Composers Datebook

SynopsisOn today’s date in 1892, the Adamowski Quartet gave a concert in Boston that included two movements from a string quartet by 32-year old composer Charles Martin Loeffler. For the past 10 years, Loeffler had been the associate concertmaster of the Boston Symphony, and just the previous year they had premiered his first orchestral piece.Loeffler told people he was born in the Alsace region of France in 1861, which would account for his French manners and the French titles he gave some of his pieces. In fact, he was born in Berlin, but he never forgave the Prussians for the political persecution and imprisonment of his father, and left Berlin for Paris as soon as he could.In 1881, at 20, Loeffler came to the United States, where, as he put it, he found Americans “quick to reward genuine musical merit and to reward it far more generously than Europe.” In 1887, he became an American citizen, and in short order established himself as one of our leading composers. After his death in 1935, Loeffler’s music fell into neglect for many decades, but his elegant and well-crafted music is attracting renewed interest — and recordings — today.Music Played in Today's ProgramCharles Martin Loeffler (1861-1935): String Quartet; DaVinci Quartet; Naxos 8.559077

SynopsisOn today’s date in 1930, Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra gave the first staged presentation in America of Igor Stravinsky’s revolutionary ballet The Rite of Spring at Philadelphia’s 4000-seat Opera House — and it was a hot ticket.The Philadelphia Inquirer noted “a milling mob fought and scrambled for entrance to the Opera House … there was a traffic tie-up of taxis and trolleys for blocks beyond, while dignified ladies were seen to pop out of automobiles like rabbits out of hutches, and scurry for blocks on foot, to avoid being late.” This was for what the newspaper described as, “the startling spectacle of bare-legged girls and men whirling madly and stamping upon the stage to an orgiastic fury of sound.”For its American premiere, the original costuming from the work’s Paris premiere was retained, but the choreography was now by Léonide Massine, not Vaslav Nijinsky, and Martha Graham and her Corps de Ballet were the dancers, not Diaghilev’s Ballet Russe.Stokowski, a passionate promoter of Stravinsky’s score, had given its American concert premiere with the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1922 and, in 1940, it was Stokie and the Philadelphians who could accompany Walt Disney’s dinosaurs in his animated Fantasia version of the famous Stravinsky score.Music Played in Today's ProgramIgor Stravinsky (1882-1971): The Rite of Spring; Philadelphia Orchestra; Leopold Stokowski, conductor; Disneyland WDX101

SynopsisOn today’s date in 1959, the Duke University Band under Paul Bryan gave the premiere performance of a new work they had commissioned: the Symphony No. 3 for concert band by American composer Vittorio Giannini.With the growth of concert bands in the 1950s, and success of high-profile performing ensembles like Frederick Fennell’s Eastman Wind Ensemble, composers like Giannini started getting commissions to write new works for these ensembles. In all, Giannini wrote five pieces for concert band, with his Symphony No. 3 the biggest and best known of the lot. Paul Bryan and Duke University were certainly pleased with the new work. Its resounding success encouraged other band directors to commission new concert works for wind band — and, in one fell swoop, the Duke Band achieved national recognition for its initiative.As for Giannini, in his later years he taught a younger generation of composers, first in New York City at Juilliard and the Manhattan School of Music, then in Philadelphia at the Curtis Institute, and finally at the North Carolina School of the Arts, where he served as that institution’s first president. Giannini students included a number of successful composers, including David Amram, John Corigliano, Nicolas Flagello, Adolphus Hailstork and Alfred Reed.Music Played in Today's ProgramVittorio Giannini (1903-1966): Symphony No. 3; University of Houston Wind Ensemble; Tom Bennett, conductor; Naxos 8.570130

SynopsisOn today’s date in 1938, radio listeners across North America tuned to the NBC network to hear the first American performance of the Symphony No. 5 by 32-year-old Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovich. The work premiered in Moscow the previous year to great acclaim, and many American conductors and orchestras were competing to give its first performance here, but it was Artur Rodzinski and the NBC Symphony who were chosen — for two very good reasons.First, he had traveled to Moscow in 1934 to meet Shostakovich and a kind of mutual admiration bond was formed. Second, NBC was willing to pay the outrageously high premium demanded by the Soviet government for the American premiere. Now, $5000 might not seem like a lot to us now, but in 1938 that was the equivalent of well over $100,000 in today’s money — and NBC was willing and able to pony up that much to promote their recently-formed NBC Symphony Orchestra and its coast-to-coast radio broadcasts.Rodzinski’s wife Halina recalled that upon receiving the new score after all the fuss and expense, her husband was at first not impressed, but during rehearsals fell in love with what would become Shostakovich’s most-performed symphony.Music Played in Today's ProgramDmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975): Symphony No. 5; Cleveland Orchestra; Artur Rodzinski, conductor; Sony 19439928772

