Tag: history

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184 Years is a Long Time

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This is something that baffles and fascinates me. I may have mentioned it here in passing before, but let’s talk about it some more.  We’re on a  little string of piano concertos here (first Arensky, then Rachmaninoff, then Prokofiev, and the next two weeks [well, this week and next week] [at least]), and Mahler is getting VERY in the way of me preparing for these. I’ve been on a kick with listening to LOTS of different interpretations of his pieces (at the time of this writing, I’m currently finishing up a listen to Boulez’s performance of the eighth with Staatskapelle … Continue reading 184 Years is a Long Time

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On this day: week of October 13, 2014

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Another quiet week, but in volume, not content. October 13 Births: —— Deaths: 1981 – Rebecca Clarke, English viola player and composer (b. 1886) One of the quietest days of the year… October 14 1853 – Ciprian Porumbescu, Ukrainian-Romanian composer (d. 1883) 1935 – La Monte Young, American composer; a stretch? Deaths: 1568 – Jacques Arcadelt, Dutch composer (b. 1507) 1669 – Antonio Cesti, Italian organist and composer (b. 1623) 1990 – Leonard Bernstein, American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1918) October 15 Births: 1762 – Samuel Adams Holyoke, American composer and educator (d. 1820) 1818 – Alexander Dreyschock, Czech pianist and composer (d. 1869) Known for his left hand… (?) 1926 – Karl Richter, German … Continue reading On this day: week of October 13, 2014

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On this day: week of October 6, 2014

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October 6 1882 – Karol Szymanowski, Polish pianist and composer (d. 1937) 1886 – Edwin Fischer, Swiss pianist and conductor (d. 1960) Deaths: 1762 – Francesco Manfredini, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1684) 1947 – Leevi Madetoja, Finnish composer (b. 1887) Studied with Sibelius, D’Indy and Fuchs October 7  Births: 1746 – William Billings, American composer (d. 1800) 1835 – Felix Draeseke, German composer (d. 1913) A nice piano sonata I am vaguely familiar with (F#m?) 1936 – Charles Dutoit, Swiss conductor (whom I met  and got an autograph from after sitting front row in a performance with the Royal Philharmonic here in Taipei 1948 – Stephen Rucker, American composer 1955 – Yo-Yo Ma, … Continue reading On this day: week of October 6, 2014

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On this day: week of September 29, 2014

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Kind of a quiet week…. But this is going up a bit early because there’ll be a special post out later today (tomorrow? [depending on your time zone])  September 29 1674 – Jacques-Martin Hotteterre, French flute player and composer (d. 1763) 1920 – Václav Neumann, Czech violinist and conductor (Smetana Quartet) (d. 1995) 1945 – Kyriakos Sfetsas, Greek composer Deaths: — September 30 1791 – The first performance of The Magic Flute, the last opera by Mozart to make its debut, took place at Freihaus-Theater auf der Wieden in Vienna, Austria. Births: 1689 – Jacques Aubert, French violinist and composer (d. 1753) 1743 – Christian Ehregott Weinlig, German cantor and composer (d. 1813) 1852 – Charles Villiers Stanford, … Continue reading On this day: week of September 29, 2014

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On this day: week of September 22, 2014

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Some big names this week…. September 22 1869 – Richard Wagner‘s opera Das Rheingold premieres in Munich. Births: 1788 – Theodore Hook, English composer (d. 1841) 1875 – Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, Lithuanian painter and composer (d. 1911) 1915 – Grigory Frid, Russian composer (d. 2012) 1918 – Henryk Szeryng, Polish-Mexican violinist (d. 1988) 1922 – Romeo Cascarino, American composer (d. 2002) 1929 – Serge Garant, Canadian composer and conductor (d. 1986) 1969 – Tuomas Kantelinen, Finnish composer Deaths: 1993 – Maurice Abravanel, Greek-American pianist and conductor (b. 1903) 2001 – Isaac Stern, Polish-Ukrainian violinist and conductor (b. 1920) September 23 Births: 1642 – Giovanni Maria Bononcini, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1678) 1915 – Julius Baker, American flute player and educator (d. 2003) Deaths: 1835 – Vincenzo … Continue reading On this day: week of September 22, 2014

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On this day: week of September 15, 2014

