Joseph Jongen and His Organ Music

Book excerpt: Joseph Jongen was Director of the Brussels Conservatoire from 1925 to 1939. He was first and foremost a composer and yet his career as an organist and composer of organ music was remarkable. His Sonata Ero�ca has become one of the enduring works of the repertory, and the Symphonie Concertante, commissioned by Rodman Wanamaker for the organ of the Philadelphia store, has been considered the finest of all twentieth-century organ concertos. This is the first book ever to appear about Joseph Jongen in any language. It is based on twenty years of research by its author, John Scott Whiteley. Part I traces Jongen's life and achievements as an organist,from his earliest training in Franck's birthplace, Li�ge, to his exile in England and his final years in Brussels, during which time he headed the team that designed the organ for Belgian Radio. Part II is a guide to the organ music from the points of view of both performer and musicologist. Appendices provide a catalogue of works, a numbering system for his works without opus numbers, specifications of the organs he played and lists of variant readings in his manuscripts. This book is indispensable for serious students of the organ, the Romantic organ repertoire and European music of the early twentieth century.