Handel vs. Swift
George Frederic Handel (1685 – 1757) Messiah Oregon Bach Festival; Helmuth Rilling, cond. Hännsler 98.198
John Birge
YourClassical MPR
Composers Datebook®
Reminding you that all music was once new ® • with host John Birge
Creston's Saxophone Concerto
Paul Creston (1906 – 1985) Saxophone Concerto, Op. 26 James Abato, saxophone; Hollywood Bowl Symphony; Leopold Stokowski, cond. Archival broadcast recording (August 26, 1945)
Argento in Italy
Dominick Argento (b. 1927) Variations for Orchestra (The Mask of Night) Plymouth Music Series Orchestra; Philip Brunelle, cond. Virgin 91184
Post-traumatic Strauss?
Richard Strauss (1864 – 1949) Metamorphosen Vienna Philharmonic; Simon Rattle, cond. EMI 56580
Tavener's "The Whale"
John Tavener (1944 - 2013) The Whale London Sinfonietta and Chorus; David Atherton, cond. Capitol 98497
Chavez goes native
Carlos Chavez (1899 – 1978) Sinfonia India (Symphony No. 2) Simon Bolivar Symphony of Venezuela; Eduardo Mata, cond. Dorian 90179
John Williams goes west
John Williams (b. 1932) The Cowboys Overture Boston Pops; John Williams, cond. Philips 420 178
Bernstein gets political
Leonard Bernstein (1918 – 1990) So Pretty Roberta Alexander, soprano; Tan Crone, piano Etcetera 1007
Kirkpatrick plays Ives
Charles Ives (1874 – 1954) Piano Sonata No. 2 (Concord, Mass., 1840-1860) Marc-André Hamelin, piano New World 378
Quintessential Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi (1813 – 1902) arr. Franz Liszt Miserere fr Il Trovatore Daniel Barenboim, piano Erato 75457 Giuseppe Verdi (1813 – 1902) Anvil Chorus fr Il Trovatore Chicago Symphony and Chorus; Sir Georg Solti, cond. London 466 075
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.