From the Concert Hall, Broadcasting
House
G. THALBEN BALL
Fantasy and Fugue on the Choral, Ad nos, ad salutarem undam
Liszt (1811-1886)
Introduzione ed Inferno, Canzona,
Fuga con Corale, Jesu, meine Freude (Jesus, my Joy)
Karg-Elert (1879-1933)
Sonata Eroica (In one movement)
Jongen (1873)
One of three Symphonic Chorals, each based on a hymn of which the tune provides the subject matter and the words the programme, this, the second, is built upon a choral familiar as the one used by Bach in one of the motets.
The first movement pictures a ' Vision in Inferno-anguish, torment, remorse, and sorrowful longing ', in the words of the composer. The melody of the choral is here heard only for a moment.
The second movement, Canzona, is on the verse ' My delight is in Thee '. Here the melody of the choral is elaborated in the curious and richly-ornamented style of the builders of the Middle Ages, in which they sought to express the glorification of Jesus through the most delicate arabesques and decorative work '.
In the third movement the choral is woven into the fabric of a fugue. The motive of ' the sou! which penetrates through the night of existence to the light of the only true knowledge ' leads us to the choral ' Jesu, Joy and Treasure ', and, following a splendid coda, the choral subject, ' Jesu, my Joy ', stands out in full majesty.
Joseph Jongen , a Belgian well known in this country during the years of the War, is mainly a composer of chamber music, though he has written a few organ pieces of a distinction fully equal to that of his pianoforte music. This work, ' Sonata Kroica is his biggest work for the organ, and was published as late as 1932. In form, it is in the orthodox three movements, but the whole is played through without a break. Jongen's harmonic scheme is of singular originality, and is well suited to the tone colour of the organ.