Having moved to Brussels in 1902, Jongen became involved not only in teaching at the conservatoires but also with the Libre esthétique, the chamber music society that presented premieres of many of his works. Here he met the pianist Valentine Ziane, whom he married in 1909. For the ceremony he wrote a setting of the wedding psalm (Psalm 128),
Deus Abraham, the texture of which is modelled on
Quid sum miser? but the spirit of which captures a bonhomie and optimism that, sadly, were little reflected in much of Jongen’s later life.
from notes by John Scott Whiteley © 2007
