Unsung Composers

The Music => Composers & Music => Topic started by: Dundonnell on Thursday 07 June 2012, 01:57

Title: Johan Wagenaar(1862-1941): a Catalogue of the Orchestral Music
Post by: Dundonnell on Thursday 07 June 2012, 01:57
The fact that I cannot actually read Dutch has made this catalogue extraordinarily difficult to compile ;D It is the best I can manage.

JOHAN WAGENAAR: A CATALOGUE OF THE ORCHESTRAL MUSIC

1886:   Concert Piece "Frithjofs Meerfahrt", op.5: 12 minutes   + (NM Classics and cpo cds)   
1888:    Japanese Fan Dance from the Pantomime "Take" for orchestra
1891:   "Fancy Fair Waltz" for orchestra, op.8b
             Overture "King John", op.9           
1892:   Comedy Overture "Fruhlingsgewalt", op.11: 8 minutes   +  (NM Classics cd)
1894:   Romantic Intermezzo for orchestra, op.13: 5 minutes    +  (cpo cd)
1895:   "Calme des nuits" for chorus and orchestra, op.16
1896:   "Zweedsche-Lucifers Marsch" for male choir and orchestra, op.16a
1899:   Fantasy on an Old Dutch Song for male choir and orchestra, op.19
1903:   Fantasy "Levenszomer" for orchestra, op.21: 14 minutes    +   (Etcetera and cpo cds)
1905:   Overture "Cyrano de Bergerac", op.23: 13 minutes     *  +  (Decca, Olympia and Challenge Classics cds)
1906:   Symphonic Poem "Saul and David", op. 24: 12 minutes   +  (Decca and cpo cds)
1909:   Overture "The Taming of the Shrew", op.25: 7 minutes   *    + (Decca, Challenge Classics and cpo cds)
1912:   Funeral March for Shakespeare' "Coriolanus" for orchestra, op.26
1916:   Prelude "De Cid" for orchestra, op.27: 5 minutes   +  (Decca cd)
             Cantata "The Treasure Chest" for women's chorus and orchestra, op. 29
1917:   Sinfonietta, op.32: 21 minutes       +   (Etcetera cd)
1923:   "Avondfeest en Marsch" for "The Wedding of Alladdin and Bedr' El Budur" for orchestra, op.34
1924-25:Cantata "Jupiter amans" for soprano, tenor, bass, chorus and orchestra, op.34
1927:   Overture "Twelfth Night", op.36: 9 minutes     +  (Decca cd)
1928/33:Intermezzo Pastorale for orchestra, op.37
1929:   Introduction and Suite of Waltzes for orchestra, op.38: 9 minutes    +  (Decca cd)
1932:   Overture "The Philosophical Princes", op.39: 5 minutes  +  (Etcetera cd)
1934:   Larghetto for Oboe and Small Orchestra, op.40: 7 minutes   + (Etcetera cd)
1935:   "Aveux de Phedre" for soprano and orchestra, op.41: 13 minutes    +  (Etcetera cd)
            "Avondlied" for two oboes and string orchestra, op.43
1937:   Festival March for orchestra
1938:   Overture "Amphytrion", op.45: 8 minutes    +   (Decca cd)
1939:   Chorale Fantasy "Halleluja, eeuwig dank en eere" for wind orchestra, op.46
1940:   Symphonic Poem "Elverhoi", op.48: 12 minutes    +   (Etcetera cd)



Source:

http://www.nederlandsmuziekinstituut.nl/nl/archieven/archievenoverzicht?task=listhandschriften&tmpl=lexicon&id=139 (http://www.nederlandsmuziekinstituut.nl/nl/archieven/archievenoverzicht?task=listhandschriften&tmpl=lexicon&id=139)



Title: Re: Johan Wagenaar(1862-1941): a Catalogue of the Orchestral Music
Post by: albion on Thursday 07 June 2012, 08:21
Great - thanks, Colin.

