Joseph Jongen

Joseph Jongen

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

Live and act

Jongen entered the Liège Conservatoire at the age of seven (1881) and received his musical training there ( composition : Jean-Théodore Radoux , organ : Charles-Marie Danneels, piano : Jules Ghymers). His performance as a student at this conservatory was exceptional. In 1894 he became a full-time organist at the Liège collegiate church of Saint-Jacques and from 1898 shared this position with his brother Léon. In 1897 he received the Belgian Prix ​​de Rome for the cantata Comala . Numerous first prizes, including in harmony , ultimately led to his teaching harmony and counterpoint from 1889 onwards , and in 1898 he was appointed deputy professor and in 1911 full professor.

Since 1895 he had devoted himself increasingly to composition. From 1898, Jongen made the obligatory four-year trip to Europe as a scholarship holder. From 1898 he studied in Berlin ; There he got to know the music of Brahms and met Richard Strauss , among others , who gave him a few composition lessons. In 1900 he held the post of choir director in Bayreuth . After a short stay in Munich , where his violin concerto was written, he went to Paris , where he met Gabriel Fauré and Charles Bordes and became a student of Vincent d'Indy . After a six-month stay in Rome , he returned to Belgium, where he suddenly became famous with Fantaisie sur deux Noëls wallons . He first taught at the music academy Schola Musicae Brussels and in 1911 became professor of harmony at the Liège Conservatory. In 1909 he married the pianist Valentine Ziane . When the First World War broke out in 1914, he and his family moved to London . There he founded the Quatuor belge de Londres with the violinist Désiré Defauw , the cellist Etienne Doehaerd and the violist Lionel Tertis . He also gave regular organ and piano concerts. In 1919 the family returned to Liège. In 1920 Jongen was offered the professorship for counterpoint at the Royal Brussels Conservatory , which is why another move was necessary; from 1925 to 1939 he was also director of this conservatory. Jongen also emerged as a conductor: he conducted the Concerts populaires and the Concerts spirituels ; from 1920 he was a member of the Académie royale de Belgique and a corresponding member of the Institut de France .

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

In addition to his career as a composer, his organizing activities were of particular importance. In many newspaper clippings and reports, his “powerful rhythm and energy”, as well as his “excellent type of interpretation and improvisation” are praised. He acquired this art especially during his employment as organist at St. Jacques in Liège. Like other great musicians of his time, Jongen was mainly a composer, but also had a solid education as an organist and pianist. His best-known works are the Symphonie concertante op.81 for organ and orchestra (client: Rodman Wanamaker for the extension of his department store organ in Philadelphia ) and the Sonata eroïca op.94 (client: the Belgian radio for the inauguration of the organ of the Palais des Beaux -Arts ). The last trios of his chamber music deserve special mention: Op. 80 (1925), Op. 95 (1931) and Op. 135 (1948), as well as the Concert à cinq, Op. 71.

In terms of style, Jongen was initially influenced by the music conception of the Parisian Schola Cantorum and temporarily also by Impressionism ; however, he soon developed his own style. This was largely rooted in the school of César Franck and processed this type in a loosely structured and carefree musical context. Further role models were Wagner , Mendelssohn , Schumann and Chopin ; Richard Strauss , Debussy and, to a lesser extent, Fauré are among the contemporaries . Later, his style occasionally approached atonality and other modern spellings , without being actually experimental , as in the aforementioned Symphonie avec orgue . In the organ music sector, Joseph Jongen can be regarded as the most important Belgian composer of the first half of the 20th century. He also dealt with choral singing and the Walloon folk song. Typical of his compositions is an effort to master the form and to create a harmonious color scheme.

