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Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Julius Röntgen - Symphony No. 3; Suite 'Aus Jotunheim' (David Porcelijn)


Information

Composer: Julius Röntgen
  • Symphony No. 3 in C minor
  • Suite 'Aus Jotunheim'

Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz
David Porcelijn, conductor

Date: 2006
Label: CPO

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Review

CPO begins yet another new and exciting series dedicated to a little-known but worthy composer. German/Dutch composer Julius Röntgen (1855-1935) wrote a huge quantity of music (more than 800 pieces), including more than 20 symphonies and dozens of other orchestral works, most have which have been moldering in an archive in Holland since his death. Why he’s been so thoroughly neglected in his own country remains a mystery. He began his career as a graduate of the “Leipzig school” whose model was Mendelssohn; he was a close friend of Grieg and finished his career as an admirer of George Gershwin (one of his children lived in America). His music reveals itself to be the work of a polished craftsman and consummate professional of the first order, and every note bespeaks a genuine joy in the art of composition.

The Third Symphony shows how it was still possible, even in the first decade of the 20th century, to write conservative music in traditional forms that still sounds fresh and has real expressive depth. Röntgen’s scoring, here and in the coupling, is notably bright and open, the result of his high mean sonority and brilliant feeling for woodwind timbres. There’s not a note wasted, and while the shape of the piece and its harmonic language may be familiar, you will find nothing quite like it in any previous music. In particular, the andante second movement and finale show Röntgen’s great originality in that rarest of qualities: the ability to write memorable tunes. This, in the final analysis, is the secret of Röntgen’s success, and it whets the appetite for further releases in what hopefully will be a long-running series.

The suite Aus Jotunheim reflects the composer’s love of Norwegian folk music, and indeed Grieg might come to mind when listening, albeit with more vividly colored orchestration (harp, glockenspiel) than Röntgen’s colleague usually managed (at least away from the complete Peer Gynt). Here is music that is extremely beautiful, melodically distinguished, and indelibly vivid. You simply can’t listen to it and not enjoy it, and the same certainly holds true of these well-recorded performances. They aren’t quite the last word in rhythmic discipline (the opening note of the symphony’s finale isn’t quite together), but David Porcelijn wisely understands that it’s better to tolerate a few minor imperfections in ensemble in favor of keeping the music’s energy level high and its textures bright and clear. Collectors of worthwhile musical novelties are going to love this.

— David Hurwitz

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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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