Jongen, Léon (Marie-Victor-Justin)

Jongen, Léon (Marie-Victor-Justin), respected Belgian composer and pedagogue, brother of (Marie-Alphonse-Nicolas-) Joseph Jongen; b. Liège, March 2, 1884; d. Brussels, Nov. 18, 1969. He was trained at the Liège Cons. From 1898 to 1904 he was organist at St. Jacques in Liège. In 1913 he won the Belgian Grand Prix de Rome with his cantata Les Fiancés de Noël (1913). From 1927 to 1929 he was conductor of the Tonkin Opera in Hanoi. He was his brother’s successor as director of the Brussels Cons. (1939–49). His Violin Concerto (1962) was the compulsory work for the 12 finalists of the 1963 Queen Elisabeth violin competition held in Brussels.

Works

dramatic:L’Ardennaise, opera (1909); Le Rêve d’une nuit de Noël, musical fairy tale (1917; Paris, March 18, 1918); Thomas l’Agnelet, opera (1922-23; Brussels, Feb. 14, 1924); Le Masque de la Mort rouge, ballet, after Poe (1956). ORCH.: Campéador (1932); Malaisie, suite (1935); In Memoriam Regis (1935); Prélude, Divertissement et Final for Piano and Orch. (1937); Rhapsodia belgica for Violin and Orch. (1948); Divertissement en forme de variations sur un thème de Haydn (1956); Violin Concerto (1962). CHAMBER: String Quartet (1919); Divertissement for 4 Saxophones (1937); Trio for Oboe, Clarinet, and Bassoon (1937); Trio for Flute, Violin, and Viola (1937); Piano Quartet (1955); Quintet for Piano, Flute, Clarinet, Horn, and Bassoon (1958). VOCAL: Geneviève de Brabant for Chorus and Orch. (1907); La Légende de St. Hubert for Chorus and Orch. (1909; St. Hubert, July 21, 1968); Les Fiancés de Noël, cantata (1913); Trilogie de Psaumes for Chorus and Orch. (1937–39); songs.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire