Johann Wilhelm Wilms
Encyclopedia
Wien Neerlands Bloed
Wien Neêrlands bloed was the national anthem of the Netherlands between 1815 and 1932.At the foundation of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815, it was decided that a national anthem was needed. The hymn Het Wilhelmus – which is the national anthem today – was already well known in the time of...
, which served as the Dutch national anthem from 1815 to 1932.
Wilms was born in Witzhelden near Solingen
Solingen
Solingen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the northern edge of the region called Bergisches Land, south of the Ruhr area, and with a 2009 population of 161,366 is the second largest city in the Bergisches Land...
. After 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 flute in two orchestras and was soloist in Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
and Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
concerto
Concerto
A concerto is a musical work usually composed in three parts or movements, in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra.The etymology is uncertain, but the word seems to have originated from the conjunction of the two Latin words...
s, giving them their Dutch premieres.
He also taught piano at the Koninklijk Nederlandsch Instituut voor Wetenschappen, interviewed applicants for church organist
Organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...
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
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
affected the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Wilms wrote several patriotic
Patriots (faction)
The Patriots were a political faction in the Dutch Republic in the second half of the 18th century. They were led by Joan van der Capellen tot den Pol, gaining power from November 1782....
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 Neêrlandsch bloed (with lyrics by Hendrik Tollens
Hendrik Tollens
Henricus Franciscus Caroluszoon Tollens was a Dutch poet best known for Wien Neêrlands Bloed, the national anthem of the Netherlands between 1815 and 1932....
), leading to lots of commission from churches and other organizations.
For 23 years Wilms was the organist at a Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
church in Amsterdam, where he died.
Symphonies
Wilms wrote seven symphoniesSymphony
A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...
, the one in F major was lost and the others sank into obscurity after his death. The chronology of the five early symphonies is not clear even to experts.
According to Ernst Klusen, the Finale of the E-flat major Symphony is modeled on that of Mozart's K. 543. His 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
Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon is a German classical record label which was the foundation of the future corporation to be known as PolyGram. It is now part of Universal Music Group since its acquisition and absorption of PolyGram in 1999, and it is also UMG's oldest active label...
.
Due to a misunderstanding about publication dates, conductor Werner Ehrhardt at first thought that Wilms had lived in a later period and therefore had written music in an antiquated style. But after being straightened out, given the enthusiasm his ensemble felt for this music, Ehrhardt decided to record these two symphonies anyway. Scholars are more certain these are later works because of their use of cyclic form.
Selected list of works
- Concert Overture in E major
- Flute Concertino in G minor
- Sonata in D major for Piano Four-Hands, Opus 7
- Piano Concerto No. 1 in E major, Opus 3
- Symphony No. 1 in C major, Opus 9
- Symphony No. 2 in F major, Opus 10 (lost)
- Piano Concerto No. 2 in C major, Opus 12
- Piano Sonata in B-flat major, Opus 13
- Symphony in E-flat major, Opus 14
- Three Violin Sonatas, Opus 21
- Piano Quartet in C major, Opus 22
- Symphony in C minor, Opus 23
- Flute Concerto in D major, Opus 24
- Two String Quartets (in G minor (ca. 1806) and A major), Opus 25. Published in 2007.
- Sonata in C major for Piano Four-Hands, Opus 31
- Flute Sonata in D, Opus 33
- Sonata in B-flat for Piano Four-Hands, Opus 41 (ca. 1813)
- Symphony No. 5 in D major, Opus 52
- Symphony No. 6 in D minor, Opus 58
- Symphony No. 7 in C minor
- Wien Neêrlandsch bloed
- Overture in D major
- Overture in E-flat major (edited by B. Hagels and published in 2006)