"Basics" by Koussevitzky and Meyer ...

Serge Koussevitsky (1874-1951): Doublebass Concerto
Gary Karr, double bass;
Berlin Radio Symphony; Uros Lajovic, cond.
Koch-Schwann 11063 (distributed by Koch International)
&
Edgar Meyer (b. 1960): Quintet
Edgar Meyer, double bass; Emerson String Quartet
DG 453 506

On composer Edgar Meyer:
http://www.edgarmeyer.com/

Births:
1727 -French composer and organist Armand-Louis Couperin, in Paris;
1943—George Harrison (of the Beatles), in Liverpool, England;

Deaths:
1643—Italian composer Marco da Gagliano, age 60, in Florence;
1882—Italian composer Alessandro Stradella, age 37, is murdered in Genoa, apparently in retaliation for running off with a Venetian nobleman's mistress;
1906—Russian composer Anton Arensky, age 44, in a tuberculosis sanatorium in Terijoki, Finland;

Premieres:
1850—R. Schumann: "Concertstück (Concert Piece)" for Four Horns and Orchestra, by the horn quartet of Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Julius Rietz conducting that orchestra;
1888—Benjamin Godard: opera "Jocelyn," in Brussels;
1911—Victor Herbert: opera "Natoma.", in Philadelphia;
1932—Carl Ruggles: "Sun-Treader" for orchestra, by the Paris Symphony, Nicholas Slonimsky conducting;
2001—Robert Capanna: String Quartet No. 2, in Philadelphia, by the Mendelssohn String Quartet;

Sketch portrait of French composer Georges Bizet

Symphonies by Bizet and Harris ...

Georges Bizet (1823-1892): Symphony No. 1 in C
ORTF Orchestra; Jean Martinon, cond.
DG 437 371
&
Roy Harris (1899-1979): Symphony No. 5
The Louisville Orchestra; Robert Whitney, cond.
Albany 012 (currently out-of-print)

On composer Roy Harris
http://www.royharrisamericancomposer.com/

Births:
1770—Bohemian-French composer Anton (Antoine) Reicha, in Prague;
1879—English composer Frank Bridge, in Brighton;

Deaths:
1770—Italian composer and violinist Giuseppe Tartini, age 77, in Padua, age 77;
1981—American conductor, composer and Eastman School of Music director, Howard Hanson, age 84, in Rochester, N.Y.;

Premieres:
1751—Handel: oratorio "Jephtha," in London at the Covent Garden Theatre;
1899—Bruckner: Symphony No. 6 (heavily cut), by Vienna Philharmonic, with Gustav Mahler conducting; On February 11, 1883, Wilhlem Jahn had conducted the Vienna Philharmonic in premiere public performance of this symphony's 2nd and 3rd movements only;
1922—Saint-Saëns: "Carnival of the Animals," in Paris;
1939—Copland: Sextet (arranged from "Short Symphony"), at Town Hall in New York City, by a Juilliard graduate ensemble;
1946—R. Strauss: Oboe Concerto, by the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra conducted by Volkmar Andreae, with Marcel Saillet as soloist;
1953—Bernstein: musical "Wonderful Town," at the Winter Garden in New York City; A trial run of the show had opened in New Haven at the Schubert Theater on January 19, 1953;
1959—Rochberg: Symphony No. 2, in Cleveland;
2001—Klass De Vries: "...sub nocte per umbras" (through the real of spirits), at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, by the San Francisco Contemporary Players;

Others:
1832—Chopin makes his debut in Paris playing his Piano Concerto No. 2;

Timely music by Beethoven and Leroy Anderson ...

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827): Symphony No. 8 in F, Op. 93
Berlin Philharmonic; Herbert von Karajan, cond.
DG 429 036
&
Leroy Anderson (1908-1975): The Syncopated Clock
St Louis Symphony; Leonard Slatkin, cond.
BMG/RCA 68048

Births:;
1848—English composer (Sir) Hubert Parry, in Bournemouth;

Deaths:

1887—Russian composer Alexander Borodin, age 53, at a fancy dress ball in St. Petersburg;

Premieres:
1913—Walter Damrosch: opera, "Cyrano de Bergerac," at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City;
1947—Peter Mennin: Symphony No. 3, by the New York Philharmonic, Walter Hendel conducting;
1949—Elliott Carter: Cello Sonata & Woodwind Quintet, at the same concert in New York City;
1949—Wm. Schuman: Symphony No. 6, by the Dallas Symphony, Antal Dorati conducting;
1986—U. Zimmermann: opera "Weisse Rose" (White Rose), in Hamburg by the Opera stabile;
1999—Peter Lieberson: Horn Concerto, at Carnegie Hall, with soloist William Purvis and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra;

American composer George Tsontakis Photo: Joanne Eldredge Morrissey/courtesy Theo. Presser Co.

Tsontakis tackles TSE ...

