and military towns in

270-760: The International Opera Award 2015 in the category World Premiere. He was bilingual in German and French. Boesmans died after a short illness on 10 April 2022 in Brussels, at the age of 85. He was honoured in a tribute concert at the Royal Opera House La Monnaie/De Munt on 19 April 2022. Boesmans early works were strongly influenced by serialism . After that, clear structures, periodically recurring rhythms, consonances and melodic elements characterise his musical language. The aesthetics of his works has been called "trompe l'oreille" (trick

297-652: The Neue Oper Wien and in Nürnberg, and in 2004 at the Liceu in Barcelona. A recording of the Brussels performance was recorded, and presented on 29 November 2000 on TV ( Arte ) and in 2015/2016 on internet TV (ARTE Concert). The libretto stays close to Shakespeare's play, and is "skilfully abbreviated and adapted", according to one reviewer, but because "neither [Boesmans nor Bondy] could bear to cut Shakespeare's original", they wrote

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324-640: The Rhine, such as the Sigambri to come and plunder. This back-fired when Eburones pointed out to the Sigambri that the Romans had all the booty at Aduatuca, and were the more attractive target. The Tungri , not mentioned by Caesar, came to dominate this area in the Roman era, and are the reason for the name of the modern name Tongeren. Tacitus says that Tungri was a new name for the original tribes who had previously been called

351-706: The Royal Opera House La Monnaie in Brussels as composer in residence since 1985. Four operas were written in collaboration with Luc Bondy who adapted plays for him, Schnitzler's La Ronde , Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale , Strindberg's Miss Julie and Iwona, księżniczka Burgunda by Witold Gombrowicz , and who directed the world premieres of the operas. Au monde was honoured with an International Opera Award in 2015. His last opera based on Feydeau's vaudeville 'On purge bébé' had its world premiere at La Monnaie in Brussels in December 2022. Boesmans

378-550: The Sicilian scenes mostly in German, a language in which both librettist and composer were fluent. The scenes on the seacoast of Bohemia , in the third act, are mostly in English, accompanied by jazz-rock music. In the premiere and the first recording this was performed by the Belgian group Aka Moon . They invented the role of Green, who personifies Time and is a Shakespearean jester holding

405-514: The church equivalent to the Civitas Tungrorum. This was the resting place of Saint Lambert of Maastricht , one of the last missionaries in the area, who died about 700 AD. Aduatuca Tungrorum may have been destroyed by the Huns in 451 AD. Tongeren therefore lost some importance during this period. Waves of Germanic settlers and invaders changed the area significantly. The Merovingian period between

432-473: The ear). His instrumentations are characterised by intense timbre constellations. He alluded to works of others not by exact quotations, but so-called "stylistic quotations" or "gestural quotations". Source: Operas Other compositions Sources Tongeren Tongeren ( Dutch: [ˈtɔŋərə(n)] ; French : Tongres [tɔ̃ɡʁ] ; German : Tongern [ˈtɔŋɐn] ; Limburgish : Tóngere [ˈtʊŋəʀə] )

459-487: The fifth and the eighth century is not well documented. The building of a new church and the foundation of a chapter of canons took place in Carolingian times, at the very place where the old bishops’ houses stood, and where the basilica still stands today. The construction of the current basilica started at the beginning of the thirteenth century in the prevalent Gothic style of that period. Other buildings were added to

486-555: The first century BC, the Belgae revolted against the campaign of Caesar, led by the Eburones. They destroyed a legion that had demanded the right to winter among them in 54 BC. Caesar reported that he sold the Aduatuci into slavery, and annihilated the name of the Eburones, many of whom however he reported having fled successfully, including Ambiorix the leader of the revolt. Instead of risking Roman lives to pursue them he invited tribes from over

513-501: The first century. It suffered from a destructive fire during the Batavian siege in 70 AD, which was part of the Batavian revolt . In the second century, it erected a defensive wall, portions of which can still be seen today. Typical Roman buildings were built in town, while villas and mound graves ( tumuli ) dotted the surrounding area. In 358 the future emperor Julian met, in Tongeren,

540-509: The hilly terrain described by Caesar. There was also a distinct tribe in the area known as the Aduatuci . On the other hand, it has the same name and function as a local capital, and is in generally the right area. If it is not Tongeren itself, the Aduatuca of the Eburones might be the ancient fortification of Caestert in nearby Riemst . During Julius Caesar ’s campaigns in this part of Gaul in

567-591: The meantime, the Franks to the north and east were pagan and so many areas had to be reconverted over the course of the following centuries, with several missionaries becoming martyrs. The seat of the Tungrian bishopric however eventually moved to nearby Maastricht , after Saint Servatius was buried near the Roman towns there. Much later, Liège became the seat of what would become the Roman Catholic Diocese of Liège ,

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594-535: The religious core of the city, including new commercial areas, hospitals and artisans quarters. The thirteenth century also saw the building of the medieval defensive wall, several new churches and cloisters, and the beguinage. The city became one of the “ bonnes villes ” ("good cities") of the Prince-Bishopric of Liège . In 1677, the city was burned almost entirely by Louis XIV ’s troops, a catastrophe from which Tongeren never completely recovered. The rebirth of

621-624: The scenes together. The music at times alludes to Mozart , Richard Strauss , and Alban Berg . Claudio Monteverdi is quoted literally. Boesmans writes lyrical and singable parts, and finely detailed orchestration. He uses music described as expressionist to characterize Leontes who is insane with jealousy, causing pain and guilt. The music for Hermione, his wife, is full of passion and warmth. A reviewer summarizes that "the sometimes eclectic melodic and harmonic characteristics of his music [are] accessible yet challenging". Philippe Boesmans Philippe Boesmans (17 May 1936 – 10 April 2022)

648-481: The submission of them and their children". They became increasingly important after this time. Zosimus reports that Julian used them as part of his forces in fights against other Germanic tribes. Already in the fourth century, just as the Salian Franks were settling to the north, the city became the center of a Christian diocese under the influence of Saint Servatius , bishop of Tongeren , who died in 384 AD. In

675-649: Was a Belgian pianist, composer and academic teacher. He studied to be a pianist at the Royal Conservatory of Liège , and was self-taught as a composer, influenced by the Liège Group of Henri Pousseur , André Souris , and Célestin Deliège, and by attending the Darmstädter Ferienkurse . He worked for the Radio Télévision Belge de la Communauté Française (RTBF) from 1961, as a producer from 1971. Boesman became primarily recognised for his operas, with works written for

702-580: Was born in Tongeren and studied piano at the Royal Conservatory of Liège , He studied first with Robert Leudiran  [ fr ] , then with Stefan Askenase who advised him to not pursue a career as a concert pianist. At the conservatoire, he was also introduced to serial composition techniques by Pierre Froidebise . However, it was only after coming into contact with the "Liège Group" of Henri Pousseur , André Souris , and Célestin Deliège  [ fr ] ) in 1957 that he began to write music, as

729-504: Was the capital of the large Roman province of Civitas Tungrorum , an area which covered modern Belgian Limburg , and at least parts of all the areas around it. Before the Roman conquests, this area was inhabited by the group of Belgic tribes known as the Germani cisrhenani . (Despite being known as the Germani , whether they spoke a Germanic language is debated, and the names of their tribes and their leaders were Celtic .) Specifically

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