A Riddle…

[Peter1953]

X's compositions, published and unpublished, cover the whole range of music in every art form – they all show consummate mastery in every aspect of technique. Even in the most facile there is beauty and wit. Each series of works culminates in something that has the uniqueness of a living masterpiece.

My questions ares: (1) who wrote those words and (2) who is X?

[Mark Thomas]

2. Julius Röntgen, I think.
1. Don't know.

[Alan Howe]

1. Donald Tovey, in his obituary of...
2. Julius Röntgen

I'd seen this before in reading through materials about Röntgen when I first discovered him about 7-8 years ago; Tovey, of course, greatly admired Röntgen.

[Dundonnell]

I have a great deal of respect for Sir Donald Tovey as a music writer and as Professor of Music at my own old University. He was a close friend of my great-uncle(also a Professor at Edinburgh) but really that is extravagance of praise to an almost ridiculous degree.

There are very very few great composers of whose works those sort of words could apply.

[Peter1953]

Probably my first and also last riddle... I didn't realize it was so obvious... Yes, Tovey and Röntgen.

BTW, I'm very much enjoying Röntgen's biography Gaudeamus, a dissertation by Dr Jurjen Vis of Amsterdam (2007). What a fascinating figure Röntgen was. But, as a composer, it is said that he was a Brahms epigone.

[Alan Howe]

Thing is, Röntgen was an absolute master of compositional technique. He was also much, much more than a Brahms epigone - that is the sort of lazy thinking that consigns all unsung composers to footnotes of a certain few recognised masters. Having said which, I don't think that Röntgen was a master of the front rank - but the recordings of his music over the last decade or so have clearly revealed an enormously gifted composer of a conservative stamp whose music doesn't deserve to be forgotten.

[Dundonnell]

I certainly don't think that Rontgen deserves to be forgotten.

I have bought all the symphonies and concertos so far issued on cd and will continue to do so.
Now that is partly, I will concede, because once I start to collect a composer's orchestral and choral music the 'completist' in me seizes control of my wallet , but I am perfectly ready to assert that in his very conservative idiom Rontgen's music is not simply pleasant but gives genuine pleasure.

Whether he was "an enormously gifted composer" or "an absolute master of compositional technique" I am not qualified to say. He may well have been. For those who enjoy Rontgen's idiom I welcome the interest being shown in his music.

My gripe, I suppose, is that because Rontgen wrote so much, so many symphonies, so many concertos, the attention being lavished upon him and the commitment to record everything means that other composers' works (including those by other Dutch composers) will take longer to emerge. I hope that I am proved wrong and that CPO will press ahead with its promise to issue all the van Gilse, the Badings, the Pijper etc.

[Peter1953]

Other famous words, by his good friend Edvard Grieg: Julius Röntgen may not be as famous as his cousin Conrad [the pioneer of radiography] but his music is much more powerful than x-rays.

Do you know the CD "Right through the bone" (RCA Red Seal, 2007) with chamber music?  Four wonderful works giving the listener a constant flow of gorgeous and memorable themes, especially the first movement of the Piano Quintet in A minor, op. 100 and all three movements of the Trio for Clarinet, Viola and Piano in E flat major. His String Sextet in G major is one of the most beautiful sextets I know of.

In 1947 the distinguished Dutch critic Herman Rutters wrote: If it should be true that national folklore has enough inspirational strength for this, then perhaps no other person than Röntgen could have created a Dutch music. (Jurjen Vis, Gaudeamus, p. 542)

Not bad for a German composer who was born in Leipzig and went to Amsterdam in December 1877 to stay in the Netherlands for the rest of his life, but continued to speak German.

[Alan Howe]

I think it is significant that Tovey held Röntgen is such high regard. That'll do for me.

As for cpo recording so much Röntgen to the possible exclusion or detriment of other composers, all I can say is that there appears to be no cause for concern. Of course, with an average of only 6 releases per month, the company may take a considerable time to get through its extensive backlog of unissued recordings...

