Flor Peeters

Franciscus Florentinus Peeters was born on 4 July 1903 in Tielen, the youngest in a family of eleven. The composer grew up in musical surroundings and became intrigued early on with the artistic milieu. During his secondary school years in Herentals and Turnhout he studied piano, organ (with H. Quinen and Jozef Brandt) and violin. At sixteen, Peeters began his studies at the Lemmens Institute in Mechelen, where he took lessons from Lodewijk Mortelmans (composition), Jules van Nuffel (Gregorian chant and analysis) and Oscar Depuydt (organ and liturgical improvisation). Peeters received his final diploma in 1921, becoming second organist at Cathedral of St Rumoldus in Mechelen in that same year. Two years later he became an organ teacher at the Lemmens Institute and chief organist at the cathedral in Mechelen. He also taught organ in Ghent, Tilburg and the Royal Conservatory in Antwerp, where he served as director from 1952 to 1968. Peeters gave annual masterclasses in the United States, as well as in Mechelen starting in 1968. As an organist he enjoyed great renown both in Europe and abroad, giving concerts all over the world. Besides his own compositions, his repertoire included works by Bach, Widor and especially Franck. Peeters also enjoyed an excellent reputation as a teacher. He was the initiator of music pedagogy as a course at Belgian conservatories. The many recognitions of his achievements, received over the course of his life, included honorary doctorates from the University of America (1962) and the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (1971). In 1971, Peeters was made a baron, and four years later he also became an honorary citizen of Turnhout. He died in Antwerp on 4 July 1986.