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September 15 Births: 1690 – Ignazio Prota, Italian composer and educator (d. 1748) 1815 – Halfdan Kjerulf, Norwegian composer (d. 1868) That’s quite a name… 1858 – Jenő Hubay, Hungarian violinist (d. 1937) 1863 – Horatio Parker, American organist, composer, and educator (d. 1919) 1870 – Rose Sutro, American pianist (d. 1957) 1876 – Bruno Walter, German-American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1962) You know, Mahler’s friend and all…  1890 – Ernest Bullock, English organist and composer (d. 1979) 1890 – Frank Martin, Swiss-Dutch composer (d. 1974) 1933 – Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Spanish conductor and composer (d. 2014) Deaths: 1841 – Alessandro Rolla, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1757)  1842 – Pierre Baillot, French violinist and composer … Continue reading On this day: week of September 15, 2014

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On this day: week of September 8, 2014

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Sort of a special week…  September 8 1672 – Nicolas de Grigny, French organist and composer (d. 1703) 1698 – François Francoeur, French violinist and composer (d. 1787) 1824 – Jaime Nunó, Spanish-American composer, conductor, and director (d. 1908) 1841 – Antonín Dvořák, Czech composer (d. 1904) 1917 – Jan Sedivka, Czech-Australian violinist and educator (d. 2009) 1934 – Peter Maxwell Davies, English composer and conductor 1971 – Dustin O’Halloran, American pianist and composer Deaths: 1613 – Carlo Gesualdo, Italian lute player and composer (b. 1566) 1916 – Friedrich Baumfelder, German pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1836) 1944 – Jan van Gilse, Dutch composer and conductor (b. 1881) 1949 – Richard Strauss, German composer (b. 1864) September 9 Births: 1656 – Johann Caspar Ferdinand … Continue reading On this day: week of September 8, 2014

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On this day: Week of September 1, 2014

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September 1 Births: 1653 – Johann Pachelbel, German organist, composer, and educator (d. 1706) 1726 – Johann Becker, German organist, composer, and educator (d. 1803) 1854 – Engelbert Humperdinck, German composer (d. 1921) 1886 – Othmar Schoeck, Swiss composer and conductor (d. 1957) 1935 – Seiji Ozawa, Japanese conductor 1944 – Leonard Slatkin, American conductor and composer Deaths: —— September 2 Births: 1661 – Georg Böhm, German organist and composer (d. 1733) 1862 – Franjo Krežma, Croatian violinist and composer (d. 1881) Deaths: 1397 – Francesco Landini, Italian singer-songwriter, organist, and poet (b. 1335) Holy cow… a singer-songwriter from almost 700 years ago… 2013 – Makoto Moroi, Japanese composer (b. 1930) September 3 1914 – French composer Albéric Magnard is killed after … Continue reading On this day: Week of September 1, 2014

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On this day: week of August 25, 2014

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August 25 Births: 1758 – Franz Teyber, Austrian organist and composer (d. 1810) 1796 – James Lick, American carpenter and piano builder (d. 1876) 1829 – Carlo Acton, Italian pianist and composer (d. 1909) 1902 – Stefan Wolpe, German-American composer (d. 1972) 1915 – Walter Trampler, American viola player and educator (d. 1997) 1918 – Leonard Bernstein, American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1990). Thinking so much about and listening to so much Mahler lately…. I can appreciate Bernstein’s influence as an educator and hugely enormous proponent of Mahler’s works (thanks also, I suppose in part, to Mitropolous), but I tend not to go for his interpretations (granted, I haven’t given them as … Continue reading On this day: week of August 25, 2014

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On this day: week of August 18, 2014

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Week of August 18, 2014 August 18 Births: 1750 – Antonio Salieri, Italian composer and conductor (d. 1825) 1893 – Ernest MacMillan, Canadian conductor and composer (d. 1973) 1910 – Herman Berlinski, Polish-American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 2001) 1916 – Moura Lympany, English pianist (d. 2005) Deaths: 1613 – Giovanni Artusi, Italian composer and theorist (b. 1540) 2004 – Elmer Bernstein, American composer and conductor (b. 1922) Not related to the other Bernstein August 19 Births: 1570 – Salamone Rossi, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1630) 1881 – George Enescu, Romanian violinist, pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1955) 1914 – Fumio Hayasaka, Japanese composer (d. 1955) Deaths: 1900 – Jean-Baptiste Accolay, Belgian violinist, composer, and conductor … Continue reading On this day: week of August 18, 2014

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On this day: Week of August 11, 2014

