Johan Wagenaar - Symphonic Poems, Vol. 1 (Antony Hermus)

Information

Composer: Johan Wagenaar

1. De getemde feeks, Op. 25
2. Levenszomer, Op. 21
3. Saul en David, Op. 24
4. Romantisch intermezzo, Op. 13
5. Frithjofs Meerfahrt, Op. 5

Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie

Antony Hermus, conductor

Date: 2009

Label: CPO

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Review

Johan Wagenaar was a Dutch composer roughly contemporary with Elgar: born in 1862, he died in 1941. He began his musical career as an organist but quickly became an academic. He was appointed in 1919 to be the director of the Royal Conservatory in The Hague.

As one might expect, his style is relatively conservative but it is consistently marked by the most skilled use of the orchestra, with magical pianissimo effects and consistently transparent textures, perhaps surprising from a musician who started life as an organist. The overture inspired by Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, said to be Wagenaar’s most popular work, is a delightful comedy overture with heavy brass in the central development section skilfully used and a surging reprise of the main theme led by the violins. The Summer of Life, described as a “fantasy for orchestra”, is the most substantial piece of the five works on the disc, exhilarating in its main climax but ending quietly, as most of Wagenaar’s orchestral works seem to do. Plainly he was not intent on drawing shouts of approval from his audiences but rather a warm response to the beauty of his orchestral writing.

The Romantic Intermezzo is exactly that, with important oboe solos. The final symphonic poem, Frithiof’s Sea-Voyage, is much the earliest of the works here but already demonstrates the composer’s confident handling of the orchestra. It was inspired by a Swedish saga and after a storm sequence leads to an optimistic close. First-rate recording and splendid playing by the North West German Philharmonia under Antony Hermus. A welcome disc of music by a composer almost totally forgotten, at least outside Holland.

— Edward Greenfield

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Johan Wagenaar (1 November 1862 – 17 June 1941) was a Dutch composer and organist born in Utrecht. He studied music under Richard Hol, Samuel de Lange Jr., and later Heinrich von Herzogenberg in Berlin. In 1888, he became the organist of Utrecht Cathedral, gaining recognition for his performances. He began teaching at Utrecht's music school in 1896 and became its director in 1904. From 1919 to 1937, he served as director of the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. Wagenaar composed operas, cantatas, organ pieces, and orchestral works; his music was influenced by Hector Berlioz and Richard Strauss.

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Antony Hermus (born 1973) is a Dutch conductor. He studied piano and conducting at the Brabant Music Conservatory and with Jac van Steen and Georg Fritzsch. Hermus served as Music Director in Dessau (2009–2015) and Principal Guest Conductor of the North Netherlands Orchestra (2015–2024). Since 2019, he has been Principal Guest at Opera North and became Chief Conductor of the Belgian National Orchestra in 2022. He has recorded with the CPO label and teaches at leading European music institutions, including the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, Sibelius Academy and Royal Northern College of Music.

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