SynopsisIt’s usually new music that gets terrible reviews, but scanning old newspapers, you’ll find that occasionally old music gets panned with equal venom.On today’s date in 1865, a concert by the Theodore Thomas Orchestra at Irving Hall opened with an orchestral arrangement of a Bach Passacaglia, followed by Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola. The New York Times reviewer was not thrilled with either selection:“The Bach is a fair representation of the treadmill. A culprit may travel on it for a day without advancing a step. It simply goes ‘round and ‘round in the most obvious style, and is generally dull — like a superannuated church warden… The symphony for violin and viola by Mozart is a work generally avoided in Europe. The wearisome scale passages on the little fiddle repeated ad nauseam on the bigger one are simply maddening. On the whole, one would prefer death to a repetition of this production,” he wrote.Thus spake The Times in April of 1865. We should note in its defense that Americans had other matters on their minds that week. The day the review appeared the paper’s headline read: “Union Victory! Peace! Lee Surrenders His Whole Army!”Music Played in Today's ProgramJ.S. Bach (1685-1750) (arr. Respighi): Passacaglia in c; BBC Philharmonic; Leonard Slatkin, conductor; Chandos 9835Wolfgang Mozart (1756-1791): Sinfonia Concertante; Midori, violin; Nobuko Imai, viola; NDR Symphony; Christoph Eschenbach, conductor; Sony 89488

SynopsisFrom 1951 to the time of his death in 1976, Texas-born conductor Victor Alesandro led the San Antonio Symphony. Alessandro was a fine conductor and had a very clever system for attracting talented players to San Antonio. He kept his eyes open for key players about to retire from all the top American orchestras and sent them tempting brochures describing San Antonio’s palm trees, old Spanish houses, and mild winters. Many accepted his invitations, settled in San Antonio, and served as mentors for the Symphony’s younger players.In 1966, for example, John Corigliano, Sr., facing mandatory retirement as the concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic, took up the same position with the San Antonio Symphony.And so it came about that on today’s date in 1968, John Corigliano, Sr., then 67, served as the concertmaster for the world premiere performance of a new piano concerto written by his son, composer John Corigliano, Jr., then 30. The premiere performers, pianist Hilde Somer and the San Antonio Symphony under Alessandro, even recorded the new work for Mercury Records. Although well received at the time, Corigliano’s concerto was rather neglected for many years thereafter, but more recently has been receiving new performances and recordings.Music Played in Today's ProgramJohn Corigliano (b. 1938): Piano Concerto; James Tocco, piano; Louisville Orchestra; Lawrence Leighton Smith, conductor; First Edition FECD-0002

SynopsisCarlos Salzedo, the most influential harpist of the 20th century, was born in Arcachon, France, on today’s date in 1885. He transformed the harp into a virtuoso instrument, developing new techniques showcased in his own compositions and that others like Stravinsky, Schoenberg and Britten adopted in theirs.In 1921, Salzedo and Edgard Varese co-founded the International Composers Guild, promoting works by progressive composers like Bartok and Honegger. Salzedo’s compositions for harp include both transcriptions as well as original works like Scintillation, probably his most famous piece, and Four Preludes to the Afternoon of a Telephone, based on the phone numbers of four of his students.He taught at the Curtis Institute, the Juilliard School, and offered summer courses in Camden, Maine. Hundreds of Salzedo pupils filled harp positions with major orchestras around the world. Salzedo himself entered the Paris Conservatory at age nine and won the premiere prize in harp and piano when he was just 16. He came to America in 1909 at the invitation of Arturo Toscanini, who wanted him as harpist at the Metropolitan Opera, and — curious to note — Salzedo died in the summer of 1961, at 76, while adjudicating Metropolitan Opera regional auditions in Maine.Music Played in Today's ProgramCarlos Salzedo (1885-1961): Scintillation; Carlos Sazledo, harp Mercury; LP MG-80003

