Jean Rogister
Encyclopedia
Jean François Toussaint Rogister (25 October 1879 in Liège
– 20 March 1964 in Liège) was a Belgian
virtuoso violist
, teacher and composer
.
and his brothers Fernand Rogister (1872–1954), a horn player
and composer, Chrétien Rogister (pseudonym Caludi) (1884–1941), a violin
ist and composer, and Hubert Rogister, a cellist
.
A musically gifted child, Rogister studied violin
, viola, horn and composition at the Liège Conservatory. Rogister studied composition with Jean-Théodore Radoux
, and viola with Désiré Heynberg (1831–1898) and Oscar Englebert. He emerged a virtuoso viola player, and at the age of twenty-one, he was appointed Professor of Viola (1900–1945) at the Liège Conservatory.
Rogister performed in chamber ensembles and made his debut in 1902 as violist of the Charlier Quartet led by Léopold Charlier. It was also at this time that Rogister completed his String Quartet No. 1. He continued to study composition and play in chamber music ensembles including Cercle Ad Artem, the Chaumont Quartet, and Piano et Archets. In 1923, he left for the United States where he briefly led the viola section in the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra
under the direction of Leopold Stokowski
. Returning to Liège, Rogister became a founding member of the Quatuor de Liège in 1925 along with violinists Henri Koch (1903–1969) and Joseph Beck, and cellist Lydia Rogister-Schor. The ensemble toured throughout in Europe and the United States to great acclaim.
Rogister, like his composition teacher Radoux, composed largely in the neo-romantic style of César Franck
, occasionally introducing his own modernistic Impressionistic sonorities. He composed eight string quartets and other chamber music, symphonic works including Jeux symphoniques (1952), concertante works for viola, violin, cello and trombone, and vocal works including a Requiem (1944).
Orchestral
Concertante
Chamber music
Vocal
Choral
Liège
Liège is a major city and municipality of Belgium located in the province of Liège, of which it is the economic capital, in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium....
– 20 March 1964 in Liège) was a Belgian
Belgians
Belgians are people originating from the Kingdom of Belgium, a federal state in Western Europe.-Etymology:Belgians are a relatively "new" people...
virtuoso violist
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
, teacher and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
.
Life and career
Jean Rogister came from a family of musicians; his father was a flautistFlute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
and his brothers Fernand Rogister (1872–1954), a horn player
Horn (instrument)
The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
and composer, Chrétien Rogister (pseudonym Caludi) (1884–1941), a violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist and composer, and Hubert Rogister, a cellist
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
.
A musically gifted child, Rogister studied violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, viola, horn and composition at the Liège Conservatory. Rogister studied composition with Jean-Théodore Radoux
Jean-Théodore Radoux
Jean Théodore Radoux was a Belgian composer and bassoonist. In 1859 he won the Belgian Prix de Rome for his cantata Le Juif errant which he had composed earlier that year...
, and viola with Désiré Heynberg (1831–1898) and Oscar Englebert. He emerged a virtuoso viola player, and at the age of twenty-one, he was appointed Professor of Viola (1900–1945) at the Liège Conservatory.
Rogister performed in chamber ensembles and made his debut in 1902 as violist of the Charlier Quartet led by Léopold Charlier. It was also at this time that Rogister completed his String Quartet No. 1. He continued to study composition and play in chamber music ensembles including Cercle Ad Artem, the Chaumont Quartet, and Piano et Archets. In 1923, he left for the United States where he briefly led the viola section in the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra
Philadelphia Orchestra
The Philadelphia Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, it was founded in 1900...
under the direction of Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Anthony Stokowski was a British-born, naturalised American orchestral conductor, well known for his free-hand performing style that spurned the traditional baton and for obtaining a characteristically sumptuous sound from many of the great orchestras he conducted.In America, Stokowski...
. Returning to Liège, Rogister became a founding member of the Quatuor de Liège in 1925 along with violinists Henri Koch (1903–1969) and Joseph Beck, and cellist Lydia Rogister-Schor. The ensemble toured throughout in Europe and the United States to great acclaim.
Rogister, like his composition teacher Radoux, composed largely in the neo-romantic style of César Franck
César Franck
César-Auguste-Jean-Guillaume-Hubert Franck was a composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher who worked in Paris during his adult life....
, occasionally introducing his own modernistic Impressionistic sonorities. He composed eight string quartets and other chamber music, symphonic works including Jeux symphoniques (1952), concertante works for viola, violin, cello and trombone, and vocal works including a Requiem (1944).
