Krenek spielt auf?

Synopsis

On today’s date in 1927, at the Neues Theater in Leipzig, a new opera had its premiere performance. It was entitled “Jonny spielt auf” or “Johnny Strikes Up the Band,” and was the work of a Viennese composer named Ernst Krenek. Ostensibly, it tells the story of a Negro jazz band leader named Jonny, who steals a valuable European violin, but in symbolic terms it deals with both the role of music in society and the conflict between the artistic traditions of the old and new worlds.

Krenek’s jazzy score was a tremendous success. In its first season it was produced at 42 opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera in New York. By 1929 the libretto had been translated into 14 languages. Its overwhelming success made the opera’s “Jonny” a pop icon and household name and provided Krenek a comfortable cushion of financial security.

When the Nazis came to power in Germany and Austria, however, Krenek’s security evaporated. For the Nazis, his opera was a prime example of what they termed “degenerate art,” and its composer wisely chose to emigrate to America, where he became a citizen in 1945. Krenek taught at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie and Hamline University in St. Paul before eventually settling in California, where he died in 1991 at the age of 91.

The music Krenek wrote during his long life covers a wide range of styles, but even though he composed twenty operas, five symphonies and four piano concertos, he remains best known as the creator of “Jonny” and his “jazz” opera from 1927.

Music Played in Today's Program

Ernst Krenek (1900 — 1991) Jonny spielt auf Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra; Lothar Zagrosek, cond. London 436 631

On This Day

Births

• 1908 - Canadian composer and pianist Jean Coulthard, in Vancouver;

• 1929 - American film score composer Jerry Goldsmith;

• 1939 - American composer Barbara Kolb, in Hartford, Conn.;

Premieres

• 1744 - Handel: oratorio “Semele,” in London at the Covent Garden Theater (Gregorian date: Feb. 21);

• 1749 - Handel: oratorio “Susanna” in London at the Covent Garden Theater (Gregorian date: Feb. 21);

• 1794 - Haydn: Symphony No. 99, conducted by the composer, at the King's Theatre in London;

• 1812 - Beethoven: public premieres of "The Ruins of Athens" and "King Stephen" Overture and Incidental Music, as part of a production at the opening of a new theater in Pest, Hungary (see also Feb. 9);

• 1860 - Brahms: Serenade No. 2 in A, Op. 16, in Hamburg, with the composer conducting;

• 1878 - Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4, in Moscow (Gregorian date: Feb. 22);

• 1881 - Offenbach: opera "The Tales of Hoffmann," posthumously, in Paris at the Opéra Comique;

• 1882 - Rimsky-Korsakov: opera “The Snow Maiden” (first version), in St. Petersburg, Napravnik conducting (Julian date: Jan. 29);

• 1896 - Walter Damrosch: opera "The Scarlet Letter," in Boston;

• 1903 - Rachmaninoff: Piano Preludes Nos. 1, 2, and 5, from Op. 23 and “Variations on a Theme of Chopin” (Gregorian date: Feb. 23);

• 1927 - Krenek: "jazz" opera "Jonny spielt auf" (Johnny Strikes Up the Band), in Leipzig at the Stadttheater;

• 1934 - Howard Hanson: opera "Merry Mount," (staged premiere) at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Tulio Serafin conducting;

• 1949 - Antheil: Symphony No. 6, by the San Francisco Symphony, Pierre Monteux conducting;

• 1950 - William Schuman: Violin Concerto, by Isaac Stern with the Boston Symphony with Charles Munch conducting and Isaac Stern the soloist;

• 1961 - Piston: Symphony No. 7, by the Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy conducting; This work was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1961;

• 1966 - Richard Rodney Bennett: Symphony No. 1, in London;

• 1976 - Ulysses Kay: "Southern Harmony," by the North Carolina Symphony;

• 1995 - Daniel Asia: Piano Concerto, by the Grand Rapids (Mich.) Symphony, conducted by Carl St. Clair, with André-Michel Schub the soloist;

• 2001 - Pierre Jalbert: "L'amour infini," (Infinite Love), by the Albany Symphony, David Alan Miller conducting;

Others

• 1859 - First documented complete American performance of Handel's oratorio "Israel in Egypt," at Boston's Melodeon, by the Handel and Haydn Society, Carl Zerrahn conducting; Selections from this work had been performed previously in New York and Boston; The Feb. 19 edition of Dwight's Journal enthused: "Israel at last! The great work, occasionally nibbled at, attacked in fragments, in fits of resolution few and far between, was finally essayed in earnest; and after eight more rehearsals, the giant Handel's greatest work, with the sole exception of the 'Messiah' . . . was offered to the public, and the public wouldn't have it . . . the hall was only two-thirds full";

• 1921 - Charles Ives hears Igor Stravinsky's "The Firebird" Ballet Suite at an all-Russian program by the New York Symphony at Carnegie Hall; Also on the program were works of Glinka, Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov and Rachmaninoff (with Rachmaninoff as piano soloist); Walter Damrosch conducted.