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

Works (selection)

• Sacred vocal music
  • Alma redemptoris mater for mixed choir and organ (1894)
  • Cantata Sinaï for solos, choir 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, violoncello and organ (1909)
  • Mass for solos, choir, brass and organ op.130 (1945–1948)
  • Lacrymosa for two voices and organ (1947)
  • Regina coeli for women's choir (1948)
• Secular vocal music
  • Cantata Kallirhoé for soli, choir and orchestra op.8 (1895)
  • Cantata Lady Macbeth for solos, choir and orchestra op. 9 (1896–1897)
  • Cantata Comala for solos, choir and orchestra op.11 (1897)
  • Calmes, aux quais déserts 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 choir and orchestra op.107 (1938)
  • La Musique for soprano and piano (1948)
• Stage works
  • Opera Félyane (1907, unfinished)
  • Ballet S'Arka (1912)
  • Incidental music for Obéron by Raymond Gérôme, op.131 (1945)
• Orchestral works
  • Marche solennelle op.4 (1894)
  • Symphony op.15 (1898–1899)
  • Symphonic poem Lalla-Roukh op.28 (1904)
  • Impressions d'Ardennes op.44 (1913)
  • Tableaux pittoresques op.56 (1917)
  • Prélude élégiaque et scherzo op.66 (1920)
  • Troisième Suite dans le style ancien op.93 (1930)
  • Triptyque op.103 (1935–1937)
  • Overture Fanfare for Woodwind Op. 110 (1939)
  • Bourrèe (1942)
  • Trois mouvements symphoniques op. 137 (1951)
• Works for solo instrument and orchestra
  • Piano concerto op.1 (1892)
  • Marche-cortège for organ and orchestra op.13 (1898)
  • Violin Concerto op.17 (1900)
  • Violoncello Concerto (1900)
  • Méditation for cor anglais or alto saxophone and chamber orchestra or piano op.21 (1901)
  • Deuxième Poème for violoncello and orchestra op.46 (1914)
  • Suite en deux parties for viola and orchestra op.48 (1915)
  • Fantaisie rhapsodique for violin and orchestra op.74 (1924)
  • Symphonie concertante for organ and orchestra op. 81 (1926–1927)
  • Pièce symphonique for piano and wind orchestra op.84 (1928)
  • Alleluja pour Orgue et Orchester , op.112
  • Piano concerto op. 127 (1943)
  • Harp Concerto op.129 (1944)
• Chamber music for four or more instruments
  • 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)
• Chamber music for two or three instruments
  • 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 violoncello and piano op. 39 (1911–1912)
  • Deux Aquarelles for violin and piano op.59 (1917)
  • Deux Pièces en trio for flute, harp and violoncello op.80 (1925)
  • Habanera for violoncello and piano op.86 (1928)
  • Humoresque for violoncello and organ op.92 (1930)
  • Prélude, habanera et allegro for double bass and piano op.106 (1937)
  • Sonate duo for violin and viola op.109 (1938)
  • Recitativo et airs de ballet for clarinet and piano op.115 (1941)
  • String trio op.135 (1948)
• Organ music
  • 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 Pensée d'automne op. 47 / 1–2 (1915)
  • Chant de May and Menuet-scherzo op. 53 / 1–2 (1917)
  • Sonata eroïca op.94 (1930)
  • Toccata op.104 (1935)
  • Scherzetto et Prière op.108 (1938)
  • Prelude et fugue op. 121 (1941–1943)
• Works for one instrument solo (except organ)
  • Violin Sonata op. 22/2 (1901)
  • over seventy piano pieces and some pieces for piano four hands
  • two pieces for harp
  • some pieces for harmonium

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Marc Honegger, Günther Massenkeil (ed.): The great lexicon of music. Volume 4: Half a note - Kostelanetz. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau a. a. 1981, ISBN 3-451-18054-5 .
2. ↑ Valérie Dufour:  Jongen, Joseph. In: Ludwig Finscher (Hrsg.): The music in past and present . Second edition, personal section, volume 9 (Himmel - Kelz). Bärenreiter / Metzler, Kassel et al. 2003, ISBN 3-7618-1119-5  ( online edition , subscription required for full access)
3. ↑ Lexicon of the Organ , edited by Hermann J. Busch and Matthias Geuting, Laaber-Verlag Laaber, 2nd edition 2008, ISBN 978-3-89007-508-2

Web links

• Works by and about Joseph Jongen in the catalog of the German National Library
• Website of the Jongen Circle of Friends (fr)