Composers Datebook®

Mahler conducts American music in New York

Synopsis

Music Played in Today's Program

Henry Hadley (1871-1937) The Culprit Fay, Op. 62 Ukraine Symphony; John McLaughlin Williams, cond. Naxos 559064

On This Day

Births

  • 1602 - Italian opera composer Francesco Cavalli, in Crema;

  • 1778 - Baptism of Catalan composer and guitarist Fernando Sor, in Barcelona;

  • 1813 - Russian composer Alexander Dargomizhsky, in Troitskoye, Tula district (Julian date: Feb. 2);

  • 1882 - Polish composer and pianist Ignaz Friedman, in Podgorze, near Kraków;

Premieres

  • 1829 - Bellini: opera "La Straniera" (The Stranger), in Milan;

  • 1880 - Fauré: Piano Quartet No. 1 in c, Op. 15, in Paris at a concert of the Société Nationale de la Musqique Français;

  • 1915 - Miaskovsky: Symphony No. 3 (Gregorian date: Feb. 27);

  • 1920 - Erik Satie: "Socrate," in Paris;

  • 1922 - Zandonai: opera "Giulietta e Romeo" (Romeo and Juliet), in Rome;

  • 1932 - Goldschmidt: opera "Der gewaltige Hahnrei" (The Magnificent Cuckold), in Mannheim at the National Theater;

  • 1940 - Cage: "Second Construction," for four percussionists, in Portland, Ore.;

  • 1953 - Orff: "Trionfo di Afrodite" (Triumph of Aphrodite), in Milan at the Teatro alla Scala; Note -- this premiere date is often listed (incorrectly) as Feb. 13, 1953, in many reference works and CD booklet notes;

Others

  • 1865 - American premiere of J.S. Bach's Keyboard Concerto No. 7 in G minor, at Boston's Chickering Hall, with Benjamin J. Lang at the piano, accompanied by members of the Mendelssohn Quintet Club; The Feb. 18 edition of Dwight's Journal commented: "A novelty, a quaint one, and as it proved quite captivating . . . Mr. Lang played it with delicacy and nicety, entering into the lightsome, racy humor of it . . . After this experiment, may we not say that the Bach bug-bear is already vanishing?";

  • 1911 - Gustav Mahler conducts the New York Philharmonic in a program featuring new music by British (Elgar, Standford) and American (Chadwick, Loeffler, MacDowell and Hadley) composers.

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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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