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Born: March 8, 1907 - Brussels, Belgium
Died: November 2, 1991 - Paris, France |
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The Belgian keyboardist and composer, Aimée van de Wiele, began her music studies at the Brussels Conservatory, where she studied with E. Bosquet and won the Laure van Cutsem prize for piano, as well as prizes for harmony, counterpoint, composition, and music theory. She then moved to France to study harpsichord at the Paris Conservatory with Wanda Landowska and musicology with Andre Pirro.
Aimée van de Wiele gave solo recitals on harpsichord and performed with orchestras in Belgium, England, France, Italy, and the USA on harpsichord, piano, and organ. She was well known for her interpretations of J.S. Bach (particularly the Goldberg Variations BWV 988) and François Couperin, and especially praised for her performance of Francis Poulenc's Concerto Champetre. F. Poulenc had originally composed the piece for W. Landowska, who performed it frequently. After W. Landowska's death, Wiele followed in her teacher's footsteps and received wide acclaim for her performance.
After W. Landowska's death in 1959, Aimée van de Wiele began teaching at the Paris Conservatory, where she had several notable students, including Elisabeth Chojnacka and Marketta Valve. In 1965, she served as a judge for the first international harpsichord competition as part of the Musica Antiqua Festival in Bruges, Belgium. She was also a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP).
Aimée van de Wiele's compositions include Poem, a piece for orchestra, as well as inventions for harpsichord, piano pieces, and transcriptions of various cantatas and sonatas for keyboard. However, she is best remembered today as a performer.
Several of Aimée van de Wiele's recordings can be heard on Youtube.com. Her recordings (LP and CD) include: J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations (Calliope); Concert Champêtre for harpsichord and orchestra by F. Poulenc (EMI Classics); Le Livre D'Or Du Clavecin (MusicDisc); Les Fastes De La Grande Et Ancienne Menestrandise by F. Poulenc (Nonesuch); Rameau Keyboard Works (Discophiles Français) |
