Johann Wilhelm Wilms
Johann Wilhelm Wilms (March 30, 1772 (baptized) – July 19, 1847) was a Dutch-German composer, best known for setting the poem Wien Neêrlands Bloed to music,[1] which served as the Dutch national anthem from 1815 to 1932.
Biography
[edit]Wilms was born in Witzhelden, a small town near Solingen. After receiving lessons from his father and oldest brother in piano and composition, Wilms studied flute on his own. He moved to Amsterdam in 1791 where he played the flute in two orchestras and was soloist in Mozart and Beethoven piano concertos, giving them their Dutch premieres.
He also taught piano at the Koninklijk Nederlandsch Instituut voor Wetenschappen, interviewed applicants for church organist positions, judged composition competitions and wrote for the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung, a publication he once used as a soapbox to complain about the lack of performance of music by contemporary Dutch composers like himself.
As the events of the French Revolution affected the Netherlands, Wilms wrote several patriotic hymns. However, following the fall of Napoleon and the return of the House of Orange to power, Wilms in 1816 won the open competition for the new Dutch anthem with Wien Neêrlands Bloed (with lyrics by Hendrik Tollens). This led to an increase in commissions by churches and other organisations.
For 23 years Wilms was the organist at a Mennonite church in Amsterdam, where he died.
In 2003, the International Johann Wilhelm Wilms Society (German: Johann Wilhelm Wilms Gesellschaft) was established in Bonn.[2][3]
Recordings
[edit]Wilms' Symphony No. 6 in D minor, which won first prize at the Société des Beaux-Arts Ghent, and Symphony No. 7 in C minor, were recorded in 2003 by Concerto Köln for Deutsche Grammophon.
The German label cpo started a recording project of Wilms' works in 2009 with the Symphonies No. 1 and No. 4 and the Overture in D major, conducted by Howard Griffiths. In 2024, cpo released a recording of Symphony No. 6, the overtures in E flat major and F minor, and the Concert Overtures in E major and E flat major. The piano quartets in C major and F major were also recorded (2019).
Selected list of works
[edit]Symphonies
[edit]Wilms wrote seven symphonies. His symphony in F major (No. 2) was lost and the others sank into obscurity after his death. The chronology of the five early symphonies is not clear even to experts.
- Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 9 (c. 1806)
- Symphony No. 2 in F major, Op. 10 (c. 1808, lost)
- Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 14 (c. 1808)[4][5]
- Symphony No. 4 in C minor, Op. 23 (c. 1812)[4]
- Symphony No. 5 in D major, Op. 52 (c. 1817)[4][5]
- Symphony No. 6 in D minor, Op. 58 (c. 1823)
- Symphony No. 7 in C minor (c. 1836)
Overtures
[edit]- Overture L'éloge des arts, Op. 45 (1814)
- Tragic Overture (1814)
- Overture for winds (1817)
- Ouverture à grand orchestre in E-flat major (c. 1830)(edited by B. Hagels and published in 2006)[4]
- Ouverture à grand orchestre in F minor (c. 1830)
- Ouverture à grand orchestre in D major (c. 1830)[4]
- Concert-Ouverture à grand orchestre in E-flat major (c. 1830)
- Overture to the 50th anniversary of the 'Maatschappij tot Nut van 't Algemeen' (1834)
- Concert-Ouverture à grand orchestre in E major (1844)[4]
Piano Concertos
[edit]- Harpsichord Concerto in E major, Op. 3 ("Piano Concerto No. 1", 1799)
- Fortepiano Concerto in C major, Op. 12 ("Piano Concerto No. 2", 1807)
- Fortepiano Concerto in D major, Op. 26 ("Piano Concerto No. 2", 1810)
- Fortepiano Concerto F major, Op. 32 ("Piano Concerto No. 4", 1813)
- Fortepiano Concerto in E major ("Piano Concerto No. 5", 1815)
- Fortepiano Concerto in E-flat major, Op. 55 ("Piano Concerto No. 6", 1819)
- Fortepiano Concerto ("Piano Concerto No. 7", 1823)
Other Concertante Works
[edit]- Bassoon Concerto (c. 1808)
- Cello Concerto (c. 1812)
- Flute Concerto in D major, Op. 24 (c. 1813)[6]
