Julius Röntgen - Symphony No. 15

Julius Röntgen (1855-1932)

Symphony No. 15 in F sharp minor (1931)

1. Poco allegro sostenuto - 00:00
2. Poco allegretto piacevole - 07:55
3. Lento - 12:18
4. Andante, animato - 16:29

Orchestra: NDR Radiophilharmonie
Conductor: David Porcelijn


Julius Röntgen was a Dutch composer, conductor and pianist, son of Engelbert Röntgen. The most celebrated member of the family, he studied composition with Friedrich Lachner, harmony and counterpoint with Hauptmann and E.F. Richter and the piano with Louis Plaidy and Carl Reinecke. He began composing at the age of nine, and in 1869 he made his début as a composer at the Niederrheinisches Musikfest in Düsseldorf with a duo for two violins, performed by his father and Joseph Joachim. After giving concerts in Düsseldorf, Hamburg and Baden-Baden he settled in Cannstatt (1873-1874) as accompanist to the baritone Julius Stockhausen. He visited Liszt in Weimar in 1870.
From 1877 to 1925 Röntgen lived in Amsterdam, where he became a piano teacher at the music school in 1878 (the school acquired conservatory status in 1884). From 1912 to 1924 he was director of the Amsterdam Conservatory, succeeding Frans Coenen and Daniël de Lange, and he remained there as a piano teacher until 1926. He succeeded G.A. Heinze as conductor of the choral society Excelsior (1884-1886) and Johannes Verhulst as conductor of the Amsterdam Toonkunstkoor (1886-1898); he also directed the Felix Meritis concerts for some time. As a pianist, he gave many recitals, was accompanist to the Dutch baritone Johannes Messchaert and Pablo Casals and, with his sons Julius Röntgen and Engelbert Röntgen, formed the Röntgen Trio before World War I. During his stay in Amsterdam he became friendly with Brahms, who visited the Netherlands in 1884 and 1885; he was also friendly with Grieg, who dedicated his Lyrische Stücke op.54 to him (1891). In 1925 he retired to a villa in Bilthoven to spend the remaining years of his life composing and writing; after World War II the Gaudeamus Foundation was established in his house.
A prolific composer, Röntgen belongs to the late Romantic school. His early works show the influence of Schumann (in the Serenade for Wind op.14) and Brahms (in the Toskanische Rispetti op.9); in other works a Scandinavian influence can be detected, even in some written before his acquaintance with Grieg. He was also attracted by the folk music of many countries, especially evident in his Boerenliedjes en contradansen. In later years the influence of Reger is apparent in his polyphonic works, and the bitonal Symphony of 1930 looks back to Debussy.