Julius Röntgen - Symphonies Nos. 7, 11, 12, 14, 22-24 (David Porcelijn)

Information

Composer: Julius Röntgen

CD1

• Symphony No. 7 in F Minor "Edinburgh"
• Symphony No. 14 in D Major "Winterthur"
• Symphony No. 12 in C Major "In Babylone"

CD2

• Symphony No. 11 in G Minor "Wirbel"
• Symphony No. 23 in C Minor
• Symphony No. 22 in F-Sharp Major
• Symphony No. 24 in E Major

Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt (CD1)

Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra (CD2)

David Porcelijn, conductor

Date: 2021

Label: CPO

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Review

Here’s a tale of two Röntgens. On the first CD, we have the Seventh of the composer’s 24 symphonies, composed in 1930 when he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Edinburgh. It opens with a sober, aptly academic, Bachian double fugue, and continues with a vigorous, motivically concise scherzo-like movement that seems to draw its rhetoric equally from Bruckner and Sibelius. In the Andante tranquillo, melancholy, harmonically restless music alternates with passages of Brahmsian radiance. At times, it sounds as if sunlight will prevail – note the impressive build-up at 2'50" – but that hope is thwarted, and it’s not until the finale’s second half that fulfilment is, rather touchingly, achieved.

Between the completion of the Edinburgh Symphony and his death in 1932, Röntgen composed another 17 (!) symphonies – most cast as single movements. No 12, which quotes the Dutch song ‘In Babylone’, also glances back to Bach. Indeed, its outer sections are like a grand toccata for orchestra. There’s not much musical meat on this symphony’s broad bones but it sounds glorious, particularly when played with such relish and flair. Far more substantive and satisfying to my ears is No 14, composed in Winterthur. As usual, Röntgen eschews transitional passages, preferring to create stark, often jarring contrasts, but here the gradual developmental interplay of the three thematic sections – the lovely pastoral opening, a muscular fugue and a lilting, delicate dance – makes this perhaps the most successful of Röntgen’s symphonies. It’s almost lovable.

The second CD tells another story, however. No 11, the Drum Roll, was composed in a mere two days. Despite the best efforts of David Porcelijn and the Helsingborg Symphony, tension in the slow introduction is slack and the subsequent fast section is so mercurial I wondered if Röntgen’s attention was elsewhere. Even for a 15-minute symphony, it outstays its welcome. Echoes of Nielsen (the two composers were friends) suffuse No 22 but the work feels crudely glued together. Some of the material in No 23 is beautiful, too – harp arpeggios out of the Adagio of Bruckner’s Eighth in the slow opening, for example – but it’s too baggy for music of such gaunt frame. His last, No 24, in four compact movements, is yet another curate’s egg. The luminous simplicity of the Andante and the finale’s earth dance are its best bits; the first two movements sound either uninspired, too predictable or both. Having said all that, I’m grateful to CPO for making Röntgen’s symphonies available, and in interpretations as committed and handsomely recorded as these. Nos 11 and 22 24 are not only first recordings but premiere performances.

— Andrew Farach-Colton

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Julius Röntgen (9 May 1855 – 13 September 1932) was a German-Dutch composer and teacher. Privately educated, he began composing at age eight and studied under prominent musicians like Ferdinand David, Carl Reinecke and Franz Lachner. A meeting with Brahms in 1874 had a decisive influence on his compositional style. Settling in Amsterdam in 1877, Röntgen co-founded the Amsterdam Conservatory and helped establish the Concertgebouw building. He composed over 650 works in almost every genre, evolving from Romanticism to modern experimentation. His first wife was Swedish composer Amanda Maier.

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David Porcelijn (born 7 January 1947) is a Dutch composer and conductor. He studied flute, composition, and conducting at the Royal Conservatoire of Music in The Hague. Porcelijn has conducted major orchestras worldwide, including the London Philharmonic and the BBC Symphony. He held leading roles with ensembles such as the Adelaide and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras, and the RTS Symphony Orchestra in Belgrade. A co-founder of Ensemble M, he promoted contemporary music from 1974 to 1978. Porcelijn has recorded extensively and taught conducting in both the Netherlands and Australia.

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