Synopsis
Today marks the birthday in 1879 of Ottorino Respighi, a rare Italian composer more famous for orchestral works than operas. And no wonder – Respighi was a master orchestrator, learning his craft first-hand from the brilliant Russian orchestrator Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov during the time the young Italian served as principal violist in the pit band of the Russian Imperial Theater in St. Petersburg.
One of Respighi’s best-loved works is The Pines of Rome. It includes a slow section depicting a full moon shining on the pines growing on the Janiculum hill west of Rome. The music includes the song of a nightingale, played from a phonograph record of an actual nightingale. That record, made in 1910, was the first ever made of live bird song, and using it as part of Respighi’s orchestration was cutting-edge stuff in 1924.
This recording was made by the Hungarian conductor Antal Dorati, who was known noted for his fiery temper, but Dorati had an equally strong sense of humor, so in the 1950s, when one of his Minneapolis Symphony musicians substituted a Spike Jones once during a rehearsal, of the Respighi piece, Dorati got the joke and laughed along with everybody else.
Music Played in Today's Program
Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) – Feste Romane (Montréal Symphony; Charles Dutoit, cond.) London 410 145
Spike Jones (1911 – 1965) – Rhapsody from Hunger (Spike Jones and his City Slickers) RCA 3235
On This Day
Births
1879 - Italian composer Ottorino Respighi, in Bologna
1915 - American composer David Diamond, in Rochester, N.Y.
1938 - Japanese-American composer Paul Chihara, in Seattle
Deaths
1747 - Italian opera composer, Giovanni Bonocini, age 76, in Vienna; He was the famous (and unsuccessful) rival of Handel's for the favor of the opera-loving public in London
1960 - American composer Edward Burlington Hill, age 87, in Francesrtown, New Hampshire
1984 - American composer and teacher Randall Thompson, age 85, in Boston
Premieres
1957 - Hartmann: opera "Simplicius Simplicissimus" (revised version), in Mannheim at the Nationaltheater; This opera was premiered in a concert version in Munich by the Bavarian Radio on April 2, 1948
1969 - Lennox Berkeley: Symphony No. 3, in Cheltenham, England
2001 - Steven Stucky: "Three Little Pieces for David," for piano (written for the 65th birthday of conductor David Zinman), by Yefim Bronfman at the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado.
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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.
