Debussy and the persistence of Elisa Hall

Synopsis

Today, a tip of the hat to the persistence of Elisa Hall, who lived in Boston from 1853 to 1924.

Hall was a Francophile and championed the best and the latest in French music. Sadly, she suffered from a hearing ailment, which would eventually result in complete deafness. At the advice of her doctor, who thought it might stimulate her ears, she took up the saxophone — and with typical enthusiasm soon began commissioning the leading French composers of the day for new pieces for her instrument.

In all, she commissioned 22 works, the most famous being by Claude Debussy. He at first refused Hall’s persistent offers of a commission, pleading the saxophone was “a reed animal with whose habits he was poorly acquainted.”

Debussy was paid in advance, but it was years before delivered a short rhapsody in a vaguely Moorish style. In May of 1919, one year after his death, the orchestration of the piece was completed by his friend, Jean Roger-Ducasse, and premiered in Paris.

Hall apparently never performed it herself. Maybe she was exasperated by the long delay or perhaps, by 1919, her own hearing had deteriorated to the point where she no longer could.

Music Played in Today's Program

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Rhapsody for Saxophone and Orchestra; Kenneth Radnofsky, alto saxophone; New York Philharmonic; Kurt Masur, conductor; Teldec 13133

On This Day

Births

• 1866 - French composer Erik Alfred-Leslie Satie, in Honfleur;

• 1901 - German composer Werner Egk, in Auchsesheim, near Donauswörth; His original last name was Mayer, and it is said (although denied by the composer) that the he chose the acronym E-G-K because it stood for “ein grosser Komponist” (“a great composer”).

• 1923 - American composer Peter Mennin, in Erie, Pennsylvania

Deaths

• 1935 - French composer Paul Dukas, 69, in Paris

Premieres

• 1779 - Gluck: opera Iphigénie en Tauride (Iphigenia in Taurus), at the Paris Opéra

• 1890 - Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana, in Rome at the Teatro Costanzi

• 1904 - Ravel: Schéhérazade, in Paris, with vocalist Jane Hatto and Alfred Cortot, conducting

• 1919 - Ravel: Alborado del Gracioso (orchestral version), in Paris at Pasdeloup Concert

• 1929 - Prokofiev: Symphony No. 3, in Paris, by the Orchestre Symphonique de Paris, with Pierre Monteux conducting

• 1933 - Cowell: Reel, for small orchestra, in New York

• 1939 - Prokofiev: cantata Alexander Nevsky, in Moscow

• 1946 - Martin: Petite Symphonie Concertante, in Zurich, Paul Sacher conducting

• 1960 - Ned Rorem: 11 Studies for 11 Players, for chamber ensemble, at the State University of Buffalo (New York), conducted by the composers

• 1990 - Rautavaara: Vincent, in Helsinki at the Finnish National Opera

• 2000 - Michael Torke: Corner in Manhattan, by the Minnesota Orchestra, Eiji Oue conducting

• 2001 - Christopher Rouse: Clarinet Concerto, by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Christoph Eschenbach, with Larry Combs the soloist

Others

• 1922 - Music of The President’s Own reached homes across the nation when the first Marine Band radio program was broadcast

• 1969 - Leonard Bernstein’s last concert as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic, having conducted 939 concerts with the orchestra (831 as its Music Director). Bernstein conducted 36 world premieres with the orchestra. He continued to appear with the Philharmonic as an occasional guest conductor until his death in 1990.

• 1978 - Philips Electronics of The Netherlands announces a new digital sound reproduction system from flat, silver Compact Discs.