Synopsis
Music Played in Today's Program
Vincent d'Indy (1851 - 1931) Symphony on a French Mountain Air Francois-Joel Thiollier, piano; National Symphony of Ireland; Antonio de Almeida, cond. Naxos 8.550754
Vincent d'Indy Summer day on the Mountain Radio France Philharmonic; Marek Janowski, cond. Erato 45821
On This Day
Births
1873 - Russian-born American composer and pianist Sergei Rachmaninoff (Gregorian date: April 1);
1918 - German composer Bernd Alois Zimmermann, in Bleisheim;
Deaths
1812 - Bohemian composer and keyboard virtuoso Jan Ladislav (Johann Ladislaus/Ludwig) Dussek (Dusik), age 51, in Saint Germain-en-Laye or Paris;
2000 - American composer Vivian Fine, age 86, in Bennington, Vt., following an auto accident;
Premieres
1723 - Handel: Concerto in F (HWV 331), in London at the Drury Lane Theater (Gregorian date: March 31);
1739 - Handel: Organ Concerto in A (HWV 296a) as a novelty at a benefit performance of Handel's cantata "Alexander's Feast"; This concert was organized "for the benefit and increase of a fund established for the support of decay'd musicians and their families" (Gregorian date: March 31);
1748 - Handel: oratorio "Joshua," (see March 9);
1887 - d'Indy: "Symphony on a French Mountain Air" for piano and orchestra, in Paris at a Lamoureux Concert;
1894 - Rachmaninoff: symphonic fantasy "The Rock" (Gregorian date: April 1);
1898 - Dvorák: symphonic poem, "The Wild Dove," Op. 110, in Brno;
1914 - Butterworth: "The Banks of Green Willow" in London;
1929 - Bartók: String Quartet No.4, in Budapest, by the Waldbauer Quartet;
1956 - Barber: "Summer Music," Op. 31, at the Detroit Institute of Arts by the Detroit Chamber Music Society (principal wind players of the Detroit Symphony);
Others
1928 - The New York Symphony and the New York Philharmonic Society unite to form the Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York - now known as simply "The New York Philharmonic."
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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.