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Archives Find past shows by date:  Complete archive Your purchase from Public Radio Market helps support the American Composers Forum and Composers Datebook.  |
August 20-26, 2007
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Monday, August 20
A famous — and not so famous — overture ... MUSIC PLAYED ON TODAY'S PROGRAM: Sir Arthur Bliss (1891-1975): Edinburgh Overture City of Birmingham Symphony;Vernon Handley, cond. EMI Classics 69388 & Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky (1840-1893): 1812 Overture Kirov Orchestra/; Valery Gergiev, cond. Phililps 442 011 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: On Bliss On Tchaikovsky ALSO ON THIS DATE: Births: 1561—Italian composer Jacopo Peri, in Rome; His setting of Rinuccini's poem "Dafne," staged in 1600, is credited as the first opera; Deaths: 1813—Bohemian composer Jan Krittel Vanhal (Johann Baptist Wanhal), age 74, in Vienna; Premieres: 1882 — Tchaikovsky: "1812 Overture," on an all-Tchaikovsky program presented during an Art and Industrial Exhibition in Moscow (Julian date: Aug. 8); 1943 — Manuel Ponce: Violin Concerto, in Mexico City, conducted by Carlos Chavez; 1956 — Bliss: "Edinburgh Overture," at the opening of the Edinburgh Festival of Music and Drama; 1958 — Menotti: opera "Maria Golovin," at the International Exposition in Brussels, Belgium; 1961 — John Harbison: "Duo" for flute and piano, at the Brooklyn Museum, with flutist Neil Zaslaw and pianist Juliette Arnold; 1965 — Harrison Birtwistle: "Tragoedia" for chamber ensemble, at Wardour Castle in England, during the Castle Summer School of Music, by the Melos Ensemble conducted by Lawrence Foster; 1973 — Carl Orff: cantata "De Temporum Fine Commedia" (A Play of the End of Time) at the Salzburg Festival, with Herbert von Karajan conducting; 1979 — Harbison: opera "The Winter's Tale" in San Francisco; 1980 — Rubbra: Symphony No. 11, in London by the BBC Northern Symphony; 1992 — Joan Tower: "Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman" No. 5 (dedicated to Joan Harris), at the opening of the Joan and Irving Harris Concert Hall at the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado. 2004 — Zhou Long: “The Immortal” for orchestra, at a BBC Proms concerts with the BBC Symphony, Leonard Slatkin conducting; 2004 — Peter Maxwell Davies: “Naxos Quartet” No. 4 (“Children’s Games”), in the Chapel of the Royal Palace, Oslo (Norway) during the Oslo Chamber Music Festival, by the Maggini Quartet.
Tuesday, August 21
Handel on the road ... MUSIC PLAYED ON TODAY'S PROGRAM: George Frideric Handel (1685-1759): Organ Concerto in Bb, Op. 7, no. 3 Simon Preston, o; The English Concert; Trevor Pinnock, cond. Archiv 413 468 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: On Handel ALSO ON THIS DATE: Births: 1893—French composer Lili Boulanger, in Paris; She was the younger sister of Nadia Boulanger (1887-1979), the famous French composition teacher; 1927—German composer Willhelm Killmayer, in Munich; Deaths: 1951—British composer and writer Constant Lambert, age 45, in London; Premieres: 1966 — Creston: "Pavane Variations" at the La Jolla Music Festival in California; Other: 1800—The U.S. Marine Band presented its first public concert in Washington, DC, "on a hill overlooking the Potomac," near the future site of the Lincoln Memorial.
