Julius Röntgen, the composer, was born in a musical home in Leipzig in 1855; his mother was a pianist, and his father was the leader of the Gerwandhausorchester.
Composition History
The viola sonatas on this album were composed by Julius Röntgen between November 1924 and March 1925, showing the composer at the height of his artistic skill.
Compositional Technique
Röntgen, like Johannes Brahms, used thematic 'brackets' and variations, where themes from earlier movements reappear and evolve, particularly in the A minor sonata.
Compositional Technique
Röntgen's viola sonatas feature ingenious themes, ranging from music box-like melodies to dramatic and virtuosic forms, and employ a recurring triplet motif in the C minor sonata.
Composer Biography
Röntgen met Franz Liszt, Johannes Brahms, and Edvard Grieg early in his career, even playing his own works for Liszt.
Composer Biography
Röntgen was a child prodigy, with his first composition, a violin duo, performed at age nine by his father and Joseph Joachim.
Instruments
Herbert Kefer, the violist on this recording, plays a J.B. Guadagnini viola from 1784, which is part of the collection of the Austrian National Bank.
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