Synopsis
On today’s date in 1937, a gala concert in Berlin presented the premiere performance of Robert Schumann’s Violin Concerto, a work composed in the fall of 1853, shortly before Schumann’s tragic mental collapse.
The concerto was never given a public performance during Schumann’s lifetime, although great 19th century violinist Joseph Joachim read through the score during an orchestral rehearsal early in 1854 and played the work privately in 1855 with piano accompaniment provided by Schumann’s wife, Clara. Clara, Joachim and their mutual friend Johannes Brahms all judged the concerto subpar and perhaps embarrassing evidence of Schumann’s declining mental state.
Oddly enough, the 1937 premiere in Berlin, attended by none other than Adolf Hitler, was presented as part of the Nazi’s Strength Through Joy cultural program. German commentators touted Schumann’s ties to the German “folk,” while American critics bemoaned that most of the great German violinists of the day were unavailable for this important premiere, having all left Germany for racial or political reasons.
On this side of the Atlantic, it was violinist Yehudi Menuhin who gave the American premiere of Schumann’s long-neglected concerto a month later, first with piano accompaniment at Carnegie Hall, then later with the St. Louis Symphony.
Music Played in Today's Program
Robert Schumann (1810-1856): Violin Concerto; Gidon Kremer, violin; Philharmonia Orchestra; Riccardo Muti, conductor; EMI 69334
On This Day
Births
1932 - American composer and teacher Alan Stout, in Baltimore
Deaths
1959 - British light-music composer Albert W. Ketèlbey, 84, on the Isle of Wight
Premieres
1724 - Bach: Sacred Cantata No. 116 (Du Friedefürst, Herr Jesu Christ) performed on the 25th Sunday after Trinity as part of Bach;s second annual Sacred Cantata cycle in Leipzig (1724/25)
1887 - Tchaikovsky: Suite No. 4 (Mozartiana), on an all Tchaikovsky program in Moscow conducted by the composer (see Julian date: Nov. 14)
1937 - R. Schumann: Violin Concerto (composed 1853 for violinist Joseph Joachim, who never performed it in public), in Berlin, by the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Karl Boehm, with Georg Kulenkampff as soloist
1948 - Virgil Thomson: Louisiana Story Suite, by the Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy conducting
1954 - Lutoslawski: Concerto for Orchestra, in Warsaw
1993 - Stanislaw Skrowaczewski: Chamber Concerto (Ritornelli poi Ritornelli) in St. Paul, Minnesota, by the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, with the composer conducting
1997 - Corigliano: The Red Violin (Chaconne for Violin and Orchestra), by soloist Joshua Bell with the San Francisco Symphony, Robert Spano conducting
Others
1760 - Franz Joseph Haydn (28) marries Maria Anna Keller (31) in St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna. Ms. Keller was the daughter of the wigmaker Johann Peter Keller, who is said variously to have assisted Haydn in his years of poverty or employed him as a music teacher.
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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.
