Julius Röntgen

In Leipzig, he and his parents were part of the musical circle around Heinrich von Herzogenberg, and it was at their house that he first met Brahms.

During a concert tour through southern Germany, he became acquainted with the singer Julius Stockhausen; at this time he also met a Swedish music student Amanda Maier, whom he would marry in 1880.

The aristocratic politician Alexander de Savornin Lohman, who was professor of law at the University of Amsterdam and an important figure in the cultural life of that city, was a friend of Röntgen's father, and he promised to take young Julius under his wing.

In 1883, in association with composers Frans Coenen and Daniel de Lange, Röntgen founded the Amsterdam Conservatory.

He applied for the position of the director; however, to his great disappointment, the choice fell instead on the German Hans von Bülow, as the committee seemed to doubt Röntgen's abilities as a conductor.

He became a renowned accompanying pianist, working for the great violinist Carl Flesch, the singer Johannes Messchaert, and the cello player Pablo Casals.

From now on, and until his death, he would spend his summers in Neergaard's manor Fuglsang on the isle of Lolland and play concerts every evening there.

[2] For some years, Röntgen and his sons Engelbert (cellist) and Julius jr (violinist) performed together as a piano trio.

After the death of his wife Amanda in 1894, Röntgen married the gifted piano teacher Abrahamina des Amorie van der Hoeven.

[4] Sometimes he performed as a piano accompanist in silent screen productions with popular and folk scenes of the film-maker Dirk van der Ven in the Tuschinski cinema theatre in Amsterdam.

Gaudeamus became a meeting place for many important composers and musicians; among the visitors in that house were Pablo Casals and Percy Grainger.

At that time, Röntgen studied musical analysis and was interested in the work of Hindemith, Stravinsky, Schönberg, and Willem Pijper.