SynopsisThe “waltz king” Johann Strauss Jr. was 45 before he tried his hand at writing an operetta, urged on by the management of Vienna’s Theater an der Wien, who wanted to replace the extremely popular French operettas of Jacques Offenbach with some by Vienna’s own famous purveyor of light music.Even so, for the libretto of Strauss’ third operetta, the cagey theater managers hedged their bets by acquiring the rights to a spicy French farce which just happened to be written by the librettists of Offenbach’s biggest hits. The original French farce was considered a little too racy as it stood, so some substantial changes were made before Strauss set to work. The end result, re-titled Die Fledermaus (or The Bat) opened in Vienna on today’s date in 1874.Now, there is an oft-repeated myth that Fledermaus was initially a flop and that it closed after only sixteen performances. But blame that on famous American soprano, Adelina Patti, who had booked the Theater an der Wien for a run of Italian opera performances right after Die Fledermaus was opened. When Patti left Vienna, Die Fledermaus returned for more performances, and has rarely been absent from Viennese stages from that day to this.Music Played in Today's ProgramJohann Strauss II (1825-1899): Die Fledermaus Overture; Vienna Symphony; Robert Stolz, conductor; BMG 72916

SynopsisToday we offer a special “Gong Show” edition of the Composer’s Datebook.On today’s date in 1791, at the height of the French Revolution, the Panthéon in Paris was converted into a mausoleum for national heroes, and the first to be interred there, with great pomp and ceremony, was Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, Comte de Mirabeau, a tremendously popular personage of the day. For dramatic effect during the Count’s funeral procession through the streets of Paris, French composer François Joseph Gossec added an unusual percussion instrument to his funereal wind band: an exotic instrument someone had brought to Paris from the Far East, and known as—you guessed it—the gong.It was reported that whenever the gong was struck during Mirabeau’s funeral procession, cries of terror and fright were heard from the crowd that lined the Parisian streets as the cortège passed.Now terror and fright are bread and butter in the world of grand opera, and so the gong soon was adopted by 19th century composers like Spontini, Meyerbeer, and Wagner, and, in the 20th century, composers like Puccini, Stravinsky, Stockhausen, and George Crumb have also used gongs to—pardon the pun—striking effect!Music Played in Today's ProgramFrançois-Joseph Gossec (1734 – 1829) Marche lugubre The Wallace Collection; John Wallace, cond. Nimbus 5175

SynopsisIn the 19th century, much like today, New Yorkers looking for musical entertainment had a lot to choose from. For example, on today’s date in 1871, the options included these three offerings:First: at Lina Edwin’s Theater, a musical burlesque, Pluto, which The New York Times billed as an “Anglicized and condensed” version of Jacques Offenbach’s racy operetta, Orpheus in the Underworld, with interpolated comic sketches and monologues by the show’s star, the Jerry Seinfeld of the day, the ever-popular comedian Mr. Lingard.Second: for the more serious sort, the American staged premiere of Richard Wagner’s opera, Lohengrin, at the Stadt Theater. The Times noted that Wagner’s opera was “brought out in Germany some 20 years earlier but was unknown here in its entirety until now.” A large audience showed up for the “entirety” of “Lohengrin,” which lasted over four hours and ended around midnight.Finally: at Broadway’s Minstrel Hall, directly from Japan, Satsuma’s Circus offered the amazing Mr. Yadunochi, who first smoked a pipe, then ate it, then while playing on a flute expelled the pipe’s smoke through his instrument; for his finale, Mr. Yadunochi reproduced, as the Times put it “the original pipe whole and unsullied.” Now, that’s entertainment!Music Played in Today's ProgramJacques Offenbach (1819-1890) (arr. Rosenthal): Cancan from Gaite Parisienne; Montréal Symphony; Charles Dutoit, conductor; London 430 718Richard Wagner (1813-1883): Act 3 Prelude from Lohengrin; Berlin Philharmonic; Daniel Barenboim, conductor; Teldec 81791Kozaburo Hirai (1910-2002): Sonata; Kazue Frances Asawa, flute; Kazue Kudo, koto; Crystal 316

