Synopsis Mountains can have unforeseen consequences on the imagination. For Philadelphia-native Melinda Wagner, serving as a composer-in-residence at a music festival in Vail, Colorado, this resulted in the composition of a new Trombone Concerto, a piece tailor-made for Joseph Alessi, the principal trombonist of the New York Philharmonic. “During my free moments in Vail,” said Wagner, “I found myself gazing – in disbelief really – at the jagged, youthful beauty of the Rockies. By comparison, ‘my’ mountains – the old Endless, Allegheny, and Pocono ranges of Pennsylvania – seemed to be no more than a set of soft wrinkles in the skin of the earth! “Nobility and power, hallmarks of the trombone sound, are words that come to mind in the presence of mountains, old and new. And a truly great musician, as I learned while hearing Joseph Alessi play, can coax so much more out of the trombone: aching tenderness, sadness, lyricism, mirth.” Alessi gave the premiere performance of Wagner’s new Concerto on today’s date in 2007, with the New York Philharmonic conducted by Lorin Maazel.  She’s also written three major orchestral works for the Chicago Symphony, including a piano concerto for Emanuel Ax entitled “Extremity of Sky.” Music Played in Today&#39;s Program Melinda Wagner (b. 1957) — Trombone Concerto (New York Philharmonic; Lorin Maazel, cond.) Bridge 9345

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Melinda Wagner's Trombone Concerto

Synopsis On today’s date in 1929, the Italian composer Ottorino Respighi capped his trilogy of symphonic tone poems based on Roman scenery and history with the premiere performance of his “Roman Festivals.” Unlike the first two installments, “The Fountains of Rome” and “The Pines of Rome,” which were both premiered in Rome by Italian orchestras, “Roman Festivals” premiered in America at Carnegie Hall, with the New York Philharmonic conducted by Arturo Toscanini. “All three of the compositions are [full of] brilliant instrumental effects,” wrote music critic Olin Downes in his New York Times review the following day. “’Roman Festivals’ however, fairly caps the climax for sheer orchestral sonority … The first part … is really wild and brutal music, the dramatic idea being the howls and cries of the crowd at the Circus Maximus, the salutations for Nero, the opening of the iron gates and the roaring of beasts, the hymn of the Christians about to be slaughtered... The passage is short, but of a stunning power." But Olin Downes ended his review with a Nero-esque thumbs-down: "All this program material furnishes Mr. Respighi opportunity for descriptive writing,” concludes the review, “but the music is of no merit.” Music Played in Today&#39;s Program Ottorino Resphigi (1879 — 1936) — Roman Festivals (Philadelphia Orchestra; Riccardo Muti, cond.) Angel/EMI 47316 On This Day Births 1801 - Czech composer Johann Wenzel Kalliwoda, in Prague; 1836 - French composer Léo Delibes, in St. Germain du Val, Sarthe; 1844 - French composer and organist Charles Marie Widor, in Lyons; Deaths 1996 - American composer and conductor Morton Gould, age 82, in Orlando, Fla. Premieres 1727 - Bach: Sacred Cantata No. 52 ("Ich habe genug") performed on the Feast of the Purification as part of Bach&#39;s third annual Sacred Cantata cycle in Leipzig (1725/27); 1744 - Handel: oratorio “Semele,” in London (Julian date: Feb. 10); 1749 - Handel: oratorio “Susanna” in London (Julian date: Feb. 10); 1886 - Mussorgsky (arr. Rimsky-Korsakov): opera “Khovanschchina,” posthumously, in St. Petersburg (Julian date: Feb. 9); 1907 - Delius: opera, "A Village Romeo and Juliet," in Berlin; 1909 - Liadov: “Enchanted Lake” for orchestra, in St. Petersburg (Julian date: Feb. 8); 1917 - Rachmaninoff: “Etudes-tableaux,” Op. 39 (Gregorian date: March 6); 1920 - Milhaud: ballet "Le Boeuf sur la toît," in Paris; 1929 - Respighi: orchestral suite, "Roman Festivals," by the New York Philharmonic, Toscanini conducting; 1946 - Roy Harris: "Memories of a Child&#39;s Sunday," by the New York Philharmonic with the composer conducting; 1948 - Cowell: Suite for Woodwind Quintet, by an ensemble at the McMillan Theater of Columbia University in New York City; This work was written in 1933 for the French flutist Georges Barrère, but the score and parts remained lost until 1947. Links and Resources On Respighi and his music 