George Tsontakis (b. 1951): Four Symphonic Quartets
Monte Carlo Philharmonic; James DePreist, cond.
Koch International 7384

On George Tsontakis:
http://www.presser.com/tsontakis.html

Births:
1876—American composer John Alden Carpenter, in Park Ridge, Illinois;

Premieres:
1688—M.A. Charpentier: opera "David et Jonathas," in Paris;
1862—Gounod: opera "La Reine de Saba" (The Queen of Sheba), in Paris;
1904—d'Indy: Symphony No. 2 in Paris;
1912—Nielsen: Symphony No. 3 ("Sinfonia espansiva" & Violin Concerto (with soloist Emil Telmányi), in Copenhagen, with the composer conducting;
1920—Ravel: orchestral suite "Le Tombeau de Couperin," at a Pasdeloup Concert in Paris;
1929—Pizzetti: "Concerto dell'estate" (Summer Concerto) by the New York Philharmonic, Arturo Toscanini conducting;
1936—Roy Harris: Symphony No. 2, by the Boston Symphony & "Prelude and Fugue" for strings by the Philadelphia Orchestra;
1940—Cowell: "Old American Country Set," in Indianapolis;
1976—Ralph Shapey: oratorio "Praise" in Chicago;
1991—John Harbison: Symphony No. 3, by the Baltimore Symphony, David Zinman conducting;

Others:
1882—The Royal College of Music is founded in London.

A fanfare for Women's History Month . . .

Joan Tower (b.1938): Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman No. 1
Colorado Symphony; Marin Alsop, cond.
Koch International 7469

On Joan Tower: http://www.schirmer.com/composers/tower_bio.html

Births:
1896 — Greek conductor and composer Dimitri Mitropoulos, in Athens;

Deaths:
1643 — Italian composer Girolamo Frescobaldi, age 59, in Rome;
1976 — French conductor and composer Jean Martinon, age 66, in Paris;

Premieres:
1916 — U.S. premiere of Mahler's Symphony No. 8, with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski conducting;
1942 — Shostakovich: Symphony No. 7 ("Leningrad") by the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra, conducted by Samuel Abramovitch Samosud, in Kuibyshev (the temporary Soviet capital where the musicians and Shostakovich had been evacuated);
1950 — Menotti: opera "The Consul," in Philadelphia at the Shubert Theatre; The opera opened in New York City on March 15, 1950, and won that year's Pulitzer Prize for Music;
1958 — Pizetti: opera "Assassinio della cattedrale" (based on T.S. Eliot's play "Murder in the Cathedral"), at the Teatro della Scala in Milan;
1979 — Sondheim: musical "Sweeny Todd," in New York City.

Fritz (Delius) in Florida . . .

Frederick Delius (1862-1934): Florida Suite
Welsh National Opera Orchestra; Sir Charles Mackerras, cond.
Argo 430 206

On Frederick ("Fritz") Delius:
(scroll down to Delius on this Web site's "composer"menu)
http://www.ny.boosey.com/pages/Composer/composer_main_page.asp

Births:
1824 — Bohemian composer Bedrich Smetana, in Leitomischl;
1900 — German-born American composer Kurt Weill, in Dessau;
1905 — American composer Marc Blitzstein, in Philadelphia;
1917 — British composer John Gardner, in Manchester;
1921 — British composer Robert Simpson, in Leamington;

Premieres:
1792 — Haydn: Symphony No. 98, conducted by the composer, at the Hanover-Square Concert Rooms in London;
1795 — Haydn: Symphony No. 103 ("The Drumroll"), conducted by the composer, at the King's Theater in London;
1887 — R. Strauss: "Aus Italien" (From Italy), in Munich;
1961 — Copland: Nonet for Strings, at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C., by members of the National Symphony conducted by the composer;
1977 — Benjamin Lees: "Dialogue" for cello and piano, in New York City.

"Please don't have Carmen die at the end, I pray you . . ."

Georges Bizet (1838-1875): Carmen Suite
Orchestre de la Bastille; Myung-Whun Chung, cond.
DG 431 778

Deaths:
1706 — German composer Johann Pachelbel, age 52, in Nuremberg;
1932 — British-born German composer and pianist Eugène d'Albert, age 67, in Riga;

Premieres:
1793 — Haydn: Symphony No. 101 ("The Clock"), conducted by the composer, at the Hanover-Square Concert Rooms in London;
1842 — Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3 ("Scotch"), by the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, with the composer conducting;
1853 — revised version of R. Schumann: Symphony No. 4, with the Düsseldorf Municipal Orchestra, conducted by the composer;
1870 — Brahms: "Alto Rhapsody," by the singer Pauline Viardot-Garcia, in Jena, Germany;
1899 — R. Strauss: tone-poem "Ein Heldenleben" (A Hero's Life), in Frankfurt, with Strauss conducting;
1922 — American premiere of concert version of Stravinsky's ballet score, "The Rite of Spring," in Philadelphia, with Leopold Stokowski conducting;
1951 — Otto Luening: "Kentucky Concerto" by the Louisville Orchestra, with the composer conducting;
1959 — Cowell: Symphony No. 13 ("Madras") in Madras, India;
1963 — Menotti: television opera "Labyrinth," broadcast over the NBC network.