Timely music by Ligeti and Beethoven

Synopsis

Music Played in Today's Program

György Ligeti (b. 1923) Poème symphonique Françoise Terrioux, metronomes Sony Classical 62310

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) Symphony No. 8 in F, Op 83 Royal Philharmonic; Rene Leibowitz, cond. Chesky 69

On This Day

Births

• 1875 - English composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, in London; His father was from Sierra Leone and his mother English; He composed a very successful trilogy of oratorios based on Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, "Hiawatha": "The Song of Hiawatha" (1898), "The Death of Minnehaha" (1899) and "Hiawatha's Departure" (1900);

• 1890 - French composer Jacques Ibert, in Paris;

• 1896 - Russian inventor Lev Sergeivitch Termen (anglicized to Leon Theremin) in St. Petersburg (Julian date: August 3); He invented the theremin, an electronic instrument whose sound was used or imitated in a number of film scores (“Spellbound,” “The Day the Earth Stood Still”, etc.) and in the Beach Boys’ song “Good Vibrations”

• 1922 - German-born American composer and conductor Lukas Foss, in Berlin (presumed date; Foss says his birth year is not authenticated and he has no birth certificate);

Deaths

• 1728 - French composer and gamba virtuoso Marain Marais, age 72, in Paris;

• 1985 - American composer Richard Yardumian, age 68, in Bryn Athyn, Pa.;

Premieres

• 1865 - Liszt: oratorio, "St. Elizabeth," in Pest, Hungary;

• 1935 - Grofé: "Hollywood" Suite, at the Hollywood Bowl;

• 1986 - Penderecki: opera "The Black Mask," at the Salzburg Festival in Austria;

• 2000 - Saariaho: opera "L'amour de loin," at the Salzburg Festival in Austria, with a cast including Dawn Upshaw, Dwayne Croft, and Dagmar Peckova; and Kent Nagano conducting the Southwest German Radio Orchestra of Baden-Baden;

Others

• 1772 - Johannes Nepomuk Maelzel, German inventor credited with the creation of the metronome, is born in Regensburg; For a time he was the friend of Beethoven and collaborated with him on various projects;

• 1969 - The three-day Woodstock Music and Arts Fair begins in Bethel, fifty miles south of Woodstock, N.Y., attended by nearly half a million rock 'n' roll enthusiasts.