Koen Buyens, Music and nation building in Belgium The article examines the Brussels music scene (1830-1850) in relation to the efforts made at the time with regard to nation building after the Belgian Revolution of 1830. The first part focuses on François-Joseph Fétis, who was appointed director of the Brussels conservatorium in 1832. In this capacity, Fétis intended to model both the Brussels music scene and the national music scene according to his own clear-cut ideas. In the second part it is argued that musical life in Brussels was suffused with a military spirit. The music of military bands was probably the core element of the urban soundscape. The third part concentrates on the obstacles that hampered the country’s musical development. The crushing preponderance of Paris reduced the Belgian capital to a place of servile imitation. From 1840 onwards this provoked heated reactions among the early advocates of the Flemish case, who soon fell under the spell of German music.