MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


CD REVIEW

Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

alternatively
CD: AmazonUK


Joseph JONGEN (1873 – 1953)
String Quartet No.1 in C minor Op.3 (1894) [37:26]
String Quartet No.2 in A major Op.50 (1916) [31:22]
Quatuor Gong (Hanxiang Gong, Yinlai Chen, violins; Jean-Christophe Michallek, viola; Martin Hesselbein, cello)
rec. Chapelle de Bolland, Belgium, 27-30 May 2002
PAVANE ADW7483 [69:24]

alternatively
CD: Crotchet AmazonUK

 

Joseph JONGEN (1873 – 1953)
String Quartet No.3 in D major Op.67 (1921) [41:10]
Deux Sérénades Op.61 (1918) [20:00]
Quatuor Gong
rec. Chapelle de Bolland, Belgium, 14-17 August 2007
PAVANE ADW7524 [61:15]
Experience Classicsonline

The first volume was released to coincide with the various celebrations of the fiftieth anniversary of Jongen’s death. The second was released in January this year.
 
Jongen’s String Quartet No.1 in C minor Op.3 is dedicated to Théodore Radoux with whom Jongen studied. This early substantial work is in four movements in which the composer still used cyclic procedures inherited from Franck. The first movement opens with a slow introduction leading into the main part of the movement Allegro risoluto, the whole evidently being conceived as a large-scale sonata form. The second movement is a long slow meditation with a more animated central section. As will be seen later in this review, Jongen quite often relied on ABA structures in many of his movements. The third movement is a nervous Scherzo whereas the finale combines new material with restatements from the second movement. It’s all done in a typically cyclic manner inherited from Franck and d’Indy as well as some of their followers. Even later in his long composing career, Jongen reverted time and again to similar cyclical devices. The First String Quartet is an ambitious work by a composer still in his early twenties. Nevertheless he already displays formal mastery and assurance in handling sometimes over-abundant thematic material. While indebted to Franck and d’Indy; brief glimpses of Jongen’s own voice show from time to time in this imposing work.
 
At the outbreak of World War I, Jongen left Belgium with his family and settled in England where he remained very prolific while being also active as a performer. He founded the Belgian Piano Quartet and toured with them. Dedicated to Théo Ysaÿe, the celebrated violinist’s youngest brother, the String Quartet No.2 in A major Op.50 was composed in Bournemouth and first performed in London. It is a considerably more mature work in which Jongen’s personal voice is now evident throughout. Though still displaying the odd ‘Franckian’ touch, the music’s scope has now broadened to incorporate Impressionist touches redolent of, say, Fauré, Debussy and Ravel. This is blended effortlessly with elegant and clear melodic and thematic material. The music may also at times bring Frank Bridge’s early string quartets to mind, but this must be purely coincidental. The Quartet is laid out in the traditional fast-slow-fast pattern. The finale is one of those rustic dances - albeit with slower sections - often favoured by Jongen to round-off his works.
 
Jongen composed his Deux Sérénades pour quatuor à cordes Op.61 when still in England and dedicated this short diptych to the landlords of the apartment he hired in London. The fairly straightforward Sérénade tendre perfectly lives up to its title with its warmly lyrical main theme singing freely over strumming accompaniment. The Sérénade dramatique is more lyrical and impassioned than really dramatic. This short diptych is one of the many examples of Jongen’s almost inexhaustible melodic fund - melodies flow effortlessly from the composer’s pen. This, by the way, is a typical characteristic of Jongen’s music-making.
 
Dedicated to Florent Schmitt, the String Quartet No.3 in D major Op.67 is on a grander scale still than the First String Quartet. Its four movements play for almost three quarters of an hour; but, by the time it was composed, Jongen was in full command of his craft. This long work never rambles such is the quality of the thematic material and the formal assurance with which the composer handles it from first to last. The first movement is by far the most developed with a lot of thematic interplay. The second movement is a vivacious Scherzo with several unusual instrumental touches. As often as not in this composer’s music, the slow movement is another beautiful and richly melodic statement. This substantial work is rounded-off with a mostly light-footed Rondo. The Third String Quartet is a most appealing work in spite of its length and unquestionably one of Jongen’s masterpieces.
 
The Quatuor Gong plays wonderfully throughout in committed readings of these beautiful but long neglected works. The recording is excellent throughout yet with some slight reverberation. The Quatuor Gong and Pavane definitely deserve full marks for this superb enterprise. My sole regret, though, is that it was not possible to include the Deux Esquisses Op.97 and Prélude et Chaconne Op.101 for completeness’ sake. Anyway, these discs are a most worthy and welcome addition to Jongen’s discography.
 
Hubert Culot
 

 


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools




Return to Review Index

Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.