Cornelis Dopper - Ciaconna Gotica (1920) 1/2

Cornelis 'Kees' Dopper (February 7, 1870 - September 19, 1939) was a Dutch composer, conductor and teacher.

Born in the northern Dutch town of Stadskanaal, he came to study at the Leipzig conservatory with, among others, Carl Reinecke. After his studies he settled in Groningen, not far from his place of birth. His first opera, De blinde van Castel Cuillé [The Blind Girl of Castel Cuillé] was premiered in Amsterdam by De Nederlandse Opera (Dutch Opera) under the baton of Cornelis van der Linden with some acclaim in 1894, and in that same year he entered the service of that company; here he worked as a violinist, choir master and conductor.

During the years 1904-1905 he worked as a music critic for the Amsterdam newspapers De Echo [The Echo] and Het Leven [The Life]. A year later, Dopper joined the Savage Opera Company and began to tour the United States, Canada, and Mexico. In that capacity, he was responsible for the American premiere of Puccini's Madama Butterfly (1906); he subsequently toured the country with that opera for two seasons ('06-'07 and '07-'08). Having grown tired of touring life, he returned to Amsterdam in 1908 to become second conductor of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra, assisting the famous conductor Willem Mengelberg. He would remain there until his retirement in 1931. A recognition of his great service, his name still decorates one of the balustrades in the Concertgebouw's great hall.

Dopper composed well over a hundred works. Because of his great love for Dutch folk song, culture and landscape, he was sometimes referred to as the 'most Dutch composer of all Dutch composers'. The titles of his symphonies attest to that sentiment: the 'Rembrandt' Symphony (Nr. 3, first performed on the tercentenary of Rembrandt's birth in 1906) , the 'Amsterdam' Symphony (Nr. 6), the 'Zuiderzee' Symphony (Nr. 7). Beside seven symphonies, Dopper wrote many other works for the orchestra. Of these, his Ciaconna Gotica acquired the most fame, and is often considered to be Dopper's masterpiece. Many of his works were performed in great concert halls by famous conductors (e.g., Richard Strauss, Willem Mengelberg, and Otto Klemperer).

In addition, Dopper wrote chamber music (e.g., a string quartet, a violin sonata, and a sextet for woodwind and piano). His interest in musical education for the young caused him to write a great number of works for children's choir. In Amsterdam, Dopper introduced specific youth concerts

Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Kees Bakels

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Cornelis
• Dopper
• Ciaconna
• Gotica
• Amsterdam
• concertgebouw
• Mengelberg
• Stadskanaal

[ronaldvandijk100]

TOP!

[jhb134]

NICE! and thanks for the Bakels' version. I think Mengelberg handled the transitions a bit better, but fine to have a modern recording.

[jupitler]

It's the Dutch Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Kees Bakels

[JorPove]

Para un compositor eslavo, italiano, español,por poner tres ejemplos , ser conocido como "folklorista sinfonico" no es tan dificil,pues las tonadillas folkloricas de sus regiones son ciertamente vivaves y relativamente faciles de orquestar.

Para la adusta musica folklorica holandesa ayuna de esas sonoridades festivas ,debe ser-ciertamente- mas dificil orquestarla con sentido sinfonico como lo hace con maestria

Dopper.

[AfroPoli]

Thanks for this. Who is conducting which orchestra?