A late-Romantic Symphony, Serenade, motets and chamber music by the composer and teacher who energised Dutch musical life for over half a century. In February 1896, Clara Schumann described Julius R?ntgen in a letter to Johannes Brahms: 'He has remained a child, so innocent, pure, open, enthusiastic… But we certainly can and must take him seriously.’ Brahms certainly agreed, and stole from the younger composer a theme from the Serenade which opens this compilation, for use in his own Second Symphony; when R?ntgen pointed this out, he was the recipient of a rare apology from Brahms. Born in 1855, R?ntgen grew up in Leipzig, the son of the leader of the Gewandhaus orchestra. As a boy he met Liszt, having already composed music for the likes of Joseph Joachim. His move to Amsterdam in 1877 launched a multifaceted career as a pianist, conductor and teacher who continued to compose prolifically in all the classical genres. He became friends with Grieg, who dedicated a volume of Lyric Pieces to him, and much of his own output convincingly welds Austro-German forms with a fresh, Scandinavian-accented simplicity of expression.
