Stomping with David Schiff

Synopsis

OK, here’s a cocktail party question for music mavens: “What do James Brown, the master of funk, and the Soviet symphonic composer Dimitri Shostakovich have in common?”

One answer is this piece of music, which premiered on today’s date in 1990 at Alice Tully Hall in New York City at a concert by Marin Alsop’s Concordia orchestra. The piece is entitled “Stomp,” written by the Seattle-based composer David Schiff.

For starters, on the score of “Stomp,” Schiff includes a reference to James Brown’s music, instructing the players, “Every instrument is treated like a drum.” Also, during its opening, there’s a staccato rhythm based on Brown’s iconic tune, “I Feel Good.”

And the Shostakovich connection? Well, Schiff confesses to modeling “Stomp” on the opening movement of that composer’s Ninth Symphony, right down to a strict imitation of Shostakovich’s repeat of the exposition, in sonata-form style.

On the origin and subsequent use of “Stomp,” Schiff says: “Marin Alsop conducted one of my pieces at Tanglewood in 1988 and later asked me for a new orchestral piece for her Concordia orchestra; since then, ‘Stomp’ has since been played by many orchestras including the LA Philharmonic, who took it to high schools to demonstrate that classical music could be really loud.”

A reminder that ear plugs are not required to hear ‘Composers Datebook’ online, but ear buds might be nice if you’re at work when you do. Just visit Your Classical.Org to find us.

Music Played in Today's Program

David Schiff Stomp Baltimore Sym; David Zinman, cond. Argo CD

On This Day

Births

• 1770 - German composer Friedrich Witt, in Niederstetten, Württemberg; Like Beethoven, he composed 9 symphonies, and one of them, his “Jena Symphony,” was for a time mistakenly believed to be an early work by Beethoven;

• 1883 - English composer Arnold Bax, in Streatham;

• 1945 - American composer and pianist Judith Lang Zaimont, in Memphis;

Deaths

• 1599 - Spanish composer Francisco Guerrero, age 71, in Seville;

• 1890 - Belgian-French composer César Franck, in Paris, age 67;

• 1894 - Russian composer Anton Rubinstein, age 64, near St. Petersburg (Gregorian date: Nov. 20);

• 1924 - Russian composer Sergie Liapunov, age 65, in Paris;

Premieres

• 1879 - Brahms: Violin Sonata No. 1 in G, Op. 78, in Bonn, by violinist Joseph Joachim and the composer at the piano;

• 1919 - Stravinsky: "The Soldier's Tale" Suite (for violin, clarinet and piano), in Lausanne; The staged version of "The Soldier's Tale" had premiered in Lausanne at the Théatre Municipal on September 28, 1918;

• 1926 - Gershwin: musical "Oh, Kay!" at the Imperial Theater in New York City; This show featured Gertrude Lawrence, and included the classic Gershwin songs "Clap Yo' Hands," "Do, Do, Do," and "Someone to Watch over Me";

• 1936 - Jean Françaix: Piano Concerto, in Berlin.