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Week of August 11, 2014 August 11 1942 – Actress Hedy Lamarr and composer George Antheil receive a patent for a Frequency-hopping spread spectrum communication system that later became the basis for modern technologies in wireless telephones and Wi-Fi. This one’s a stretch, but Wi-Fi is really important, and Antheil was a genius and a composer.  Births: 1748 – Joseph Schuster, German composer (d. 1812) 1919 – Ginette Neveu, French violinist (d. 1949) 1927 – Raymond Leppard, English harpsichord player and conductor 1966 – Juan María Solare, Argentine pianist and composer Deaths: 1868 – Halfdan Kjerulf, Norwegian composer (b. 1815) 1974 – Vicente Emilio Sojo, Venezuelan conductor and composer (Orfeón Lamas) (b. 1887) 1996 – Rafael Kubelík, Czech conductor and composer (b. … Continue reading On this day: Week of August 11, 2014

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On this day: week of August 4, 2014

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The first full week in August. Let’s go.  August 4 Births: 1844 – Henri Berger, German composer and bandleader (d. 1929) 1901 – Louis Armstrong, American trumpeter and singer (d. 1971) 1908 – Kurt Eichhorn, German conductor (d. 1994) 1910 – William Schuman, American composer (d. 1992) Note the single N Deaths: 1942 – Alberto Franchetti, Italian composer (b. 1860) August 5 Births: (this could be the most births on one day so far… holy cow) 1565 – Paola Massarenghi, Italian composer (d. 1565) 1623 – Antonio Cesti, Italian composer (d. 1669) 1694 – Leonardo Leo, Italian composer (d. 1744) Geez. Three in a row 1797 – Friedrich August Kummer, German cellist and composer (d. 1879) 1811 – Ambroise … Continue reading On this day: week of August 4, 2014

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On this day: Week of July 28, 2014

Fugue for Thought

Another week of dates and numbers here. While the process of preparing this is quite interesting and educational, it is also tedious, and I will be glad when we get around to early next year and I won’t be redoing these anymore…Also, lots of famous deaths this week… kind of sad. July 28  Births: 1893 – Rued Langgaard, Danish composer and organist (d. 1952)  1914 – Carmen Dragon, American conductor and composer (d. 1984) You may understand why I was a bit incredulous at this name, and then somewhat also surprised to see it was a man.  Deaths: 1741 – Antonio Vivaldi, Italian violinist and composer … Continue reading On this day: Week of July 28, 2014

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On this day: July 21, 2014

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Missed a few posts last week. Back on track! Let’s go! July 21 Births: 1920 – Isaac Stern, Polish violinist and conductor (d. 2001) Deaths: 2005 – Michael Chapman, English bassoon player (b. 1934) July 22 Births: 1651 – Ferdinand Tobias Richter, Austrian organist and composer (d. 1711) 1702 – Alessandro Besozzi, Italian oboe player composer (d. 1775) 1949 – Alan Menken, American pianist and composer Deaths: — July 23 Births: 1796 – Franz Berwald, Swedish composer (d. 1868) 1838 – Édouard Colonne, French violinist and conductor (d. 1910) 1856 – Arthur Bird, American-German composer (d. 1923) 1928 – Leon Fleisher, American pianist and conductor 1962 – Alain Lefèvre, Canadian pianist and composer Deaths: 1757 – Domenico Scarlatti, Italian composer … Continue reading On this day: July 21, 2014

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On this day: Week of July 14, 2014

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Rather sparse this week.  July 14 Births: 1859 – Willy Hess, German violinist and educator (d. 1928) 1901 – Gerald Finzi, English composer (d. 1956) Deaths: 2010 – Charles Mackerras, Australian conductor (b. 1925) July 15 Births: 1638 – Giovanni Buonaventura Viviani, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1693) 1934 – Harrison Birtwistle, English composer Deaths: 1789 – Jacques Duphly, French harpsichord player and composer (b. 1715) 1857 – Carl Czerny, Austrian pianist and composer (b. 1791) Student of Beethoven.  1930 – Leopold Auer, Hungarian violinist, composer, and conductor (b. 1845) 1959 – Ernest Bloch, Swiss-American composer (b. 1880) July 16 An EVENT!  1782 – First performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart‘s opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail. Births: 1858 – Eugène Ysaÿe, Belgian violinist, composer, … Continue reading On this day: Week of July 14, 2014

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On this day: Week of July 7, 2014

