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 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 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. Air for Violin 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
Deaths
1944 - American composer and pianist Amy Marcey Cheney (Mrs. H.H.A.) Beach, 77, in New York
1992 - American composer Stephen Albert, 51, in a car accident in Truro, Massachusetts
Premieres
1723 - Bach: Sacred Cantata No. 64 (Sehet, Welch eine Liebe hat uns der Vater Erzeiget) performed on the Third 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 Third 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 six-part Christmas Oratorio, in Leipzig
1896 - Chausson: Poéme, 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.
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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.