Julius Röntgen

[Christo]

Great news indeed! Let's hope CPO will allow conductor David Porcelijn to include it in his recordings of the complete symphonic cycle - if that is ever going to be completed. 

[Scion7]

I quite like her Violin Sonata in b-minor.



Amanda Carolina Erica Maier received her first violin and piano lessons from her father, who himself had obtained the "Musikdirektörsexamen" at the Royal Conservatory in Stockholm in 1852. When she was sixteen she too was admitted to this conservatory where, three years later, she would take the conducting exam as the first and up until this day only woman in Sweden and achieved the highest possible results in the subjects violin, piano, organ, composition, counterpoint, music history and aesthetics.
From 1873 until 1876 she continued to study in Leipzig with Engelbert Röntgen, leader of the Gewandhausorchester, Carl Reinecke, composer and conductor and Ernst Friedrich Richter, cantor and music theoretician (harmonics and counterpoint). During this period she befriended Edvard Grieg and Julius Röntgen and composed a trio for piano, violin and cello, a sonata for violin and piano which in 1875 won the prize of the Swedish Royal Music Academy and a violin concerto which she premièred very successfully on 8 February 1876 in Leipzig with the Gewandhausorchester conducted by Carl Reinecke.
Between 1876 and 1880 she undertook three large tours with her friends, the soprano Louise Pyk and the pianist Augusta Kjellander. In 1876 they gave a series of concerts in Sweden, in 1878 they performed 31 concerts in 26 Swedish and Norwegian cities and in 1879 they toured several countries including Finland and Russia.
On 28 July 1880 she married Julius Röntgen in Landskrona; the couple settled in Amsterdam. By getting married her career as a violinist came to an end and she no longer performed in public. She did continue to play within the family circle, composed several works together with her husband and entertained many well-known musicians, including Rubinstein, Joachim, Brahms and Grieg.
In 1881 her first son Julius jr. was born and in 1886 a second son, Engelbert, followed. The last seven years of her life she was often ill, probably as a result of a tuberculosis infection she contracted years before.
The Danish singer Bodil de Neergaard-Hartmann (1867-1959), wife of Viggo de Neergaard, at whose manor house Fuglsang the Röntgen family spent many musical summers since 1892, called her: "The interesting and amiable Amanda who, wherever she went, would always be the centre of attention despite her modesty and total lack of aggression".
    In 1994 Lennart Lundholm, music teacher Drottningsgården 167, 26146 Landskrona, Sweden, wrote an extensive biography of Amanda Maier.Amanda Maier's diaries and printed and non-printed compositions were donated to Statens Musikbibliotek in Stockholm in 1997.

Published compositions
   ▪   Sonata in B minor for violin and piano
"Till min käre fader", 1878
   ▪   Six pieces for violin and piano, 1879
   ▪   "Zwiegespräche" for piano
(composed together with Julius)
   ▪   Schwedische Weisen und Tänze
(composed together with Julius)
   ▪   Quartet in E minor for piano, violin, viola and cello, 1891
   ▪   An orchestra transcription of the aforementioned Six pieces for violin and piano by Fr. Rosenkranz
Unpublished compositions
   ▪   Romance for violin and piano
   ▪   Trio for piano, violin and cello
   ▪   Violin concerto
   ▪   Nordiska Tonbilder for violin and piano
   ▪   Intermezzo for piano
   ▪   Two string quartets
   ▪   March for piano, violin, viola and cello
   ▪   Romances to texts by David af Wirsén
   ▪   Den sjuka flickans sång
   ▪   Aftonklockan
   ▪   Ungt mod
   ▪   Sången
   ▪   Trio for piano and two violins

[calyptorhynchus]

I've always felt with Röntgen that his music isn't as good as it sounds.

(That's not original by the way, but I can't remember which composer said it about which other composer).

[Scion7]

Well he's obviously not Dvorak, but he wrote solid material.  He was also pretty consistent.

[calyptorhynchus]

I think he's miles better than Dvorak!

[Daverz]

I have this CD:

[asin]B007HOEZS0[/asin]

I quite enjoy this unpretentious music, and that's all that matters to me.

[amw]

I have this CD:

[asin]B005B6HVA0[/asin]

I quite enjoy this unpretentious, direct, tuneful, and happy music, and that's all that matters to me.

[schnittkease]

I am here to profess my love for Röntgen's 1st Violin Concerto [in A minor]. I truly don't think it has a single weak moment and am dumbfounded as to why it is not talked about more often.

https://www.youtube.com/v/Y7La4-Zr0HQ

[Daverz]

And I can highly recommend the Cello Concerto No. 2:

[asin] B00DEROODU[/asin]

[SymphonicAddict]

I only know two of his string quartets and the String Sextet. All those works are very nice. I'll be interested in listening to his concertos and symphonies soon. Röntgen was incredibly prolific, there are plenty of works to discover.