SynopsisOn today’s date in 1961, American composer Wallingford Riegger died in New York City, a month shy of what would have been his 76th birthday.Riegger was born in Albany, Georgia, in 1885. Like many American musicians back then, he studied in Germany. In the years before America entered World War I, Riegger worked in both the US and Europe: for three years he was the principal cellist with the St. Paul Symphony in Minnesota; he then served as an assistant voice coach and conductor at German opera houses in Würzburg and Königsberg.Returning home in 1918, Riegger spent ten years teaching, eventually settling in New York in 1928. There he got to know Henry Cowell, Charles Ives, and other “ultra-modern” composers. Riegger’s early music had been in the traditional mode, but he quickly established himself as one of the leading figures in the more experimental American music scene.In the 1930s, Riegger, like Copland, worked with the pioneers of modern American dance, including Martha Graham, and composed ballet scores. From 1938 on, however, he concentrated on non-theatrical scores, including symphonies and chamber works.Riegger’s mature works blend atonality with traditional musical forms and dance rhythms, even on occasion some jazzy American syncopation.Music Played in Today's ProgramWallingford Riegger (1885-1961): Wind Quintet; New York Woodwind Quintet; Bridge 9068

SynopsisOn this date in 1747, London concert-goers gathered in response to a newspaper announcement, which read, “At the Theatre-Royal in Covent-Garden will be perform’d a new oratorio, call’d Judas Maccabaeus … no person to be admitted without tickets … at half a guinea each.”The composer of this piece was George Frideric Handel. Over time, one choral tune in Judas Maccabaeus, “See, the Conqu’ring Hero Comes,” became something generations of audience members would whistle or hum on their way home. Oddly enough, audiences wouldn’t have heard that tune at the 1747 premiere, since Handel only added it to his score years later, after first using it in another oratorio altogether. Fifty years after the oratorio’s premiere, Beethoven composed 12 variations on “See, the Conqu’ring Hero Comes” for piano and cello, and 90 years after Beethoven, the melody was used for an Easter hymn some of us know as Thine Be the Glory. The tune also appears in a much rowdier context during the annual Last Night of the Proms concert in London, since it crops up in Henry Wood’s Fantasia on British Sea Songs, an almost obligatory party piece played on that occasionMusic Played in Today's ProgramLudwig van Beethoven (1770-1827): Variations on Handel’s ‘See, the conquering hero comes’; Henry Wood, conductor; Fantasia on British Sea Songs

SynopsisOn today’s date in 1837, Princess Cristina Belgiojoso-Trivulzio, scored the social coup of the season at her Parisian salon. Ostensibly, it was the culmination of a three-day fundraiser in aid of Italian political refugees, but it really was the artistic equivalent of a prize fight — the fists in question pummeling the piano keyboard, a digital confrontation of the two leading virtuoso pianists of the day, Sigismund Thalberg and Franz Liszt.Thalberg was up first, playing his own Fantasy on Themes from Rossini’s opera, Moses. Liszt followed with one of his fantasias based on operatic themes. The music critic for the prestigious Journal des Debats was present, and he wrote, “Never was Liszt more controlled, more thoughtful, more energetic, more passionate. Never has Thalberg played with greater verve and tenderness. Each used every one of his resources. It was an admirable joust. The most profound silence fell over the noble crowd assembled, and, finally, Liszt and Thalberg were both proclaimed victors by this glittering and intelligent assembly. Thus: two victors and no vanquished.”When asked for her verdict who had “won” the contest, the hostess, Princess Cristina replied with consummate diplomacy: “Thalberg is the first pianist in the world — Liszt is unique,” she said. Music Played in Today's ProgramSigismund Thalberg (1812-1871): Fantasy on Rossini’s ‘The siege of Corinth’; Francesco Nicolosi, piano; Marco Polo 8.223367Franz Liszt (1811-1886): Fantasia on Italian Operatic Melodies; Andreas Pistorius, piano Capriccio 10076

SynopsisIn 2002, film director Godfrey Reggio released his latest movie. Naqoyqatsi — the Hopi word for “life as war” — was Reggio’s third and final installment in a trilogy of unusual, non-narrative films, all with Hopi titles, each comprised of visually striking, collage-like visuals set against hypnotic film scores by American composer Philip Glass. Naqoyqatsi may have been a non-narrative film, Reggio described his 2002 film as a symphony in three movements, and even provided descriptive titles: Movement 1 — “language and place gives way to numerical code and virtual reality”; Movement 2 — “life becomes a game”; Movement 3 — “a world that language can no longer describe.”Fast forward ten years to 2012, when Glass had been commissioned to turn his Naqoyqatsi film score into a concert work for cello and orchestra. In the film score, solos played by famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma featured prominently, so this “repurposing” of film score seemed a logical step. And so, on today’s date in 2012, Glass’ Cello Concerto No. 2, Naqoyqatsi, received its premiere performance with the Cincinnati Symphony conducted by Dennis Russell Davies and Matt Haimowitz as the cello soloist.Music Played in Today's ProgramPhilip Glass (b. 1938): Cello Concerto No. 2 (Naqoyqatsi); Matt Haimovitz, cello; Cincinnati Symphony; Dennis Russell Davies, conductor; Orange Mountain Music CD 0087

