Composers Datebook®

Griffes for pleasure

Composers Datebook - Nov. 28, 2024
DOWNLOAD

Synopsis

On today’s date in 1919, eminent French conductor Pierre Monteux led the Boston Symphony in the premiere performance of The Pleasure Dome of Kubla Khan, a new orchestral score written by American composer Charles Tomlinson Griffes.

This music was inspired by the famous Romantic poem of that name by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, but owes its exotic orchestral coloring to Griffes’ interest in the music of Asia and the Pacific Rim. Although Griffes himself never traveled there, he knew someone who had: influential Canadian soprano Eva Gauthier, famous for her avant-garde song recitals that included music by Stravinsky and Schoenberg, and her later association with Gershwin and Ravel. It was the well-traveled Gauthier who introduced Griffes to the musical traditions of Japan and Java.

The 1919 Boston premiere of Kubla Khan was the highpoint of Griffes’ career, and all the critics agreed a major new talent had arrived on the American music scene.

Unfortunately, one month later, Griffes took ill and in a few months died from a severe lung infection. He was just 35. How his music would have developed had Griffes lived remains one of the most intriguing “what might have beens” of American music.

Music Played in Today's Program

Charles Tomlinson Griffes (1884-1920): The Pleasure Dome of Kubla Khan; Boston Symphony; Seiji Ozawa, conductor; New World 273

On This Day

Births

  • 1784 - Baptismal date of German composer and pianist Ferdinand Ries, in Bonn

  • 1829 - Russian composer and pianist Anton Rubinstein, in Vikhvatinets, Podolia (see Julian date: Nov. 16)

Deaths

  • 1972 - British composer Havergal Brian, 96, in Shoreham-by-Sea. He composed 32 symphonies between 1919-1968 (most remained unperformed during his lifetime).

Premieres

  • 1723 - Bach: Sacred Cantata No. 61 (Nun Komm der Heiden Heiland I) performed on the 1st Sunday in Advent as part of Bach’s first annual Sacred Cantata cycle in Leipzig (1723/24)

  • 1811 - Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5, by the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Johann Philip Christian Schultz conducting, and Friedrich Schneider as the soloist

  • 1895 - Rimsky-Korsakov: opera Christmas Eve, in St. Petersburg (Gregorian date: Dec. 10)

  • 1896 - Mussorgsky: opera Boris Godunov (Rimsky-Korsakov version), in St. Petersburg (Gregorian date: Dec. 10)

  • 1909 - Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 3, in Carnegie Hall, composer at piano, Walter Damrosch conducting New York Symphony Society Orchestra

  • 1919 - Charles Tomlinson Griffes: The Pleasure Dome of Kubla Khan, Pierre Monteux conducting Boston Symphony Orchestra

  • 1930 - Hanson: Symphony No. 2 (Romantic), by the Boston Symphony, Serge Koussevitzky conducting

  • 1930 - Kodály: Marosszék Dances, in Dresden

  • 1940 - Miaskovsky: Symphony No. 20, in Moscow

  • 1990 - Christopher Rouse: Concerto per Corde (Concerto for Strings), at Avery Fisher Hall in New York, by the American Symphony Orchestra, Catherine Comet conducting

Love the music?

Donate by phone
1-800-562-8440

Show your support by making a gift to YourClassical.

Each day, we’re here for you with thoughtful streams that set the tone for your day – not to mention the stories and programs that inspire you to new discovery and help you explore the music you love.

YourClassical is available for free, because we are listener-supported public media. Take a moment to make your gift today.

More Ways to Give

Your Donation

$5/month
$10/month
$15/month
$20/month
$

Latest Composers Datebook® Episodes

VIEW ALL EPISODES

Latest Composers Datebook® Episodes

YourClassical

Tchaikovsky in New York

Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky (1840-1893): Orchestral Suite No. 3; Detroit Symphony; Neeme Järvi, conductor; Chandos 9419

2:00
Get Composers Datebook in your inbox
YourClassical

Prokofiev and Rochberg chamber premieres

Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953): String Quartet No. 1; St. Petersburg String Quartet; Delos 3247 George Rochberg (1918-2005): Octet (‘A Grand Fantasia’); New York Chamber Ensemble; Stephen Rogers Radcliffe, conductor; New World 80462

2:00
YourClassical

Tower's Violin Concerto

Joan Tower (b. 1938): Violin Concerto; Elmar Oliveira, violin; Louisville Orchestra; Joseph Silverstein, conductor; D’Note 1016

2:00
YourClassical
2:00
YourClassical
2:00
YourClassical

Copland's 'Hurricane' for kids

Aaron Copland (1900-1990): ‘The Second Hurricane’; High School of Music and Art; New York Philharmonic; Leonard Bernstein, conductor; Sony 60560

2:00
YourClassical

Biblical Torke

Michael Torke (b. 1961): ‘Song of Isaiah’; Present Music; innova 590

2:00
YourClassical

Anthony Braxton's operas

Anthony Braxton (b. 1945): excerpt from Act 2 of ‘Trillium J’; soloists and ensemble; Anthony Braxton, conductor; New Braxton House 906

1:59
YourClassical

'King's Row,' Korngold and 'Star Wars'

Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957): ‘Main Title,’ from ‘King’s Row’; National Philharmonic; Charles Gerhardt, conductor; RCA LSC-3330 (LP) & 7890-2-RG (CD)

1:58
VIEW ALL EPISODES

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.

About Composers Datebook®
YourClassical Radio
0:00
0:00