Julius Röntgen

Röntgen wrote sixteen String Trios, fifteen of which have never been published. For the most part, the Trios were also neither numbered nor named by the composer (an exception being the Walzer Suite), leaving the year of composition and key signature as the only means of their identification.
For someone who had starting composing in his teens, it is surprising that Röntgen came to the genre of String Trios only later in life, completing his first trio in 1915 at the age of 60 and the last trio in 1930, two years before his death. The reasons for this remain obscure, but it is clear that chamber music played an important part in Röntgen’s life. In 1912, he formed a professional piano trio with two of his sons from his first marriage (Engelbert, a cellist, and Julius Jr., a violinist). With this ensemble, he gave concerts for years. However, Röntgen had another favourite instrument, the viola, and with two sons from his second marriage (Edvard and Joachim), he played string trios, presumably only at home, where he himself played the viola parts.
At the end of 1919, Röntgen became an official citizen of the Netherlands. Shortly thereafter he celebrated his 65th birthday, but instead of decreasing his activities and responsibilities, he kept himself busier than ever. He retained his position as director of the Amsterdam Conservatory until 1924, accepted private students, and even started to concertize again. From 1920 to 1923, Röntgen composed a great deal of vocal music, chamber music (including several string quartets), some orchestral pieces, concertos, and a number of contrapuntal works for piano.