Promotional poster for the film "The Bride of Frankenstein"

Things that go bump in the night (and in the concert hall).

Libby Larsen (b. 1950): What the Monster Saw
Cleveland Chamber Symphony; Edwin London, cond.
GM Recordings 2039
&
Franz Waxman (1906-1962): Main Title, fr The Bride of Frankenstein
Westminster Philharmonic; Kenneth Alwyn, cond.
Silva 1028

Care had to be taken at the Minnesota Opera's premiere performances of Libby Larsen's 1990 opera, "Frankenstein, the Modern Prometheus" -- which involved a host of on-stage video and electronic devices -- that the singers wouldn't accidentally be "zapped" by electricity like the monster in its story.

Births:
1894 - English composer Peter Warlock (real name, Philip Heseltine), in London;

Premieres:
1882 - Tchaikovsky: Trio, Op. 50, in Moscow, for Nicolas Rubinstein, at a Russian Musical Society concert;
1944 - Copland: ballet, "Appalachian Spring," in Washington, D.C., by Martha Graham's company;
1947 - Weill: musical, "Lost in the Stars," in New York City;

Other:
1822 - Schubert begins work on his Symphony No. 8 in B minor, later known as the "Unfinished." Not played until 37 years later;
1935 - First concert at The Composers' Forum-Laboratory in New York City, sponsored by the Federal Music Project and featuring works of Roy Harris.

American composer Henry Cowell performing "The Banshee"

Red scares and Irish spooks . . .

Serge Prokofiev (1891-1953) Piano Concerto No. 5, Op. 55
Michel Beroff, p; Leipzig Gewandhaus Orch; Kurt Masur, cond.
EMI Classics 62542
&
Henry Cowell (1987-1965): The Banshee
Henry Cowell, p.
Smithsonian/Folkways 40801

Some baby boomers might recall being terrified out of their wits by the banshee that appeared in the 1959 Walt Disney film "Darby O'Gill and the Little People" -- a film set in Ireland that included a pre-007 role for the Scottish actor Sean Connery. No matter, the banshee is a supernatural figure shared by both Irish and Scottish folklore. The Irish bean sidhe and Scots Gaelic ban sith both mean "woman of the fairies" whose mournful "keening," or wailing, at night foretells an imminent death in the family.

Births:
1806 - American composer Louise Talma, in Arcachon, France;
1949 - Cuban-American composer and conductor Odaline de la Martinez, in Matanzas, Cuba;

Premieres:
1866 - Offenbach: operetta, "La Vie Parisienne," in Paris, at the Palais-Royal;
1887 - Rimsky-Korsakov: "Capriccio Espagnol," in St. Petersburg, Richard Strauss conducting;
1985 - Rorem: "String Symphony," by the Atlanta Symphony, Robert Shaw conducting.

Richard Strauss and the American oboist (and GI) John de Lancie photographed during their 1945 meeting at Strauss' home in the Bavarian Alps.

Changing of the Guard? - Postwar German classics by Richard Strauss and Hans Werner Henze

Richard Strauss (1864-1949): Oboe Concerto
Manfred Clement, ob; Staatskapelle Dresden; Rudolf Kempe, cond.
EMI Classics 73614
&
Hans Werner Henze (b. 1926): Symphony No. 1
Berlin Philharmonic; Hans Werner Henze, cond.
DG 429 854

John de Lancie recalls his 1945 visit with Strauss as follows: "I felt a very respectful awe for this man . . . I mustered all my courage and began to talk about the beautiful oboe melodies like the ones in Don Quixote, Don Juan, Sinfonia Domestica and others. I wanted to know if he had a special affinity for the instrument. As I was well acquainted with his [First] Horn Concerto, I then asked him if he had ever considered writing a concerto for oboe, but his only answer was a simple 'no.'"

Nevertheless, the autograph score of just such a concerto that Strauss finished later that year is inscribed "Oboe Concerto 1945/inspired by an American soldier/oboist from Chicago."

Prior to becoming a solider, John de Lancie was, in fact, from an oboist with the Pittsburgh - not the Chicago - Symphony. Perhaps the 81-year-old composer had simply forgotten which American orchestra de Lancie mentioned during the 1945 visit. Michael Steinberg notes in his book, The Concerto [ISBN: #0-19-510330-0] that Strauss and his wife had even visited Pittsburgh in 1904 and performed an orchestral concert and song recital in that city.

Births:
1877 - English composer Roger Quilter, in Brighton;
1934 - Welsh composer William Mathias, in Whitland, Dyfed.

Finns and fanfares - American premieres and performances of works by Aulis Sallinen and Joan Tower

Aulis Sallinen (b. 1935): Sunrise Serenade
Finnish Chamber Orchestra; Okko Kamu, cond
Naxos 8.553747
&
Joan Tower (b. 1938): Fanfare No. 4 (for the Uncommon Woman)
Colorado Symphony; Marin Alsop, cond.
Koch International 7469

Aulis Sallinen's new opera on Shakespeare's King Lear premiered in Helsinki on Sept. 15, 2000. "King Lear is a profound, powerful, touching drama," says Sallinen in a Schirmer News feature. "Lear has survived long enough to prove that it is timelessly relevant - as indeed are all Shakespeare's plays. Do we need any other reason [to set it to music]?"

Births:
1739 - Austrian composer and violinist Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf, in Vienna;
1880 - English composer and conductor John Foulds, in Manchester;
1915 - New Zealand composer Douglas Lilburn, in Wanganui;
1946 - Italian composer and conductor Giuseppe Sinopoli, in Venice

Premieres:
1873 - Brahms: "Variations on a Theme by Haydn," Felix Dessoff conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra;
1877 - Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 4 in C minor, in Paris, composer at piano;
1978 - Druckman: Concerto for Viola and Orchestra, soloist Sol Greiyzer, conductor James Levine

Other:
1900 - d'Indy reorganizes the Schola Cantorum of Paris as a music school

British composer John Tavener

Music about brides and bridegrooms - American premieres by Tavener and Caltabiano

John Tavener (b. 1944): The Protecting Veil
Yo-Yo Ma, vcl; Baltimore Symphony members; David Zinman, cond
Sony Classical 62821
&
Ronald Caltabiano: Sonata for Solo Cello
Fred Sherry, vcl.
CRI 835

Tavener's "The Bridegroom" was commissioned by the American early music vocal ensemble Anonymous 4. Tavener has also written music for the British period instrument ensemble The Academy of Ancient Music. These days it's increasingly common for "new" music to be written for and performed by "early" music specialists; this isn't all that surprising, since many contemporary composers write in a style that has more in common with Medieval and Renaissance music than that of the Classical or Late Romantic periods.

Canadian writer Margaret Atwood's novel The Handmaid's Tale also inspired a recent opera by the Danish composer Poul Ruders.

Births:
1587 - [Baptism of] German composer and organist Samuel Scheidt, in Halle;
1801 - Italian composer Vincenzo Bellini, in Catania, Sicily;
1911 - Russian-American composer Vladimir Ussachevsky, in Hailar, Manchuria

Other:
1783 - Mozart completes his "Linz" Symphony the day before its first performance in Linz