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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.  |
April 2-8, 2007
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Monday, April 2
Beethoven's First ... MUSIC PLAYED ON TODAY'S PROGRAM: Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827): Symphony No. 1 Concertgebouw Orchestra; Bernard Haitink, cond. Philips 442 073 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: On Beethoven's Life and Works More on Beethoven ALSO ON THIS DATE: Births: 1803—German composer and conductor Franz Lachner, in Rain am Lech; Deaths: 1961—American composer Wallingford Riegger, age 75, in New York; Premieres: 1800 — Beethoven: Symphony No. 1, at the Hofburgtheater in Vienna, during a benefit concert for Beethoven (an "Akademie") conducted by the composer; Also on the program was the first public performance of Beethoven's Septet, Op. 20 (A private performance had already taken place at the home of Prince Schwarzenberg); The earliest documented American performance of some or all of Beethoven's First occurred in the Moravian community of Nazareth, Pa., on June 13, 1813; 1911 — Ravel: "Daphnis et Chloe" Suite No, 1, in Paris, with Gabriel Pierné conducting; 1932 — Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 (original version), at a private concert in Munich, at which Siegmund von Hausegger first performed the much revised and cut version of this symphony prepared by Bruckner's pupil, Ferdinand Löwe, then the composer's original score; Clemens Krauss conducted the first public performance of Bruckner's original version with the Vienna Philharmonic on October 23, 1932; 1938 — Quincy Porter: Symphony No. 1, by the New York Philharmonic, with the composer conducting; 1948 — Hartmann: opera "Simplicius Simplicissimus"(concert performance), in Munich by the Bavarian Radio; 1958 — Mayuzumi: "Nirvana-Symphony," in Tokyo; 1970 — Rochberg: "Caprice Variations" for solo violin, by Lewis Kaplan, broadcast live in New York on WBAI's "Free Music Store"; 2005 — Per Norgard: “The Will-o’-the-Wisps Go to Town” (to texts by Hans Christian Andersen and Susanne Broegge), for soloists, chorus and orchestra, in Birmingham, England, by the Birmingham Symphony. Other: 1825 —First documented American performance of Beethoven's "Egmont"Overture, at the City Hotel in New York during an orchestral program conducted by Joseph Herrmann; 1845—Shortly before his 16th birthday, American composer and piano virtuoso Louis Moreau Gottschalk performs a recital in Paris at the Salle Pleyel; Chopin attends, and congratulates Gottschalk on his performance; 1877—American premiere of Wagner's opera "Die Walküre" (The Valkyrie), at the Academy of Music in New York City; 1914—Swiss conductor Ernest Ansermet conducts Stravinsky's Symphony in Eb in Montreux and begins friendship with Stravinsky; Ansermet would become a famous interpreter and champion of this composer's works; In April of 1919, Stravinsky would dedicate a reduced-orchestra version of his "Firebird" Ballet Suite to Ansermet and his newly-formed ensemble, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande.
Tuesday, April 3
Appraising Kurt Weill ... MUSIC PLAYED ON TODAY'S PROGRAM: Kurt Weill (1900–1950): Mahagonny Suite Berlin Philharmonic; Mariss Jansons, cond. EMI 56573 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: On Kurt Weill's Life and Music ALSO ON THIS DATE: Births: 1889—Rumanian composer and violinist Grigoras Dinicu, in Bucharest; He is best known for his virtuoso violin showpiece "Hora staccato" (1906); 1895—Italian-born American composer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, in Florence; Deaths: 1850—Bohemian composer Jan Václav Tomášek (Johann Wenzel Tomaschek), age 75, in Prague; 1868—Swedish composer Frans Berwald, age 71, in Stockholm; 1897—German composer Johannes Brahms, age 63, in Vienna; 1950—German-born American composer Kurt Weill, age 50, in New York City; 1972—American composer and arranger Ferde Grofé, age 80, in Santa Monica, Calif.; Premieres: 1748 — Handel: oratorio "Alexander Balus" (Julian date: March 23); 1786 — Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 24 in c, K. 491, at the Burgtheater in Vienna, with the composer as soloist; 1869 — Grieg: Piano Concerto in a, Op. 16, in Copenhagen, by the Danish Royal Theater Orchestra conducted by Holger Simon Paulli, and Edmund Neupert the soloist; 1911 — Sibelius: Symphony No. 4, in Helsinki, with the composer conducting; 1923 — Roussel: ballet "Le Festin de l'araignée" (The Spider's Feast), in Paris; 1925 — Holst: opera "At the Boar's Head," in Manchester; 1931 — Hindemith: "Concert Music,"by the Boston Symphony (commissioned for the orchestra's 50 th anniversary), with Serge Koussevitzky conducting; 1998 — Tan Dun: "Concerto for Six Players " in Durham, N.C., by the Bang On A Can All-Stars; 2003 — Elliott Carter: "Boston Concerto," by the Boston Symphony, Ingo Metzmacher conducting; Other: 1834—The "Neue Zeitschrift für Musik" (New Journal of Music) begins publication, with Robert Schumann as contributing editor; 1843—The Leipzig Conservatory opens, with Felix Mendelssohn as its director; 1871—American premiere of Wagner's opera "Lohengrin," at the Stadt Theater in New York City; 1926—American premiere of Sibelius' Symphony No. 7, by the Philadelphia Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski conducting.
