Tore Tom Denys

Tore Denys has felt a passion for music and singing for as long as he can remember. At family parties, he was the entertainer who played guitar on the table and enjoyed imitating singers. ” I knew very early on that I wanted to do music. My mother says she always heard me singing in the house too.” Tore studied trumpet at the music school and completed his education at the conservatories of Ghent and Antwerp. Meanwhile, however, singing continued to attract him. Still during his studies, he toured with the World Youth Choir and went on to study singing at the Vienna Conservatory. Tore joined the Arnold Schönberg Chor and the choir of the Vienna State Opera. As a tenor, he was able to deepen his interest in early music and polyphony within the Belgian Capilla Flamenca. Since 2004, however, most of his time has been devoted to the ensemble he himself founded, Cinquecento. In doing so, Tore aims to bring Renaissance music out of libraries. Based in Vienna, they tour the world for concerts and festivals within the unique branch of historical music.
Now a second ensemble, Dionysos Now!, is joining the band, which aims to focus mainly on unlocking the musical legacy of Adriaen Willaert.

Vienna Conservatoire

While studying trumpet at the conservatory, Tore was already singing regularly with the World Youth Choir. His student job as a supertitler at the Flanders Opera also nurtured a love of singing. “So I sat there with my master’s degree in trumpet while I was actually drawn to singing. So when I was 24, I decided I wanted to be a singer and I was determined to make that dream come true abroad. Only I could not get a scholarship anywhere because I was a trumpet player and I could not “prove” my ability as a singer. I then wanted to go there on my own, but that was almost nowhere affordable, except in Vienna. Much to my surprise, I was accepted immediately after my entrance exam and moved there. I still live in Vienna now,though I am often on tour or abroad for performances.

Renaissance

With his ensemble, Tore entertains audiences with Renaissance music during those performances. Since 2006, they have also had a record deal with English Hyperion. Het succes van hun muziek uitte zich in verschillende prijzen. “I founded the group Cinquecento because I noticed that Vienna, the pre-eminent music city, did not know true Renaissance music. Schubert and Mozart could be heard everywhere, but what came before that was kept only in libraries on paper. That was a gap in the market that I wanted to pull out of the forgetting pit. In the sixteenth century, a huge number of Flemish Kapellmeisters worked in Vienna. In those days, if you wanted to show power as emperor or pope, you could perfectly acquire status with a high-quality music chapel. With Flemings you could score back then because that was the top, but that is not widely known. Everyone admires Rubens’ paintings, for instance, but the music of his time remains unloved if it is not brought to sound. With Cinquecento, I bring Renaissance music back to life and promote Flemish heritage in all corners of the world.”

Adriaen Willaert

One of the 16-century Flemish representatives was the Roeselaar-based Adriaen Willaert. “When I tell fellow Viennese musicians that I was born in Roeselare, they look strange, but when I say that I come from Adriaen Willaert’s town, they nod in agreement. So I thought it was a good idea to release a CD based on his music. The man was world-famous, the Michael Jackson of his time. Fortunately, he eventually got a monument at St Michael’s Church, but it should have been there a long time ago. Willaert’s portrayal on CD has received good reviews and, as a Roeselander, I am proud of that.”

Topicality in historical

Tore often has his nose in music history, but that does not mean he does not live in the present. “I also follow modern music, of course. The love for music remains broad, but actually there is a lot of actuality in that old music too. A well-known song from the 16th century was l’homme armé. That was a warning for the armed man, a reference to the coming of the Ottoman Empire. That tune was the subject of many fog texts back then, pointing to its intriguing theme. Now, the subject of religious wars is back in the news. There are renewed warnings about the advance of Islam and the caliphate. It is very easy to project Flemish polyphony onto the present day, which is what makes it so interesting. It also goes beyond singing and performance. In-depth musicology studies precede it. You have to go to the right library, know which catalogue to look in, convert that medieval notation into modern notation and only then can you start performing the piece. By the way, I see that work as my Berufung, not a profession but a vocation, an inner duty.” Interview published in “Hundred Delightful Roeselareans”, published by Bibliodrome.

On 16 December, Tore Tom Denys was awarded the title “Cultural Ambassador of Roeselare”. #rslr