Airs and poems by Kernis and Chausson

Synopsis

In the hands of a great performer, the violin can sing with the personality and intensity of a great opera singer. Pyrotechnics may dazzle, but nothing moves an audience as much as when a great violinist "sings" through his instrument.

On today's date in 1896, a French audience in Nancy must has been so moved when the great violinist Eugène Ysaÿe gave the first performance of this music: the Poème for Violin and Orchestra by Ernest Chausson. In addition to famous artists like Manet and Degas, Chausson counted among his friends many of the great musicians of his day, including the great violinist Ysäye.

Although they admired his work, Chausson was not always appreciated by the public. But when Ysaÿe premiered Chausson's Poème in Paris in 1897, the applause went on and on. Used to just the opposite reaction, Chausson was stunned by his success, and, while thanking Ysaye profusely, kept repeating to himself: "I just can't believe it!"

Modern-day violinist Joshua Bell was the inspiration for this songful contemporary work by Aaron Jay Kernis. Titled Air for Violin, it was originally composed for violin and piano, and premiered in 1995 by Bell. He recorded it the following year with the Minnesota Orchestra.

Music Played in Today's Program

Ernest Chausson (1855-1899) Poème; Isaac Stern, violin; Orchestre de Paris; Daniel Barenboim, conductor. CBS/Sony 64501

Aaron Jay Kernis (b. 1960) Air for Violin; Minnesota Orchestra; Joshua Bell, violin; David Zinman, conductor. Argo 460 226

On This Day

Births

• 1906 - American composer, pianist and entertainer Oscar Levant, in Pittsburgh, Pa.;

Deaths

• 1944 - American composer and pianist Amy Marcey Cheney (Mrs. H.H.A.) Beach, age 77, in New York;

• 1992 - American composer Stephen Albert, age 51, in a car accident in Truro, Mass.;

Premieres

• 1723 - Bach: Sacred Cantata No. 64 ("Sehet, welch eine Liebe hat uns der Vater erzeiget") performed on the 3rd Day of Christmas as part of Bach's first annual Sacred Cantata cycle in Leipzig (1723/24);

• 1724 - Bach: Sacred Cantata No. 133 ("Ich freue mich in dir") performed on the 3rd Day of Christmas as part of Bach's second annual Sacred Cantata cycle in Leipzig (1724/25);

• 1725 - Bach: Sacred Cantata No. 151 ("Süsser Trost, mein Jesus kömmt"") performed on the 3rd Day of Christmas as part of Bach's third annual Sacred Cantata cycle in Leipzig (1725/27);

• 1734 - Bach: Part 3 ("Herrscher der Himmels, erhöre das Lallen") of the 6-part "Christmas Oratorio," S. 248, in Leipzig;

• 1896 - Chausson: "Poéme," Op. 25, in Nancy, with Guy Ropartz conducting and Eugène Ysayë as soloist;

• 1901 - American premiere of Bruckner: Symphony No. 5, by the Boston Symphony, Wilhelm Gericke conducting;

• 1906 - Florent Schmitt: "Psalm XLVII," in Paris;

• 1954 - Menotti: "The Saint of Bleecker Street," in New York City; This work won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1955;

Others

• 1841 - Franz Liszt performs at the Singakademie in Berlin; Women swooned and the general audience reacts with such uncontrolled enthusiasm that Heinrich Heine coins the term "Lisztomania" to describe their fanatical devotion to the performer, which soon swept through most of Europe;