Léon Jongen

Léon Jongen (born March 2, 1884 in Liège , † November 18, 1969 in Brussels ) was a Belgian composer , pianist and conductor.

Jongen studied music at the Liège Conservatory. In 1913 he received the “Premier Grand Prix de Rome” from Belgium for his cantata Les fiancés de Noël . In 1898 he took over the position of organist at St. Jacques Cathedral in Liège from his brother Joseph Jongen . After the First World War he undertook extensive journeys that took him to North Africa and several Far Eastern countries. In 1927 he became the first conductor of the French opera in Hanoi .

In 1934 he returned to Belgium and was director of the Brussels Conservatory from 1939 to 1949 . In 1945 he was elected to the Royal Academy of Arts. After his retirement he was rector of the Chapelle musicale Reine Elisabeth from 1956 to 1969 , an elite boarding school for highly talented musicians.

In 1924, his opera Thomas l'Agnelet was premiered in the Monnaie Theater . His violin concerto was the compulsory piece in the International Queen Elisabeth Competition (Concours Reine Elisabeth) in 1963 .

Works (selection)

• Geneviève de Brabant - for solos, male choir and orchestra (1907)
• Étude symphonique pour servir de prélude à l'Œdipe Roi (1908)
• Les fiancés de Noël - for solos, choir and orchestra (1913)
• Le rêve d'une nuit de Noël - for male and children's choir and orchestra (1917)
• Thomas l'Agnelet, gentilhomme de fortune - for solos, choir and orchestra (1922)
• Malaisie - for orchestra (1935)
• Vénézuéla - for chamber orchestra (1936)
• Trilogie de psaumes - for four-part choir, orchestra and organ (1937)
• Trio - for oboe, clarinet and bassoon (1937)
• Rapsodia Belgica - for violin and orchestra (1948)
• Le masque de la mort rouge - for orchestra (1956)
• Violin Concerto (1963)