Willem van Otterloo

John William van Otterloo ( Winterswijk , December 27 1907 - Melbourne , July 27 1978 ) was a Dutch conductor and composer . He was the father of conductor and composer Rogier van Otterloo and the grandfather of jazz saxophonist Thijs van Otterloo .

Contents

 * 1 Life
 * 1.1 Early years
 * 1.2 USO
 * 1.3 Residence Orchestra
 * 1.4 End
 * 2 Rating
 * 3 Work list (complete)
 * 4 Media
 * 5 About Willem van Otterloo

Early years
His father William Frederick van Otterloo was inspector at the Dutch Iron Railway Company . He was later to Utrecht transferred as a division chief at the Dutch Railways. Van Otterloo has his childhood spent mostly in Utrecht. In 1928 he went - after an unfinished study medicine - studying at the Amsterdam Conservatory . He studied composition with Sem Dresden and cello by Max Orobio de Castro .

USO
After graduating in 1932, Van Otterloo was appointed immediately as a cellist at the Utrecht City Orchestra (USO). Soon, he got his next band membership also duties as assistant conductor, which led to an appointment as assistant conductor. In 1937 he followed Henri Goudoever on the first conductor, at first alongside Carl Schuricht, but after two seasons as any. The purification after the Second World War came to his management of the USO for the German propaganda station Europe Sender him to stand on a conductor's ban of one year. In fact this was forced upon him by the occupiers and the orchestra members were with them contraceptives for Labor in Germany . In 1946 he returned to the USO.

Residence Orchestra
In the Hague Houtrusthallen plays theHague Philharmonic under Van OtterlooG'schichten aus dem Wiener Wald by Johann Strauss jr., July 7, 1951.

In 1949 he became chief conductor of the Residence Orchestra in The Hague . He combined this from 1962 to 1972 the chief conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra (shared with Jean Fournet ). He was also conducting teacher at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. He has also performed increasingly as a guest conductor in the United States , South America , Japan and Australia . In the years 1967-69 he was also chief conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestraand from 1971 to 1978 the Sydney Symphony .

Under his leadership, the Residence Orchestra was especially in the fifties very successful. This was exacerbated by a lucrative recording contract with Philips . Van Otterloo has many gramophone recordings made, especially with the Residence Orchestra, but also with the Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic , theVienna Philharmonic , the Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux and the Sydney Symphony. Due to its increasing absence due to commitments elsewhere was in 1969Hiroyuki Iwaki appointed second conductor. The 1973-74 concert season, Van Otterloo's final at the Residence Orchestra. Jean Martinon succeeded him. Some of his recordings with the Residence Orchestra was re-released in 2005 on CD . A second CD box released in 2011.

End
Van Otterloo had reached retirement age, but shifted his operations to Australia, where he was a popular conductor for his work with the symphony orchestras ofSydney and Melbourne . He was from 1974 to 1977 chief conductor of the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra .

In 1977 he was appointed again to the now renamed USO to Utrecht Symphony Orchestra, where he began his career in 1932. He has, however, hardly able to conduct more. He arrived at the age of 70 die as a result of a traffic accident after a concert in Melbourne. The Porsche 911 -liefhebber Van Otterloo died (as a passenger) in a Volkswagen Beetle .

Rating
Van Otterloo was a passionate orchestral pedagogue, who reached great heights with the Hague Philharmonic and gained national and international fame. He made high demands on the orchestra musicians and emphasized accuracy and a clear orchestral sound. The numerous engagements with foreign orchestras show that these properties were valued worldwide. The Hague Philharmonic stuck in the fifties under his leadership the Concertgebouw Orchestra to the crown. The chief conductor of the orchestra came in 1959, after the death of Eduard van Beinum, to his disappointment did not qualify, because they preferred the young Bernard Haitink .

Among his favorite repertoire included the symphonies of Haydn , Beethoven and Bruckner, the Symphonie fantastique of Berlioz and works by Ravel , such as Daphnis et Chloé . Later in his career he developed more and more like Mahler -dirigent. With avant-garde repertoire he had little affinity, allowing Pierre Boulez and Bruno Maderna which names with the Hague Philharmonic on their behalf. Baroque music he conducted, but here he showed little style conscious.

However, Van Otterloo continued particular for Dutch composers like Diepenbrock , Piper , Hendrik Andriessen , Badings , Frid , Orthel , Voormolen and many others. Work Vermeulen, however, he has always shunned. His own compositional oeuvre was appreciated, but was limited because he - in his own words - previously had too little time and his ambition to conduct more focused.

Work list (complete)

 * 1924 String Quartet
 * 1929-30: Three Songs
 * 1930: Song for Lizzie's birthday
 * 1930: String Trio
 * 1930: Passacaglia for string orchestra
 * 1931: Suite No. 1 for string orchestra (five sketches, revised 1941. Four pieces).
 * 1931: Suite No. 2 for. symphony
 * 1931: Suite No. 3 for symphony orchestra.
 * 1934-35: Symphony, dedicated to Willem Mengelberg
 * 1937: Introduction and Allegro, dedicated to Eduard van Beinum (revised 1942)
 * 1940: Orchestration Fantasy in F minor, op. 103 / D. 940 by Franz Schubert (revised 1952)
 * 1943 Symphonietta for winds
 * 1943 Prelude, dance and epilogue for clarinet and string orchestra
 * 1944: Serenade (aka Divertimento ) for copper ensemble, harp, celesta and percussion (revised in 1959 with added piano)
 * 1945-46: Symphony No. 2 (unfinished: premiere of finished version, made ​​by. Otto Ketting, on April 5, 2013 in Utrecht)
 * 1958: Variations on a Theme Eulenspiegel for orchestra (to Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks by Richard Strauss ), a member of a collective composer
 * 1958 Intrada for 13 brass instruments, contra bassoon, timpani and cymbals (adaptation of the finale of the Serenade)

Media

 * Grieg Piano Concerto . Duty Free LP uptake of the piano concert of Grieg by Abbey Simon ( piano ), Willem van Otterloo (conductor) and The Hague Philharmonic Orchestra on the website of Radio 4 . Recording in 1954.

About Willem van Otterloo

 * Niek Nelissen: Willem van Otterloo (1907-1978), a conducting career ( dissertation Nijmegen ). From Gruting, Arnhem, 2009. ISBN 978 90 75 879 407