Wednesday, April 4
A Sondheim opening (and closing) ... MUSIC PLAYED ON TODAY'S PROGRAM: Steven Sondheim (b. 1930): Me and My Town , from Anyone can Whistle Angela Lansbury; orchestra; Paul Gemignani, cond. RCA Victor 60515 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: On Sondheim and his works Amusing Sondheim "factoids" ALSO ON THIS DATE: Births: 1898—Italian-born American jazz violinist Joe Venuti, in Lecco; 1905—French composer and conductor Eugène Bozza, in Nice; Deaths: 1931—American composer George Whitefield Chadwick, age 76, in Boston; 1972—German-born American composer Stefan Wolpe, age 69, in New York; Premieres: 1739 — Handel: oratorio "Israel in Egypt," in London at the King's Theatre in the Haymarket; As an intermission feature, Handel's new Organ Concerto in F ("The Cuckoo and the Nightingale") is also premiered (Gregorian date: April 15); 1859 — Meyerbeer: opera "Le Pardon de Ploërmel" (Dinorah), in Paris; 1867 — Saint-Saëns: Violin Concerto No. 1, at the Salle Pleyel in Paris, by violinist Pablo de Sarasate; 1897 — Chausson: "Poème" for violin and orchestra, in Paris, at a Colonne Concert with Eugene Ysäye as soloist; 1955 — Stravinsky: "Greeting Prelude" (for the 80th birthday of conductor Pierre Monteux), by the Boston Symphony conducted by Charles Munch; 1964 — Sondheim: musical "Anyone Can Whistle" on Broadway; The show ran for only nine performances, closing on April 11, 1964; Nevertheless, the day after its closing, Columbia Records executive Goddard Lieberson makes an original cast recording that becomes a best-seller; 1971 — Broadway premiere of Sondheim: musical "Company"; 1975 — Rochberg: Violin Concerto, by the Pittsburgh Symphony, with Isaac Stern as soloist; 1977 — Gorecki: Symphony No. 3 ("Symphony of Sorrowful Songs"), in Royan, France, with soprano soloist Stefania Woytowicz and the Southwest German Radio Orchestra conducted by Ernest Bour; Other: 1954—Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini (age 87) leads his last concert with the NBC Symphony, an all-Wagner program.
Thursday, April 5
Barber's Cello Concerto ... MUSIC PLAYED ON TODAY'S PROGRAM: Samuel Barber (1910 -1981): Cello Concerto Yo Yo Ma, cello; Baltimore Symphony; David Zinman, cond. CBS/Sony 44900 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: More on Samuel Barber ALSO ON THIS DATE: Births: 1784—German composer, violinist and conductor Ludwig Spohr, in Brunswick; 1869—French composer Albert Roussel, in Tourcoing; 1917—American composer Richard Yardumian, in Philadelphia; Deaths: 1946—American composer Vincent Youmans, age 47, in Denver; Premieres: 1803 — Beethoven: oratorio "Christus am Ölberg" (Christ on the Mount of Olives), Piano Concerto No. 3 and Symphony No. 2 at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, with composer conducting and as piano soloist; 1874 — Jh. Strauss, Jr.: operetta "Die Fledermaus" (The Bat), in Vienna at the Theater an der Wien; 1902 — Ravel: "Jeux d'eau" (Fountains) for piano, in Paris, by Ravel's friend Ricardo Viñes; 1914 — First concert performance of Stravinsky's ballet score, "The Rite of Spring," in Paris, conducted by Pierre Monteux (who also conducted the world premiere of the staged version of the ballet with Diaghilev's Ballet Russe on May 29, 1913); 1939 — Gretchaninoff: Symphony No. 5, by the Philadelphia Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski conducting; 1944 — Cage: "The Perilous Night," for prepared piano, in New York; 1946 — Barber: Cello Concerto, by the Boston Symphony with Serge Koussevitzky conducting and Raya Garbousova the soloist; 1946 — Ives: Symphony No. 3, at the smaller concert room at Carnegie Hall by the Little Orchestra, conducted by Lou Harrison; This work was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music that year; 1951 — Hindemith: Symphony in Bb for concert band, in Washington, DC, with the composer conducting; 1958 — R. Strauss: "Duet-Concertino" for clarinet, bassoon and strings, by the Swiss Italian Radio; 1980 — Christopher Rouse: "Mitternachtslieder" (Midnight Songs), for bass-baritone solo and ensemble, at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, by the Contemporary Directions Ensemble conducted by Stephen Osmond, with vocal soloist Leslie Guinn. Other: 1877—First documented American performance of Handel's "Largo"(from the opera "Xerxes”) as a concert piece (in the arrangement by Joseph Hellmesberger for solo violin and ensemble), at New York's Steinway Hall, by the Theodore Thomas Orchestra, with Simon E. Jacobsohn the violin soloists.
