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Remi Aloys Ghesquière
1866 - 1964
Belgium
Remi (Aloys) Ghesquiere (09/12/1866 - 10/08/1964), a Begian organist and composer; born in Geluwe, died in Brugge. After he obtained the diploma of sexton teacher at the normal school in Torhout in 1884, he became organist the following year at the Church of Our Lady in Kortrijk. Guido Gezelle was then curate there. In Kortrijk, he founded the Groeninghegilde with René Vermandere and Léonce du Castillon, which worked hard to establish a memorial on the Groeningheveld. His Flemish commitment was also reflected in the weekly contributions he wrote in the Gazette van Kortrijk. In the meantime he studied at the Conservatory of Ghent, where he received a first prize for organ in 1888. In 1890 Ghesquière became a music teacher at the Torhout normal school and four years later he became organist in his native village. There he founded the Vlaamsche Zangersgilde, a Flemish Association and a music school. He organized concerts in which he introduced the public to both Flemish music and the international repertoire.
Forced by war conditions, Ghesquière moved to Halle in 1917, where he was an organist at the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwebasiliek until 1945. There he was also active in the Flemish Association and the Flemish Girls Association. In 1923 he founded the De Singing Girls of Halle, a singing and dancing group based on the musical pedagogical insights of the Swiss Jaques-Dalcroze.
In addition to organ music and piano works, he exclusively wrote vocal music that was part of the (Catholic) Flemish Movement and often had an educational, warring or religious dimension: liturgical works, spiritual songs (on text by Gezelle, such as O Maria who is there), choirs, battle songs (the popular The Drum Beats), sung children's plays, cantatas and song plays. Ghesquière had the talent to write appealing melodies within a limited tessitura, supported by a traditional harmony.
He also published a four-part piano method. His Flemish children's games were awarded by the Royal Flemish Academy.
Requiem
[Not yet confirmed.]
Ghequière probably composed a Requiem to a text by Guido Gezelle, 1891:
Requiem ... Milde en machtig mededoogen, keert uwe onbermhertige oogen toch niet af van mijn' nietheid, die, benepen, voelt de dood haar henenslepen naar het graf! 't Is bestemd en 't staat geschreven: sterven eens moet alle leven; 't wil en 't zal dat daar duurt of schijnt te duren, twintig jaar of twintig uren, sterven al! Groote God, die leeft onendig, steunt mij, als ik sterve, ellendig; en Uw woord, dat mij heeft der dood gegeven, helpe mij om her te leven eeuwig voort! Nu is 't duister al en droevig, lastig, leedzaam, ongedoevig, waar ik ga; waar ik zoeke of waar ik dale, uitgeweerd gij, heldere strale van 't hierna! Gij die nu zijt, waart voordezen, eeuwig zijn zult; God, verrezen uit het graf, kampt met mij den kamp, o felle kamper, dwers door dood en helle, nijdig af! Vrijdt mijn arme ziele, o vrome vechter; dat zij te Uwaard kome, zonder scha; dat ze, in Uwen schoot geborgen, na dees bittere wereldzorgen, rusten ga! Rusten ga en 't licht aanschouwen, rusten ga en vrede bouwen in dat land, dat geene ooge ooit zien en mochte, daar geene oore ooit aan en rochte, geen verstand! Guido Gezelle 9-11-1891
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