Oscar van Hemel
Oscar van Hemel (3 August 1892 – 9 July 1981) was a Dutch-Belgian violinist, music teacher and composer of contemporary classical music. His work includes two operas and symphonies.
Oscar van Hemel
Jack de Nijs for Anefo · Nationaal Archief · CC0
- Name
- Oscar van Hemel
- Born
- 3 August 1892
- Birthplace
- Antwerp, Belgium
- Died
- 9 July 1981
- Place of death
- Hilversum, Netherlands
- Education
- Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp
- Spouse
- Anna Johanna (Anneke) Wouters
- Nationality
- Kingdom of the Netherlands · Belgium
- Occupation
- composer · violinist
- Honours
- ANV -Visser Neerlandia-price for Music · Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau
- Languages
- Dutch
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Oscar van Hemel (3 August 1892 – 9 July 1981) was a Dutch-Belgian violinist, music teacher and composer of contemporary classical music. His work includes two operas and symphonies.
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wikidata · Q2189457 · wikipedia · Oscar van Hemel
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Oscar van Hemel • Born — 3 August 1892 • Birthplace — Antwerp, Belgium • Died — 9 July 1981 • Place of death — Hilversum, Netherlands • Education — Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp • Spouse — Anna Johanna (Anneke) Wouters • Children — 6 daughters, 4 sons
Life and education
Life and education
Van Hemel was born in 1892 in Antwerp, Belgium, where he studied with August de Boeck and Lodewijk Mortelmans at the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp. During World War I he was wounded at the Battle of Halen. With the help of the Red Cross, he fled in May 1915 to Roosendaal in the Netherlands during the bombardment of Antwerp. He subsequently played violin in the orchestra of the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam. In 1918 he moved to Bergen op Zoom, where he became a teacher of violin, piano, and music theory at the municipal music school. Here, he also met his future wife, Annie Wouters, whom he married in August 1923. Together they eventually had 10 children. From 1931 to 1933 he studied music composition with Willem Pijper in Rotterdam. In 1949, van Hemel and his family moved to Hilversum, where the Katholieke Radio Omroep (Catholic Radio Broadcasting) commissioned an opera, Viviane on a libretto by Louis Lutz, to celebrate its 25th jubilee.
Identity
Identity
Oscar van Hemel is recorded as having received ANV -Visser Neerlandia-price for Music and Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau.
![Collectie / Archief: Fotocollectie Anefo Reportage / Serie: [onbekend] Beschrijving: Oscar van Hemel wordt 3 augustus 70 jaar Datum: 2 augustus 1962 Persoonsnaam: Hemel, Oscar van Fotograaf: Nijs, Jac. de / Anefo Auteursrechthebbende: Nationaal Archief Materiaalsoort: Negatief (zwart/wit) Nummer archiefinventaris: bekijk toegang 2.24.01.03 Bestanddeelnummer: 914-1720](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b5/Oscar_van_Hemel_wordt_3_augustus_70_jaar%2C_Bestanddeelnr_914-1720.jpg/800px-Oscar_van_Hemel_wordt_3_augustus_70_jaar%2C_Bestanddeelnr_914-1720.jpg)
Collectie / Archief: Fotocollectie Anefo Reportage / Serie: [onbekend] Beschrijving: Oscar van Hemel wordt 3 augustus 70 jaar Datum: 2 augustus 1962 Persoonsnaam: Hemel, Oscar van Fotograaf: Nijs, Jac. de / Anefo Auteursrechthebbende: Nationaal Archief Materiaalsoort: Negatief (zwart/wit) Nummer archiefinventaris: bekijk toegang 2.24.01.03 Bestanddeelnummer: 914-1720
Jack de Nijs for Anefo
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1892
Oscar van Hemel born at Antwerp.
1981
Oscar van Hemel died at Hilversum.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Antwerp.
Birth place
Hilversum.
Death place
Works and reception
Van Hemel composed chamber music, sacred music, songs and choral music, music for orchestra, including symphonies, and for concert band, and two operas, Viviane and De prostituée (The Prostitute). Van Hemel's music was at times praised as "lovely" and spontaneous, albeit at times "constructed". His Pianokwartet was praised as "powerful, quirky interbellum music". Others were more critical and lamented a lack of originality. Nevertheless, in the 1950s, van Hemel's music was very popular in the Netherlands. In 1962, van Hemel received the ANV-Visser Neerlandiaprijs for his Quartetto di strumenti ad arco no. 6. In the same year, he was knighted in the Order of Orange-Nassau.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.De geboorteakte vermeldt Ludovicus Oscar Vanhemel
- 2.Parool, 12 oktober 1962, Koninklijke onderscheidingen
- 3.Jos Wouters: Nederlandse componisten van de 20e eeuw (gearchiveerd)
- 4.Leo Samama: Nederlandse muziek in de twintigste eeuw - Voorspel tot een nieuwe dag
- 5.Citeer Algemene muziek encyclopedie 4 222
- 6.Oscar van Hemel op Discogs
References
Citations
References
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reference work
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Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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