Page 69 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Belgium & Luxembourg

BRUSSELS  67

t Éditions
Jacques Brel
Place de la Vieille Halle aux Blés 11,
1000 BRU. City Map 1 C3.
Tel (02) 5111020. @ 29, 38, 48, 60, 63,
65, 66, 71, 95, 96. q Gare Centrale.
Open 10am–6pm Tue–Fri, noon–6pm
Sat & Sun; perfor mances on the hour.
& 7 = ∑ jacquesbrel.be
Established in 1980 by Jacques
Brel’s daughter, France Brel,
the Éditions Jacques Brel aims
to give visitors a sense of the
world inhabited by this great
singer-songwriter. It achieves
this through a changing series
of film presentations, which
The exquisitely proportioned Cathédrale-Sts-Michel-et-Gudule includes footage from his
mesmerizing farewell concert
r Cathédrale Sts- The transept windows, designed at Olympia, Paris, in 1966.
Michel-et-Gudule by Bernard van Orley (c.1490– Other installations evoke the
1541), date from 1538 and conditions of his life over the
Parvis Ste-Gudule, 1000 BRU. repre sent the region’s rulers. course of nearly 50 years.
City Map 2 E2. Tel (02) 2178345. Also of particular interest is The foundation also serves
@ 27, 29, 38, 63, 65, 66. q Gare the beautiful and original as an archive and research
Centrale, Parc. v 92, 93. Open 7am– Grenzing organ. centre. It maintains an
6pm Mon–Fri, 8am–3:30pm Sat (until
2pm Sun). & to crypt. 5 ser vices The flamboyantly carved impressive collec tion of
throughout the day. 7 on request. Baroque Pulpit in the central articles, manuscripts, slides,
∑ cathedralestmichel.be aisle depicts Adam and Eve’s play bills and other artifacts
expulsion from Paradise. This associated with Brel’s life and
Although it is the national pulpit, by the Antwerp-born work. In addition, it con tains
church of Belgium, Cathédrale sculptor Hendrik Verbruggen, several hours of audio and video
Sts-Michel-et-Gudule was was built in 1699, although it documen tation from some of
granted cathedral status only was not installed till 1776. Brel’s public performances.
in 1962. It was built with a sandy
limestone brought from local
quarries and is one of the finest Jacques Brel
surviving examples of Brabant One of the most celebrated and cherished of all Belgians, Jacques
Gothic architecture. Brel (1929–78) rose to stardom in the 1950s, when his evocative,
There has been a church on touching and witty songs first came to the attention of the public in
the site of the cathedral since Paris. Brel wrote and performed
at least the 11th century. Work countless songs – about love,
began on the Gothic cathedral ageing, drinking, the risible
in 1226 under Henry I, Duke of bourgeoisie, hopeless dreams,
Brabant, and was finally com- Belgium – many of which are
pleted 300 years later at the still adored and much played
beginning of the 16th century, today. These include “Ne Me
under the reign of Charles V. Quitte Pas” and “Le Plats Pays”,
It was dedicated to the city’s also known as “Mijn Vlakke
patron saints, archangel Michael Land”. Brel performed with total
and a local 8th-century pious commitment, singing in both
French and Dutch. Although his
woman, St Gudule. passion is clear in recordings,
Owing to ransackings by fans claim that he was even
Protestant iconoclasts in 1579 better in live shows, at the end
and thefts by French Revolutionists of which he would be famously
in 1793, the interior of the awash in pers piration. In 1966,
cathedral is far less rich than Jacques Brel, Belgium’s well-loved Brel announced that he would
it was in medieval times. It singer-songwriter, in 1965 be giving up perform ing at
nonetheless contains some fine concerts and had decided to
stained glass, such as the Last devote him self to films and to compos ing music for the stage. This
Judgement Window, dating promising future was cut short by lung cancer and Brel was buried in
from 1528, on the west front of French Polynesia, where he had spent his final years.
the cathedral, facing the altar.

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