31/07/1828, Huysse, Kingdom of Netherlands - 24/12/1908, Brussels, Belgium
Belgian musicologist and composer. Upon graduation from the Ghent Conservatory he was appointed organist of the Jesuit church in that city. Soon Gevaert's compositions attracted attention, and he won the Belgian Prix de Rome. In 1867 Gevaert became "Chef de Chant" at the Paris Academie de Musique, in succession to the popular operatic composer Fromental Halévy. Four years later, he was appointed head of the Brussels Conservatoire. Though during his lifetime Gevaert's own music enjoyed considerable success in Belgium (it included no fewer than a dozen operas, two of which were Quentin Durward and Le Capitaine Henriot), it is now forgotten, save for some of his choral pieces, which have recently been issued on CD by the Fuga Libera label. Nowadays he is mostly remembered, even in his native land, less as a composer than as a teacher, historian, and lecturer.
