Composers Datebook®

Randall Thompson in the Berkshires

Synopsis

Music Played in Today's Program

Randall Thompson (1899-1984) Alleluia Concordia Choir; René Clausen, cond. Concordia 2051

Randall Thompson Symphony No. 2 Detroit Symphony Orchestra; Neeme Järvi, cond.

On This Day

Births

  • 1882 - Australian-born American composer and pianist Percy Aldrich Grainger, in Melbourne; He became a USA citizen in 1919

  • 1900 - American composer George Antheil, in Trenton, N.J.

Deaths

  • 1839 - Spanish composer Fernando Sor, age 61, in Paris

Premieres

  • 1940 - Randall Thompson: "Allelujah" at the opening of the Berkshire Music Center in Lenox, Mass.

  • 1942 - Sir Lenox Berkeley: Symphony No. 1 in London, conducted by the composer

  • 1987 - Judith Weir: opera "A Night at the Chinese Opera" in Cheltenham, England

  • 1988 - Philip Glass: opera "The Making of the Representative for Planet 8" (after a sci-fi novel by Doris Lessing), by Houston Grand Opera

  • 2000 - John Williams: "TreeSong" for Violin and Orchestra, at Tanglewood with Gil Shaham and the Boston Symphony, composer conducting

Others

  • 1588 - English composer and lutenist John Dowland receives B. Mus. Degree from Christ Church, Oxford

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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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