Rochberg in Chicago

Synopsis

In 1986, the city of Chicago celebrated its 150th anniversary, and an anonymous music patron was willing to back the commission of a big new orchestral work for the pride of Chicago, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and its superstar conductor back then, namely Sir George Solti.

The manager of the Chicago Symphony approached the American composer George Rochberg about writing something, suggesting that the patron specifically wanted a concerto for brass and orchestra. Not that surprising, since the Chicago Symphony then and now has special reason to be proud of its brass section. Rochberg’s counter-proposal was that he would write a symphony, reassuring the orchestra’s manager: “When I write my new Symphony, I will not neglect the brass.”

Some months later, the composer met with Solti to outline his revised plans for the Chicago commission. When Solti requested extra brass and percussion, Rochberg recounted the story of the anonymous patron’s commission of a “Concerto for Brass,” to which Solti, smiling broadly, replied: “Oh, that was me!” – and readily agreed to a symphony instead of a concerto.

Rochberg’s brassy Symphony No. 5, was premiered by Solti and the Chicago Symphony on today’s date in 1986.

Music Played in Today's Program

George Rochberg (b. 1918) — Symphony No. 5 (Saarbrucken Radio Symphony; Christopher Lyndon-Gee, cond.) Naxos 8.559115

On This Day

Births

• 1700 - French composer and flutist Michel Blavet, in Besançon;

• 1860 - Austrian composer and music critic Hugo Wolf, in Windisch-Graz;

Deaths

• 1842 - Italian-born composer Luigi Cherubini, age 81, in Paris;

Premieres

• 1744 - Handel: oratorio "Joseph and his Brethren" (Julian dater: March 2);

• 1797 - Cherubini: opera "Médée" (Medea), in Paris;

• 1845 - Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in e, Op. 64, by the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra conducted by Niels Gade, with Ferdinand David the soloist;

• 1861 - Wagner: opera "Tannhäuser" (Paris version), at the Théâtre Imperial de l'Opéra;

• 1947 - Messiaen: "Hymne" for orchestra, by the New York Philharmonic, Leopold Stokowski conducted;

• 1954 - Schoenberg: (unfinished) opera "Moses and Aaron," in a concert performance by the Hamburg Radio; The first staged performance took place in Zürich, Switzerland, on June 6, 1957);

• 1964 - Ernst Toch: Symphony No. 5 ("Jeptha - Rhapsodic Poem"), in Boston;

• 1976 - Babbitt: Concerti for Violin, Small Orchestra and Tape, in New York City;

• 1986 - George Rochberg: Symphony No. 5 (Commissioned for the sesquicentennial celebration of the city of Chicago), by the Chicago Symphony, with Sir Georg Solti conducting;

• 1992 - Peter Maxwell Davies: "Strathclyde Concerto" No. 5 for violin, viola and strings, at Glasgow's City Hall, by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra conducted by the composer, with soloists James Clarke and Catherine Marwood;

• 1998 - Mark Adamo: opera "Little Women" at Houston Opera Studio, with Christopher Larkin conducting;

Others

• 1970 - George Crumb completes his "Black Angels" for electric string quartet, percussion and water-tuned musical glasses; The score is inscribed: "finished on Friday the Thirteenth, March 1970 in tempore belli" (in time of war).