Joseph Jongen (1873-1952) was a Belgian composer, organist and teacher. He essentially grew up in the Liège Conservatoire, which awarded him the Belgian Prix de Rome in 1897. After his grand tour, he returned to his alma mater as a professor of harmony and counterpoint. After the Great War, the family moved to Brussels where Jongen was named professor of fugue at the Royal Conservatoire. Later he directed the Conservatoire from 1925 until 1939. Jongen wrote a good handful of compositions for the harmonium, including a set of Trois Pièces from 1908. The set was dedicated to the composer’s friend Emile t’Serstevens, whose two-manual harmonium d’art reportedly inspired the music. (Either a Mazet or a Balthasar-Florence instrument, according to my sources.) The first of the three pieces is this beautiful Prière du Matin in E major, completed 9 July 1908. Recorded 9 July 2015, performed by Michael Hendron on his Mustel harmonium d’art, built in Paris in 1887.
