Zwilich times Three

Synopsis

On today’s date in 1996, a trio of soloists joined forces with the Minnesota Orchestra for the premiere performance of a new concerto by the American composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. This was her “Triple Concerto,” a work commissioned by the soloists, namely pianist Joseph Kalichstein, violinist Jaime Laredo and cellist Sharon Robinson, and no less than five orchestras in addition to Minnesota’s.

Now, the most famous Concerto for Piano, Violin, Cello and Orchestra is by Beethoven, as Zwilich well knows. “My Triple Concerto is scored for exactly the same instrumentation as Beethoven’s,” she writes, “although Beethoven would certainly be startled by some of the American jazz techniques and the extraordinary facility the modern timpanist can be expected to have at his fingertips... My piece has other vague and hidden references to Beethoven, as a kind of homage to a composer who has deeply affected my life."

“As contemporary artists always have,” continues Zwilich, “today’s composers exist at a juncture between past and present. And all of us, whether we write, perform, or listen to music, face a similar challenge: how to relate meaningfully to the past without becoming imbedded in it; how to press toward the future without abandoning the richness of our heritage. It is often remarked that some audiences seem to fear the new. To this, I might add that some composers seem to fear the past. The rhetoric of ‘progress’ as well as the worship of a canon of ‘masterpieces’ can undermine the adventure of it all.”

Music Played in Today's Program

Ellen Taafe Zwilich (b. 1939) Triple Concerto Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio; Florida State University; Michael Stern, cond. Koch 7537

On This Day

Births

• 1871 - Swedish composer Wilhelm Stenhammar, in Stockholm;

• 1883 - American jazz pianist and song composer Eubie Blake, in Baltimore;

• 1897 - American composer Quincy Porter, in New Haven, Conn.;

• 1925 - Rumanian-born French composer Marius Constant, in Bucharest;

Deaths

• 1652 - Italian composer and Papal Chapel singer Gregorio Allegri, age .c 70, in Rome;

• 1779 - English composer and organist William Boyce, age 67, in Kensington;

Premieres

• 1733 - Handel: opera “Orlando” in London (Julian date: Jan.27);

• 1786 - Mozart: opera "Der Schauspieldirektor" (The Impressario), in Vienna at the Orangerie at Schönbrunn;

• 1792 - Cimarosa: opera "Il Matrimonio segreto" (The Secret Marriage), in Vienna at the Burgtheater;

• 1873 - Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 2 (“Little Russian”), in Moscow (Julian date: Jan. 26);

• 1875 - Lalo: "Symphonie espagnole" for Violin and Orchestra, in Paris, Edouard Colonne conducting, with Pablo de Sarasate the soloist;

• 1882 - Borodin: String Quartet No. 2 in D, in St. Petersburg (Julian date: Jan.26);

• 1893 - Brahms: Capriccio in d, No. 7 from "Fantasies" for Piano, Op. 116, in Vienna;

• 1908 - Chadwick: "Symphonic Sketches," by the Boston Symphony, with Karl Muck conducting;

• 1907 - Rimsky-Korsakov: opera “Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh,” in St. Petersburg (Gregorian date: Feb. 20);

• 1922 - Stenhammar: incidental music for Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," at the Lorensberg Theater in Gothenburg, Sweden;

• 1931 - Deems Taylor: opera "Peter Ibbetson" at the Metropolitan Opera in New York;

• 1941 - first public performance of Barber: Violin Concerto, by Philadelphia Orchestra, with Eugene Ormandy conducting and Albert Spalding the soloist;

• 1941 - Hindemith: Cello Concerto, Op. 7, by the Boston Symphony, Serge Koussevitzky conducting with Gregor Piatigorsky the soloist;

• 1953 - Martinu: "The Marriage," one-act opera (after Gogol) on the NBC TV network; One of the earliest operas specifically written for television, it is nowadays all but forgotten;

• 1957 - Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 7 (arr. Bogatiiryov), in Moscow; This arrangement uses sketches for Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 3 and for another unfinished work for piano and orchestra as the basis for a "new" symphonic work by the late composer;

• 1964 - Sessions: Symphony No. 5, by the Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy conducting;

• 1988 - Tan Dun: "Out of Peking Opera" for violin and orchestra, at Lincoln Center, with soloist Vera Weiling Tsu and the New York City Symphony, David Eaton conducting;

• 1996 - Zwilich: Triple Concerto for violin, cello, piano and orchestra, by the Minnesota Orchestra, Zdenek Macal conducting, with the Kalichstein/Laredo/Robinson Trio as the soloists;

Others

• 1973 - On his 90th birthday, Jazz pianist and song composer Eubie Blake, the son of former slaves, is honored by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).