- Variations on Wilhelmus van Nassouwe for flute, clarinet, bassoon, violin and cello, Op. 37 (1814)
- Concertante for flute, clarinet, bassoon, violin and cello in C major (1814)
- Concertante for flute, oboe (or clarinet), bassoon and horn in F major, Op. 35, (1814)
- Concertante for clarinet in B-flat, Op. 40 (1814-1815)
- Andante and Polonaise for bassoon (1814-1815)
- Variations on Wilhelmus van Nassouwe for cello and orchestra (1815)
- Variations on Wien Neêrlands bloed for flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, violin and cello, Op. 57 (1820)
- Cello Concerto (c. 1821)
- Variations for Fortepiano and orchestra on the Air di tanti Palpiti from Tancredi by Rossini (1822)
- Concertante for two clarinets (1827-28)
Chamber Music
[edit]- Three Violin Sonatas, Opus 21[7]
- Piano Quartet in C major, Opus 22 (1808)[7]
- Piano Quartet in F major, Op. 30 (1812)
- Two String Quartets (in G minor (c. 1806)[8][9] and A major), Opus 25. Published in 2007.[4][7]
- Flute Sonata in D, Opus 33 (1813)[7]
Piano Music
[edit]- Sonata in D major for Piano Four-Hands, Opus 7 (1800)[7]
- Piano Sonata in B-flat major, Opus 13 (1808)[7]
- Sonata in C major for Piano Four-Hands, Opus 31 (1813)
- Variations on Unser alter Staatsverwalter in D major, Op. 34
- Variations on Wilhelmus van Nassauwe in D major, Op. 37
- Sonata in B-flat for Piano Four-Hands, Opus 41 (ca. 1813)[4][7]
- The Battle of Waterloo, Op. 43 (1815)
- Variations on Partant pour la Syrie in F major, Op. 53
- Variations on Seit ich so viele Weiber sah in F major
Songs
[edit]- Wien Neêrlandsch bloed
Bibliography
[edit]- Jan ten Bokum: "Wilms, Johann Wilhelm", in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. S. Sadie and J. Tyrrell (London: Macmillan, 2001), ISBN 1-56159-239-0.
- Barry S. Brook & Barbara B. Heyman (editors): The Symphony: 1720–1840, series C, volume 13 (New York: Garland Publishing, 1986), ISBN 0-8240-3860-6.
References
[edit]- ^ Joop W. Koopmans; Arend H. Huussen Jr. (May 22, 2007). Historical Dictionary of the Netherlands. Scarecrow Press. pp. 1–. ISBN 978-0-8108-6444-3.
- ^ ""Johann Wilhelm Wilms Biography, Songs, & Albums - AllMusic"". AllMusic.
- ^ "International Johann Wilhelm Wilms Society". Retrieved October 10, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "New York Public Library OPAC". Archived from the original on January 1, 2012. Retrieved November 4, 2007.
- ^ a b "Concertzender Broadcast with Quicktime Sound of Symphonies Opus 14 and 52". Retrieved March 27, 2009.
- ^ "Recording Announcement of Piano Concerto No. 2 and Flute Concerto". Retrieved July 28, 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f g "National Library of the Netherlands Online Catalog". Koninklijke Bibliotheek, National Library of the Netherlands. Archived from the original on August 19, 2012. Retrieved October 3, 2007.
- ^ "From Catalog Listing of a Release of a recording of Wilms' Opus 25/1 Quartet". Records International. May 1999. Retrieved October 3, 2007.
- ^ Hall, Charles J. (2002). Chronology of Western Classical Music. New York: Routledge/Taylor&Francis. p. 1155. ISBN 0-415-94217-9.
External links
[edit]- Symphonies with Concerto Köln on Deutsche Grammophon
- Local Wilms website from his place of birth - the village Witzhelden
- Free scores by Johann Wilhelm Wilms at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
- 1772 births
- 1847 deaths
- Musicians from the Holy Roman Empire
- Dutch male classical composers
- Dutch people of German descent
- Dutch Romantic composers
- 18th-century classical composers
- 18th-century German composers
- 18th-century German male musicians
- 19th-century classical composers
- 19th-century German composers
- 19th-century German male musicians
- Composers for piano
- German emigrants to the Netherlands
- German male classical composers
- German Romantic composers
- People from Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis
- String quartet composers