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July 7 Births: 1860 – Gustav Mahler, Austrian composer (d. 1911)- Oh. Yeah. One of the greatest symphonists of all time. Ever. And a brilliant conductor, all around genius musician.  1911 – Gian Carlo Menotti, Italian-American composer (d. 2007) 1976 – Vasily Petrenko, Russian conductor Deaths: 1987 – Germaine Thyssens-Valentin, Dutch-French pianist (b. 1902) 2003 – Izhak Graziani, Bulgarian conductor (b. 1924) July 8  Births: 1604 – Heinrich Albert, German composer and poet (d. 1651) 1882 – Percy Grainger, Australian-American pianist and composer (d. 1961) As cooky (and apparently perverted) as this guy was, I absolutely love his works. We played quite a few in high school.  1900 – George Antheil, American pianist, composer, and author … Continue reading On this day: Week of July 7, 2014

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On this day: Week of June 30, 2014

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Week of June 30, 2014 June 30 1588 – Giovanni Maria Sabino, Italian organist, composer, and educator (d. 1649) 1937 – Michael von Biel, German cellist and composer 1958 – Esa-Pekka Salonen, Finnish conductor and composer  Deaths: 1890 – Samuel Parkman Tuckerman, American composer (b. 1819) Welcome to the seventh month of the year: July 1 Births: 1586 – Claudio Saracini, Italian lute player and composer (d. 1630) 1663 – Franz Xaver Murschhauser, German composer and theorist (d. 1738) Quite a name you have, sir.  1926 – Hans Werner Henze, German composer (d. 2012) Deaths: 1592 – Marc’Antonio Ingegneri, Italian composer (b. 1535) 1784 – Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, German composer (b. 1710) 1925 – Erik Satie, French pianist … Continue reading On this day: Week of June 30, 2014

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On this day: week of June 23, 2014

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June 23 1685 – Antonio Bernacchi, Italian soprano and composer 1711 – Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, Italian instrument maker (d. 1786) 1824 – Carl Reinecke, German pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1910) 1943 – James Levine, American pianist and conductor (I have heard some of his [incomplete] Mahler cycle) Deaths: 1956 – Reinhold Glière, Russian composer (b. 1875) An incredibly non-Russian name, if you ask me.  2012 – Brigitte Engerer, French pianist (b. 1952) June 24 1846 – The saxophone is patented by Adolphe Sax in Paris, France. (to the dismay of band conductors everywhere) Births: 1803 – George James Webb, English-American composer (d. 1887) 1813 – Francis Boott, American composer (d. 1904) 1901 – Harry Partch, American composer and … Continue reading On this day: week of June 23, 2014

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On this day: week of June 16, 2014

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Week of June 16 I know this has zero to do with classical music, but it is a significant piece of history related to a pretty classic book I love: 1904 – Irish author James Joyce begins a relationship with Nora Barnacle and subsequently uses the date to set the actions for his novel Ulysses; this date is now traditionally called “Bloomsday” Births: 1838 – Frederic Archer, English organist, composer, and conductor (d. 1901) Deaths: 1804 – Johann Adam Hiller, German composer and conductor (b. 1728) 1986 – Maurice Duruflé, French organist and composer (b. 1902) 2013 – Richard Marlow, English organist and conductor (b. 1939) June 17 Births: 1818 – Charles Gounod, French composer (d. … Continue reading On this day: week of June 16, 2014

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On this day: Week of June 9, 2014

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What happened this week in history that we should know about? Let’s see.  June 9 As usual, no events. Births: 1732 – Giuseppe Demachi, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1791) 1810 – Otto Nicolai, German composer and conductor (d. 1849) 1865 – Carl Nielsen, Danish violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 1931) I quite like most of Nielsen’s earlier symphonies (earlier meaning everything except the fifth, which I haven’t really grown to appreciate yet [but still wrote about], and the sixth, which is just kind of… perplexing) 1891 – Cole Porter, American composer (d. 1964) I know I have said some bad things about jazz (or intend to), but Cole Porter … Continue reading On this day: Week of June 9, 2014

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On this day: Week of June 2, 2014

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Let’s do this. Anything exciting this week? Maybe no events, but some notable people.  June 2 Not yet. Births: 1857 – Edward Elgar, English composer (d. 1934) 1863 – Felix Weingartner, Croatian-Austrian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1942) 1878 – Wallace Hartley, English violinist and bandleader (d. 1912) I saw bandleader and I thought ‘jazz guy’, but this is the heroic kind of musical version of ‘captain of the ship’; he’s the guy that lead the eight-member band on the Titanic as it went down on April 15. Was that in the movie? 1944 – Marvin Hamlisch, American composer and conductor (d. 2012) Incredibly accomplished if not wholly classical in nature. … Continue reading On this day: Week of June 2, 2014