Joseph Jongen - Cinq pièces pour piano

Connu surtout pour sa belle Symphonie pour grand orgue et orchestre Op. 81, le compositeur belge Joseph Jongen (1873-1953) a écrit d'assez nombreuses pièces pour piano qui, par le style et leurs harmonies, ne sont pas sans rappeler Fauré, Debussy et Ravel. Mais Jongen avait sa manière propre, faite de clarté et d'élégance, et sa musique présente maintes caractéristiques n'appartenant qu'à elle.
Composés entre 1908 et 1929, interprétés par Gary Stegall, les cinq morceaux de la vidéo sont successivement :
1/ [00:00] Airs de fêtes;
2/ [04:48] Sarabande triste;
3/ [11:00] Rondeau;
4/ [18:29] Menuet (Danse);
5/ [26:22] Soleil à midi.

[@khadidjakassam5675]

Je découvre avec délice la musique de mon arrière grand père maternel ✨💓🌸

[@4candles]

Gorgeous music. Jongen's music should be included in the repertoire of more pianists!

[@edwilliams9914]

Love this! Had never heard of Jongen, but love the great early 20th century French masters of piano composition. But I am a little sad that after listenng for 50 years it's more and more rare (if not impossible) to find "new" pieces by Debussy, Ravel, etc that I haven't heard. Now that I know about Jongen I am excited again! All the elements I love in their music is here as well. And he's the first modern Belgian composer I think I've ever heard of -- I wonder how many other wonderful but overshadowed gems come from that period in Belgium, and now I'll have fun going exploring. As I do to all those who expose me to superb music that I would otherwise have missed, I extend my sincere thanks!

[@newhope1233]

Thank you so much, Ed Williams, for your kind and pertinent remarks! They reveal great sensitivity and touched me a lot.

[@paulamrod537]

Hi Ed, This is a conspiracy: I as a Juilliard student never heard of this fabulous Belgian composer. Shame on you! Of course you know of Scriabin, Sorabji and Debussy and Gaspard de la Nuit from Ravel.

[@newhope1233]

Gary Stegall, an American pianist, recorded these pieces by Joseph Jongen in April 1990. That said, I also know the Jordi Maso's Naxos recording of Cerdana by Deodat de Severac, made in October 2001, and I am not surprised at the comparison drawn between the two recordings. Such a connection is even quite pertinent, in my opinion.

[@newhope1233]

You are welcome, abdul7591, and I am glad you appreciate this music. To my knowledge, the recital you found on Amazon is the only one that Gary Stegall devoted to piano pieces by Jongen for Klavier Records. And actually, it's definitely from this recital, which comprises 14 tracks, that I took the five pieces of the video: 1/ = track #10; 2/ = track #3; 3/ = track #14; 4/ = track #13; 5/ = track #2. In other words, these five pieces are all included on this fine recital.

[@abdul7591]

Is this a new recording of Jongen's music? It's very impressive and in a strange way the music's virtuosity reminds me of Jordi Maso's Naxos recording of Cerdana by Deodat de Severac.

[@abdul7591]

Newhope, if I may trouble you again, I looked up Jongen on Amazon, and I did indeed find a recording on the Klavier label of Gary Stegall performing a recital of piano pieces by this composer. I hope to buy it soon as the excerpts were quite beautiful. Significantly though, the Cinq Pieces were not among the works on this particular recording. Do you know how many volumes Stegall's recorded foray into Jongen's piano music ran into, for it must have been at least two on the evidence I have?

[@paulamrod537]

What have the music historians to say about this direction at the end of the romantic for more tolerance in the 21st century?