Famous Dutch saxophonist Arno Bornkamp and the Belgian pianist Jan Lust commissioned Flemish composer dr. Piet Jozef Swerts the Horta Suite which was inspired on the architecture of Horta’s Hôtel van Eetvelde of 1895.
The main motif of the Suite is based on the musical notes within the name of Victor Horta cdhda. The first movement exposes this theme and depicts the entrance hall of the building.
In this very hall they played in July 2018 its first performance. In 1895, King Léopold II's secretary for the affairs of the Congo, Edmond van Eetvelde, commissioned Horta to build him a new residence in the fashionable district of the Avenue Palmerston 4. The house, which was built in two stages (the second from 1899-1901, after van Eetvelde was made a baron by Léopold), is often called Horta's most daring residential design, with the interior organized around a central octagonal stair-hall resting on iron pillars and topped by a stained glass skylight.
The Suite consists of four movements. Each movement is constructed with the Horta-motif cdha. The second movement is a Berceuse, a sad lullaby for their child Marguerite, who died only a few months old. The third movement is a Waltz and illustrates the atmosphere of the fin de siècle with its ornaments and attractive lush harmonies. It is named after his second Swedish wife, Julia Carlsson, whom he married in 1908. The last movement is the final movement where the Horta-motive is developed thoroughly.