BIOGRAPHY Jean
Rogister Jean
ROGISTER (Liège 1879 - Liège
1964) Jean
Rogister, Rogister
viewed this appointment less as an achievement than
as the starting-point for a rich and varied carrer.
Like his predecessors and contemporaries, he
studied compositional techniques : his teacher was
Jean-Théodore Radoux, a fervent follower of
Franck, and it was natural that Rogister should
share his enthousiasm. The young composer made an
early attempt to combine his practical activities
as a viola player, especially in quartets, with his
urge to compose, and in 1902 he produced a string
quartet, the first in a genre to which he was to
remain attached throughout his life. Its gestation
coincided with his early experiences with the
Charlier Quartet : this dual activity appealed
to Rogister as another starting-point. For some
years he did not compose anything but quietly
continued to study composition while concentrating
his energies on playing chamber music, becoming a
leading light with the Cercle Ad Artem, the
Chaumont Quartet, and a piano and string group
called « Piano et Archets »,
before founding his own quartet, the
« Quatuor de Liege » , in 1925.
1925
was a crucial year. Between 1910 and 1925 Rogister
underwent some formative experience and unique
encounters, but it was in 1925 that he turned to
composition again after consulting Vincent d'Indy.
Then, as a fully-fledged viola virtuoso, he left
Liege for the United States where he spent ten
months as leader of the viola section in the
Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra under Leopold
Stokowsky. He began to compose, not only for viola
and string quartet but also for piano, orchestra,
violin, cello and trombone. By the age of fifty
Rogister had gradually built up a massive fund of
expertise which he devoted himself to deepening and
widening during his remaining thirty-five years.
His
status as a great chamber music player was
confirmed by his work with the quatuor de
Liège (with Henri Koch, Joseph Beck and
Lydie Schor), which toured with great success in
Europe and the United States. To this he added an
immense output of compositions. He was
indefatigably energetic, and endlessly curious, a
characteristic reflected in his uvre.
Although the Franck tradition of compositional
structure fascinated him, he felt more drawn to
explorind timbres and sonorities in depth - an
orientation best exemplified by his passion for
ancient music. Between 1933 and 1940, as a member
of the « Association pour l'Etude de la
Musique de Chambre », he set about
unearthing ancient manuscript scores and applying
his mind to their interpretation and the
unravelling their secrets. The
Second World War and certain family misfortunes
halted his boundless enthusiasm and tireless
activity for a while, and for three years he
composed nothing. Then in 1943 he wrote an
extraordinary piece, a Symphony for solo string
quartet and full orchestra which displayed a
remarkable command of compositional techniques and
also shows how deeply he had absorbed the
influences of the older music on which he had
worked so thoroughly. He had now turned to a more
monumental style of composition which continued to
occupy him to the end of his life and is most
strikingly seen in the Requiem (1944) and Jeux
Symphoniques (1952). His best solo composition is
the wonderful Violin Concerto, composed in 1945.
Jean
Rogister died on 2 March 1964. His long career had
been studded with success, but the key word to
described it would be consistency. Although a viola
virtuoso, he remained loyal to his teaching
commitments, to the delight of generations of
pupils. As a composer he never sought new
departures but was concerned to go ever deeper into
an artistic undertaking whose parameters he had
established very early. His compositions testify to
the multiple interests of a musician who was always
in quest of perfection and discovery. Philippe
Vendrix
Lecturer in the University of Liège
Translated by Celia Skrine