"76 Trombones" plus one: Meredith Willson and Wendy Mae Chambers

Synopsis

Music Played in Today's Program

Meredith Willson (1902-1984) Symphony No. 1 (A Symphony of San Francisco) Moscow Symphony; William T. Stromberg, cond. Naxos 559006

Wendy Mae Chambers (b. 1953) A Mass for Mass Trombones trombone ensemble; David Gilbert, conductor Centaur 2263

On This Day

Births

• 1868 - German composer Max von Schillings, in Duren;

• 1892 - French composer Germaine Tailleferre, in Pau-St.-Maur;

Deaths

• 1799 - Dutch composer, violinist and organist Pieter Hellendaal, age 78, in Cambridge (England);

• 1986 - Swedish composer Dag Wiren, age 80, in Stockholm;

Premieres

• 1774 - Gluck: opera "Iphigenia in Aulis," in Paris at the Palais Royale Opéra;

• 1899 - Franck: String Quartet, in Paris;

• 1936 - Berg: Violin Concerto, in Barcelona at the Festival of the International Society for Contemporary Music, by the Pablo Casals Orchestra conducted by Hermann Scherchen with Louis Krasner (who had commissioned the work) as the soloist;

• 1964 - Stravinsky: "Fanfare for a New Theater," at the Inauguration of the New York State Theater at Lincoln Center;

• 1975 - Rameau: unfinished opera "Les Boréades," in London; This was Rameau's last opera, composed in 1764 and left unfinished at the time of the composer's death; For the 1975 premiére in London, conductor John Eliot Gardiner prepared a performing edition of the score;

• 2000 - Kernis: "Valentines" for soprano and orchestra, in Minneapolis, with Renée Fleming and the Minnesota Orchestra, Eiji Oue conducting;

• 2001 - Michael Daugherty: "UFO" for solo percussion and winds, in Denton, Texas, by Evelyn Glennie and the North Texas Wind Symphony, Eugene Migliaro Corporon conducting;

• 2001 - Poul Ruders: "Paganini Variations" for guitar and orchestra, with soloist David Starobin and the Odense Symphony of Denmark;

Others

• 1787 - Mozart finishes his String Quintet in C (K. 515) in Vienna; Mozart had offered this work on a subscription basis via announcements in the Wiener Zeitung on April 2,5, and 9 of that year; due to the poor response, Mozart extended the offer June 25 through Jan. 1, 1789.

• 1851 - First documented American performance of Beethoven's "Coriolanus"Overture, at the Melodeon in Boston, during a "Grand Symphony Concert"conducted by C.C. Perkins.