Morton Gould rewrites history

Synopsis

On this date in 1948, the ballet Fall River Legend was premiered at the Metropolitan Opera House by the Ballet Theatre of New York. The choreography was by Agnes de Mille, and the music by Morton Gould.

The previous year, de Mille and Gould had met at the Russian Tea Room to discuss their ballet, a retelling of the true story of Lizzie Borden, acquitted for the gruesome ax murders of her father and stepmother.

Both de Mille and Gould thought Borden must have been guilty as charged.

“Well, what shall we do about that?” asked de Mille.

“Hang her!” said Gould, adding that in any case, it would be easier for him to write hanging music than acquittal music.

So, with that large dollop of poetic license, de Mille and Gould came up with the scenario for a ballet that opens with Lizzie standing before the gallows.

Morton Gould was known for his ability to blend folk music, jazz, gospel, blues and other elements into lively, colorful orchestral works. He was also a noted conductor, with over one hundred recordings to his credit — including a classic RCA Living Stereo recording of the Suite he arranged from his Fall River Legend ballet.

Music Played in Today's Program

Morton Gould (1913-1996): Fall River Legend; New Zealand Symphony Orchestra; James Sedares, conductor; Koch 7181

On This Day

Births

• 1658 - Italian composer and violinist Giuseppe Torelli, in Verona

• 1858 - British composer and women's rights advocate Dame Ethel Smyth, in Rectory

• 1922 - American composer and jazz bassist Charles Mingus, in Nogales, Arizona

• 1932 - American composer Michael Colgrass, in Chicago

Deaths

• 1892 - French composer Edouard Lalo, 69, in Paris

• 1925 - French composer André Caplet, 46, in Paris

• 2001 - American composer, pianist and author Robert Starer, 77, in Woodstock, New York

Premieres

• 1749 - Rameau: opera-ballet Naïs, in Paris

• 1885 - Dvořák: Symphony No. 7, in London, with the Royal Philharmonic conducted by the composer

• 1904 - Chadwick: Euterpe overture, by the Boston Symphony with the composer conducting

• 1912 - Dukas: ballet La Péri, in Paris

• 1927 - Roger Sessions: Symphony No. 1, by the Boston Symphony with Serge Koussevitzky conducting

• 1938 - Leo Sowerby: Organ Concerto, by the Boston Symphony, Serge Koussevitzky conducting

• 1939 - Menotti: opera The Old Maid and the Thief, in New York City as a NBC radio broadcast; The first staged performance took place in Philadelphia on February 11, 1941

• 1944 - Harry Partch: Eight Hitchhiker Inscriptions from a Highway Railing, at the chamber concert room at Carnegie Hall

• 1961 - Ginastera: Piano Concerto No. 1, in Washington, D.C.

• 1969 - Peter Maxwell Davies: Eight Songs for a Mad King, in London

• 1975 - Andrew Lloyd-Webber: musical Jeeves (book and lyrics by Alan Ayckbourn), in London. An almost-totally revised version of this musical, retitled By Jeeves, opened in London on July 2, 1996.

• 1999 - Harbison: Four Psalms, by vocal soloists Lisa Affer, Lorraine Hunt, Frank Kelley, and James Maddalena, with the Chicago Symphony and Chorus, Christoph Eschenbach conducting

Others

• 1723 - J.S. Bach is elected cantor at St. Thomas Church in Leipzig

• 1853 - First documented American performance of Beethoven's Leonore Overture No. 2, at Niblo's Rooms in New York City, by the New York Philharmonic, Theodore Eisfeld conducting

• 1869 - First documented American performance of Beethoven's King Stephen Oveture, at the Academy of Music in New York, by the Theodore Thomas Orchestra

• 1876 - American premiere of Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet Fantasy-Overture, by the New York Philharmonic, George Matzka conducting

• 1921 - In Paris, the first of the Koussevitzky Concerts organized and conducted by the wealthy Russian emigree conductor and music patron, Serge Koussevitzky

• 2001 - Philharmonic Hungarica gives its final concert in Düsseldorf; The orchestra was founded by Hungarian musicians who fled to West Germany after the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956. For London/Decca Records the Philharmonic Hungarica made the first complete set of all of Haydn's symphonies under the baton of its honorary president, the Hungarian-American conductor Antal Dorati.