Ernest Schuyten

Ernest Eugene Emile Schuyten was born on 7 November 1881 in Antwerp (Belgium). He received his advanced musical education in Belgium, studying violin at the Brussels Conservatory and subsequently continuing his studies at the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp. Later biographical accounts state that he completed his violin studies in Brussels in 1900 and his further studies in Antwerp in 1903. Some secondary sources name Flor Alpaerts as his violin teacher in Brussels, but this cannot be correct chronologically and has therefore been omitted here.
In 1910 Schuyten moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, where he soon established himself as a violinist, teacher and conductor. He taught music for several years and became associated with H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College, where he headed the violin department. He later became a naturalized citizen of the United States.
Schuyten quickly became an important figure in the orchestral life of New Orleans. In 1916 he organized the Crescent City Symphony, one of several orchestras that preceded the later New Orleans Philharmonic Symphony. In the 1920s he was also active with the New Orleans Symphony Association and the New Orleans Oratorio Society; a contemporary musical directory of 1922 lists him as conductor of both organizations as well as a violinist, composer and president of his conservatory. In 1926 he became conductor of the newly organized New Orleans Symphony Orchestra Association, and in 1930 he made another attempt to establish a permanent symphony orchestra in the city. These ensembles did not survive continuously, but they formed an important part of the orchestral tradition from which the New Orleans Philharmonic Symphony eventually emerged in 1936.
In 1919 Schuyten founded the New Orleans Conservatory of Music and Dramatic Art. A contemporary announcement stated that the new institution was to open on 1 October 1919 and that Schuyten would direct it with the assistance of his wife, who was herself a graduate of the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles. In 1932 it was incorporated into Loyola University New Orleans as the College of Music, and in the following year it moved to the Loyola campus with Schuyten as its first dean. Schuyten remained dean of the College of Music and conductor of its orchestra until his retirement in 1953. 
Alongside his work as teacher, administrator and conductor, Schuyten remained active as a composer throughout most of his life. His surviving output demonstrates a considerably broader range than the few works that became publicly known. The Loyola University archives preserve, among other works, his Alma Mater of 1938, the Missa Solemnis in Honorem Sancti Georgii of 1942, his Symphony I of 1948 and The Canticle of Love. The autograph manuscript of the symphony is still preserved there. Other compositions included orchestral works, concertos, violin pieces, songs and sacred music. The Louis Panzeri Sheet Music Collection at Tulane University preserves handwritten scores of several smaller works by Schuyten, including At the Midhour of Night, Jenny Kissed Me, Le Vase brisé, a Love Song for violin and piano and Prière.
His music continued to be performed even after his retirement. On 19 March 1961 a Soirée Musicale devoted entirely to Schuyten's compositions was given, and on 30 April 1962 a concert at Eleanor McMain Junior High School was held in his honour. These surviving programs demonstrate that, even around the age of eighty, Schuyten remained a recognized figure in the musical life of New Orleans.
Schuyten received a number of distinctions for his work as musician and educator. Later biographical sources record that he was made a Fellow of the National College of the Dominion of Canada in 1939 and was appointed a Knight of the Belgian Order of the Crown. These honours are repeatedly reported in biographical literature, although primary documentation for them has so far not been located.
The final years of Schuyten's life were overshadowed by a severe personal tragedy. Hurricane Camille devastated the Mississippi Gulf Coast in August 1969 and claimed the lives of his son, Andrew Hartwig Schuyten Sr., and his grandson, Andrew Hartwig Schuyten Jr. According to Schuyten's granddaughter, much of his personal archive and many of his musical manuscripts were also destroyed in the disaster. She recalled that the deaths of his son and grandson affected him so deeply that he subsequently lost interest in his compositions and no longer returned seriously to composing. 
Ernest Schuyten died on 13 November 1974 in Hammond, Louisiana (USA).

Violin concerto

Due to the Hurricane Camille incident only a few compositions of Ernest Schuyten have survived. I was lucky to find the only existing manuscript of the Violin concerto by Ernest Schuyten some time ago. The work was written around the year 1932 and the composer intended to write a typical three movement concerto. During the compositional process Ernest Schuyten decided to cut down the work to just one movement. He omitted the existing second and never started a third movement. So finally the work is called „Violin concerto in one movement only“.

The work received its world premiere most likely in December 1932 by Ella de los Reyes (violin), the Loyola College of Music Symphony Orchestra under the baton of the composer. No other performance of this work could be evidenced.