Jean Absil

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Jean Absil (born May 23, 1893 in Bon-Secours; died February 2, 1974 in Brussels) was a Belgian composer, organist, and professor at the Brussels Conservatory.

Among his many compositions are the Ballade, op. 129, for solo piano, to be played with the left hand only, as well as 3 Pièces to be played with the right one only; Le Bestiare, op. 58, for chorus, and a piano concerto, op. 30 - in the sixties and seventies he would compose two more works in this genre; in fact, being a skillful pianist, he composed much music for the instrument, including three Sonatines (1937, 1939, and 1965) and two Grand Suites, being the second (Op.110, composed in 1965) an homage to Frederic Chopin; in 1946 he had composed an Hommage à Schumann and eleven years later a Passacaglia in memoriam Alban Berg, both of them for the piano. He also composed a cycle of five Symphonies, being the first one, composed at twenty-seven, written when he was yet a pupil of Paul Gilson, being this work his Opus 1; it would win Prix Agniez 1921. He also won the Prix de Rome.