The final days of John Dowland . . .

John Dowland (1563-1626): Captaine Piper Galiard & Mistresse Nichols Almand
The Dowland Consort; Jakob Lindberg, lute & cond.
Bis 315

On January 21, 1626, lutenist Robert Dowland, age 35, succeeded his father, English composer and lutenist John Dowland, age 63, in his post as a member of the royal court musicians in London; This date has often been cited as also being the date of the elder Dowland's death, but more recent research suggests John Dowland must have died in mid-February that year, as he was buried on February 20, 1626.

Two modern British composers have composed new works based on songs by John Dowland: Benjamin Britten's "Nocturnal" (for solo guitar) and Thomas Adès' "Darkness Visible" (for piano).

Deaths:
1851—German opera composer Albert Lortzing, age 49, in Berlin;
1948—Italian composer Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, age 72, in Venice;

Premieres:
1816—Cherubini: "Requiem," in Paris;
1880—Rimsky-Korsakov: opera "May Night" in St. Petersburg;
1904—Janácek: opera "Jenufa" in Brno at the National Theater;
1927—Roussel: Suite in F for orchestra, in Boston;
1929—Schreker: opera "Der Schatzgräber" (The Treasure Hunter), in Frankfurt at the Opernhaus;
1930—Shostakovich: Symphony No. 3 ("May First"), in Leningrad;
1947—Martinu: "Toccata e due canzona" for chamber orchestra, in Basel;
1968—Bernstein: song "So Pretty" (a song protesting the Vietnam War) at Philharmonic Hall (now Avery Fisher Hall) in New York City, with singer Barbra Streisand and the composer at the piano;
1968—Allan Pettersson: Symphony No. 6, in Stockholm;

Richard Strauss and Terry Riley put their "spin" on Salome's dance . . .

Richard Strauss (1864-1949): Dance of the Seven Veils, from Salome
Richard Strauss, piano (Welte Mignon piano-roll c. 1905)
Teldec 95354
&
Terry Riley (b. 1935): Good Medicine, from Salome Dances for Peace
Kronos Quartet
Nonesuch 79217

In January of 1907, Mayor John F. Fitzgerald (grandfather of President John F. Kennedy) replied as follows to a petition of the New England Watch and Ward Society, an organization who had sought to prevent performances of Strauss's Salome in Boston: "The Mayor's office does not interfere as a rule with the productions of Boston theaters . . . If the people of Boston do not want the opera Salome presented and give expression to that view, I do not think that the opera will be given. No theater manager will fly in the face of public opinion."

OnTerry Riley
http://www.terryriley.com/

Births:
1727—French composer Claude-Bénigne Balbastre, in Dijon;
1870—French composer and organist Charles Tournemire, in Bordeaux;
1901—Austrian composer Hans Erich Apostel, in Karlsruhe, Germany;
1903—English composer Robin Milford, in Oxford;
1916—French composer Henri Dutilleux, in Angers;
1923—American composer Leslie Bassett, in Hanford, Calif.;
1924—American jazz composer and trombonist James Louis ("J.J.") Johnson, in Indianapolis;

Deaths:
1964—American composer Marc Blitzstein, age 58, from injuries suffered in a barroom fight, in Fort-de-France, Martinique;

Premieres:
1859—Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1 in d, Op. 15, with the Hanover Court Orchestra conducted by Joseph Joachim and the composer as the soloist;
1887—Gilbert & Sullivan: operetta "Ruddigore" in London;
1908—First public performance of Stravinsky: Symphony in Eb in St. Petersburg; A private performance had occurred on April 27, 1907, also in St. Petersburg;
1934—Shostakovich: opera "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District" (1^st version), in Leningrad at the Maliiy Opera Theater;
1936—Hindemith: "Trauermusik (Music of Mourning)" for Viola and String Orchestra, on a BBC memorial concert for King George V of England (who had died on January 20, 1935), with the composer as soloist;
1970—Carlisle Floyd: opera "Of Mice and Men," in Seattle; According to Opera America, this is one of the most frequently-produced Americanoperas during the past decade
1998—Bright Sheng: "Postcards," by the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Hugh Wolff conducting;
1980—John Williams: "Cowboys Overture ,"a concert overture based on material from the score to the film "The Cowboys";

Others:
1575—The Protestant Queen of England,Elizabeth I, grants a license to Thomas Tallis and William Byrd(both Catholics), to print music for 22 years;
1889—Columbia Phonograph Company founded in Washington, D.C.;

Notable Dvorák and Ellington concerts in New York . . .

