Synopsis
Music Played in Today's Program
Richard Strauss (1864 - 1949) Olympic Hymn Locke Brass Consort; James Stobart, cond. Chandos 8419
John Williams (b. 1932) Summon the Heroes Boston Pops; John Williams, cond. Sony 89364
On This Day
Births
1906 - Norwegian composer Klaus Egge, in Gransherad, Telemark
1913 - American composer and pianist Peggy Stuart-Coolidge in Swampscott, Mass.;
1952 - English composer Dominic Muldowney, in Southhampton
1965 - Scottish composer and percussionist Evelyn Glennie, in Aberdeen
Deaths
1730 - French composer and flutist Jean-Baptiste Loeillet, age 49, in London
Premieres
1924 - Webern: Six Bagatelles, Op. 9, for string quartet , in Donauschingen (Germany), by the Amar Quartet
1973 - Penderecki: Symphony No. 1 in Peterborough Cathedral by the London Symphony, conducted by the composer
1976 - Richard Wernick: "Visions of Terror and Wonder" for mezzo-soprano and orchestra, at the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado; This work won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1977
1996 - John Williams "Summon the Heroes," a six-minute theme for the 1996 Summer Olympics, commissioned by the Atlanta Olympic Organizing Committee
Others
1942 - Arturo Toscanini conducts the American premiere of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7 ("Leningrad") on a NBC Symphony broadcast; The world premiere performance by the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra had occurred on March 1, 1942, in Kuybishe, the wartime seat of the Soviet government
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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.