In 1920 his father died, leaving the 21-year-old Albert a "small inheritance."[3] He won a prize for fugue with Joseph Jongen in 1922, and in 1926 his First String Quartet (1924) took first prize at the Frost-Coolidge Music Festival in
Ojai, California.[4] A few days later his Sonata for violin and piano (1925) won the prestigious
Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge award.
Unfortunately, with his inheritance invested in the
stock market, the
Wall Street crash of 1929 wiped him out, and a thwarted love affair in the 1930s further diminished his strength.[5] At professor
Jean Absil's recommendation, in January 1938 Huybrechts was appointed as a junior lecturer in harmony at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, but barely a month later, on 21 February 1938, he died unexpectedly of kidney failure aged 39.
Works
Stage
Agamemnon, Incidental Music after
Aeschylus for tenor, baritone, male chorus and orchestra (1932–1933)
Orchestra
David, Poème symphonique (1923)
Poème féerique (1923)
Sérénade en 3 mouvements (1929)
Chant d'angoisse (1930)
Nocturne (1931)
Concertante
Chant funèbre for cello and orchestra (1926); also for cello and piano
Concertino for cello and orchestra (1932)
Chamber music
String Quartet No. 1 (1924)
Sonata for violin and piano (1925)
Chant funèbre for cello and piano (1926); also orchestrated
Trio for flute, viola and piano (1926)
String Quartet No. 2 (1927)
Sextuor (Pastorale) for 2 flute, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon (1927)
Suite for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and piano (1929)
Divertissement for brass and percussion (1931)
Pastourelle for cello or
viola da gamba and piano (1934)
Sonatine for flute and viola (1934)
Piano Trio (1935)
Quintette à vent (Woodwind Quintet) for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon (1936)
Prière pour avoir une femme simple for tenor and piano or orchestra (1934); words by
Francis James
Mirliton for soprano and piano (1934); words by
Tristan Corbière
Influence
Composer Daniel Denis, of the Belgian
progressive rock band
Univers Zero, cites Huybrechts as a major influence on his composing.
Discography
David - Serenade for Orchestra - L'Orchestre National De Belgique/René Defossez. Decca BAT 133200, 1950s
Musique Belge Contemporaine - Gérard Ruymen, André Isselee, Quatuor Rondo, Pauline Marcelle, Raymonde Serverius. Alpha DBM-133 C, 1970s
Musique Belge Contemporaine - Quatuor Rondo: Raymond Corbeel, René Philippo, Marcel Ancion, Iwein d’Haese, Gisèle Demoulin. Alpha DBM-F182, 1970s [6]
Sonate Pour Violon Et Piano / Deuxième Quatuor - Clemens Quatacker, Jean-Claude Vanden Eynden, Le Quatuor Quatacker. Deutsche Grammophon 0100 125, 1979
Sonatas for Violin And Piano - André Gousseau, Mary Elizabeth Sadun. Pavane ADW 7047, 1981
Sonatas For Violin And Piano - Edith Volckaert, Jean-Claude Vanden Eynden. Queen Elisabeth Competition 1980 038, 1983
Musique de Chambre - Quatour de l'Opera National de Belgique. Koch Schwann Musica Mundi CD 310 030 H1, 1988
Shostakovich - Huybrechts - Edith Volckaert, Eugene De Canck. René Gailly CD86 003, 1993
Chamber Music for Wind Instruments - Wind Ensemble Quintessens. René Gailly CD92 020, 1994
Sonatine - Sonate - Trio - Marc Grauwels, Jacques Dupriez, Dominique Cornil, Véronique Bogaerts. Syrinx CRS98101, 2000
Musique de Chambre I - Pierre Amoyal, Marie Hallynck, David Lively, Yuko Shimizu-Amoyal. Cypres CYP4630, 2009
Musique de Chambre II - Laure Delcampe, Marie Lenormand, Martial Defontaine, Lionel Bams, Quator MP4. Cypres CYP4635, 2011
Musique de Chambre III - Solistes de l'Orchestre Symphonique de la Monnaie/De Munt. Cypres CYP4639, 2013
Sonatas for Violin And Piano - Guido De Neve, Jan Michiels. Pavane ADW 7509, 2013[7]
Huybrechts Chamber Music - Aldo Baerton, Diederick Suys, Frauke Suys, Maiko Inoué. UT3 Records 026, 2016[8]
Early 20th Century Jewels - Nozomi Kanda, Daniel Rubenstein. DUX CD 1340, 2017[9]