SynopsisOk, if you say, “band music,” most people think “marching bands; sporting events.” So if someone tells you there is a band work titled Ra, you might automatically respond: “sis-boom-ba.” But that’s not at all what composer David Dzubay had in mind. He was thinking of Ra, the ancient Egyptian sun god.A major figure in Egyptian mythology, the sun god Ra was born anew each day and journeyed across the sky doing battle with his chief enemy, a serpent named Apep. Dzubay’s band composition, Ra is, as he described it, “a rather aggressive depiction of an imagined ritual of sun worship, perhaps celebrating the daily battles of Ra and Apep.”He arranged his piece — which was originally written for orchestra — for concert band, and in this incarnation won an annual competition for new bands works. Ra was first performed by the Indiana University Symphonic Band, led by Ray Cramer at the College Band Directors’ National Convention in Minneapolis on today’s date in 2003. Both the venue and the performers selected for that premiere must have seemed particularly gratifying to Dzubay, since he was born in Minneapolis and received his Doctorate in Music at Indiana University.Music Played in Today's ProgramDavid Dzubay (b. 1964): Ra; University of North Texas Wind Symphony, Eugene Corporon, conductor; Klavier 11137

SynopsisIn Beethoven’s day, there were no independent symphonic orchestras in Vienna, so when Ludwig van wanted to put on an orchestral concert, the way he did it was to hire a theater orchestra for a night or two. Now, Viennese theaters were usually pretty busy and well booked up, but in Catholic Austria, they would shut down for a few weeks each year during Lent, which explains why a number of his symphonies premiered in April when the orchestras were available for hire.It wasn’t until today’s date in 1842 that Vienna’s most famous independent orchestra played its first concert, and even then, as it still does today, the Vienna Philharmonic also doubles as the orchestra of the Vienna Opera.German composer and conductor Otto Nicolai led that first concert of the Vienna Philharmonic. The program included Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony and, not surprisingly, Beethoven remains core repertory for the Vienna Philharmonic, along with those other two Viennese “Bs” — Brahms and Bruckner. But in the 20th century, the Austrian orchestra presented important European premieres of works by Samuel Barber and Leonard Bernstein, two notable American “Bs.” And more recently, the Vienna Philharmonic premiered Diversions by the German-born, American composer and conductor, Andre Previn.Music Played in Today's ProgramLudwig van Beethoven (1770-1827): Symphony No. 7; Vienna Philharmonic; Leonard Bernstein, conductor; DG 419 434André Previn (1930-2019): Diversions Vienna Philharmonic; André Previn, conductor; DG 471 028

SynopsisOne of the preeminent figures in 20th century Japanese concert music was composer Toshiro Mayuzumi, born in Yokohama in 1929.The range of his music reflects a curious turn of mind. He wrote pieces in a neo-Romantic mode, experimented with electronic music and jazz, composed aggressively avant-garde works, and scored music for theater, and both Japanese and American films. In 1958, he composed a Nirvana Symphony, inspired by the haunting sound of Japanese temple bells.“For the past few years, I feel as if I have been possessed by bells. I wonder why it is that, no matter how splendid a piece of music may be, it sounds totally faded and worthless when set beside the lingering resonance of a temple bell,” Mayuzumi wrote. The Nirvana Symphony of 1958 was followed up with another orchestral work inspired by Buddhist themes, a Mandala Symphony, which premiered in Tokyo on today’s date in 1960.Mayuzumi’s 1976 opera, Kinkakuji, or The Golden Pavilion, is based on a novel by Yukio Mishima, which, thanks to a New York City Opera production in 1995, became the first Japanese grand opera to be staged in the U.S.Toshiro Mayuzumi died in 1997 at 68.Music Played in Today's ProgramToshiro Mayuzumi (1929-1997): Nirvana Symphony; Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony; Hiroyuki Iwaki, conductor; Denon 78839