Respighi in New York

Synopsis Today marks the birthday of the British composer Ruth Gipps, who lived from 1921 to 1999.  She wrote five symphonies, dozens of concertos, chamber works, and vocal scores. Gipps said she found it “difficult to understand young people who don’t know what they want to be when they grow up.”  She published her first music at 8, and by her twenties had also become a professional oboist and pianist. Her triple career peaked in 1945, when in Birmingham, she performed the Glazunov Piano Concerto on the first half of a concert, then, on the second, played the English horn part in the premiere performance of her own First Symphony. Vaughan Williams was one of her composition teachers, and her music was, like his, firmly based in melody and traditional harmony. Ironically, this counted against her in the years following World War II when music that wasn’t atonal and avant-garde was deemed old-fashioned. Even so, in 1981, Gipps was included in the Queen’s Honors List, but Dame Ruth probably derived as much pleasure from her MG as her MBE: an avid sports car enthusiast, her obituary noted that, heavily swathed, Gipps enjoyed driving her roadster though whatever the British climate threw at her. Music Played in Today&#39;s Program Ruth Gipps (1921 – 1999) — Symphony No. 2, Op. 30 (Munich Symphony Orchestra; Douglas Bostock, cond.) Cameo Classics 9046 (also Classico 274)

Ruth Gipps

Synopsis In February of 1794, the Austrian composer Franz Joseph Haydn arrived in England for his second visit, and the premiere performances of some of his newest symphonies, beginning with one in E-flat Major that we know as his Symphony No. 99. Haydn would write 104 symphonies in all – an astonishing accomplishment, considering both their quantity and quality. In typically modest fashion, Haydn once commented: “I compose music so that the weary and worn, or the man burdened with affairs, may enjoy a few moments of solace and refreshment. I know that God has bestowed a talent upon me, and I thank Him for it. I think I have done my duty and been of use in my generation by my works. Let others do the same.” Well, these days, as in Haydn’s, to write a symphony one needs talent AND an orchestra willing to perform it. The American composer Daniel Asia has a way to go before matching Haydn’s output, but has composed at least SIX symphonies to date. The first was commissioned by the American Composers Orchestra and the Seattle Symphony, and received its premiere performance in Seattle, Asia’s hometown, on today’s date in 1990. Music Played in Today&#39;s Program Franz Josef Haydn (1732 — 1808) — Symphony No. 99 (Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; Sir Colin Davis, cond.) Philips 442 614 Daniel Asia (b. 1953) — Symphony No. 4 (New Zealand Symphony; James Sedares, cond.) Summit 256

Haydn and Asia Symphonies

Synopsis In a creative life that spanned over 60 years, the American composer Howard Hanson never wavered in his belief that music should be tonal in nature and fundamentally Romantic in style, with strong and clear melodic lines. By the mid-1950s, many other European and American composers were espousing a far different approach to music, favoring an abstract and often densely complex style, more in harmony with the non-representational canvases of the painter Jackson Pollack than the meticulous realism of, say, Norman Rockwell. On today’s date in 1955, this music, Hanson’s Symphony No. 5, had its premiere performance by the Philadelphia Orchestra under Eugene Ormandy. It’s the most compact of Hanson’s seven symphonies, a single-movement work in three sections lasting just 15 minutes. Hanson titled the work “Sinfonia Sacra” or “A Sacred Symphony,” and suggested it was inspired by the account of Christ’s resurrection in the Gospel of St. John. “The Sinfonia Sacra does not attempt programmatically to tell the story of the first Easter,” wrote Hanson, “but does attempt to invoke some of the atmosphere of tragedy and triumph, mysticism and affirmation of this story, which is the essential symbol of the Christian faith.” Music Played in Today&#39;s Program Howard Hanson (1896 - 1981) — Symphony No. 5 (Sinfonia Sacra) (Seattle Symphony; Gerard Schwarz, cond.) Delos 3130 On This Day Births 1632 - Italian composer Giovanni Battista Vitali, in Bologna; 1864 - American music publisher Gustave Schirmer, Jr., in New York City, son of the German-born music publisher Gustave Schirmer, Sr. 1915 - French composer Marcel Landowski in Prêt L&#39;Abbé (Finistère); 1939 - Brazilian composer, conductor and pianist Marlos Nobre, in Recife; Deaths 1956 - French composer French composer Gustave Charpentier, age 95, in Paris; Premieres 1743 - Handel: oratorio “Samson,” at Covent Garden Theatre in London, and possibly the premiere of Handel’s recently-completed Organ Concerto Op. 7, no. 2 at the same concert (Gregorian date: Mar. 1); 1874 - Rimsky-Korsakov: Symphony No. 3, in St. Petersburg (Gregorian date: Mar. 2); 1893 - Berlioz: "La Damnation de Faust" (as a staged opera), in Monte Carlo with a cast headed by tenor Jean de Reske; Berlioz conducted the first concert performance of this work (as an oratorio) at the Opéra-Comique in Paris on Dec. 6, 1946; 1893 - Brahms: Intermezzo No. 1, for piano, from Op. 117, in Vienna; 1895 - Loeffler: Quintet for three violins, viola and cello, at Boston&#39;s Union Hall by the Kneisel Quartet joined by violinist William Kraft; 1916 - Daniel Mason: First Symphony (first version), by the Philadelphia Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski conducting; 1919 - Deems Taylor: chamber suite "Through The Looking Glass," by the New York Chamber Music Society; 1947 - Menotti: one-act opera "The Telephone," in New York City at the Heckscher Theater; 1952 - Prokofiev: Sinfonia Concertante, Op. 125 (as "Cello Concerto" No. 2), in Moscow, with Sviatoslav Richter conducting and Mstislav Rostropovich the soloist; 1955 - Hanson: Symphony No. 5 ("Sinfonia Sacra"), the Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy conducting; 1965 - Ginastera: Harp Concerto, by harpist Nicanor Zabaleta , with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy conducting; 1998 - Thea Musgrave: "Phoenix Rising," at the Royal Festival Hall in London, by the BBC Symphony, Andrew Davis conducting. Links and Resources On Howard Hanson 

