DECADT Jean

Bio

Jan Decadt (1914-1995) was a Belgian pianist and composer . Decadt was born in a working-class family in Ypres on 21 June 1914. He spent his childhood in England and Switzerland. He followed music lessons at the music school in Ypres from 1922 onwards. Later he studied harmony, counterpoint and fugue at the Conservatory of Ghent. He took private lessons in composition and orchestration with Jean Absil in Brussels. In 1935 and 1939 he also obtained diplomas in pedagogy. For 30 years he taught musical education at various secondary schools and in 1945 he founded the Music Academy Peter Benoit. He also organized major music events and delivered groundbreaking work for the musical life in West Flanders. In 1984 he was elected working member at the Royal Academy of Sciences, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium. Jan Decadt only started composing in 1935. Typical for his style are contemporary lyricism, a lively rhythm and a great expressionist expression. He found inspiration in twentieth-century painters such as Constant Permeke and Octave Landuyt.