Concerts from around the country, recorded by Concertzender
From 14 until 22 September 2024, the Gaudeamus Foundation and Contemporary Music Centre in Bilthoven celebrated the centenary of Villa Gaudeamus, the villa of the well-known composer, musician and conductor Julius Röntgen. The 100th anniversary was celebrated with three concerts from his legacy.
Villa Gaudeamus has been synonymous with music for a century. Here Julius Röntgen wrote more than a hundred compositions, played with friends from his music scene and gave many concerts. After World War II, it was from this villa that the Gaudeamus foundation encouraged modern classical music. These days, it’s a place that hosts many concerts. Its music chamber, for example, is used as a stage for students and graduates from the academies of music.
The concerts are recorded for the Concertzender by chief sound technician Wijnand de Groot and have been broadcast in the program Concertzender Live with contemporary music. As these Gaudeamus concerts are actually as much a part of modern classical music, as well as having a unique value, we include them here again in this programming of Concertzender Live.
The composer Julius Röntgen lived with his family in Villa Gaudeamus until his death in 1932. Then Walter Maas (from Mainz, Germany) moved in, hence its other name: Walter Maashuis. When the persecution of the Jews during the war was in full force, Maas spent nine months on the upper floor, hiding in a confined space. It saved his life. Later on, he ran a boardinghouse in Villa Gaudeamus and he started the Gaudeamus Foundation there. It became a meeting place for composers and musicians, among them Louis Andriessen, John Cage, Ton de Leeuw, Olivier Messian, György Ligeti, Peter Schat, Karl-Heinz Stockhausen, Edgar Varèse and Reinbert de Leeuw.
Villa Gaudeamus, Bilthoven
Playlist
- Villa Gaudeamus, Bilthoven, 19 September 2024, performers are Laurens de Man (piano) and Maya Fridman (cello). In the piece Voce by Louis Andriessen, we hear percussion from Te-Ping Teng.
Henk Stam (1922-2002)
Sonatina Giudaica
Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992)
Mode de Valeurs et d’Intensités
John Cage (1912-1992)
In a Landscape
Otto Ketting (1935-2012)
Serenade for cello and piano
Louis Andriessen (1939-2021)
La Voce
Olivier Messiaen
Alouette Lulu
Joep Straesser (1934-2004)
Alliages for cello en piano
2. Villa Gaudeamus, Bilthoven, 17 September 2024 with performers Elles Venhuizen and Olga van Tongeren (vocals) and Aarón Ormaza Vera (piano)
Recording by Wijnand de Groot.
The anniversary week ended with the recurrence of the legendary concert that was given in Villa Gaudeamus shortly after the war on the 4th of November 1945. The success of the concert inspired Walter Maas to give something back to the people who had helped him go into hiding during the war, resulting in the Gaudeamus Foundation and Contemporary Music Center, which is still active today (www.gaudeamus.nl). Performing musicians were Aarón Ormaza Vera (piano), Shannon Lee (vocals).
Julius Röntgen
(17 September 2024)
- John Cage (1912-1992)
The wonderful widow of eighteen springs
Rudolf Escher (1912-1980)
Chants du désir (Selectie: II, III & IV)
- Rob du Bois (1934-2013)
Zwanzig Lieder (Selectie: 9 Schauder, 10 Mitleid, 15 Lied der Rosetta, 16 Haiku, 17 Alles Denken is Zurechtmachen & 18 Des Henkers Lied)
(22 September 2024)
- Julius Röntgen (1855-1932)
Sonata for violin and piano in E major, opus 40 (1901)
- Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) – partial
Sonata for violin and piano no. 3 in D minor, opus 108 (1888)
