University unearths 'lost' city symphony

Published on Thursday 11 March 2010 08:59

A LONG-lost musical tribute to the Capital is set to be heard for the first time in decades, after being unearthed at Edinburgh University.

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

An excerpt from the symphony, which will not have been heard since it was first performed in the Capital 80 years ago, was to be played in the university today 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.

A noted pianist, Rntgen's works include 25 symphonies, as well as concertos and numerous chamber, piano and vocal works.

When Rntgen was given an honorary degree by the University of Edinburgh in 1930, he surprised the Chancellor at the award ceremony by handing him the score of the symphony.

It was one of Rntgen's last major works as he died two years later.

The full score and the orchestra parts of the symphony were thought to have gone missing not long after the first performance, but had simply been filed away in different parts of the university's vast library and forgotten about.

They were recently discovered by music 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 a piece of music which 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."

Today, harpist Julia Somerville, a music student at the university, was set to become the first person in decades to play an extract from the symphony when she performed at the exhibition room in the university library.

Mr Witts added: "I have heard some small excerpts which we have put together, but no one has yet performed the harp piece, so it will be a real treat to hear that."

A GIFT FOR MUSIC

JULIUS Rntgen was born in Leipzig, Germany, to a family of musicians. His father Engelbert was first violinist in the Gewandhaus orchestra and his mother Pauline Klengel was a pianist.

A gifted child, he became a pianist, and moved to Amsterdam as a piano teacher.

Between 1878 and 1885 Brahms was a frequent visitor and, in 1887, Rntgen performed Brahms' second piano concerto, conducted by the composer himself.

In 1883, he was instrumental in the foundation of the Amsterdam Conservatory.

Rntgen became a Dutch citizen and, in 1924, he retired from public life.

He died in 1932.