Poster John Birge
John Birge
YourClassical MPR

Composers Datebook®

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

Composer's Datebook - 20220807

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Mendelssohn gets wet and wild

On today’s date in 1829, the German composer Felix Mendelssohn and his friend, Karl Klingemann, were on the North Sea bound for Glasgow.

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An opera debut for Britten and Bernstein

On today's date in 1946, Leonard Bernstein conducted the American premiere of Benjamin Britten's opera, "Peter Grimes," at the Tanglewood Festival in Lenox, Massachusetts.

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Of Mountains and Messiaen

On today's date in 1978, the citizens of Parowan resolved to name a local mountain Mt. Messiaen in honor of the French composer, who had spent a month in Utah five years earlier while working on his symphonic suite titled "From the Canyons to the Stars."

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David Raksin goes "noir"

Today marks the birthday of American composer David Raksin, born in 1912 in Philadelphia.

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Gluck and Glass in the Underworld

On this day in 1774, in Paris, the first performance of the French version of the opera “Orpheus and Eurydice” by Christoph Willibald Gluck took place.

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Dvorak's "American" Quintet

Dvorak’s “American” String Quartet was completed on today’s date in 1893 in Spillville, Iowa.

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Bach at rest

J.S. Bach (1685-1750) St. Matthew Passion SW German Madrigal Chorus; Wolfgang Gönnenwein, cond. EMI Classics 79544 J.S. Bach (1685-1750) arr. Chris Brubeck Variations on Themes by Bach Joel Brown, guitar; London Symphony; Joel Revzen, cond. Koch International 7485

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Ellington honored -- finally!

On today’s date in 1965, the New York Philharmonic gave the premiere performance of an orchestral work by Duke Ellington, titled “The Golden Broom and the Golden Apples.”

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Caruso sings Cohan

On today’s date in 1918, the great Italian tenor Enrico Caruso performed George M. Cohan’s “Over There” for an audience of 10,000 at an open-air concert in Ocean Grove, N.J.

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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.

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