Hanson's Fifth

Synopsis The American composer Elliott Carter has a reputation for writing some of the thorniest, most abstract and most technically difficult orchestral scores of the 20th century. But for a few moments at least, during the opening of Carter’s “Symphony of Three Orchestras,” which had its premiere performance on today’s date in 1977 at a New York Philharmonic concert conducted by Pierre Boulez, audiences must have been surprised by an impressionistic, almost Romantic tone. In notes for the new piece, Carter admitted the opening of the new work was inspired by the poetry of Hart Crane, specifically Crane’s description of the New York harbor and the Brooklyn Bridge. Both those New York landmarks were a short walk away from Carter’s lower Manhattan apartment. Carter’s 15-minute “Symphony of Three Orchestras” quickly shifts into his more recognizably dense style, however, and, as the title indicates, employs three orchestras on one stage, playing with and against each other at various points. As the New York Times reviewer wrote: “It will take many hearings for the relationships of the score to assert themselves, though one can be confident that Mr. Carter, one of the most accomplished constructionists of the age, has assembled everything with pin-point logic.” Music Played in Today&#39;s Program Elliot Carter (1908 - 2012) — Symphony for Three Orchestras (New York Philharmonic; Pierre Boulez, cond.) Sony 68334

Carter times Three

Synopsis Today’s date marks the birthday in 1938 of the 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&#39;s Program John Corigliano (b. 1938) — Circus Maximus (University of Texas Wind Ensemble; Jerry Junkin, cond.) Naxos 8.559601

Corigliano at the Circus Maximus

Synopsis Between 1908 and 1950, the Russian composer Nikolai Miaskovsky composed 27 symphonies.  His Symphony No. 19 for wind band, premiered on today’s date in 1939 at the Cominterm Radio Station in Moscow, and was dedicated to the Red Army. The Red Army’s bandmaster had asked Miaskovsky to write something for his ensemble, and at first the composer was reluctant. “The difficulties of this unusual task oppressed and discouraged me,” he wrote, “but I was anxious to keep my promise and soon mustered a fair spurt of energy, with the result that instead of a simple piece in one movement, I sent him a symphony in four.” The resulting work was, in fact, one of the normally melancholic Miaskovky’s most upbeat works. Miaskovsky was a late starter as a composer, and when he was accepted into the Saint Petersburg Conservatory in 1906, he was the oldest student in his class. Nonetheless, he quickly befriended the YOUNGEST student in his class, one Sergei Prokofiev, and the two remained close and life-long colleagues. While still students, Prokofiev and Miaskovsky worked jointly on a collaborative symphony – now lost – which, had it survived, would have added an 8th to Prokofiev’s and a 28th to Miaskovsky’s symphonic tally. Music Played in Today&#39;s Program Nikolai Miaskovsky (1881 - 1950) — Symphony No. 19 (Stockholm Concert Band; Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Gennady, cond.) Chandos 9444

Miakovsky for band

Composers Datebook™ is a daily two-minute program designed to inform, engage, and entertain listeners with timely information about composers of the past and present. Each program notes significant or intriguing musical events involving composers of the past and present, with appropriate and accessible music related to each.

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Composers Datebook

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