Jongen: Chamber Music

Albumbeschreibung

Usually when encountering a little-known composer, you'll find the artists raving about the composer's talents in the liner notes regardless of the worth of the composer's music when compared to that of the three Bs or more famous contemporaries of the composer. In the notes to this disc of chamber music by Belgian Joseph Jongen, it is actually admitted that he "does not bring into play new aestethic criteria," but it is right to point out that these works are not without value, particularly to those who love the diffused colors of Debussy's and Fauré's music or the harmonies of Richard Strauss and César Franck. Comparisons between the individual works here and certain works by those other composers are inevitable. The opening Deux pièces en trio have sonorities and textures very close to Debussy's String Quartet, including the use of pizzicato strings in the Allegro appassionato. The Habanera is very obviously akin to Ravel's Piéce en forme de Habanera, and the Violin Sonata No. 2, with its more formal structure and thematic ideas, will be compared to Franck's Violin Sonata. Jongen certainly knew what he was doing when it came to music for multiple instruments, succeeding for the most part in his efforts to create a real interaction between them rather than have just one constantly carrying a melodic line above an accompaniment. In all of these pieces, even the Élégie nocturnale, which one would expect to be melancholy, there is a lightness of weight and a streak of sunshine running through, which the Trio César Franck brings out very well. The three members play with sensitivity to the translucent qualities of the music, not letting the mood of more yearning passages overwhelm the colorful tones and lines. The recording's sound is very close and clear, almost too close in those more impassioned moments, when it allows minor imperfections in tone and touch to become almost harsh and disruptive to the overall feel of the pieces. That aside, for anyone looking to expand his/her collection of Impressionistic chamber music, this album should nicely fit the bill.
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