University unveils lost Edinburgh Symphony

Published on Thursday 11 March 2010 21:35

A LONG-lost musical tribute to the capital has been unearthed after 70 years stuffed in a file at a university library.

The Edinburgh Symphony was written by Dutch-German composer Julius Rntgen, a friend and associate of Johannes Brahms.

An excerpt from the symphony, not previously heard since it was first performed in the city 80 years ago, was played in the university yesterday to mark the discovery.

Academics are now hard at work transcribing the score and parts for different instruments ahead of a full performance. It is hoped the symphony can be played at a concert in the Usher Hall, where the initial performance of the work was heard.

The music sheets were recently discovered by scholar Richard Witts while he was researching the archive of Sir Donald Francis Tovey, a former Reid Professor of Music at the university.

Mr Witts, a lecturer in 20th and 21st century music at the university, said he was eager to hear what the piece sounded like. "This was forgotten about, yet it features prominently in one of the most popular music books of the last century," he said.

"It appears the score was stored separately to the individual parts for the different instruments, and you can't perform the piece without both.

"I found the score in one room, and then in a lot of boxes in another room I found the individual parts. This is a really exciting find, now we can once again hear this special symphony."