Synopsis
One of the last chamber works by American composer Aaron Copland received its first performance on today’s date in 1971 in Philadelphia as a benefit for that city’s Settlement Music School. Copland was present for the premiere of his Duo for flute and piano. The work was commissioned by friends and students of William Kincaid, who had been the principal flutist of the Philadelphia Orchestra for many years.
By 1971, thorny, complex, and atonal music was the fashion in both Europe and America. Copland, for his part, had composed some challenging orchestral works along these lines as well. His Duo, however was unashamedly lyrical.
As Copland put it: “What can you do with a flute in an extended form that would not emphasize its songful nature? Lyricism seems to be built into the flute. Some expressed surprise at the tonal nature of my Duo, considering that my recent works had been in a more severe idiom.”
Copland needn’t have worried. As music critic Michael Steinberg put it, reviewing its first performance in Boston, “Copland’s Duo is a lightweight work of a masterful craftsman. It is going to give pleasure to flutists and their audiences for a long time.”
Music Played in Today's Program
Aaron Copland (1900-1990): Duo; Jennifer Stinton, flute; Malcolm Martineau, piano; Collins 1385
On This Day
Births
1923 - Polish-born American composer and conductor Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, in Lwow
1936 - American composer Steve Reich, in New York
Deaths
1931 - Danish composer and conductor Carl Nielsen, 66, in Copenhagen
1953 - English composer Sir Arnold Bax, 69, in Cork, Ireland
Premieres
1822 - Beethoven: Consecration of the House Overture, for the opening of the Josephstadt Theater in Vienna
1860 - Brahms: Serenade No. 1, in Hanover, conducted by Joseph Joachim
1888 - Gilbert & Sullivan: operetta, The Yeomen of the Guard, at the Savoy Theatre in London
1900 - Elgar: oratorio, The Dream of Gerontius, at Birmingham, Hans Richter conducting
1929 - Walton: Viola Concerto, by the Queen’s Hall Orchestra conducted by the composer, with Paul Hindemith the soloist
1963 - Ginastera: Violin Concerto, by the New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein conducting, with Ruggiero Ricci the soloist
1968 - William Schuman’s To Thee Old Cause at New York Philharmonic concert conducted by Bernstein (dedicated to memory of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy)
1971 - Copland: Duo for flute and piano, in Philadelphia, by flutist Elaine Shaffer and pianist Hephzibah Menuhin
1984 - Corigliano: Creations for narrator and chamber orchestra, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with Lukas Foss conducting
1996 - James MacMillan: Cello Concerto, at the Barbican in London, by Mstislav Rostropovich with the London Symphony, Sir Colin Davis conducting
1997 - Anthony Davis: Jacob’s Ladder, by the Kansas City Symphony, Bill McGlaughlin conducting
Others
1833 - Berlioz marries Irish actress Harriet “Henrietta” Smithson at the British embassy in Paris; Liszt acts as one of the witnesses
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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.
