Julius Röntgen’s 18th Symphony was composed in the early 1930s, but you’d never know it from its resolutely tonal melody, neo-baroque formal cast (the second movement is a gorgeous passacaglia), or Mendelssohnian scherzo. Yet the music always sounds fresh, never passé, because Röntgen was a composer comfortable in his own skin, masterfully in charge of his own conservative but eclectic musical language. You can hear it in all of these pieces, the evocative Song of the Sea, the delightful Ballade (Röntgen was a friend of Grieg and lover of all things Norwegian), and the charming suite of Dances. It’s pointless to quibble about whether he was a Romantic, neo-classicist, or musical reactionary. Röntgen was a fine composer, plain and simple, and these vivid, well-played, and well-recorded performances, fully consistent with other releases in this important and rewarding series, make an excellent introduction to his art.
