BENOIT, PETER

born Aug. 17, 1834, Harelbeke, Belg. died March 8, 1901, Antwerp in full Peter Lonard Lopold Benoit Belgian composer and teacher who was responsible for the modern renascence of Flemish music. Benoit studied at the Brussels Conservatory and in 1857 won the Prix de Rome. He traveled in Germany and in 1861 went to France, where he conducted at the Bouffes-Parisiens. Back in Belgium (after 1863) he came under the influence of the novelist Hendrik Conscience, becoming an ardent proponent of a Flemish national movement in music. Benoit published numerous articles and pamphlets propagandizing Flemish music. In 1867 in Antwerp he founded the Flemish School of Music (later the Royal Flemish Conservatory), which he directed until his death. His compositions include his Rubens-cantata (1877), which evoked historical events in Antwerp; the operas Het dorp in't gebergte (1857; "The Mountain Village") and Pompeja (1895); the oratorio Lucifer (1866), considered his masterpiece; the children's oratorio De waereld in (1878; "In the World"); and the Quadrilogie religieuse (1864). He turned from his early innovative, harmonic style to one of more simplicity. Most of his compositions were choral, many intended to be sung by the common people.