German-born Dutch master Johann Wilhelm Wilms, yet another composer whose music most of us would never hear if not for the miracle of recordings, was baptized on this date 250 years ago. Wilms’ setting of the poem “Wien Neêrlands bloed” (“Those in whom Dutch blood”) served as the Dutch National Anthem from 1815 to 1932.
His Symphony No. 7 exhibits a touch of that lion-lamb temperament that rings especially true during the mercurial month of March. Neither as fiery as Beethoven, nor as fey as Schubert, but certainly as versatile as Wilms.
The Symphony No. 4, an attractive piece of early Romanticism:
A bit more refined, the Sonata in C major for Piano Four-Hands:
Happy bicenquinquagenary, Johann Wilhelm Wilms!