Synopsis
Today’s date in 1938 marks the birthday of American composer John Corigliano, and also, in 2005, of the premiere of his Symphony No. 3, scored for large wind ensemble. The premiere was given in Austin by the University of Texas Wind Ensemble led by Jerry F. Junkin.
Corigliano titled his new symphony Circus Maximus, explaining: “The Circus Maximus of ancient Rome was … [the] largest arena in the world, it entertained over 300,000 spectators daily for nearly a thousand years. Chariot races, hunts and battles satisfied the Roman public’s need for grander and wilder amusements as the Empire declined. Many of us [today] have become as bemused by the violence and humiliation that flood the 500-plus channels of our television screens as those mobs of imperial Rome who considered the devouring of human beings by starving lions just another Sunday show.”
In performance, Corigliano asks that a huge array of brass, wind and percussion surround the audience on all sides. As brass instruments roar and cheer all around them, the audience is meant to feel more like the watched than the watchers, and Corigliano ends the work with a bang — literally — as a shotgun blast provides the symphony’s final exclamation point!
Music Played in Today's Program
John Corigliano (b. 1938): Circus Maximus; University of Texas Wind Ensemble; Jerry Junkin, conductor; Naxos 8.559601
On This Day
Births
1709 - English composer and writer on music Charles Avison, in Newcastle upon Tyne
1878 - Finnish composer Selim Palmgren, in Björneborg (now Pori)
1907 - American composer Alec Wilder (Alexander Lafayette Chew), in Rochester, New York
1938 - American composer John Corigliano, in New York
Deaths
1829 - Belgian-born French composer François Joseph Gossec, 95, in Paris
1868 - Canadian composer Healey Willian, 87, in Toronto
1963 - Hungarian composer Laszlo Lajtha, 70, in Budapest
1987 - Soviet composer Dmitri Kabalevsky, 82, in Moscow
Premieres
1737 - Handel: opera Giustino, in London at the Covent Garden Theater (Gregorian date: Feb. 27)
1884 - Tchaikovsky: Orchestral Suite No. 2, in Moscow (Julian date: Feb. 4)
1892 - Massenet: opera, Werther, in Vienna at the Court Opera
1893 - Sibelius: tone-poem En Saga, in Helsinki
1929 - Copland: Vitebsky Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello, at New York’s Town Hall at a League of Composers concert featuring two members of the Pro Arte Quartet (violinist Alphonse Onnou and cellist Robert Mass) and the German pianist Walter Gieseking
1936 - Varèse: Density 21.5 for solo flute, in New York, by flutist Georges Barrère
1956 - Leon Kirchner: Toccata for strings, winds and percussion, in San Francisco
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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.