A couple of additions, dates, etc:

the Op.9 overture is actually another Shakespearean monarch, Koning Jan (King John);

the Blijspel-ouverture (Comedy Overture) Fruhlingsgewalt, Op.11 is 1892

Fantasie over een oud-Nederlandsch lied (Fantasy on an Old Dutch Song), for male chorus and orchestra, Op.19 is 1899;

and some choral works with orchestra are -

1889 - De schipbreuk (The Shipwreck). cantata, Op.8a
1898 - Ode aan de vriendschap (Ode to Friendship), for chorus and orchestra, Op.16b
1916 - De fortuinlijke kist (The Treasure Chest), cantata, Op.29
1924-25 - Jupiter Amans, cantata, Op.35
[sometimes listed as an operatic work]

There is also the CPO disc -

(http://i.prs.to/t_200/cpo7774792.jpg)

7774792

which duplicates some of the Decca and Etcetera repertoire, but also contains the Romantic Intermezzo, Op.13.

:)
Title: Re: Johan Wagenaar(1862-1941): a Catalogue of the Orchestral Music
Post by: Christo on Thursday 07 June 2012, 08:22
Many thanks! A few additions, based on Eduard Reeser, Een eeuw Nederlandse muziek 1815-1915 + Jolande van der Klis (ed.), The Essential Guide to Dutch Music. 100 Composers and Their Work [BTW what a title  :-\]:

1890 Overture 'Koning Jan' [King John]
1891 Fancy-Fair Waltz
1892 Blijspel-Ouverture [Comedy Overture]
c. 1898 Calme des nuits for mixed choir and orechestra, op. 16
c. 1898 "Zweedsche-Lucifers Marsch" for male choir and orchestra, op.16a
1899     Fantasy on an Old Dutch Song for male choir and orchestra, op.19
?    De vrolijke zangles [The merry singing lesson] for mixed choir and orchestra

His two most played overtures Cyrano de Bergerac [spelling! ;)] and The Taming of the Shrew [we would simply say: De getemde feeks   ;)] are also found on cd 1 in the 13cd box with recordings by conductor Willem van Otterloo on the Challenge label.

Edit: sorry, posted simultaneously with Albion! I think we are rather complementary. :) Yes, of course: there's also this new CPO disc, the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie conducted by Antony Hermus, offering new versions of: Op. 5, Romantic Intermezzo Op 13 [5'01], Op. 21, Op. 24, Op. 25 (have it, didn't play it yet. Wagenaar, my fellow Utrechter, hasn't played an important role in my own little life  ;D).

The cantatas Albion mentions are relatively well-known, especially the satirical De Schipbreuk (The Shipwreck) which made his name as a composer.
Title: Re: Johan Wagenaar(1862-1941): a Catalogue of the Orchestral Music
Post by: alberto on Thursday 07 June 2012, 09:27
A very tiny addition to the discography. The overture "Cyrano de Bergerac" exists also on Olympia (cond. Alain Lombard; I have it....somewhere).
Title: Re: Johan Wagenaar(1862-1941): a Catalogue of the Orchestral Music
Post by: Dundonnell on Thursday 07 June 2012, 18:30
I am extraordinarily grateful for the additions, amendments, corrections :) I have amended the catalogue to incorporate most of these. I say most because I am not entirely convinced by every suggestion ;D

I wavered between "King John" and "King Lear" for the op.9 for some time given that the Dutch archives repeatedly say "John". I was obviously wrong and have accepted that :)
The op. 8 Cantata "De Schipbreuk" was another problem and I am still not entirely convinced that there is a orchestral version composed by Wagenaar (as opposed to an arrangement for full orchestra by someone else-van Anrooy for example).
The op. 29 "The Treasure Chest" is described as an opera in the Netherlands Music Institute Archive Collection catalogue. It may, of course, be no more or no less an opera than "Jupiter amans" ;D

It is-I concede-the height of presumption for someone who cannot read Dutch-to quibble ;D
Title: Re: Johan Wagenaar(1862-1941): a Catalogue of the Orchestral Music
Post by: Christo on Thursday 07 June 2012, 19:31
Quote from: Dundonnell on Thursday 07 June 2012, 18:30
The op. 8 Cantata "De Schipbreuk" was another problem and I am still not entirely convinced that there is a orchestral version composed by Wagenaar (as opposed to an arrangement for full orchestra by someone else-van Anrooy for example).

