French harpsichord

How one, strong-willed woman brought the harpsichord back to the concert hall . . . and started a trend for new music to be composed for this "obsolete" instrument.

Francis Poulenc (1899-1963): Concert champêtre
George Malcolm, hc; Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields
Iona Brown, cond.
London 425 627 (track 10)
&
Barbara Harbach (b. 1946): "Cante Flamenco," fr "Tres Danzzas para Clavecin"
Barbara Harbach, hc.
Gasparo 290 (track 6)

The Barbara Harbach harpsichord selection played on today's Composers Datebook was titled "Cante Flamenco." FYI, here are some other Spanish dance forms that show up in classical music: BOLERO - a Spanish dance in triple rhythm said to have been invented in Cadiz around 1780 (Ravel made it famous via his orchestral piece); FANDANGO - another fast Spanish dance in triple time (Mozart wrote one for Act III of his opera, "The Marriage of Figaro" - which people often forget is set in Spain); and the SARABANDE - another triple meter dance (but a slow one), first popular in 17th century Spain (the famous Spanish author Cervantes condemned the Sarabande as "lascivious" - we wonder what he would think of today's sexy Latin dances!).

Births:
1854 - Czech (Moravian) composer and conductor Leos Janácek, in Hukvaldy;
1860 - Scottish composer and writer William Wallace, in Greenock;
1901 - American composer Ruth Crawford (Seeger), in East Liverpool, Ohio;
1926 - American composer Meyer Kupferman, in New York City.

Louis Armstrong

Famous American musicians who were born on the Fourth of July - or who at least claimed to be - and community celebrations across the country today that involve premieres of new musical works.

Duke Ellington (1899-1974): Mood Indigo
Louis Armstrong, tpt; Duke Ellington, p; jazz ensemble
Roulette 59022 (track 4)
&
Jennifer Higdon (b. 1962): Autumn Music
Moran Woodwind Quintet
Crystal 754 (track 7)

o The latest research suggests that Jazz great Louis Armstrong was actually born on August 4, 1901 - not July 4, 1900, as he claimed for years. Nevertheless, world-wide celebrations of his centennary are taking place beginning July 4.

o The great Vaudeville and Broadway song and dance man, George M. Cohan, also believed he was born on the Fourth of July - a public misconception reinforced by the charismatic impersonation by actor James Cagney in the famous biographical film of Cohan's life, "Yankee Doodle Dandy." The belated discovery of Cohan's birth certificate, however, proved the actual date of the composer's birth was July 3, 1878. Cohan's most famous song, "Over There!" was recorded by Caruso in 1918 (BMG Classics CD #61640) and its composer was given a congressional medal of honor for the song's impact on American morale during World War I. The film, "Yankee Doodle Dandy," was released in the year of Cohan's death (1942) and movie's use of the song "Over There" served once again to boost morale during World War II.

Births:
1694 - French composer Louis-Claude Daquin, in Paris;
1826 - American song composer Stephen Collins Foster, in Lawrenceville (now part of Pittsburgh), Pennsylvania;
1903 - Belgian composer, organist and teacher Flor Peeters, in Tielen, near Antwerp;

Deaths:
1623 - English composer William Byrd, in Stondon Massey, Essex, age 79 or 80;

Premieres:
1831 - National song "America," words by Samuel Francis Smith, at Park Street Church, Boston.

The Kurt Weill centenary sparks performances of his Concerto for Violin and Winds . . . and a brand-new Violin Concerto by John Williams to be premiered by Gil Shaham.

Kurt Weill (1900-1950): Concerto for Violin and Winds, Op. 12
Frank Peter Zimmermann, vn; Berlin Philharmonic
Mariss Jansons, cond
EMI Classics 56573 (track 7)
&
Aaron Copland (1900-1990): Sonata for Violin and Piano
Gil Shaham, vn; André Previn, p.
DG 453 470 (track 10)

Violinist Gil Shaham is famous for his quick wit. When he first began performing recitals accompanied by his talented younger sister, pianist Orli Shaham, some people assumed since they had the same last name they must be husband and wife. After concerts, when enthusiastic fans who assumed they were newlyweds would ask Gil how he and Orli had met, the violinist would respond, "Well, one day mom came back from the hospital . . . "

Births:
1878 - English composer and pianist Joseph Holbrooke, in Croydon;
1897 - German-Israeli composer Paul Ben Haim, in Munich;
1895 - English composer Gordon Jacob, in London;
1918 - American composer George Rochberg, in Paterson, New Jersey.

Women composers finally start to get their due in the 20th century . . . today the first women to be awarded the Prix de Rome and the Pulitzer Prize for music.

Lili Boulanger (1893-1918): Psalm 129
Chorale Elisabeth Brasseur; Lamoureux Orchestra
Igor Markevitch, cond.
Everest 9034 (track 3)
&
Ellen Taafe Zwilich (b. 1939): Symphony No. 3
Louisville Orchestra; James Sedares, cond.
Koch International 7278 (track 3)

From an interview with composer Joan Tower: "In the 1940s, Copland was asked why there were no great women composers, and he said it was because they couldn't think in long forms. Well, Da Capo [the chamber ensemble Tower founded in 1969] did a concert of his music on his 80th birthday [in 1980], and I asked him 'Do you have a different opinion now?' He didn't answer . . . Women have certainly had a very hard time in the arts, though the situation is changing . . . It's true that over the last fifteen years more women composers have been included in books and there have been a few more recordings and publications of their work, but we still have a long way to go." - from The Muse That Sings: Composers Speak About the Creative Process by Ann McCutchan (Oxford University Press, 1999).

Births:
1739 - German composer Friedrich Wilhelm Rust, in Wörlitz, near Dessau;
1864 - Brazilian composer Alberto Nepomuceno, in Fortaleza;
1877 - American composer, teacher and conductor David Stanley Smith, in Toledo, Ohio;
1898 - German composer Hanns Eisler, in Leipzig;

Deaths:
1999 - Spanish composer Joaquin Rodrigo, age 97.

19th-century caricature of Rossini as a one-man-band

"Which came first for you - the opera or the cartoon?" Today we observe the anniversary of the first performance of a famous American opera and explore how many Americans get their first "animated" exposure to grand opera.

Douglas Moore (1893-1969): The Ballad of Baby Doe
New York City Opera Orchestra; Emerson Buckley, cond.
DG 465 148 (CD 2, track 1 & CD 1, track 1)
&
Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868): "Barber of Seville" Overture
Stuttgart Radio Symphony; Gianluigi Gelmetti, cond.
Seraphim73294 (track 2)

Births:
1860 - Austrain composer and conductor Gustav Mahler, in Kalischt (Kaliste), Bohemia;
1911 - Italian-American composer and conductor Gian Carlo Menotti, in Cadegliano, Varese.