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Synopsis

Music Played in Today's Program

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43 Jon Nakamatsu, piano; Rochester Philharmonic; Christopher Seaman, cond. Harmonia Mundi 90.7286

Niccolo Paganini (1782-1840) Solo Violin Caprice No. 24 James Ehnes, violin Telarc 80398

Andrew Lloyd Webber (b. 1948) Variations Julian Lloyd Webber, cello; London Philharmonic; Lorin Maazel, cond. Philips 420 342

On This Day

Births

• 1810 - Hungarian composer Ferenc (Franz) Erkel, in Gyula;

• 1859 - Russian composer Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov, in Gatchina (Gregorian date: Nov. 19);

• 1905 - English composer William Alwyn, in Northampton;

Deaths

• 1983 - French composer Germaine Tailleferre, age 91, in Paris;

Premieres

• 1723 - Bach: Sacred Cantata No. 60 ("O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort" I)performed on the 24th Sunday after Trinity as part of Bach's first annual Sacred Cantata cycle in Leipzig (1723/24);

• 1867 - Liszt: "Dante Symphony" in Dresden;

• 1875 - Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 3, in Moscow (Gregorian date: Nov. 19);

• 1924 - American premiere of Mussorgsky (arr. Ravel): “Pictures at an Exhibition,” by the Boston Symphony, Serge Koussevitzky conducting;

• 1934 - Rachmaninoff: "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini," in Baltimore, by the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Leopold Stokowski, with the composer as soloist;

• 1940 - Stravinsky: Symphony in C, by the Chicago Symphony, with the composer conducting; This work was commissioned by Mrs. R. Woods Bliss in honor of the Chicago Symphony's 50th Anniversary;

• 1987 - Daniel Asia: "Scherzo Sonata" for piano, at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., by pianist Jonathan Shames (who commissioned the work);

• 1988 - Leo Ornstein: Piano Sonata No. 7, at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, by pianist Marvin Tartak;

• 1991 - Christopher Rouse: “Karolju” for chorus and orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony and Chorus, David Zinman conducting;

• 1997 - Peter Maxwell Davies: Piano Concerto, in Nottingham, England, with soloist Kathryn Stott and the Royal Philharmonic, conducted by the composer;

Others

• 1785 - The first American musical society founded at Stoughton, Massachusetts;

• 1950 - A "Look" magazine feature on composer Edgar Varèse attracts the attention of 9-year old Frank Zappa and leads to a life-long fascination with the music of Varèse; Zappa would later found the unconventional rock band "The Mothers of Invention."