Only now do I realize I own a complete monograph dedicated to the composer, his life and work: Johannes Wagenaar & Jaap van Benthem, Johan Wagenaar (1862-1941). Leven en werk van een veelzijdig kunstenaar [Life and Work of a Versatile Artist] (Zutphen 2004), 216 pages. I not only neglected his music, but even forgot about the book.  ::)

The book's work list says De Schipbreuk is scored for "soli, chorus, piano, percussion and storm instruments", no later orchestration mentioned. So it's up to you to decide whether you consider the instrumentation "orchestral" enough.  8)
The other cantata's however, were later orchestrated:
1916 De fortuinlijke kist (The Treasure Chest), cantata, Op.29. Originally for women's chorus and piano, but later set for orchestra.
1924 Jupiter amans, another cantata (not an opera) was originally scored for soli, chorus and piano, but also later orchestrated by Wagenaar.

The list confirms your findings, but contains a few additions a/o corrections:
1888  Japanese Fan Dance from the pantomime 'Také'
1895 "Calme des nuits" (Camille Saint-Saëns) for chorus and orchestra, op.16
1896 "Zweedsche-Lucifersmarsch" [Swedish matches march] for male choir and orchestra, op.16a
1896 "Ode to Friendship" for chorus and orchestra, op.16b - orchestration by Van Anrooy.
1899 Prelude, Intermezzo, March and Ballet-funébre from the opera 'De Doge van Venetië' [The Doge of Venice] op. 20
1934 Larghetto for Oboe and Small Orchestra, op.40
1935  "Avondlied" [Evening Song] for two oboes and string orchestra, op.43
Title: Re: Johan Wagenaar(1862-1941): a Catalogue of the Orchestral Music
Post by: Dundonnell on Friday 08 June 2012, 01:09
Thanks again :)

Corrections duly noted.
Title: Re: Johan Wagenaar(1862-1941): a Catalogue of the Orchestral Music
Post by: albion on Friday 08 June 2012, 10:32
Quote from: Christo on Thursday 07 June 2012, 19:31De Schipbreuk is scored for "soli, chorus, piano, percussion and storm instruments", no later orchestration mentioned.

As a tangential point, the Storm Chorus from De Schipbreuk was scored for full orchestra by Jacobus Nicolaas Willem Carel Adriaan Ruygrok (1855-1939).

:)
Title: Re: Johan Wagenaar(1862-1941): a Catalogue of the Orchestral Music
Post by: alberto on Saturday 09 June 2012, 09:24
Again a tiny addition to the discography. I have rediscovered in one remote corner of my collection the Cd Teldec 243 723-2 (Willem Mengelberg and RCO; quoted by Christo about Dopper "Ciaccona gotica").
It contains also the overture "Cyrano de Bergerac" in an april 1942 recording.
Title: Re: Johan Wagenaar(1862-1941): a Catalogue of the Orchestral Music
Post by: J.Z. Herrenberg on Saturday 09 June 2012, 09:45
Donemus can pack it in. Good work, gents!
Title: Re: Johan Wagenaar(1862-1941): a Catalogue of the Orchestral Music
Post by: Christo on Saturday 09 June 2012, 09:58
Quote from: alberto on Saturday 09 June 2012, 09:24
Again a tiny addition to the discography. I have rediscovered in one remote corner of my collection the Cd Teldec 243 723-2 (Willem Mengelberg and RCO; quoted by Christo about Dopper "Ciaccona gotica"). It contains also the overture "Cyrano de Bergerac" in an april 1942 recording.

Thanks! The same historical recording, here on Teldec 243 723-2, was reissued (with a few extra couplings, among them Willem Pijper's Cello Concerto) on the 'Concertgebouw Series' by Audiophile Classics APL 101.541