[JollyRoger]

After listening to Roentgen's 8th, I am convinced he is very much under appreciated. But he may have what I would like to call the "Langaard Syndrome", where a prolific composer writes so many things (symphonies in this case) that the music worth hearing is lost in the multitude of music of lesser quality. (This is not to suggest that they were at all similar in style or their music was equal quality.)

[eschiss1]

his output was , while rather smaller than Langgaard's (who I do tend to like) (or Sorabji's, or Villa-Lobos', or Milhaud's, though I seem to recall that Langgaard's may be one of the larger worklists, and kudos to Viinholt Nielsen), large in general, as I recall from a worklist Donemus put together... I agree about the generally fairly high average quality of Röntgen's, yes.

[Balapoel]

I don't know, Rontgen exceeds Langgard in quantity (and in my humble opinion, quality). I have yet to be disappointed with anything I've heard from Rontgen. In fact, I daresay he is my favorite composer identified through this great website.

Outside of organ music and overtures, Rontgen has many more in his oeuvre..

Rontgen,Langgaard
cello sonatas 14, 0
oboe sonatas 3, 0
piano trios 14, 0
Piano quartets, quintets 6, 0
string quartets 22, 6
viola sonatas 3, 0
violin sonatas 10, 5
all chamber 152, 27

opera 4, 3

symphonies 24, 16
piano concerti 7, 1
cello concerti 3, 0
violin concerti 3, 1
other concerti 4, 2
overtures 2, 5

all orchestral 61, 38

piano sonatas 26, 6

all piano 136, 49

all vocal 203, 149


organ 2, 107 (he has Rontgen there)

[Alan Howe]

From memory Röntgen's oeuvre extends to over 600 works; Wikipedia has Langgaard at over 400. Nuff said.

[petershott@btinternet.com]

That's an interesting set of comparisions, Balapoel. Although I consider Langgaard interesting and wouldn't be without him, I think Rontgen is the clear winner!

I admire the fact that chamber is the first category in your lists. Quite right too! So far I haven't come across any Rontgen quartet, trio, sonata or whatever that isn't in some way a gem. (Maybe, as with any composer, there's an unrecorded dud somewhere in the worklist?) It is a great pity that CPO, who have made a major contribution to our knowledge of Rontgen, have so far virtually neglected his chamber works including those 22 string quartets.

One line of your list suddenly struck me: "Opera: Rontgen 4; Langgaard 3". Apart from Langgaard's Antichrist (which is a perfectly frightful piece), I don't know anything at all about the other 6 out of the total of 7. Must investigate. Haven't retrieved the whole thread, but why have we got into this Rontgen / Langgaard racket anyway? There's surely so little in common between them to render such comparison instructive? Just a thought!

[Balapoel]

I agree - they're in a different pool altogether. Regarding the chamber comment - thanks. I feel that chamber is the purest form of music - in the sense that you can hide a lot of compositional incompetence or facileness with orchestral color - you generally can't do that with chamber music, particularly string quartets, given the similar textures.

regarding Rontgen's quartets, I've got recordings of:
String Quartet in a minor (1874)
String Quartet in g minor (1917) Fancy
Bauener Quartetino in a minor (1922)
String Quartet in C (1925)
String Quartet in g# minor (1927)


Langgaard (BVN numbers) (dramatic with orchestra)
122   Sinfonia interna (Scenisk symfoni) (75')   1916
170   Antikrist (Allegorisk Opera) (130'?); revised 1926-1930 (BVN 192)
314   Vildstjernelys (Light of Wild Stars) (Opera in one act) (1921-3; 1946)   

Rontgen (dramatic with orchestra)
Die Enthousiasten. Lustspiel in three Akten mit Gesang (zur Feier der silbernen Hochzeit von Pauline and Engelbert Röntgen)   1879
Agnete. Dramatische Legende van G. van Uildriks for soli, gemengd koor and orchestra   1912
De lachende Cavalier. Musicspel in drie bedrijven van J.D.C. van Dokkum for soli, gemengd koor and orchestra   1912
Samûm. Drama in einem Akt (August Strindberg) for eine Singstimme and Orchester    1926