#177– December 12, 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gemUz5XTijo
Orgia, by Belgian composer, conductor, pianist, and teacher François Glorieux is our Composition of the Week.
Originally written for symphony orchestra, the work was adapted for modern wind band setting by the composer himself with the assistance of Bart Watté and Dieter Boffé.
Its performance time is of 6’30.
Some other works by Glorieux has been transcribed for wind band, the most significant are the solo pieces Fantasy for Euphonium, and Sketches for trombone, as well as the London Proms Overture.
François Glorieux was born in Courtrai, Belgium on August 27, 1932, he is a pianist, a composer, a conductor, as well as an honorary professor of chamber music at the Royal Music Conservatory of Ghent, guest professor at Yale University, and director of the International Piano Master Class in Antwerp.
Glorieux practices all musical styles and has been highly considered by great artists such as André Cluytens, Arthur Rubinstein, Yves Nat, Hiroyuki Iwaki, Enrique Jorda, Raphael Frühbeck de Burgos, but also Michael Jackson, Stan Kenton, Stéphane Grappelli, Paul McCartney, Toots Thielemans, Jacky Collins, Annie Girardot, Dionne Warwick or Antonio Carlos Jobim.
He has also collaborated with the “Ballet of the 20th century”, the “Royal Ballet of Flanders”, the “Nederlands Danstheater” (The Hague), the “Nationaal Ballet” (Amsterdam), and has conducted the famous “Stan Kenton Band”, the “Locke Brass Consort of London”, the “National Symphony Orchestra of Great Britain”, the BBC Radio Orchestra, the “New Tokyo Symphony”, the “Kiev Chamber Orchestra”, the “Mainzer Kammerorchester” (Germany), “Czech Radio Symphonic Orchestra”, “Czech Republic Army Brass Band”, the “Latvian Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra” (Riga), among others.
François Glorieux is particularly active as a composer, having written more than 300 works, ranging from solo works to music for chamber or large ensembles.
Honored with several decorations and international awards, Glorieux was during nine weeks number one on the “Classical Hit Parade” in Japan and received 2 golden records. His discography is remarkable, counting more than 40 commercial recordings.
