Synopsis
Music Played in Today's Program
Paul Creston (1906 – 1985) Saxophone Concerto, Op. 26 James Abato, saxophone; Hollywood Bowl Symphony; Leopold Stokowski, cond. Archival broadcast recording (August 26, 1945)
On This Day
Births
1756 - Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, in Salzburg;
1806 - Spanish composer Juan Crisostomo Arriage, in Rigoitia;
1823 - French composer Edouard Lalo, in Lille;
1885 - American composer Jerome Kern, in New York City;
Deaths
1901 - Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi, age 87, in Milan;
Premieres
1726 - Bach: Sacred Cantata No. 72 ("Alles nur nach Gottes Willen") performed on the 3rd Sunday after Epiphany as part of Bach's third annual Sacred Cantata cycle in Leipzig (1725/27);
1733 - Handel: opera "Orlando" in London at the King's Theater in the Haymarket(Gregorian date: Feb. 7);
1844 - Erkel: opera "Hunyady László," considered the first national Hungarian opera, in Budapest;
1849 - Verdi: opera "La battaglia di Legnano" (The Battle of Legnano), in Rome at the Teatro Argentina;
1874 - Mussorgsky: opera "Boris Godunov", in St. Petersburg (Gregorian date: Feb. 8);
1944 - Paul Creston: Saxophone Concerto, in New York;
1947 - Stravinsky: Concerto in D, in Basle (Switzerland), by the Basle Chamber Orchestra conducted by Paul Sacher (who commissioned the work);
1955 - Tippett: opera "The Midsummer Marriage," in London at the Royal Opera House, with John Pritchard conducting (and soprano Joan Sutherland in the cast);
1967 - Leon Kirchner: Quartet No. 3 for strings and electronic tape, in New York City, by the Beaux Arts Quartet; This work was awarded the 1967 Pulitzer Prize for Music;
1991 - Off-Broadway premiere of Sondheim: musical "Assassins."
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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.