Wednesday, August 22
Edmond Dédé in New Orleans ... MUSIC PLAYED ON TODAY'S PROGRAM: Edmond Dédé (1827-1901): Chicago Hot Springs Music Festival; Richard Rosenberg, cond. Naxos 8.559038 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Center for Black Music Research website ALSO ON THIS DATE: Births: 1827—Austrian composer Josef Strauss, in Vienna; He was the son of Johann Strauss I and the younger brother of Johann Strauss, II.; 1862—French composer Claude Debussy, in St.Germain-en-Laye; 1928—German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen, in Mödrath (near Cologne); Premieres: 1968 — Birtwistle: opera "Punch and Judy," at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland; 1980 — Tippett: Triple Concerto, for violin, viola, cello and orchestra, in London by the London Symphony, Sir Colin Davis conducting; 1982 — Peter Maxwell Davies: "Image, Reflection, Shadow" at the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland; Other: 1741—Handel begins work on his famous oratorio, "Messiah," which he finished scoring on September 14 (Gregorian dates: Sept. 2 to 25); The entire work was composed in a period of 24 days; 2002 —An opera by the Iranian-Armenian composer Loris Cheknavariyan based on the Persian epic "Rostam and Sohrab" is staged in Teheran to mark the 1000th anniversary of the birth of poet Abol-Qasem Ferdowsi, on whose epic the opera was based; The performance, at Teheran's Milad Hall, featured 125 Austrian musicians and singers; This marked the first occasion that a Western-style opera was staged in Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Thursday, August 23
Barney Google meets Igor Stravinsky? ... MUSIC PLAYED ON TODAY'S PROGRAM: Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971): Scènes de Ballet London Symphony; Michael Tilson Thomas, cond. RCA/BMG 68865 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: On Billy Rose On Stravinsky ALSO ON THIS DATE: Births: 1854—German pianist and composer of Polish descent Moritz Moszkowski, in Brelau; 1900—Austrian-born American composer Ernst Krenek, in Vienna; 1905—English composer, conductor and writer Constant Lambert, in London; Deaths: 1937—French composer Albert Roussel, age 68, in Royan; 1960—American lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II, age 65, in Doylestown, Pa.; 1962—American composer Irving Fine, age 47, in Boston; Premieres: 1735 — Rameau, opera-ballet "Les Indes galantes," in Paris; 1906 — R. Vaughan-Williams: "Norfolk Rhapsody," in London; 1913 — Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 2 (first version), at Pavlovsk, conducted by A.P. Aslanov with the composer as soloist (Gregorian date: Sept. 5); A second version of this concerto premiered in Paris on May 8, 1924, conducted by Serge Koussevitzky, again with the composer a soloist; 1964 — Stravinsky: "Abraham and Isaac" (dedicated to the people and the state of Israel), in Jerusalem by the Israel Festival Orchestra conducted by Robert Craft; Other: 1934—The Berkshire Symphonic Festival in founded in Stockbridge, Mass., by American composer and conductor Henry Hadley, with the participation of the New York Philharmonic; The Festival later became associated with the Boston Symphony under Serge Koussevitzky.
Friday, August 24
Pomp – and MJQ ... MUSIC PLAYED ON TODAY'S PROGRAM: Sir Edward Elgar (1857-1934): Pomp and Circumstance No. 4 London Philharmonic ; Daniel Barenboim, cond. Sony Classical 60789 & Milt Jackson (1923-1999): Blues in c Modern Jazz Quartet Atlantic 1652 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: On Elgar On the Modern Jazz Quartet ALSO ON THIS DATE: Births: 1803—French composer Adolphe Adam, in Paris; 1837—French composer and organist Théodore Dubois, in Rosnay; 1910—German-born American composer Bernhard Heiden, in Frankfurt; 1919—Danish composer Niels Viggo Bentzon, in Copenhagen; 1949—American composer Stephen Paulus, in Summit, N.J.; Deaths: 1985—American composer Paul Creston, age 78, in San Diego, Calif.; Premieres: 1846 — Suppé: operetta "Dichter und Bauer" (Poet and Peasant), in Vienna; 1907 — Elgar: "Pomp and Circumstance"March No. 4, in London; 1943 — Bernstein: song-cycle "I Hate Music!" at the Public Library in Lenox, Mass., with mezzo-soprano Jennie Tourel and the composer at the piano; The New York premiere of this work occurred on November 13, 1943 (the day before his surprise conducting debut with the New York Philharmonic), with the same performers; 1980 — Lutoslawski: Double Concerto, for oboe, harp and chamber orchestra, in Lucerne, Switzerland by oboist Heinz Holliger, harpisy Ursula Holliger, and the Collegium Musicum conducted by Paul Sacher; Other: 1724—Handel performs on the organ at St. Paul's Cathedral in London before the royal princesses Anne and Caroline (Gregorian date: Sept. 4); 1968—Czech conductor and composer Rafael Kubelik launches an appeal to world musicians to boycott performances in the five nations which invaded Czechoslovakia on August 20-21 until their military forces evacuate the country; The appeal was joined by Igor Stravinsky, Arthur Rubinstein, Yehudi Menuhin, Otto Klemperer, Bernard Haitink, Claudio Arrau, and others.