Friday, April 6
Rozsa's Piano Concerto ... MUSIC PLAYED ON TODAY'S PROGRAM: Miklos Rozsa (1907–1995): Piano Concerto Evelyn Chen, piano; New Zealand Symphony; James Sedares, cond. Koch 7402 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: On Miklos Rozsa On Rozsa's film and TV scores ALSO ON THIS DATE: Births: 1660—German composer and organist Johann Kuhnau, in Geising Erzgebirge; He was Bach's predecessor as cantor at St. Thomas Church in Leipzig; 1672—Baptismal date of French composer André Cardinal Destouches, in Paris; 1815—German composer Friedrich Robert Volkman, in Lommatzsch, near Dresden; 1885—French-born American composer and harpist Carlos Salzedo, in Arcachon; 1887—Rumanian opera composer Nicolas Bretan, in Nasaud; 1921—American composer Andrew Imbrie, in New York City; 1929—Soviet composer Edison Denisov, in Tomak; His engineer father named him after Thomas Edison; 1929—German-born American composer, pianist and conductor, André Previn, in Berlin; Deaths: 1971—Russian-born American composer Igor Stravinsky, age 88, in New York City; Premieres: 1731 — Handel: opera "Rindalo" (2nd version), in London at the King's Theater in the Haymarket (Gregorian date: April 17); 1735 — Handel: Organ Concerto Op. 4, no. 5 (Julian date: March 26); 1797 — Beethoven: possible public premiere of the Quintet for Piano and Winds, Op. 16, at a Schuppanzig concert in Vienna; 1892 — Dvorak: Symphony No. 4 in d, in Prague; 1900 — Amy Beach: Piano Concerto in c#, by the Boston Symphony with Wilhelm Gericke conducting and the composer as soloist; 1945 — Randall Thompson: "The Testament of Freedom" (to texts by Thomas Jefferson) for men's chorus and orchestra, by the Boston Symphony, Serge Koussevitzky conducting; This was the first performance with orchestra; The world premiere (with piano accompaniment) had taken place at the University of Virginia on April 13, 1943; 1964 — Stravinsky: "Elegy for J.F.K.," in Los Angeles, conducted by Robert Craft; 1967 — Miklós Rózsa: Piano Concerto, by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, with Leonard Pennario as soloist.
Saturday, April 7
A Passion for Bach ... MUSIC PLAYED ON TODAY'S PROGRAM: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750): St. John Passion Collegium Vocale; Philippe Herreweghe, cond. Harmonia Mundi 90.1748/49 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: More on Bach's life and music A story on Bach's bible ALSO ON THIS DATE: Births: 1726—British composer, music journalist and historian Charles Burney, in Shrewsbury; This date is according to the Julian "Old Style" calendar still in use in England that year; Under the Gregorian "New Style" calendar, this date would be April 18; 1763—Italian composer and double-bass virtuoso Domenico Dragonetti, in Venice; 1899—French composer and pianist Robert Casadesus, in Paris; 1920—Indian composer and sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar, in Benares; Deaths: 1783—German composer Ignaz Holzbauer, age 71, in Mannheim; Premieres: 1713 — Handel: "Utrecht Te Deum," at St. Paul's Cathedral in London (Gregorian date: April 18); 1724 — Bach: "St. John Passion" performed on Good Friday at the Nikolaikirche in Leipzig; 1745 — Handel: oratorio “Belshazzar” (Julian date: March 27); 1805 — first public performance of Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 ("Eroica") at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, with composer conducting; This symphony had been performed at least twice at private concerts arranged in late 1804 and early 1805; 1923 — Hahn: operetta "Ciboulette," in Paris at the Théâtre des Variétés; 1928 — Miaskovsky: Symphony No. 10, in Moscow; 1965 — Henze: opera "Der junge Lord" (The Young Lord), in West Berlin at the Deutsche Oper; 1994 — John Harbison: Cello Concerto, in Boston, with Yo-Yo Ma and the Boston Symphony, Seiji Ozawa conducting; 2005 — Augusta Read Thomas: “Final Soliloquy of the Interior Paramour” for mezzo-soprano, tenor and chamber ensemble, at the Columbia University’s Miller Theater in New York City. Other: 1863—American premiere of Mozart's Symphony No. 40, by the Brooklyn Philharmonic, Theodore Thomas conducting; 1918—The German conductor of the Boston Symphony, Karl Muck, is arrested and interned as an enemy alien after American enters World War I.
