Family Mortelmans was from a family of six surviving children born to Isabella and Karel Mortelmans. His father was a printer, and his elder brother
Frans a painter. He was married twice. With Gabriella Mortelmans (d. 3 May 1917) he had seven children, two of which (Frits, d. 22 July 1917 and Guido, d. 10 January 1917) died with her in 1917. Mortelmans composed
In Memoriam in her honour. His second wife was the pianist and teacher
Gabrielle Radoux.
Career Mortelmans studied music at the Royal Flemish Conservatory in Antwerp, where his teachers included
Peter Benoit, Joseph Tilborghs, and
Jan Blockx, as well as
Arthur De Greef (piano) and Hubert Ferdinand Kufferath (counterpoint). In 1893, he was a winner of the Belgian
Prix de Rome with his cantata
Lady Macbeth. Both Mortelmans and his brother were members of the arts group
De Scalden. Mortelmans was also affiliated with the arts groups
Studie and
De Kapel, and the arts journal
Van Nu en Straks. From 1901, Mortelmans taught counterpoint and fugue at the Royal Flemish Conservatory, and became its director on 6 September 1924. He retired from the post in 1933. His students included Lodewijk De Vocht, Marinus De Jong and
Flor Peeters. In 1903, with financial support from the patron François Franck, Mortelmans founded the
Maatschappij der Nieuwe Concerten ("Society of New Concerts") in Antwerp, which attracted notable guest conductors and artists such as
Gustav Mahler,
Siegfried Wagner,
Hans Richter,
Richard Strauss,
Sergei Rachmaninoff,
Pablo de Sarasate,
Jacques Thibaud,
Pablo Casals, and
Fritz Kreisler. Mortelmans was also a founder of the organisation NAVEA, which is now SABAM (''Société d'Auteurs Belge - Belgische Auteurs Maatschappij''). He also helped to found the
Eugène Ysaÿe Violin Competition, which later became the
Queen Elisabeth Music Competition. ==Selected compositions==