Poster John Birge
John Birge
YourClassical MPR

Composers Datebook®

Reminding you that all music was once new ® • with host John Birge

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Bach's "Coethen" Concertos?

J.S. Bach (1685 – 1750) Brandenburg Concertos The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Delos 3185

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Bartok's Violin Concerto

Béla Bartók (1881 - 1945) Violin Concerto No. 1 Kyung-Wha Chung, violin; Chicago Symphony; Sir Georg Solti, cond. London 411 804

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Harbison's First

John Harbison (b. 1938) Symphony No. 1 Boston Symphony; Seiji Ozawa, cond. New World 80331

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Schubert's Ninth

Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828) Symphony No. 9 in C Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra; Kurt Masur, cond. Philips 426 269

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Handel passes the hat

George Frederic Handel (1685 - 1757) Organ Concerto in A Peter Hurford, organ; Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra; Joshua Rifkin, cond. London 430 569

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Carpenter perambulates

John Alden Carpenter (1876 -1951) Adventrues in a Perambulator National Symphony of Ukraine; John McLaughlin Williams, cond. Naxos 8.559065

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Rachmaninoff makes the cut

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873 - 1943) Piano Concerto No. 4 Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano; Cleveland Orchestra; Vladimir Ashkenazy, cond. London 458 930

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Moby Crumb?

George Crumb (b. 1929) Vox Balaenae (Voice of the Whale) Zizi Mueller, flute; Fred Sherry, cello; James Gemmell, piano New World 357

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Massenet's "Meditation"

Jules Massenet (1842 - 1912) Meditation, fr Thaïs Nigel Kennedy, violin; English Chamber Orchestra EMI 57330

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Beethoven's Fourth

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827) Symphonies Nos. 3 and 4 Chamber Orchestra of Europe; Nikolaus Harnoncourt, cond. Teldec 46452

About Composers Datebook®

Host John Birge presents a daily snapshot of composers past and present, with timely information, intriguing musical events and appropriate, accessible music related to each.

He has been hosting, producing and performing classical music for more than 25 years. Since 1997, he has been hosting on Minnesota Public Radio's Classical Music Service. He played French horn for the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestra and performed with them on their centennial tour of Europe in 1995. He was trained at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Eastman School of Music and Interlochen Arts Academy.