The author of a famous Toccata for Organ which overshadowed the rest of his œuvre, this Belgian composer Joseph Jongen has left behind an abundant catalogue of over 137 works. Born in Liège in 1873, his musical studies were crowned with the Belgian "Grand Prix de Rome", which allowed him to travel across Europe in search of the new musical currents of the era. Melody is the unbroken thread running through his life. It was in melodic music that he started out with composition at the age of 18; he would continue to compose melodies until 1948, when his mental powers began to slowly decline. Among the 55 melodies that he left behind, we can discern three periods. First, the period of French Romanticism, born of Massenet, using some rather old-fashioned verses by Armand Silvestre, very much a poet of his time, who had inspired Bizet, Chabrier, Delibes, Fauré and Messager. Jongen's style changes and becomes more personal in the era of the "Prix de Rome"; and it becomes fully mature around the time of his English exile, which lasted throughout the First World War. It's this intimate journey that is offered here, in a very delicate treatment by soprano Sarah Defrise and pianist Craig White. © François Hudry/Qobuz