Stephen Foster (arr. Dvorák): Old Folks at Home
Eva Urbanova, sop.;
Prague Radio Symphony; Vladimir Valek, cond.
Clarton 00113
&
Duke Ellington (1899-1974): Light, from Black, Brown and Beige Suite
American Composers Orchestra; Maurice Peress, cond.
MusicMasters 60176

Duke Ellington's Carnegie Hall concerts from the 1940's were recorded and are available on LP and compact disc.

Births:
1752—Italian composer Muzio Clementi, in Rome;
1878—English composer Rutland Boughton, in Aylesbury;

Deaths:
1837—Irish composer John Field, age 54, in Moscow;
1908—American composer and pianist Edward MacDowell, age 47, in New York;
1981—American composer Samuel Barber, age 70, in New York;

Premieres:
1895—MacDowell: Suite No. 2 ("Indian"), in New York City;
1933—Bartók: Piano Concerto No. 2, in Frankfurt, with Hans Robaud conducting and the composer as soloist;
1936—Chavez: "Sinfonia India," on a radio broadcast by the Columbia Symphony, conducted by the composer;
1999—Thea Musgrave: "Three Women," in San Francisco, by the Women's Philharmonic, A. Hsu conducting;

Stravinsky (and Newman) at the movies . . .

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971): Symphony in Three Movements
Berlin Philharmonic; Pierre Boulez, cond.
DG 457 616
&
Alfred Newman (1901-1970): Song of Bernadette
National Philharmonic; Charles Gerhardt, cond.
RCA 184

ADDITIONAL NFORMATION:

Another Stravinsky work, by the way, that was salvaged from unused film music, was his "Four Norwegian Moods," composed in Hollywood in 1942 for a movie about the Nazi invasion of Norway. When the producers insisted on altering his score, Stravinsky withdrew it in disgust. Years later, he said he couldn't even remember the name of the movie.

Although Schoenberg never did write a real film score, Alfred Newman, the same fellow who would beat Stravinsky out of the Oscar in 1942, invited Schoenberg to present the Oscar for the best film score of 1937.The music, by Charles Previn, a second cousin to André Previn, was for the movie "One Hundred Men and a Girl." Schoenberg accepted the invitation, but was ill the night of the awards and his little speech had to be read by someone else. In it, he expressed the hope that, quote, "there will soon come a time, when the severe conditions and laws of modernistic music will be no hindrance any more toward a reconciliation with the necessities of the moving picture industry."

Births:
1712—Frederick II the Great, King of Prussia, monarch, flutist and composer, in Berlin;
1776—German composer, author, conductor and music critic E. T. A. Hoffmann, in Königsberg;
1913—American composer Norman Dello Joio, in New York City;
1918—Austrian composer Gottfried von Einem, in Bern, Switzerland;
1919—American composer Leon Kirchner, in Brooklyn, N.Y.;

Deaths:
1851—Italian opera composer Gaspare Spontini, age 76, in Ancona, Italy;
1883—German opera composer Friedrich von Flotow, age 70, in Darmstadt;

Premieres:
1835—Bellini: opera "I Puritani," in Paris at the Théatre-Italien;
1875—Saint-Saëns: "Dance macabre" for orchestra, in Paris;
1901—Rachmaninoff: one-act operas "The Miserly Knight" and "Francesca da Rimini" in Moscow at the Bolshoi Theater;
1922—Walton: entertainment, "Façade," with Edith Sitwell reciting her poetry;
1922—Nielsen: Symphony No. 5, in Copenhagen, with composer conducting;
1981—John Harbison: Violin Concerto, at Emmanuel Churchin Boston, with soloist Rose Mary Harbison and the Emmanuel Chamber Orchestra, Craig Smith conducting;
1991—George Perle: Piano Concerto No. 1, with San Francisco Symphony conducted by David Zinman, with Richard Goode the soloist;

Others:
1705—Italian castrato singer Carlo Farinelli (born Carlo Broschi), in Andria; His life is depicted in the 1994 film "Farinelli";
1813—The Royal Philharmonic Society in formed in London.

