Huss in Boston

Synopsis

If the name Henry Holden Huss doesn’t ring a bell, we’re not surprised – but in his heyday, around 1900, he was famous as a leading American concert pianist and composer. On today’s date in 1894, Huss was the soloist with the Boston Symphony for the premiere of his own Piano Concerto in B Major.

Now, piano concertos written in the key of B Major are not exactly thick on the ground, and Huss’s unusual choice was probably influenced by the “Liebestod” or “Love-Death” music from Wagner’s ultra-Romantic opera “Tristan and Isolde.” Certainly, Huss’s Piano Concerto is in a similarly ultra-Romantic vein.

In addition to his musical fame, Huss was justly proud of his ancestors: He was related on his father’s side to the early 15th century Protestant martyr John Huss and on his mother’s side to a member of George Washington’s staff. Like his contemporary, pianist-composer Edward MacDowell, Huss studied in Germany. Unlike the more famous but tragic short career of MacDowell, Huss enjoyed a long, healthy and productive creative life. In addition to his Piano Concerto, Huss wrote symphonic poems, chamber works, music for chorus, and, not surprisingly, a number of solo piano works. He died at the age of 91 in 1953.

Music Played in Today's Program

Henry Holden Huss (1862–1953) — Piano Concerto, Op. 10 (Ian Hobson, piano; BBC Scottish Symphony; Martyn Brabbins, cond.) Hyperion 66949

On This Day

Births

• 1812 - German composer, cellist and conductor Julius Rietz, in Berlin;

• 1837 - American composer, conductor, pianist and organist B. J. Lang, in Salem, Ma.;

• 1896 - American composer Roger Sessions, in Brooklyn;

Deaths

• 1937 - French composer Maurice Ravel, age 62, in Paris;

• 1963 - German composer Paul Hindemith, age 68, in Frankfurt;

Premieres

• 1720 - Handel: opera "Radamisto" (2nd version), in London at the King's Theater in the Haymarket, with the great Italian alto-castrato Senesino making his debut in one of Handel's works (Gregorian date: Jan. 8, 1721);

• 1737 - Handel: anthem "The Ways of Zion do Mourn"(Julian date: Dec. 17);

• 1894 - Henry Holden Huss: Piano Concerto in B, by the Boston Symphony, Emil Paur conducting, and the composer as soloist;

• 1925 - Gershwin: musical "Tip-Toes," at the Liberty Theater in New York City; This show included the classic Gershwin songs "Sweet and Low Down," "That Certain Feeling," and "These Charming People";

• 1930 - Cowell: Piano Concerto, in Havana, Cuba, by the Havana Philharmonic, with the composer at the piano;

• 1944 - Bernstein: musical "On the Town," in New York City at the Adelphi Theater; A trial run of this show had opened in Boston at the Colonial Theater on December 13, 1944; The 1944 Broadway production would run for 462 performances;

• 1944 - Miklós Rósza: Concerto for String Orchestra, in Los Angeles;

• 1948 - Miaskovsky: Symphony No. 26, in Moscow;

• 1952 - Shostakovich: 24 Preludes and Fugues for piano (part two of a two-part recital), in Leningrad, by pianist Tatyana Nikolayeva; See also Dec. 23rd;

Others

• 1945 - Igor Stravinsky becomes an American citizen;