Composers Datebook

Tchaikovsky and Glass at the movies

Synopsis For ballet lovers, the opening of Tchaikovsky’s ballet Swan Lake conjures up tutus, but for old-time movie buffs, this same music triggers memories of many black

Beethoven's 'Razumovsky' Quartets

Synopsis On today’s date in 1806, Ludwig van Beethoven offered his publisher Breitkopf and Härtel three new string quartets — works we know today as the three Razumovsky

E.J. Moeran

Synopsis On today’s date in 1948, at a Proms concert at the Royal Albert Hall, the London Symphony gave the premiere performance of the Serenade in G Major by British com

Mozart 'dissed' by Dittersdorf?

Synopsis On today’s date in 1785, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart dedicated six of his string quartets to his friend and older colleague, Joseph Haydn. Earlier that year, Haydn h

Barber's 'scandalous' overture

Synopsis On today’s date in 1933, the Philadelphia Orchestra was performing at its summer home at Robin Hood Dell. Conductor Alexander Smallens led the world premiere per

Saariaho at the Proms

Synopsis Say the phrase “BBC Proms” to most music lovers, and they’ll conjure up a mental image of the rowdy “Last Night of the Proms” at which normally staid and reserve

Gershwin's operatic flop

Synopsis The life story of George Gershwin usually runs something like this: an incredible string of successes cut short by Gershwin’s tragically early death. But on toda

Rameau's 'Pygmalion'

Synopsis Around this time in 1956, the hot ticket on Broadway was for a musical based on the old Greek legend of Pygmalion, a sculptor so good that he fell in love with o

Martinu's 'Frescoes'

Synopsis Piero della Francesca was a 15th century Renaissance painter, whose series of frescoes, Legend of the True Cross, inspired one of the best orchestral works of 20

Bernstein asks a musical question in Moscow

Synopsis On today’s date in 1959, Leonard Bernstein celebrated his 41st birthday in Moscow. The New York Philharmonic was embarked on an extensive world tour, which inclu

Claude Goudimel, Huguenot

Synopsis We tend to think our time has had a monopoly on bitter religious conflicts, but on today’s date in 1572, which happened to be St. Bartholomew’s Day, the Catholic

Hadley, Thompson, et al. in the Berkshires

Synopsis Tanglewood is one of America’s most famous summertime classical music festivals and can boast a long and impressive list of premieres and performances by famous

Libby Larsen’s Trio

Synopsis Angel Fire is a village in the Rocky Mountains of New Mexico, home to ski slopes and hiking trails, plus a summer mountain-bike park and zip line. And, since 198

Bingham's Secret Garden

Synopsis At the BBC Proms on today’s date in 2004 Proms a new piece by the British composer Judith Bingham was premiered by the BBC Chorus. The Secret Garden was inspired

Jacopo Peri and early opera

Synopsis Details on the lives and careers of composers born before 1700 tend to be a bit skimpy, at best. For example, we know Italian Baroque composer Jacopo Peri was bo

Edward Collins escapes to Wisconsin

Synopsis In the 19th century, anybody who had the means would flee the stifling heat of the cities and head for someplace green and shady and cool: a country house, a spa

Monteverdi gets mugged (and a new job)

Synopsis August 1613 proved to be an especially eventful month in the life and career of Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi. The previous summer his old employer, Duke V

Arvo Part's "Brothers" in Salzburg

Synopsis In 1980, Estonian composer Arvo Pärt emigrated from his Soviet-controlled homeland and settled in Austria. Since the 1960s, Pärt’s increasingly spiritual and ove

Gershwin and Daugherty go Latin

Synopsis In the 1950s, if you said the words “Cuban music,” perhaps Desi Arnez, a.k.a. Ricky Ricardo, singing Babaloo might come to mind. These days, it’s more likely the

Leon Theremin's good vibrations

Synopsis When a flying saucer circled over Washington, D.C. in the classic 1951 sci-fi film, The Day the Earth Stood Still, it did so to music played on an electronic ins