History is interesting as long as it isn’t boring. 

March 24

1721 – Johann Sebastian Bach dedicated six concertos to Christian Ludwig, margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt, now commonly called the Brandenburg concertos, BWV 1046-1051. (How’s that for a significant event?)

Births:

1962 – Angèle Dubeau, Canadian violinist

Seriously? That’s it? Granted, there were a few I decided not to include.
Deaths:

1653 – Samuel Scheidt, German organist and composer

1916 – Enrique Granados, Spanish pianist and composer

And that’s it for day one. Granados is a pretty important dude. Well, I’ve heard of him. 

March 25

Nothing. Births:

1867 – Arturo Toscanini, Italian conductor 

1881 – Béla Bartók, Hungarian pianist and composer

1930 – David Burge, American pianist, composer, and conductor

Deaths: 

1620 – Johannes Nucius, German composer

1738 – Turlough O’Carolan, Irish harp player and composer

1917 – Spyridon Samaras, Greek composer

1918 – Claude Debussy, French composer

1967 – Renato Cellini, Italian conductor 

1980 – Walter Susskind, Czech-English conductor
Toscanini, Bartok and Debussy. I’ve listened through Bartok’s three piano concertos and they are not my favorite, but are growing on me. He’s made an appearance here before with his Concerto for Orchestra, though it probably needs a revisit. 

March 26

Nothing exciting happened. Again. But people
were born:

1634 – Domenico Freschi Italian composer and priest

1925 – Pierre Boulez, French pianist, composer, and conductor (we will see something involving this dude this week)

Deaths:

1827 – Ludwig van Beethoven, German pianist and composer  (Heard of him?)

Boulez and Beethoven. And Backhaus. I didn’t know Boulez was born on Beethoven’s birthday. That was almost an alliteration. Not intentionally. We will see something from Boulez this week, (not one of his own compositions, but I am working on getting through a few of those too), but unfortunately Beethoven won’t make it into the rotation yet. In fact, he hasn’t made a single appearance thus far; I’m rather intimidated by the idea, for some reason. Oh, perhaps it’s because he’s one of the most famous and most-recognized composers ever to live ever. That could have something to do with it. 

March 27

1416 – Antonio Squarcialupi, Italian organist and composer (that’s just about the squirreliest Italian name I’ve ever seen. Say it. Just say it. You won’t regret it.)

1702 – Johann Ernst Eberlin, German organist and composer

1709 – William Flackton, English organist, viola player, and composer

1710 – Joseph Abaco, Belgian cellist and composer 

1804 – Giacomo Panizza, Italian conductor and composer

1892 – Ferde Grofé, American pianist and composer 

1912 – Robert Hughes, Scottish-Australian composer (the description of this guy’s works sounds interesting…)

1927 – Mstislav Rostropovich, Russian cellist and conductor 

1949 – Poul Ruders, Danish composer (dubious inclusion)

Holy crap a lot of people were born this day. And I knew none of them except for Rostropovich… 

Deaths:

1757 – Johann Stamitz, Czech violinist and composer 

1924 – Walter Parratt, English organist and composer 

March 28

No happenings. Births, though:

1621 – Heinrich Schwemmer German composer and educator

1903 – Rudolf Serkin, Czech-American pianist

1906 – Murray Adaskin, Canadian violinist, composer, and conductor

1919 – Jacob Avshalomov, American composer and conductor

Deaths:

1687 – Constantijn Huygens, Dutch poet and composer 

1818 – Antonio Capuzzi, Italian violinist and composer

1910 – Édouard Colonne, French violinist and conductor

1937 – Karol Szymanowski, Polish pianist and composer

1943 – Sergei Rachmaninoff, Russian pianist, composer, and conductor (Awww…. that’s super sad. What a guy. Made an appearance or two for his symphonies, but there’s plenty more from this guy in the future.)

1949 – Grigoraș Dinicu, Romanian violinist and composer (Heifetz said this guy is the best violinist he’d ever heard)

2012 – Alexander Arutiunian, Armenian pianist and composer (a pianist who wrote a trumpet concerto…)

March 29

Again. Births:

1747 – Johann Wilhelm Hässler, German pianist and composer

1902 – William Walton, English composer

Deaths:

1692 – Nicolaus Bruhns, Danish-German organist, violinist, and composer 

1888 – Charles-Valentin Alkan, French pianist and composer (Liszt claimed this guy was the best pianist he’d ever heard. Contemporary of Liszt and Chopin.)

1911 – Alexandre Guilmant, French organist and composer 

1924 – Charles Villiers Stanford, Irish composer and conductor

1965 – Zlatko Baloković, Croatian violinist 

March 30

Births:

1727 – Tommaso Traetta, Italian composer

1750 – John Stafford Smith, English organist and composer

1926 – Werner Torkanowsky, German conductor 

Deaths:

1864 – Louis Schindelmeisser, German clarinet player, conductor, and composer 

1935 – Romanos Melikian, Armenian composer

1955 – Harl McDonald, American pianist, composer, and conductor 

1960 – Joseph Haas, German composer and educator

1963 – Aleksandr Gauk, Russian conductor and composer 

1977 – Levko Revutsky, Ukrainian composer and educator

Some excitingly big names in this week’s rundown. Shame I can’t address them all this week. But I will in due time. Just not in such a conveniently timely manner. I’m on another train of thought for the next few weeks, flushing out a few things I’ve been trying to get around to for a while, and I think I’m finally getting there. We shall see.