Synopsis
On today’s date in 1965, the first complete performance of American composer Charles Ives’ Symphony No. 4 took place in New York.
38 years earlier, in 1927, also in New York, British conductor Eugene Goossens had performed the first two movements of Ives’ Fourth Symphony, after many a sleepless night trying to figure out how to perform certain sections of Ives’ score where the bar-lines didn’t jibe — parts where more than one rhythm pattern happened simultaneously.
“I remember,” Goosens said, “that I wound up beating two with my stick, three with my left hand, something else with my head, and something else again with my coat tails.”
For the 1965 premiere and first recording of Ives’ complete symphony, Leopold Stokowski solved this problem by enlisting the aid of two assistant conductors, David Katz and Jose Serebrier — all three men working simultaneously at times to cue the musicians in the trickiest passages of the score.
One of conductors who assisted Stokowski in 1965, José Serebrier, went on to recorded Ives’ Fourth again — this time without the aid of assistant conductors, coat tails, or the surgical addition of another set of arms.
Music Played in Today's Program
Charles Ives (1874-1954): Symphony No. 4; Los Angeles Philharmonic; Gustavo Dudamel, conductor; DG 4839505
José Serebrier (b. 1938): Symphony No. 2 (‘Partita’) London Philharmonic; José Serebrier, conductor; Reference 90
On This Day
Deaths
1951 - American composer John Alden Carpenter, 75, in Chicago;
1991 - French-born American composer and arranger Leo (Noël) Arnaud, 86, in Los Angeles. His tune Bugler’s Dream (written for a Felix Slatkin LP) became used as a familiar theme for the Olympic Games.
Premieres
1738 - Handel: opera Serse, (Julian date: April 15)
1899 - first version of Sibelius: Symphony No. 1, by the Helsinki Philharmonic, with the composer conducting. A revised, final version of this symphony was performed by the same orchestra on tour in Stockholm on July 4, 1900, conducted by Robert Kajanus.
1915 - Hindemith: String Quartet No. 1 in C, Op. 2, at Dr. Hoch's Conservatory in Frankfurt
1959 - John Cage: Fontana Mix, in New York City
1965 - Ives: Symphony No. 4, at Carnegie Hall by the American Symphony Orchestra, with Leopold Stokowski (assisted by David Katz and José Serebrier)
1970 - Broadway premiere of Sondheim: musical Company. A trial-run in Boston preceded the Broadway premiere.
1990 - John Harbison: Concerto for Double Brass Choir and Orchestra, in Los Angeles, with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, André Previn conducting
2002 - Michael Hersch: Symphony No. 2, by the Pittsburgh Symphony, Mariss Jansons conducting
Others
1891 - Tchaikovsky arrives in New York to take part in the May 5, 1891, opening concert at New York's newly-constructed Music Hall (later known as Carnegie Hall).
1926 - American premiere of Monteverdi's 1642 opera L'Incoronazione di Poppea (The Coronation of Poppea), at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts
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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.
