Julius Röntgen - Symphony No. 18; Old Netherlandish Dances (David Porcelijn)

Information

Composer: Julius Röntgen

• Symphony No. 18 in A major
• Ballade on a Norwegian Folk Song, Op. 36
• Een liedje van de zee (a Little Song of the Sea), Op. 45
• 6 Old Netherlandish Dances, Op. 46

NDR Radio Philharmonic Orchestra

David Porcelijn, conductor

Date: 2008

Label: CPO

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Review

CPO promise to record all the Röntgen symphonies. Is there no end to their ambition? I hope not. Their intelligent engagement with using radio and regional orchestras throughout mainland Europe is paying dividends and will continue to do so for as long as they maintain this philosophy and business model. 

Röntgen wrote 4 symphonies in 1931 including No 18. As the notes point out this symphony, at rising 24 minutes, is long by comparison with the eight he wrote in 1930. It is the work of an unreconstructed Brahmsian. It has the character and sound-world of the Brahms Fourth and this includes its magnificent arching and singing strings and the romping brass triumph of its climaxes. There's no Straussian edge at all; just the sheer pleasure of a confident composer who can produce ideas that match the creative spirit. 

A long-time friend of Grieg, another strand of Röntgen's profuse creative engine is the folk inflection. The Ballade is dreamy and Grieg-like with a sweet Tchaikovskian curl to the style. We also encounter some grandiloquent Brahmsian, as at 3.16. Een Liedje van de see is another substantial folk-accented piece with Beethovenian explosions along the way. Superb juxtapositions of silky and sheeny strings and seductive harp seduction contrast with more dramatic propulsive writing. It’s always within the Brahms-Tchaikovsky-Grieg hegemony. 

The Six Old Dutch Dances are a sort of Netherlands Capriol. There is something of the antiquarian here and also of the baroque revivalist. It is not too precious being light on its toes. There’s nothing of Regerian stolidity about this though it must be said that Reger is not always stolid.

— Rob Barnett

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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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