Joseph Jongen

Short biography Joseph Jongen was born on 14 December 1873 in Liège (Belgium) and received his musical training at the Conservatoire Royal de Liège, where his teachers included Sylvain Dupuis. In 1897 he won the prestigious Prix de Rome awarded by the Belgian Académie Royale, which enabled him to undertake study trips to Germany, Italy and France. After the First World War, part of which he spent in England and Ireland, he returned to Belgium and in 1920 was appointed professor at the Conservatoire Royal de Musique in Brussels, of which he served as director from 1925 to 1939. He died on 12 July 1953 in Sart-lez-Spa.

Historical placement Joseph Jongen ranks among the most significant Belgian composers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Stylistically he belongs to the tradition of French–Belgian late Romanticism, with a marked debt to Impressionism, in particular to the idioms of César Franck and Gabriel Fauré. His music is distinguished by richly chromatic harmony, refined counterpoint and a keen sensitivity to timbre. As a composer, organist and pedagogue he exerted a lasting influence on Belgian musical life over several decades.

Personal connections César Franck, as a composer and leading figure of the Franco-Belgian organ and symphonic tradition, was a formative stylistic influence on Jongen's output. Sylvain Dupuis was one of his teachers at the Conservatoire de Liège. Léon Jongen, his younger brother, was likewise a composer and conductor, and succeeded him as director of the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles.

Important works

Symphonie concertante für Orgel und Orchester – orchestral work with organ (op. 81, 1926)
Sonate eroïca für Orgel – organ work (op. 94, 1930)
Quatuor à cordes Nr. 1 – string quartet (op. 50, 1916)
Trio für Klavier, Violine und Violoncello – piano trio (op. 30, 1907)
Sonata für Violine und Klavier Nr. 2 – chamber work (op. 34, 1909)
Pièces pour orgue – organ pieces (op. 37)
Impressions d'Ardennes – orchestral work (op. 44, 1913)
Hymne für Viola und Orchester – solo concerto (op. 53, 1917)
Fantaisie sur deux noëls populaires wallons – organ work (op. 24, 1902)
Tryptique pour alto et piano – chamber work (op. 63)