Composers Datebook®

Bach's "Coethen" Concertos?

Synopsis

Music Played in Today's Program

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

On This Day

Births

  • 1740 - American-born Moravian composer John Antes, in Frederickstownship, Pa.;

Deaths

  • 1654 - German composer Samuel Scheidt, age 66, in Halle;

  • 1916 - Spanish composer Enrique Granados, age 48, dies at sea returning to Europe from New York City when the S.S. Sussex is torpedoed in the English Channel by a German submarine during WWI;

  • 1921 - French composer Deódat de Sévérac, age 48, in Céret;

Premieres

  • 1784 - Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 15 in Bb, K. 450, at the Trattnerhof in Vienna, with composer as soloist;

  • 1860 - Joachim: Violin Concerto ("Hungarian"), in Hannover, Germany;

  • 1868 - Brahms: Piano Quintet in f, Op. 34, in Paris, with pianist Luise Langhans-Japha, with an unidentified string ensemble;

  • 1881 - Verdi: opera "Simon Boccanegra" (2nd version, with libretto revised by Boito), in Milan at the Teatro alla Scala;

  • 1924 - Sibelius: Symphony No. 7, in Stockholm, with the composer conducting;

  • 1932 - Randall Thompson: Symphony No. 2, in, Rochester, N.Y.;

  • 1941 - Shostakovich: incidental music for Shakespeare's "King Lear," in Leningrad, at the Gorky Bolshoy Dramatic Theater;

  • 1949 - Panufnik: "Tragic Overture," in New York City;

  • 1984 - Philip Glass: opera "Akhnaten," in Stuttgart, at the Wurttemberg State Theater, with Dennis Russell Davies, conducting;

  • 1996 - Thomas Oboe Lee: "ART: arias and interludes" for string quartet, in Gassoon Hall at Boston College by the Artaria Quartet;

  • 2001 - Chihara: "Songs of Love and Loss," by violist Geraldine Waltherthe and the 20-voice San Francisco Chamber Singers, at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, Calif., directed by Robert Geary;

Others

  • 1721 - J.S. Bach dedicates his six "Brandenburg" Concertos to Margrave Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg, whose orchestra apparently never performed them.

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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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