Sunday, April 8
Larsen's Calamity Jane songs ... MUSIC PLAYED ON TODAY'S PROGRAM: Libby Larsen (b. 1950): Songs from Letters Benita Valente, soprano; Scottish Chamber Orchestra; Joel Revzen, cond. Koch 7481 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: On Libby Larsen Libby Larsen on "The Composer's Voice" On "Calamity Jane" ALSO ON THIS DATE: Births: 1533—Italian composer and publisher Claudio Merculo, in Correggio; 1692—Italian composer and violin virtuoso Giuseppe Tartini, in Pirano; 1881—Russian composer Nikolai Miaskovsky (Gregorian date: April 20); Deaths: 1848—Italian opera composer Gaetano Donizetti, age 50, in Bergamo; 1858—Austrian composer and publisher Anton Diabelli, age 76, in Vienna; 1920—American composer Charles Tomlinson Griffes, age 35, in New York; 1937—American composer Arthur Foote, age 84, in Boston; Premieres: 1708 — Handel: oratorio "La Resurrezione" (The Resurrection), at the Bonelli Palace in Rome, with Arcangelo Corelli leading the orchestra; 1876 — Ponchielli: opera "La Gioconda," in Milan at the Teatro alla Scala; 1894 — Bruckner: Symphony No. 5, in Graz, with Franz Schalk conducting his own much-edited and re-orchestrated version of Bruckner's score; The Schalk edition was subsequently published as the "official" version of the symphony; The composer's original version of this symphony was first performed in 1935 and published in 1936; 1927 — Varèse: "Arcana" for orchestra, by the Philadelphia Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski conducting; 1931 — Shostakovich: ballet "The Bolt," in Leningrad, at the Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet; 1935 — Bartók: String Quartet No.5, at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, by the Kolisch Quartet; 1938 — Walter Piston: Symphony No. 1, by the Boston Symphony, with the composer conducting; 1949 — Bernstein: Symphony No. 2 ("The Age of Anxiety"), by the Boston Symphony conducted by Serge Koussevutzky, with composer as piano soloist; 1983 — Christopher Rouse: "Rotae Passionis" (Passion Wheels) for chamber ensemble, in Boston, by Boston Musica Viva, Richard Pittman conducting; 1985 — Michael Torke: "The Yellow Pages" for chamber quintet, at Yale University in New Haven, Conn., by the Yale Contemporary Players; 1989 — Libby Larsen: "Songs from Letters" (of Calamity Jane to her daughter), for soprano and orchestra, in New York, by soprano Mary Elizabeth Poorel 1999 — Bright Sheng: "Three Songs" for pipa and cello, at The White House in Washington, DC, by Wu Man (pipa) and Yo-Yo Ma (cello); Other: 1739 —London music publisher John Walsh the younger issues Handel's Trio Sonatas, Op. 5 (Julian date: Feb. 28); 1805—Haydn, age 73, gives his blessing to the late Wolfgang Mozart's 14-year old son, Franz Xaver Mozart, at the teenager's first public concert; 1865—American premiere of Mozart's Sinfonia Concertate in Eb, K. 364(320d) for Violin, Viola, and Orchestra, in New York, with violinist Theodore Thomas and violist Georg Matzka (A review of this concert in the New York Times said: "On the whole we would prefer death to a repetition of this production. The wearisome scale passages on the little fiddle repeated ad nausea on the bigger one were simply maddening.”); 1886—Franz Liszt plays for Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle; 1931—Abram Chasins: "Flirtation in a Chinese Garden" and "Parade" (orchestral versions of two of his "Three Chinese Pieces" for piano) become the first pieces of American music conducted by Arturo Toscanini as music director of the New York Philharmonic. |
