Synopsis
On this day in 1947, Pierre Monteux led the San Francisco Symphony in the premiere performance of the Symphony No. 2 by American composer Roger Sessions. Prior to this work, Sessions had written in a more broadly accessible style, but this new symphony proved more dissonant and challenging. At the time, Sessions cautiously stated, “Tonality is complex and even problematical nowadays.”
For their part, the San Francisco audiences found the new work both complex and problematical. There was hardly any applause. Musical America’s critic wrote that Sessions “seemed to express the epitome of all that is worst in the life and thinking of today.”
Ouch! Today, Sessions’ Symphony No. 2 doesn’t sound all that challenging, but performances of this or any of his symphonies remain rare events.
While Sessions’ symphony was being panned in San Francisco, a new stage work by expatriate German composer Kurt Weill opened to rave reviews in New York. Kurt Weill’s Street Scene opened on Broadway on this same date in 1947.
“[It’s] the best contemporary musical production to grace any American stage,” enthused the Musical America critics. “We cannot imagine that an audience from any walk of life would not enjoy it. It has everything.”
Music Played in Today's Program
Roger Sessions (1896-1985): Symphony No. 2; San Francisco Symphony; Herbert Blomstedt, conductor; London 443 376
Kurt Weill (1900-1950): Act 1 Intro from Street Scene; Scottish Opera Orchestra; John Mauceri, conductor; London 433 371
On This Day
Births
1839 - American composer John Knowles Paine, in Portland, Maine
Premieres
1724 - Bach: Sacred Cantata No. 154 (Mein Liebster Jesus ist Verloren) performed on the first Sunday after Epiphany as part of Bach’s first annual Sacred Cantata cycle in Leipzig (1723/24)
1880 - Rimsky-Korsakov: opera May Night, in St. Petersburg (Gregorian date: Jan. 21)
1904 - Debussy: Estampes, by Spanish pianist Ricardo Viñes, in Paris
1909 - Ravel: Gaspard de la Nuit, by Spanish pianist Ricardo Viñes, in Paris
1937 - Schoenberg: String Quartet No. 4, in Los Angeles, by the Kolisch Quartet
1939 - Bartók: Rhapsody (two movements) for clarinet, violin, and piano, in New York City, with clarinetist Benny Goodman, violinist Joseph Szigeti, and the composer at the piano. For the 1940 recording session of this work, commissioned by Goodman, Bartók added a middle movement and changed the title to Contrasts.
1947 - Roger Sessions: Symphony No. 2, by the San Francisco Symphony, Pierre Monteux conducting
1947 - Kurt Weill: opera Street Scene, in New York City at the Adelphi Theater
1948 - Walter Piston: Symphony No. 3, Serge Koussevitzky conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra. This work was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1948.
1976 - William Bolcom: Seasons for guitar, in New York City
1987 - Joan Tower: Silver Ladders, by the St. Louis Symphony, Leonard Slatkin conducting
1988 - Alvin Singleton: After Fallen Crumbs for orchestra, by the Atlanta Symphony, Michael Palmer conducting
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About Composers Datebook®
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.