Schenker Documents Online

Röntgen, Julius (born Leipzig, May 9, 1855; died Bilthoven, Sept 13, 1932), composer, conductor, and pianist.

Röntgen studied composition with Friedrich Lachner, harmony and counterpoint with Moritz Hauptmann and E. F. Richter, and piano with Louis Plaidy and Carl Reinecke. He lived in Amsterdam from 1877 to 1925, and was the Director of the Amsterdam Conservatory from 1912 to 1924. He was accompanist to the German baritone Julius Stockhausen, also to the Dutch baritone Johannes Messchaert (whose interpretations Schenker greatly admired), and cellist Pablo Casals.

Röntgen and Schenker

At Weinberger's request, Schenker asked Röntgen whether he would collaborate in practical editions of works of the classics for the newly founded Universal Edition (NMI C 176-02: March 15, 1901), to which Röntgen replied affirmatively (OJ 13/27, [1]: March 18, 1901). Schenker thanked him for undertaking the work (NMI C 176-01: April 13, 1901), advising him to demand "a higher honorarium than usual" because his "intellectual property" is greater than that of "run-of-the-mill editors".

Röntgen "was on friendly terms with Schenker, who for his part spoke well of his playing. The two had at any rate already been acquainted for several years" by 1901 (Federhofer, p.189). Later, however, Schenker spoke disparagingly about his editing. Of J. S. Bach's works, Röntgen edited for UE the Little Preludes and Fugues, the Two- and Three-part Inventions, French Suites, English Suites, Partitas, Italian Concerto, D-minor Concerto, and Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue, and the Well-tempered Clavier (in 1907).

Correspondence

Correspondence from Röntgen to Schenker survives as OJ 13/27 (1901-15: 9 items); that from Schenker to Röntgen survives in the Nederlands Muziek Instituut, Den Haag (1901-08: 3 letters). A photographic portrait of Röntgen, with autograph inscription by Schenker, dating from 1896, is preserved as OJ 72/12.