Lenaerts, René Bernard (Maria)
Lenaerts, René Bernard (Maria)
Lenaerts, René Bernard (Maria), distinguished Belgian musicologist; b. Bornem, Oct. 26, 1902; d. Leuven, Feb. 27, 1992. He studied at the Mechelen theological seminary and at the Lemmens Inst, being ordained a priest (1927), then continued his education at the Univ. of Louvain (Ph.D., 1929, with the diss. Het Nederlands polifonies lied in de zestiende eeuw, publ. in Mechelen and Amsterdam, 1933); after additional studies with Pirro in Paris (1931–32), he taught in secondary schools in Geel and Antwerp; then was a junior lecturer (1944–46), lecturer (1946–49), and full prof. (1949–73) in musicology at the Catholic Univ. of Louvain; was also a reader in Renaissance music history at the Univ. of Utrecht (1958–71). In 1955 he was made a canon. In 1959 he became ed. of Monumenta Musicae Belgicae. Lenaerts was made a corresponding member of the American Musicological Soc. in 1981. He publ. Oude Neder-landse muziek (Brussels, 1937), Johann Sebastian Bach (Diest, 1943), Belangrijke verzamelingen Nederlandse muziek uit de zestiende eeuw in Spanje (Brussels, 1957), and De Nederlandse muziek uit de vijftiende eeuw (Louvain, 1959).
Bibliography
J. Robijns, ed., Renaissance-Muziek 1400-1600: Donum natalicium R.B. L. (Louvain, 1969).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire