Composers Datebook

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Composers Datebook

Composers Datebook™ is a daily two-minute program designed to inform, engage, and entertain listeners with timely information about composers of the past and present. Each program notes significant or intriguing musical events involving composers of the past and present, with appropriate and accessible music related to each.

  1. 1 DAY AGO

    A belated Schumann premiere

    Synopsis On today’s date in 1937, a gala concert in Berlin presented the premiere performance of Robert Schumann’s Violin Concerto, a work composed in the fall of 1853, shortly before Schumann’s tragic mental collapse. The concerto was never given a public performance during Schumann’s lifetime, although great 19th century violinist Joseph Joachim read through the score during an orchestral rehearsal early in 1854 and played the work privately in 1855 with piano accompaniment provided by Schumann’s wife, Clara. Clara, Joachim and their mutual friend Johannes Brahms all judged the concerto subpar and perhaps embarrassing evidence of Schumann’s declining mental state. Oddly enough, the 1937 premiere in Berlin, attended by none other than Adolf Hitler, was presented as part of the Nazi’s Strength Through Joy cultural program. German commentators touted Schumann’s ties to the German “folk,” while American critics bemoaned that most of the great German violinists of the day were unavailable for this important premiere, having all left Germany for racial or political reasons. On this side of the Atlantic, it was violinist Yehudi Menuhin who gave the American premiere of Schumann’s long-neglected concerto a month later, first with piano accompaniment at Carnegie Hall, then later with the St. Louis Symphony. Music Played in Today's Program Robert Schumann (1810-1856): Violin Concerto; Gidon Kremer, violin; Philharmonia Orchestra; Riccardo Muti, conductor; EMI 69334

    2 min

  2. 2 DAYS AGO

    Bach's wake up call?

    Synopsis As a busy church musician, Johann Sebastian Bach wrote around 300 sacred cantatas. That seems a high number to us — but consider that his contemporaries Telemann and Graupner composed well over a thousand cantatas each! In what surviving documents we have, Bach himself rarely uses the Italian term “cantata” to describe these pieces, preferring “concertos” or simply “the music” to describe these works intended for Lutheran church services. It was only in the 19th century, as Bach’s music was being collected and catalogued, that the term “cantata” would become the official label for this sizeable chunk of Bach’s output. On today’s date in 1731, the 27th Sunday after Trinity that year, Bach presented what would become one of his most popular cantatas: Wachet auf, Ruft uns die Stimme, or Awake, the Voice Calls to Us. In that 19th century catalog of Bach’s works, this is his Cantata No. 140. The text is based on a Gospel parable recounting the story of the wise and foolish virgins, who are called, ready or not, to participate in a wedding feast. The opening choral melody may have been already familiar to Bach’s performers and congregation, but his dramatic setting of it is downright ingenious. Music Played in Today's Program J.S. Bach (1685-1750): Cantata No. 140 (Wachet auf, Ruft uns die Stimme); Bach Ensemble; Helmuth Rilling, conductor; Laudate 98.857

    2 min

  3. 3 DAYS AGO

    Diamond's 'Rounds'

    Synopsis In 1944, while World War II ground on in Europe and Asia, David Diamond’s Rounds for String Orchestra received its premiere performance by the Minneapolis Symphony and its then conductor, Dimitri Mitropoulos.  “Write me a happy work,” Mitropoulos had asked Diamond. “These are distressing times, most of the difficult music I play is distressing. Make me happy.” To some in 1944, Rounds sounded as if Diamond had turned to traditional American folk music, but, as the composer put it, “the tunes are original. They sound like folk tunes, but they are really the essence of a style that must have been absorbed by osmosis.” Even the stodgy conservative music critic of the St. Paul Pioneer Press expressed her grudging admiration. “It reveals a good deal of talent and resourcefulness” was her verdict. Reviewing a subsequent Boston Symphony performance under Koussevitzky, New York Times critic Olin Downes was much more enthusiastic. He wrote, “It is admirably fashioned, joyous and vernal. There is laughter in the music.” Rounds has gone on to become one of Diamond’s most frequently performed works. Perhaps joy and laughter in music remains as rare and precious a commodity now as it was back in those distressed days of 1944. Music Played in Today's Program David Diamond (1915-2005): Rounds; Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra; Gerard Schwarz, conductor; Nonesuch 79002

    2 min

  4. 4 DAYS AGO

    Short (but tough) Copland

    Synopsis On today’s date in 1934, after 10 intense rehearsals, the Orquestra Sinfonica de Mexico, conducted by the Carlos Chávez, gave the premiere performance of the Symphony No. 2 of American composer Aaron Copland. Copland’s Symphony No. 2 was titled The Short Symphony, but there was a lot packed into its 15-minute duration. He said, “The Short Symphony’s preoccupation is with complex rhythms, combined with clear textures. Sonority-wise, the most rhythmically complex moments have a certain lightness and clarity.” “Shortly after its Mexican introduction, the piece was announced for an American premiere by Leopold Stokowski with the Philadelphia Orchestra but was never given,” Copland recalled. “A similarly announced performance by the Boston Symphony under Koussevitzsky was also cancelled. Both told me subsequently that they had announced performances because they had admired the work, but that the composition was so intricate from a rhythmic standpoint that they dared not attempt a performance within the allotted period.” In 1937, Copland recast his Short Symphony as a chamber sextet, leaving the music fundamentally unchanged, but re-barring the score to make it less challenging for performers. It wasn’t until the 1980s, decades after its Mexican premiere, that his symphony was performed by American orchestras in its original form. Music Played in Today's Program Aaron Copland (1900-1990): Symphony No. 2 (Short Symphony); San Francisco Symphony; Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor; BMG 68541