[SonicMan46]

BOY!  Julius Röntgen (1855-1932) - looking through this short thread, I have just one post back in 2009 and must have just started to collect his wide variety of recordings - one of my interests, as a retired radiologist, was his relationship to Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, discoverer of X-rays - indeed they were distant cousins (see first pice below - Source) - I now have 10 CDs of this composer (listed in the quote) - one has an interesting cover w/ a chest X-ray.  Now, I've not listened to these in a while but have pulled out the stack and will in the upcoming days.  Thanks for the reminder - Dave

Cello Concertos, No. 1-3 - Muruzabai (Et'Cetera)
Chamber Music - Royal Conservatory Canada (RCA)
Piano Trios, No. 6, 9, 10 - Storioni Trio (MP3)
String Trios, No. 1-4 - Lendvai String Trio (Champs Hill)
String Trios, No. 5-8 - Lendvai String Trio (Champs Hill)
Symphony  No. 3 + Suite - Porcelijn (CPO)
Symphony Nos. 6, 5, & 19 - Porcelijn (CPO)
Symphony No. 10 et al - Porcelijn (CPO)
Violin Concertos - Ferschtman/Porcelijn (CPO)
Wind Serenades - Linos Ensemble (CPO)

[kyjo]

Röntgen is a very fine composer. Everything I've heard so far from his pen has melodic memorability, harmonic freshness, and textural variety. His music reflects the influences of his friends Brahms and Grieg, but has a marked individuality to it. I'm quite grateful to CPO for the royal treatment they've given him through their excellent recordings of his music.

[bhodges]

Also new to Röntgen here, and should fix that, so I appreciate all the recommendations. And as an aside, in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, it's a measure of his stature that he is one of the composers whose names are incised on the balcony. (Mahler is dead-center.)

--Bruce

[Christo]

Also new to Röntgen here, and should fix that, so I appreciate all the recommendations. And as an aside, in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, it's a measure of his stature that he is one of the composers whose names are incised on the balcony. (Mahler is dead-center.)

--Bruce

Dutch composers' names on the balcony are not so much a reflection of their stature - but of the fact that their compositions were premiered here: Röntgen, Verhulst, Zweers, Wagenaar, Diepenbrock, Dopper, Pijper.

[SonicMan46]

Well for those interested in Röntgen's chamber music, some newer considerations - just ordered the 3rd & 4th volumes of the String Trios w/ the Lendvai String Trio - also, the 2nd volume of the Piano Trios w/ the Storioni Trio is available, but at $20 Amazon Prime - might wait until I earn some VISA credit - for those interested, I left PDF attachments of reviews of the earlier releases from both of these groups recently in the 'Listening Thread'.  Dave

   

[SymphonicAddict]

I'm waiting patiently for the complete recordings of his symphonies. Meanwhile, I'm checking the ones that are recorded and I put the Symphony No. 3 on the player, and what a terrific work this is. As it uses to be with this composer, the music is neither revolutionary nor challenging, but it is fresh, well-crafted and has personality. This work is dramatic (it's in C minor if it helps) featuring stormy moments and struggles. After the tension, all is solved by a majestic and even cathartic ending. Very impressive with no hesitation.

[kyjo]

I'm waiting patiently for the complete recordings of his symphonies. Meanwhile, I'm checking the ones that are recorded and I put the Symphony No. 3 on the player, and what a terrific work this is. As it uses to be with this composer, the music is neither revolutionary nor challenging, but it is fresh, well-crafted and has personality. This work is dramatic (it's in C minor if it helps) featuring stormy moments and struggles. After the tension, all is solved by a majestic and even cathartic ending. Very impressive with no hesitation.

I like this symphony very much, especially the powerful and as you say, cathartic ending. Also, the accompanying Suite "Aus Jotunheim" is a really charming work. Rontgen's music never fails to please.

[kyjo]

And I can highly recommend the Cello Concerto No. 2:

[asin] B00DEROODU[/asin]

I discovered this recently - what a fantastic work! Though written in a comfortable late-romantic style, it's remarkably fresh and original and sounds like no other cello concerto I know.

[mc ukrneal]

Does anyone know if they will record any more of his symphonies? So far CPO have done: 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 15, 18, 19, an 21. The most recent issue was from late 2017 I think.

EDIT The previous release before 2017 was from 2013. I hope we don't have to wait another 4 years.

[SonicMan46]

Does anyone know if they will record any more of his symphonies? So far CPO have done: 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 15, 18, 19, an 21. The most recent issue was from late 2017 I think.

EDIT The previous release before 2017 was from 2013. I hope we don't have to wait another 4 years.

At the moment, I have 3 discs w/ the Symphonies (3,5,6,10,19) - looking at Röntgen's Website, there are 21 works listed in the 'Symphonic Category' (see pic below) - however, these are not numbered there, and when looking at my CPO liner notes, the numbers assigned to the recorded works do not appear to match (e.g. No. 3 in C minor on the CPO CD is the first one on the website list, however, the 1910 date matches) - I'm assuming the number assignments are not chronologic relative to the composing dates in the chart?  Dave