Joseph Jongen

Joseph -Marie -Alphonse- Nicolas Jongen ( born December 14, 1873 in Liege, † July 12, 1953 in Sart- lez- Spa) was a Belgian composer, organist and pianist.

Life and work

Jongen entered the age of seven (1881 ) in the Liege Conservatoire, and received his musical education (composition: Jean -Théodore Radoux, Organ: Charles -Marie Danneels, Piano: Jules Ghymers ). His performance as a student on this conservatoire were exceptional. In 1894 he became a full- time organist at the Liège Collegiate Saint -Jacques and shared this position from 1898 with his brother Léon. In 1897, he won the Belgian Prix de Rome for the cantata Comala. Numerous first prizes, including harmony, ultimately led to the fact that he taught from 1889 harmony and counterpoint, and in 1898 appointed deputy professor and in 1911 full professor.

Since 1895 he had dedicated himself increasingly to composition. From 1898, Jongen made ​​the obligatory four-year trip to Europe on a scholarship. He studied from 1898 in Berlin; he became acquainted with the music of Brahms know and met, among others, also with Richard Strauss, who gave him some composition lessons. He has held the post of choirmaster in 1900 in Bayreuth. After a short stay in Munich, where his violin concerto was written, he went to Paris, where she learned Gabriel Fauré and Charles Bordes, and became a pupil of Vincent d' Indy. After a six-month stay in Rome, he returned to Belgium and became known there suddenly Fantaisie sur deux with the Noëls wallons. He taught at the Brussels Academy of Music and in 1911 became professor of harmony at the Liège Conservatory. In 1909 he married the pianist Valentine Ziane. At the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 he moved with his family to London. There he founded with violinist Désiré Defauw, cellist Etienne Doehaerd and the violist Lionel Tertis the Quatuor belge de Londres. In addition, he regularly gave organ and piano concerts. In 1919 the family returned to Liege. 1920 Jongen was offered the Chair of counterpoint at the Royal Brussels Conservatory, which is why a renewed move was necessary; he was then from 1925 to 1939 and director of the Conservatory. Jongen went beyond out as a conductor, he conducted the Concerts populaires and Concerts spirituels; He was also a member of the Académie royale de Belgique and a corresponding member of the Institut de France.

His last years were marked by the disappearance of his son's (1944 /45) and the serious illness of his wife. During this time, Jongen lived in France, where he hardly composed and withdrew from public life.

In addition to his compositional career was his organistic activity of particular importance. In many newspaper clippings and reports his " powerful rhythm and energy," and his is " excellent type of interpretation and improvisation, " commended. He achieved this art especially during his tenure as organist at St. Jacques in Liège. Like other great musicians of his time was Jongen in the main composer, but also possessed a thorough training as an organist and pianist. His most famous works are the Symphonie concertante for organ and orchestra op 31 (Client: Rodman Wanamaker for the expansion of its department store organ in Philadelphia ) and the Sonata Eroica, Op 94 (Client: the Belgian broadcasting the inauguration of the organ of the Palais des Beaux -Arts ). From his chamber music, especially the last trio are to be mentioned: op 80 (1925 ), op 95 (1931 ) and Op 135 (1948 ), as well as the Concert à cinq op 71

Stylistically Jongen was first coined by the music temporarily view the Paris Schola Cantorum and also by Impressionism; However, he soon developed a signature style. This was rooted largely in the school of César Franck and manufactured this type in a loosely structured and carefree musical context. Other models were Wagner, Mendelssohn, Schumann and Chopin; by contemporaries are Richard Strauss, Debussy and Fauré call to a lesser extent. His style approached later occasion without being really experimental, atonality and other modern spellings, as in the aforementioned Symphony avec orgue. In the field of organ music Joseph Jongen can be regarded as probably the most important Belgian composer of the first half of the 20th century. He also dealt with the chant and the Walloon folk song. Typical of his compositions is an effort to control the shape and create a harmonious color.

Joseph Jongen is the older brother of the composer, conductor and director of the Brussels Conservatoire Léon Jongen.