Paul Schoenfield's "Café Music". . .

Paul Schoenfield (b. 1947): Café Music
Lev Polyakin, violin; Charles Bernard, cello; Frences Renzi, piano
innova 544

ADDITIONAL NFORMATION:

On Paul Schoenfield
http://www.musicofremembrance.org/performers/pschoenfield.htm

Births:
1851—Flemish composer Jan Blockx, in Antwerp;
1886—German composer and conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler, in Berlin;
1913—Polish composer Witold Lutoslawski, in Warsaw;

Premieres:
1817—Rossini: opera, "La Cenerentola" (Cinderella), in Rome at the Teatro Valle;
1902—Franz Schmidt: Symphony No. 1, in Vienna;
1909—R. Strauss: opera "Elektra," in Dresden at the Hofoper;
1946—R. Strauss: "Metamorphosen," in Zürich;
1957—Walton: Cello Concerto, by the Boston Symphony conducted by Charles Munch, with Gregor Piatigorsky the soloist;
1963—Karl Amadeus Hartmann: Symphony No. 8, by the West German Radio Symphony, Rafael Kubelik conducting;

Paine's Symphony No. 1 . . .

John Knowles Paine (1839-1906): Symphony No. 1 in c
New York Philharmonic; Zubin Mehta, cond.
New World 374

On John Knowles Paine
http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2000/05.04/paine.html

Births:
1924—American composer Warren Benson, in Detroit, Michigan;

Deaths:
1795—German composer Johann Christioph Friedrich Bach, age 62, in Bückeburg; He was the ninth son of J.S. Bach;
1993—American composer and teacher Kenneth Gaburo, age 66, in Iowa City;

Premieres:
1790—Mozart: opera, "Così fan tutte," in Vienna at the Burgtheater;
1905—Schoenberg: symphonic poem "Pelleas und Melisande," in Vienna, with the composer conducting;
1908—Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2 in St. Petersburg, with the composer conducting;
1911—Richard Strauss: opera, "Der Rosenkavalier," in Dresden at the Hofoper;
1922—Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 3 "Pastoral," by the Royal Philharmonic, London, Sir Adrian Boult conducting;
1934—Roy Harris: Symphony No. 1, by the Boston Symphony, Serge Koussevitzky conducting;
1952—Ernst von Dohnányi: Violin Concerto No. 2, in San Antonio, Texas;
1957—Poulenc: opera, "Les dialogues des carmélites" (The Dialogues of the Carmelites) in Milan at the Teatro alla Scala, Nino Sanzogno conducting;
1957—Bernstein: "Candide" Overture (concert version), by New York Philharmonic conducted by the composer; The musical "Candide" had opened at the Martin Beck Theater in New York City on December 1, 1956;
1962—Diamond: Symphony No. 7, by the Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy conducting;
1967—Frank Martin: Cello Concerto, in Basel, Switzerland;
1995—Joan Tower: "Duets for Orchestra," by the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Christoph Perick conducting;

Rorem's concerto for the "English" Horn . . .

Ned Rorem (b. 1923): Concerto for English Horn and Orchestra
Thomas Stacy, English horn
Rochester Philharmonic; Michael Palmer, cond.
New World 80489

On Ned Rorem
http://www.nedrorem.com/

Births:
1756—Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, in Salzburg;
1806—Spanish composer Juan Crisostomo Arriage, in Rigoitia;
1823—French composer Edouard Lalo, in Lille;
1885—American composer Jerome Kern, in New York City;

Deaths:
1901—Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi, age 87, in Milan;

Premieres:
1733—Handel: opera "Orlando," in London at the King's Theater in the Haymarket;
1844—Erkel: opera "Hunyady László," considered the first national Hungarian opera, in Budapest;
1849—Verdi: opera "La battaglia di Legnano" (The Battle of Legnano), in Rome at the Teatro Argentina;
1944—Paul Creston: Saxophone Concerto, in New York;
1947—Stravinsky: Concerto in D, in Basle (Switzerland), by the Basle Chamber Orchestra conducted by Paul Sacher (who commissioned the work);
1955—Tippett: opera "The Midsummer Marriage," in London at the Royal Opera House, with John Pritchard conducting;