As mentioned in Vol. II, No. 3, I had the pleasure of meeting the solo bassoonist of the National Orchestra of Belgium, Leo Van de Moortel, after a concert in Washington, D.C. last spring. His sudden death shortly following came as a shock to us all. There was certainly no indication to anyone from his spirited disposition and his eagerness to communicate his ideas and help others.
While in Europe this summer I went to Brussels to meet the brother of Leo, Mr. Arie Van de Moortel, a composer, violist, and music school professor. Resembling Leo a great deal, Arie also shares the family interest in music and musicians. My brief visit with him in the company of Andre Jacques, who is now principal bassoonist of the Belgian National Orchestra, was of great help in learning more about the career of Leo Van de Moortel .
Born June 13, 1919, Leo began artistic pursuits quite early. He played the 'cello from the age of 7 and was keenly interested in architecture also. His school concentration was in Greek and Latin and prepared him for a university course in modern architecture. At the age of 16, however, he missed school for 3 months because of an illness and after this decided to follow a musical career.
He entered the Brussels Conservatory as a 'cello major and won first prize with distinction two years later, performing the Schumann Concerto. He also learned to play older stringed instruments and was a strong proponent for revival of interest in the viola da gamba, giving numerous (and rare for the late 30's) recitals on this instrument. A Van de Moortel trio gave the first Belgian performance of some Divertimenti of J. Haydn for Baryton (Leo), 'cello (Mrs. Leo Van de Moortel) and viola (Arie Van de Moortel).
Leo began bassoon study at the conservatory at age 17. His first teacher was the older Bogaerts and later he studied with Mr. Kerremans. In 3 years he won first prize in bassoon, playing French system bassoon made by the Belgian firm of Mahillon.
At the time of his graduation the war forced him to temporarily trade musical life for the army, but by 1941 he was able to accept the position of solo bassoon in the National Orchestra of Belgium.
From the year 1941 he founded the "Trio d'Anches de Bruxelles," being one of the first to sense the musical possibilities of this combination of oboe, clarinet, and bassoon. The same clarinetist worked with him for 33 years, and the trio regularly rehearsed together from 7 to 8:30 every morning. In time their repertoire included over 200 works, with 20 works by Belgian composers written expressly for them. One, a copy of which he presented to me, and a prizewinner, was "Trio 1." by Arie Van de Moortel.
Always curious about acoustical and mechanical problems of bassoon performance, Leo carried out modifications to the bores of several instruments and also experimented with new keywork. I noticed a very large roller at the touch point for the high a key to facilitate rapid movement to the c or d keys. He devised a special mechanism for the crook key. Because so much playing is confined to the lower register where the crook key is closed (and must usually be held down with the thumb or a lock), and because the notes in the range g#' to b-flat' also benefit from a closed crook key, Leo Van de Moortel designed a touch-plate and gear mechanism for the crook key which operates as follows: (1) first press closes crook key release opens the crook key, (2) second press closes the crook key - release maintains the closed position and (3) the third press and release opens the crook key again.
After the 1958 Worlds Fair in Brussels, Mr. Van de Moortel gave up performance with the Mahillon and adopted the Heckel, still utilizing his personal crook-key modification. Although I only heard him play the Heckel, I am sure from this that he could also give beautiful results with the French system instrument.
During the last 15 years he was an active painter in oils and to his circle of friends was renowned as a cartoonist of orchestral musician "types." The caricature shown here is a self-portrait of Mr. Van de Moortel and appears in his clever book of orchestra cartoons, "a piacere," which is still available by writing to: Editions Maurer, 7 Ave. du Verseau, Brussels, Belgium. I have mentioned once before Leo Van de Moortel's excellent "7 Studies" for bassoon which are very helpful and also musically beautiful. They are also available from Editions Maurer in Brussels.
It is very sad that his career was interrupted so prematurely. Leo Van de Moortel will be remembered warmly by his many pupils and colleagues, by the Brussels musical public, and by all who knew him well.