Copland and Kernis on the air

Synopsis

On today’s date in 1937, one of Copland’s less familiar works had its premiere performance — on the radio. The radio premiere was the result of a commission from the Columbia Broadcasting System, and was premiered by the CBS Symphony Orchestra.

This work has at least three different titles. Originally titled simply Music for Radio, as requested by the network, it was given the more colorful name Saga of the Prairies as the result of an on-air listener contest sponsored by CBS. Later, when Copland himself published the music, it bore the title Prairie Journal. So — take your pick.

Copland received a $500 commission — quite generous in those days — and was thrilled that his music would reach millions of listeners with a single broadcast. Today, new music by contemporary composers is still occasionally commissioned by radio stations and radio networks.

In 1993, Still Movement with Hymn was commissioned from Aaron Jay Kernis by American Public Radio (now American Public Media) and broadcast nationally on one of their program offerings. Still Movement with Hymn, is one of a series of elegiac works by Kernis, written in memory of American composer Stephen Albert, who was killed in a car accident the year before.

Music Played in Today's Program

Aaron Copland (1900-1990): Music for Radio (Saga of the Prairies); Pacific Symphony; Keith Clark, conductor; Albany TROY-064

Aaron Jay Kernis (b. 1960): Still Movement with Hymn; Pamela Frank, violin; Paul Neubauer, viola; Carter Brey, cello; Christopher O’Riley, piano; Argo 448 174

On This Day

Births

• 1883 - Italian composer, pianist and conductor Alfredo Casella, in Turin. He was the conductor of the Boston Pops from 1927-29.

Deaths

• 1969 - American opera composer, Douglas Moore, 75, in Greenport (Long Island), New York

Premieres

• 1937 - Copland: Music for Radio (or Saga of the Prairies) on CBS radio network, performed by CBS Symphony

• 1970 - Dutilleux: Tout un Monde Lointain for Cello and Orchestra, in Aix-en-Provence

• 1976 - Glass: opera, Einstein on the Beach, in Avignon, France, at the Théatre Municipale. The American premiere took place as a non-season event at the Metropolitan Opera in New York on November 21, 1976).

Others

• 1788 - Mozart finishes his Symphony No. 40

• 1937 - Barber’s Symphony No. 1 is performed at the Salzburg Music Festival is Austria, by the Vienna Philharmonic, Artur Rodzinsky, conducting. This was the first American symphonic work to be performed at this prestigious international festival. The symphony had received its world premiere performance in Rome on December 13, 1935, during Barber’s Rome Prize residency.