Röntgen symphonies from cpo

[Mark Thomas]

In something of a very welcome Röntgen-fest cpo have issued a twofer CD set with no less than seven symphonies by Julius Röntgen: Nos.7 Edinburgh, 11 Wirbel, 12 In Babylone, 14 Winterthur, 22, 23 and 24. All bar Nos.7 and 24 are one movement works and the conductor is the indefatigable David Porcelijn with, depending on the symphony, the Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt or the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra.

[Alan Howe]

Great - but hopefully not download only! No sign yet at jpc.de.

[Mark Thomas]

They're also available to stream from today on Spotify but, yes, it's a sudden change for jpc/cpo who usually delay digital release for several months after physical distribution. I wonder if they've decided that the economics of continuing the series on CD aren't worthwhile? Might be a straw in the wind.

[Gareth Vaughan]

It's listed as a CD release on Amazon UK (though temporarily unavailable), and the information from the reverse of the cover is shown, marked CD 1 and CD 2 respectively. I also note that these recordings date from 2006/7, so CPO have been sitting on them for a long time - though that is nothing new.

[Mark Thomas]

Let's hope that CDs do materialise eventually. Although I've moved over to digital myself, I do think it's important that the CD market is preserved if at all possible.

[Gareth Vaughan]

This release leaves only the following symphonies to be recorded/released by CPO (for all we know they may have been recorded already):
No. 13 in A minor, Alle eendjes zwemmen in het water, (29 Nov. 1930) [based on a children's song]
No. 16, The Tempest, (21 Apr. 1931) [inspired by Shakespeare's play]
No. 17, Wilhelm Meister, (5 May 1931)
No. 20 in C minor, Mit Schlußchor über Goethe's Prooemion [Im Namen Dessen der sich selbst erschuf] (19 Sep. 1931)

There are, according to a list which used to be on the website of The Roentgen Society before that ceased to exist, two earlier symphonies described as follows:
No. 1 in G major, op. 48 (Jan.-Feb. 1872)
No. 2 in F minor / A major, op. 67 (Dec. 1874-March 1875, reconstructed Oct.-Dec. 1875 "and ever since it's in A major")

But I do not know if these have survived. They do not appear to be in the Roentgen Archive at the Nederlands Muziekinstituut. Incidentally, if anyone is wondering about Symphony No. 4 this is the Symphonietta humoristica which CPO has already released with the Waltz Symphony (No. 10).

[Gareth Vaughan]

Interesting. I just looked again on Amazon only to find that the CD page has disappeared - only the download version remains. I hope this is not bad news...

[Mark Thomas]

Ah...

[Mark Thomas]

It's also odd that the online cover art omits the Symphony No.7, although the pdf copy of the booklet includes it. I wonder what's going on?

[Alan Howe]

That's not exactly unknown with cpo releases...

[Mark Thomas]

The overall impression is that the digital release slipped through earlier than intended and it was too late for cpo to withdraw it.

[Gareth Vaughan]

I strongly suspect you are right, Mark.

[M. Yaskovsky]

On sale at jpc.de https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/cpo/detail/-/art/julius-roentgen-symphonien-nr-11-12-14-22-24/hnum/10593628 and took 15 years from recording till release!

[Richard Moss]

Glad to say Sym 7 has now (re?) appeared on the front cover art at JPC, but not amazon?!. 

Have now downloaded these works from Presto and look forward to a really enjoyable listen, even if some of these works, particularly the shorter ones, might beg the question "When is a symphony not a symphony?".  Does it matter - surely enjoyment in listening is all that really matters.

Cheers

Richard

[Mark Thomas]

Röntgen's short symphonies really don't worry me, he's a genius at packing so much into these single movement works that I think he could still fairly describe them as symphonies.