Works (selection)

• Sacred vocal music Alma mater redemptoris for mixed choir and organ ( 1894)
• Sinaï cantata for soloists, chorus and orchestra, Op 7 (1895 )
• Two Motets for Voices and Organ ( 1896)
• O quam amabilis for two -part male choir ( 1899)
• Deus Abraham for tenor, cello and organ ( 1909)
• Mass for soloists, choir, brass and organ, Op 130 (1945-1948)
• Lacrymosa for two voices and organ ( 1947)
• Regina Coeli for female choir (1948 )

• Kallirhoe cantata for soloists, chorus and orchestra, Op 8 (1895 )
• Lady Macbeth cantata for soloists, chorus and orchestra, Op 9 (1896-1897)
• Cantata Comala for soloists, chorus and orchestra, Op 11 (1897 )
• Calmes, aux quais Deserts for soprano, string quartet and piano, Op 54 (1918 )
• Three choirs with piano, Op 64 (1919-1920)
• Three children's choirs: La Légende de saint Nicolas, Op 100 (1933), La Cigale et la fourmi Op 118 (1941) and Il était une bergère Op 134 (1947)
• Hymne à la Meuse ( Hymn to the Meuse ) for chorus and orchestra, Op 107 (1938 )
• La Musique for soprano and piano (1948 )

• Opera Félyane (1907, unfinished)
• Ballet S'Arka (1912 )
• Incidental music to Obéron by Raymond Gérôme, op 131 (1945)

• Marche solennelle Opus 4 (1894 )
• Symphony op 15 (1898-1899)
• Symphonic poem Lalla - Roukh op.28 (1904 )
• Impressions d' Ardennes, Op 44 (1913 )
• Prélude élégiaque et scherzo, Op 66 (1920 )
• Troisième Suite dans le style ancien, Op 93 (1930 )
• Triptyque op 103 (1935-1937)
• Fanfare Overture for Woodwinds, op 110 (1939)
• Bourree (1942 )
• Trois Movements symphoniques Op 137 (1951)

• Piano Concerto, Op 1 (1892 )
• Marche- cortège for Organ and Orchestra, Op 13 (1898 )
• Violin Concerto, Op 17 (1900)
• Cello Concerto (1900)
• Méditation for English horn or alto saxophone and chamber orchestra or piano Op 21 (1901 )
• Op Deuxième Poème for cello and orchestra 46 (1914 )
• Op Suite en deux parties for Viola and Orchestra 48 (1915 )
• Rhapsodique Fantaisie for Violin and Orchestra, Op 74 (1924 )
• Symphonie concertante for organ and orchestra op 81 (1926-1927)
• Op Pièce Symphonique for piano and wind orchestra 84 (1928 )
• Piano Concerto, Op 127 (1943)
• Harp Concerto, Op 129 (1944)

• Five string quartets: op 2 (1893 ), op 3 (1894 ), op 50 (1916 ), op 67 ( 1921), op 95 (1931 )
• Piano Quartet Op 23 (1901-1902)
• Deux Sérénades for String Quartet, Op 61 (1918 )
• Concert à cinq for flute, violin, viola, cello and harp, Op 71 (1923 )
• Two Pieces for Wind Quintet, Op 98 ( 1933)
• Saxophone Quartet, Op 122 (1942)

• Two Piano Trios Op 10 (1897 ) and Op 30 (1907 )
• Two Sonatas for Violin and Piano, op 27 (1903 ) and Op 34 (1909 )
• Sonata for Cello and Piano, Op 39 (1911-1912)
• Deux Aquarelle for Violin and Piano, Op 59 (1917 )
• Deux Pièces en trio for flute, harp and cello, Op 80 (1925 )
• Habanera, Op 86 for cello and piano (1928 )
• Humoresque for cello and organ, Op 92 (1930 )
• Prélude, habanera et allegro for Double Bass and Piano, Op 106 (1937)
• Sonata duo for violin and viola, Op 109 (1938)
• Recit et airs de ballet for clarinet and piano, Op 115 (1941)
• String Trio op 135 (1948)

• Quatre Pièces, Op 5 (1893-1896)
• Quatre Pièces, Op 37 (1910-1911)
• Deux Pièces, Op 38 (1911 )
• Prélude funébre (1914), revised in Prélude élégiaque et Pensee d'automne, Op 47/1-2 (1915 )
• Chant de May and minuet - scherzo, Op 53/1-2 (1917 )
• Sonata Eroica, Op 94 ( 1930)
• Toccata, Op 104 (1935)
• Scherzetto et Prière Op 108 (1938)
• Prelude and Fugue, Op 121 (1941-1943)

• Violin Sonata, Op 22/2 (1901 )
• Over seventy piano pieces and some pieces for piano duet
• Two Pieces for Harp
• Some pieces for harmonium