Composers Datebook®

Mennin tackles "Moby Dick"

Composers Datebook for October 20, 2008
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Synopsis

Music Played in Today's Program

Peter Mennin (1923 – 1983) Concertato (Moby Dick) Albany Symphony; David Alan Miller, cond. Albany 260

On This Day

Births

  • 1874 - American composer and insurance executive Charles Ives, in Danbury, Connecticut;

  • 1890 - American composer and jazz pianist Ferdinand "Jelly Roll" Morton, in New Orleans (In older biographies, his birth date is incorrectly given as September 20, 1885);

  • 1944 - American composer William Albright, in Gary, Indiana;

Premieres

  • 1842 - Wagner: opera, "Rienzi," in Dresden at the Hoftheater;

  • 1847 - Lortzing: opera "Undine" (2nd version), in Vienna at the Theater an der Wien;

  • 1860 - Brahms: String Sextet No. 1 in Bb, Op. 18, in Hanover, by violinist Joseph Joachim and his ensemble;

  • 1892 - Rimsky-Korsakov: opera " Mlada," at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, Eduard Napravnik conducting (Gregorian date: Nov. 1);

  • 1923 - Delius: "A Dance Rhapsody," in London, conducted by Sir Henry Wood;

  • 1949 - Hartmann: opera "Simplicius Simplicissimus" (first staged performance) in Cologne at the Theater der Stadt (Kammerspiele); The premiere concert performance of this opera by the Bavarian Radio occurred in Munich on April 2, 1948;

  • 1950 - Hanson: "Pastorale" for Solo Oboe, Strings and Harp, with oboist Marcel Tabuteau, and the Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy conducting;

  • 1952 - Peter Mennin: "Concertanto (Moby Dick)" for orchestra, in Erie, Pa.;

  • 1958 - Hovhaness: "Meditation on Orpheus," by the Houston Symphony, Leopold Stokowski conducting;

  • 1960 - Lukas Foss: "Time Cycle for Soprano and Orchestra" at New York Philharmonic concert conducted by Bernstein, with soprano Adele Addison the vocal soloist;

  • 1974 - Elliott Carter: Brass Quintet, on a BBC broadcast from London, with the American Brass Quintet; The American premiere occurred at the Library of Congress on November 15 that year with the same performers;

  • 1974 - Henze: "Tristan" for piano, orchestra, and tape, by the London Symphony, Colin Davis conducting;

  • 1977 - Michael Colgrass: "Déjà vu" at New York Philharmonic concert conducted by Leinsdorf;

  • 1983 - Menotti: Double-bass Concerto, by the New York Philharmonic, Zubin Mehta conducting, with James VanDemark as soloist;

  • 1985 - Lou Harrison: Piano Concerto, in New York, with Keith Jarrett the soloist.

  • 2004 - Peter Maxwell Davies: "Naxos Quartet" No. 5 ("Lighthouses of Orkney and Shetland"), at Wigmore Hall, London, by the Maggini Quartet;

Others

  • 1739 - Handel completes in London his Concerto Grosso in b, Op. 6, no. 12 (Gregorian date: Oct. 31);

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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.

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