Selected works
Stage- Lorsque minuit sonna, Lyric Drama (1930)
Orchestral
- Lamento for string orchestra (1916)
- Destin (1919)
- La Fiancée du lutin (1920)
- Nuit d'avril (April Night), Ésquisse symphonique (Symphonic Sketch) (1921)
- Paysage (1923)
- Symphony No. 1 in F major (1927)
- Largo dans le style ancien et Scherzo (Largo in Olden Style and Scherzo) for string orchestra (1932); original version for string quartet
- Symphony No. 2 "Symphonie wallonne" in D minor (1931–1932)
- La Lune et les peupliers (1932)
- Ésquisse dramatique (Dramatic Sketch) (1935); original version for string quartet
- Allegro energico for string orchestra (1940); original version for 4 cellos
- Symphony No. 3 in E minor for solo string quartet and orchestra (1942–1943)
- Jeux symphoniques (1952)
- Hommage à César FranckCésar FranckCésar-Auguste-Jean-Guillaume-Hubert Franck was a composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher who worked in Paris during his adult life....
(1955) - Adagio for double string orchestra (1960)
- Improvisation sur un thème (Improviation on a Theme)
Concertante
- Fantaisie concertante for viola and orchestra (1910)
- Concerto in A major for viola and orchestra (1914)
- Concerto for cello and orchestra (1917)
- Adieu for viola or cello and string orchestra (1919)
- Concerto in C minor for trombone and orchestra (1919)
- Poème for violin and orchestra (1920)
- Fantaisie burlesque sur un thème populaire for violin and orchestra (1928)
- Impression de mai for violin and orchestra (1935)
- Concerto in G minor for violin and orchestra (1944–1945)
- Suite in G minor for flute and string orchestra, Op. 114 (1949)
- Fantaisie sur un cramignon liégeois for viola and orchestra
- Par une après-midi ensoleillée (On a Sunny Afternoon), Pièce for cello and orchestra (or piano)
- Pièce concertante for clarinet and orchestra
Chamber music
- String Quartet No. 1 (1902)
- String Quartet No. 2 in F minor (1914)
- Libellule, Pièce caractéristique for violin or viola and piano (1919)
- Adagio for 4 violins (1921)
- String Quartet No. 3 (1921)
- String Quartet No. 4 in D (1926)
- String Quartet No. 5 in A (1927)
- String Quartet No. 6 in C minor (1928)
- Symphonie intime for flute, clarinet, bassoon, 2 violins, viola, cello and double bass (1929)
- String Quartet No. 7 (1931)
- Largo dans le style ancien et Scherzo (Largo in Olden Style and Scherzo) for string quartet (1932); also for string orchestra
- Quintet for Ancient Instruments for 2 quintons, viola d'amoreViola d'amoreThe viola d'amore is a 7- or 6-stringed musical instrument with sympathetic strings used chiefly in the baroque period. It is played under the chin in the same manner as the violin.- Structure and sound :...
, viola da gamba and harpsichordHarpsichordA harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
(1934) - Ésquisse dramatique (Dramatic Sketch) for string quartet (1935); also for orchestra
- Impression de mai for violin and piano (1935)
- Allegro energico for 4 cellos (1940); also for string orchestra
- String Quartet No. 8 (1940)
- Quintet for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and horn (1947)
- Largo dans le style ancien for string quartet; also for string orchestra
- L'enfant rêve, Mélodie for violin and piano
- Prélude for viola solo
Vocal
- The Bells, Oratorio for soprano and 8 instruments (1924); after the poemThe Bells"The Bells" is a heavily onomatopoeic poem by Edgar Allan Poe which was not published until after his death in 1849. It is perhaps best known for the diacopic repetition of the word "bells." The poem has four parts to it; each part becomes darker and darker as the poem progresses from "the jingling...
by Edgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective... - Baisers tardifs for voice and piano; words by Noël Ruet
Choral
- Requiem for soloists, chorus and orchestra (1944)
Discography
- String Quartets Nos. 2 & 6 – Quatour Gong; Cypres Records CYP1620 (1999)
- Œuvres pour ensemble à cordes (Works for String Ensemble) – Anne Leonardo (viola); Marc Grauwels (flute); Jean-Paul Dessy (conductor); Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie; Cypres Records CYP3617 (1999)
- Lamento for string orchestra (1916)
- Allegro energico for string orchestra (1940)
- Adagio for double string orchestra (1960)
- Suite in G minor for flute and string orchestra, Op. 114 (1949)
- Largo dans le style ancien et Scherzo for string orchestra (1932)
- Adieu for viola and string orchestra (1919)
- Œuvres concertantes (Concertante Works) – Philippe Koch (violin); Thérèse-Marie Gilissen (viola); Marc Trautmann (conductor); Orchestre Symphonique de Pécs; Koch International 3-1718-2 (1994)
- Concerto in G minor for violin and orchestra (1944–1945)
- Fantasie Concertante for viola and orchestra (1910)
- Concerto in A major for viola and orchestra (1914)
- Symphonie pour Quatuor à Cordes et Grande Orchestre – Quatour Brahms; André Siwy (violin); Alfred Walter (conductor); Orchestre Symphonique de la RTBF; MW/Schwann 11856 (1987)
- Symphony No. 3 in E minor for solo string quartet and orchestra (1942–1943)
- Fantaisie burlesque sur un thème populaire for violin and orchestra (1928)