Shostakovich's Eighth and Ninth

Synopsis

Music Played in Today's Program

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906 – 1975) Symphony No. 8, Op. 65 Leningrad Philharmonic; Yevgeny Mravinsky, cond. Philips 422 442

Symphony No. 9, Op. 70 St. Petersburg Philharmonic; Yuri Termirkanov, cond. BMG/RCA 68548

On This Day

Births

• 1587 - Baptism of German composer and organist Samuel Scheidt, in Halle-on-Saale;

• 1801 - Italian composer Vincenzo Bellini, in Catania, Sicily;

• 1911 - Russian-American composer Vladimir Ussachevsky, in Hailar, Manchuria;

Deaths

• 1939 - French composer and organist Charles Tournemire, age 69, in Arcachon, France;

• 1993 - Russian inventor Lev Sergeivitch Termen (anglicized to Leon Theremin), age 97, in Moscow; He invented the "theremin," an electronic instrument whose sound was either used or imitated (by specially constructed and easier to play electronic instruments) in any number of film scores ("Spellbound," "The Day the Earth Stood Still", etc.) and even in the Beach Boys' song "Good Vibrations";

Premieres

• 1726 - Bach: Sacred Cantata No. 49 ("Ich gehe und suche mit Verlangen")performed on the 20th Sunday after Trinity as part of Bach's third annual Sacred Cantata cycle in Leipzig (1725/27);

• 1844 - Verdi: opera "I due Foscari" (The Two Foscari), in Rome at the Teatro Argentina;

• 1888 - Rimsky-Korsakov: “Scheherazade,” in St. Petersburg (see Julian date: Oct. 22);

• 1898 - Rimsky-Korsakov: opera “The Tsar’s Bride,” at the Solodovnikov Theatre in Moscow, with Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov conducting (see Julian date: Oct. 22);

• 1900 - Rimsky-Korsakov: opera “The Tale of Tsar Saltan,” at the Solodovnikov Theatre in Moscow, with Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov conducting (see Julian date: Oct. 21);

• 1927 - Hindemith: "Kammermusik" No. 5, Op. 46, no. 2, in Berlin at the Kroll Opera, with Otto Klemperer conducting and the composer the viola soloist;

• 1943 - Shostakovich: Symphony No. 8, at the Moscow Conservatory by the USSR State Symphony conducted by Yevgeny Mravinsky, for an invited audience of musicians, artists, critics, and journalists; The first public performance took place the following evening;

• 1945 - Shostakovich: Symphony No. 9, by the Leningrad Philharmonic, Yevgeny ravinsky conducting;

• 1946 - Prokofiev: opera "Betrothal in a Monastery" (or "The Duenna") in Leningrad;

• 1950 - David Diamond: Symphony No. 3, by the Boston Symphony, Charles Munch conducting;

• 1958 - Per Norgaard: "Constellations" for 12 solo strings, in Copenhagen;

• 2002 - Milton Babbitt: “From the Psalter,” David Lang: “how to pray,” and Shulamit Ran: “Supplications,” at Carnegie Hall in New York by soloists, the New York Virtuoso Singers and the American Composers Orchestra, Steven Sloane conducting;

Others

• 1783 - Mozart completes his "Linz" Symphony (No. 36 in C, K. 425) the day before its first performance in that Austrian town.