Willem van Otterloo was chief conductor of the ‘Utrecht Stedelijk Orkest’ from 1934 to 1949 and the ‘Residentie Orkest’ (The Hague Philharmonic Orchestra) from 1949 to 1972. He was, however, also a composer, although he left only about a dozen compositions.

The first work presented on this CD, the “Sinfonietta for triple woodwind and four horns” of 1943 is recognised as an accomplished work full of entertaining and virtuosic music, and is still performed to this day. The undated “Suite for String Orchestra” is a simple piece, influenced to some extent by Bartók and is more radical in style than the rest of Van Otterloo’s output.

In 1958, to fulfil a commission from the Amsterdam municipality, he presented an Intrada for brass and percussion. He re-used the final movement (‘Hymne’) of the Serenade, discarding the harp part and reducing the percussion. A fourth trombone and a double bassoon were added, chords and voice leading were changed. The Serenade is in four movements and is scored for brass (four horns, four trumpets, three trombones and tuba), harp, celesta and percussion. In the second, ‘definitive’ version the original title of ‘Divertimento’ is replaced by ‘Serenade’ and a piano part is added.

In 1952, when he had already been conductor of the The Hague Philharmonic for a few years, he made a second orchestration of Schubert’s Fantaisie, op. 103, which he had already orchestrated in 1940. It is a well-crafted arrangement without much of a personal imprint, but subservient to the style of Schubert’s music.