Description

HENRI KOCH (LIÈGE, BELGIUM, JULY 10, 1903 – LIÈGE, BELGIUM, 2 JUNE, 1969)

 

 

 

 

Henri Koch was born in Liège (Belgium) on July 10, 1903, to a father who was an industrialist and amateur trumpeter, originally from Neuwied-on-the-Rhine in Prussia, whose family had applied for Belgian naturalization at the end of the 19th century.

He began his musical studies at the Royal Conservatory of Liège in the violin class of Marcel Lejeune (1895–1978), then répétiteur for Oscar Dossin. He won first prizes in solfège in 1917, violin in 1918, chamber music in 1920, music history in 1921, and harmony in 1922, and in 1923 he received the silver-gilt medal for violin.

During his military service with the 1st Regiment of Guides in Brussels, he became a member of the Royal Band of the Guides, then conducted by Arthur Prévost (1888–1967), successor to Léon Walpot. In 1919, Henri Koch was second violin in the “Marcel Lejeune String Quartet.” In 1923 he left for Paris to further his studies with Maurice Hayot (1862–1945), a former student of the Paris Conservatory (First Prize for violin, 1883) and concertmaster of the Concerts du Conservatoire. During this Parisian period, Koch performed notably on the radio (Radiola, Radio Paris, etc.).

Returning to Liège in 1924, he joined the “Liège Quartet,” alongside Jean Rogister, Joseph Beck, and Lydia Rogister-Schor. With this ensemble, he toured throughout Europe (the Netherlands, France, Poland, etc.) and the United States (Carnegie Hall in New York), until the beginning of the Second World War, where he had the opportunity to perform before President Herbert Hoover. In 1925, he was appointed principal concertmaster of the Royal Theatre Orchestra, a position he held until 1938. In 1928, when he won the “Kreisler Prize,” the musical press headlined on its front page: “Henri Koch, a second Ysaÿe!”

On August 8, 1929, he married Emma Antoine, granddaughter of the industrialist Adolphe Eymael. They had two sons: Henri-Emmanuel, born June 4, 1930, who also became a violinist and succeeded his father as head of the “Liège Quartet,” and Louis, born April 1, 1934, who became a pianist.

In 1932, King Albert I of Belgium appointed him professor at the Royal Conservatory of Liège. From 1939 to 1944, he taught at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Brussels, where he was a personal instructor while also serving as first violin of the “Queen’s Quartet.” He became principal concertmaster of the Concerts du Conservatoire de Liège in 1934, of the Liège Philharmonic Orchestra (1947–1969), and of the “Liège Soloists,” a chamber orchestra founded in 1957 in which his two sons and two daughters-in-law performed: the pianist and harpsichordist Monique Pichon and the violinist Nadine Vossen, as well as his nephew, oboist André Antoine. Koch also agreed, at the request of his many amateur musician friends, to conduct the Amateur Symphony Orchestra of Liège and Esneux.

After his death on June 3, 1969, the City of Liège honored him by erecting a bust sculpted by his friend Jacques de Biolle (September 1972), placed near those of Eugène Ysaÿe, César Thomson, Ovide Musin, and Hector Clokers, and by naming one of its streets after him (1976).

His grandson, Philippe Koch, is currently principal Konzertmeister of the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra and professor at the Royal Conservatory of Liège. Since 1932, this marks the third generation of the Koch family to hold this violin class. His great-granddaughter, Laurence Koch, a graduate of the Liège Conservatory, is also a violinist and teaches at the Luxembourg Conservatory.

For several years, Henri Koch’s recordings with the “Liège Quartet” and the “Liège Soloists” have been highly sought after, particularly by specialists in the United States and especially in Japan, where a label has reissued them on CD. Within his discography, particular mention should be made of the Piano Quartet by Guillaume Lekeu, recorded in 1932 (Polydor) with Jean Rogister (viola), Lydie Rogister-Schor (cello), and Charles van Lancker (piano). Reissued in 2007, Michel Tibbaut, editor of ResMusica.com, wrote: “A native performance like this, miraculous, one encounters only once in a lifetime!”

Also noteworthy is the Sonata for Piano and Violin in G major by César Franck, recorded in 1957 for Lumen (LD3700), with André Dumortier at the piano.

 

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

Guillaume Lekeu – Henri Koch, Charles Van Lancker – Sonate Pour Piano Et Violon

Label: Polydor – 516549, Polydor – 516550, Polydor – 516551, Polydor – 516552

Series: Polydor Enregistrements Electro-Polyfar

Format: 4 x Shellac, 12″, 78 RPM

Country: France

Genre: Classical

Style: Neo-Romantic

Sonate Pour Piano Et Violon En Sol Majeur

Composed By – Guillaume Lekeu

A Très Modéré 1er Mouvement — 1re Partie

B Très Modéré 1er Mouvement — 2me Partie

C Très Modéré 1er Mouvement — 3me Partie

D Très Lent 2me Mouvement — 1re Partie

E Très Lent 2me Mouvement — 2me Partie

F Très Lent 2me Mouvement — 3me Partie

G Très animé 3me Mouvement — 1re Partie

H Très animé 3me Mouvement — 2me Partie

Piano – Charles Van Lancker

Violin – Henri Koch

Recorded in 1932

 

Lekeu – Charles Van Lancker, Henry Koch, Jean Rogister, Mme Lido-Rogister – Quatuor Inachevé

Label: Polydor – 516.555, Polydor – 516.556, Polydor – 516.557

Format: 3 x Shellac, 12″, 78 RPM, Album

Country: France

Genre: Classical

Style: Neo-Romantic

Quatuor Inachevé

A 1er Mouvement – “Douloureux Et Très Animé” 1re Partie

B 1er Mouvement – “Douloureux Et Très Animé” 2me Partie

C 1er Mouvement – “Douloureux Et Très Animé” 3me Partie

D1 1er Mouvt – “Douloureux Et Très Animé” 4me Partie

D2 2me Mt – “Lent Et Passionné” 1re Partie

E 2me Mouvement – “Lent Et Passionné” 2me Partie

F 2me Mouvement – “Lent Et Passionné” 3me Partie

Composed By – G. Lekeu

Piano – Charles Van Lancker

Viola – Jean Rogister

Violin – Henry Koch

Violoncello – Mme Lido-Rogister