Saturday, August 25
Orchestral Rorem ... MUSIC PLAYED ON TODAY'S PROGRAM: Ned Rorem (b. 1923): Sunday Morning Atlanta Symphony; Louis Lane, cond. New World 353 & Ned Rorem (b. 1923): Symphony No. 3 Utah Symphony; Maurice Abravanel, cond. Vox Box 5092 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: On Ned Rorem ALSO ON THIS DATE: Births: 1880—Austrian operetta composer Robert Stoltz, in Graz; 1902—German-born American composer Stefan Wolpe, in Berlin; 1918—American composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein, in Lawrence, Mass.; Deaths: 1742—Portuguese composer José Antonio Carlos de Seixas, age 38, in Lisbon; 1774—Italian opera composer Niccolò Jommelli, age 59, in Naples; Premieres: 1830 — Auber: opera, "La muette de Portici" (aka "Masaniello"), in Brussels, igniting political riots leading to expulsion of Dutch and the Belgian Revolution of 1830; 1948 — Henze: Symphony No. 1 at Bad Pyrmont; 1978 — Rorem: "Sunday Morning" at Saratoga Springs, New York, by the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy; Other: 1830 —Auber: opera, “La muette de Portici” (aka “Masaniello”), in Brussels, igniting political riots leading to expulsion of Dutch and the Belgian Revolution of 1830; 1870—Richard Wagner marries Cosima Liszt von Bulow; 1959—On his 41st birthday, Leonard Bernstein conducts a tour performance by the New York Philharmonic in Moscow; The program includes Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring" and Ives' "The Unanswered Question."
Sunday, August 26
Mendelssohn and Glass for chorus ... MUSIC PLAYED ON TODAY'S PROGRAM: Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847): Elijah Overture Gürzenich Orchestra & Cologne Philharmonic/; James Conlon, cond. EMI Classics 56475 & Philip Glass (b. 1937): Dedication of Merit, fr Symphony No. 5 Morgan State University Choir; Vienna Radio Symphony; Dennis Russell Davies, cond. Nonesuch 79618 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: On Mendelssohn On Glass ALSO ON THIS DATE: Births: 1887—Nicaraguan composer Luis Delgadillio, in Managua; 1915—British composer Humphrey Searle, in Oxford; Deaths: 1958—British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, age 85, in London; Premieres: 1815 — Weber: Clarinet Quintet in Bb, Op. 34, in Munich, featuring clarinetist Heinrich Bärmann; 1846 — Mendelssohn: oratorio "Elijah," at Birmingham Festival in England, with composer conducting; 1954 — Alan Rawsthorne: "Practical Cats" (after T.S. Eliot), for speaker and orchestra, at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland 1956 — Martinu: "Frescoes of Piero della Francesca," for orchestra, at the Salzburg Festival in Austria 1957 — Panufnik: "Rhapsody" for orchestra, in London 2001 — André Previn: "Tango, Song and Dance," at the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland, with violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and pianist Lambert Orkis. Other: 1717—French flutist and composer Jacques-Martin Hotteterre is appointed royal flutist (“flutte de la chamber de Roy”) at a salary of 6000 livres |
