Émile Mathieu was a Belgian composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

 of classical music.

His best known work today is "Freyhir", an hour-long choral tone poem written in 1883 on the theme of deforestation around Ardennes

Ardennes

The Ardennes is a region of extensive forests, rolling hills and ridges formed within the Givetian Ardennes mountain range, primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, but stretching into France , and geologically into the Eifel...

 where the composer grew up. Freyhir is the legendary name of the forest.

His compositions include 7 opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

s, 3 symphonic poem

Symphonic poem

A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music in a single continuous section in which the content of a poem, a story or novel, a painting, a landscape or another source is illustrated or evoked. The term was first applied by Hungarian composer Franz Liszt to his 13 works in this vein...

s, concertos for piano and violin, a Ta Deum and choral works.

He headed the Louvain Conservatory from 1881, and the Ghent Conservatory from 1898.

Recordings

• Freyhir. Patrick Delcour, Marc Laho, Christine Solhosse, Veronique Solhosse, Choeur symphonique de Namur, Brussels Choral Society, Orchestre Philharmonique de Liege et de la Communaute Wallonie-Bruxelles / Jean-Pierre Haeck. Cypres