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Herman Meulemans was a composer, organist and music educator.
Herman Meulemans knew and studied the work of his contemporary Béla Bartók before anyone showed any real interest in this great composer. Prof. Denijs Dille (born in Aarschot in 1904), honorary director of the Bartók Archives in Budapest, always refers to Herman Meulemans as his mentor and predecessor in the study of modern music in the first half of the twentieth century.
In 1914 Herman Meulemans graduated with distinction from the Lemmens Institute and was immediately appointed organist at the Church of Our Lady in Aarschot, succeeding his brother. He was also a music teacher at the state secondary school in Aarschot. He became director of the Organ and Singing School in Hasselt. For some time he also led a soloists’ choir that performed successfully in Aarschot.
Herman Meulemans always put his talents at the service of his native town. Yet he died poor and forgotten by his fellow townspeople in Aarschot.