Synopsis
It’s an old story: a talented performer sacrifices everything, including his integrity, his happiness, his friends and even his lover to climb to the top, only to realize (too late!) what he has sacrificed along the way.
Yes, thanks to countless Hollywood “show-biz” films, the basic outline is familiar, and, whether based on fact or fiction, has resulted in countless movies: some memorable, some not.
In 1991, a French film was released that combined a little fact — and a lot of fiction — to tell the story of 17th century performer and composer Marin Marais, who was baptized in Paris on today’s date in 1656.
Marais was a virtuoso on the viola da gamba, an early ancestor of the modern cello. Sparked by the period-instrument movement of the late 20th century, interest in Marais’ music had been growing for some time before the release of the film, which was titled Tous les Matins du Monde, which translates as “all the mornings of the world [leave] without [ever] returning.”
Well, it does sounds a lot better in French, and whether or not the film tells the truth about Marais, it does conjure up some haunting images as a backdrop for some equally haunting music from the 17th century.
Music Played in Today's Program
Marin Marais (1656-1728): The Bells of St. Genevieve; Spectre de la Rose Ensemble; Naxos 8.550750
On This Day
Births
1656 - French composer and viola da gamba virtuoso, Marin Marais, in Paris
1804 - French composer, pianist and teacher (Jeanne-) Louise Farrenc (née Dumont), in Paris
Deaths
1809 - Austrian composer Franz Joseph Haydn, 77, in Vienna
1967 - American composer and arranger Billy Strayhorn, 51, in New York City
Premieres
1817 - Rossini: La Gazza Ladra (The Thieving Magpie), at La Scala in Milan
1884 - Puccini: opera Le Villi (The Willies), in Milan at the Teatro dal Verme
1961 - Penderecki: Threnody in Memory of the Victims of Hiroshima for strings, in Warsaw
1998 - Melinda Wagner: Concerto for Flute, Strings and Percussion, at the State University of New York (SUNY) in Purchase, with flutist Paul Lustig Dunkel and the Westchester Philharmonic, Mark Mandarano conducting. This work won the Pulitzer Prize for music in 1999.
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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.