    2 min

  5. 5 DAYS AGO

    Music for St. Cecilia's Day

    Synopsis Today is the Feast Day of St. Cecilia, the patron saint of music and musicians. Over time, her Feast Day came to be celebrated with special works composed in her honor, all extolling the power of music. Of these, the most famous were written by three great British composers: Henry Purcell, George Frederick Handel and Benjamin Britten. In the 17th century, Henry Purcell wrote four cantatas, or odes for St. Cecilia’s Day. The most famous of these, Hail! Bright Cecilia! was written in 1692. British poet John Dryden, a contemporary of Purcell’s, wrote two poems in praise of St. Cecilia. These attracted the attention of great British composer of the following century, George Frederick Handel. The first, Alexander’s Feast premiered in 1736 — oddly enough not on St. Cecilia’s Day — but proved so popular that Handel set Dryden’s other ode to St. Cecilia, From Harmony, Heavenly Harmony, and performed both pieces on today’s date in 1739. Great 20th-century British composer Benjamin Britten was actually born on St. Cecilia’s Day in 1913. In the early 1940s, British poet W.H. Auden wrote Anthem for St. Cecilia’s Day for Britten, who set it to music in 1942. Music Played in Today's Program Henry Purcell (1659-1695): Hail Bright Cecilia!; Gabrieli Consort; Paul McCreesh; Archiv 445 882 George Frederic Handel (1685-1759): Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day; English Concert; Trevor Pinnock, conductor; Archiv 419 220 Benjamin Britten (1913-1976): Hymn to St. Cecilia; London Sinfonietta Voices; Virgin 90728

    2 min

  6. 6 DAYS AGO

    Harbison's 'Flight into Egypt'

    Synopsis On today’s date in 1986, at the New England Conservatory of Music, a new choral work by American composer John Harbison received its premiere performance. The Flight into Egypt was scored for soprano, baritone, chorus and chamber orchestra, and would win the Pulitzer Prize for Music the following year. The text for Harbison’s cantata is taken from the Gospel of Matthew describing the Holy Family’s escape into Egypt after the birth of Jesus and King Herod’s subsequent slaughter of all newborn male children in an attempt to kill this prophesied threat to his throne. “The Flight began in a conversation with colleagues about Christmas texts. We talked about counseling experiences during Christmas season at Emmanuel Church, Boston, where we were all involved as musicians — a time when need, isolation, and anxiety increase. We agreed that the darker side of Christmas needs representation, especially now, as the distance widens between the privileged and the less fortunate,” Harbison recalled. “At the beginning of The Flight into Egypt, is an oboe melody, exotic and forlorn, imitated by the other reed players,” Harbison continued. “The piece constantly hides and reveals its loyalty to the first oboe melody that guides the whole journey.” Music Played in Today's Program John Harbison (b. 1938): Flight into Egypt; Cantata Singers and Ensemble; David Hoose, conductor; New World 80395

    2 min

  7. 20 NOV

    Meredith Monk

    Synopsis American composer, singer, dancer and choreographer Meredith Monk was born in New York City on today’s date in 1942. Monk attended Sarah Lawrence College, where she studied theatre, dance and music. After graduating in 1964, she began performing pieces that combined gesture and movement with vocal and visual elements. Around that time, a number of contemporary composers had begun stretching the boundaries of instrumental music, but, as she recalls, there wasn’t much happening regarding extended vocal techniques. Monk began testing how she could stretch the range, timbre and character of her own singing, inventing a vocabulary based on her particular voice — as she explains it, just as a dancer would develop a vocabulary of movement particular to their body. Considering her long-standing interest in integrating music with movement and visuals, opera seemed a natural outlet for Monk’s talents, and in 1993 she premiered a full-length opera, Atlas. Atlas was inspired by the life of Alexandra David-Neel, a scientist who was the first Western woman to travel in Tibet. It seemed a natural choice for Monk, for whom exploration and curiosity are so important. “If I knew what I was looking for, it wouldn’t be that interesting,” she said. Music Played in Today's Program Meredith Monk (b. 1942): Atlas; Meredith Monk Ensemble; Wayne Hankin, conductor; ECM 1491

    2 min

  8. 19 NOV

    Gershwin's last film score

    Synopsis In the summer of 1936, the songwriting team of George and Ira Gershwin settled their affairs in New York, put their furniture in storage, and flew off to Hollywood to fulfill a contract with the RKO Studios. The Gershwins were to supply music for a series of new movies, some starring an old friend of theirs, dancer Fred Astaire. In those days the big movie studios moved quickly, and so did the Gershwins. The first film in the contracted series, with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers as the romantic leads, was Shall We Dance and was completed, scored and released in less than a year. On today’s date in 1937, RKO Studios released their second Gershwin collaboration, Damsel in Distress. This starred Astaire and Joan Fontaine, and included two songs that would become Gershwin classics: “A Foggy Day in London Town” and “Nice Work if You Can Get It.” The release of Damsel in Distress, however, must have been a bittersweet event for the friends and family of George Gershwin: it proved to be the last major project Gershwin had completed before his untimely death on July 11 that same year following surgery to remove a brain tumor. Music Played in Today's Program George Gershwin (1898-1937): Damsel in Distress Suite (An American in London); (Hollywood Bowl Orchestra; John Mauceri, conductor; Philips 434 274

    2 min
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About

Composers Datebook™ is a daily two-minute program designed to inform, engage, and entertain listeners with timely information about composers of the past and present. Each program notes significant or intriguing musical events involving composers of the past and present, with appropriate and accessible music related to each.

Information

  • Creator
    American Public Media
  • Years Active
    2007 - 2024
  • Episodes
    35
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2024 Minnesota Public Radio

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