SynopsisBritish composer Gustav Holst lived and worked in a West London neighborhood called Hammersmith for many years — and in 1930, Holst gave that name to a work for wind band he wrote on commission from the BBC.Hammersmith opens with a prelude representing the river Thames, which, Holst said, “goes on its way unnoticed and unconcerned.” A scherzo section represents the hustle and bustle of Hammersmith’s market, exemplified, according to Holst’s daughter, by a large woman at a fruit stand who always called her father “dearie” when he bought oranges for their Sunday picnics.In 1931, Hammersmith was first performed in England in the composer’s orchestral arrangement by the BBC Symphony led by Adrian Boult — and the piece was booed. Holst’s bad luck continued the following year: He was scheduled to conduct the premiere of the band version of Hammersmith on today’s date at the 1932 American Bandmasters Association Convention in Washington, D.C., but had to cancel his trip due to illness. The D.C. premiere took place as scheduled, but with the U.S. Marine Band led by Taylor Branson, rather than the composer.For the next 22 years, the original wind band version of Hammersmith remained neglected until Robert Cantrick and the Carnegie Institute of Technology Kiltie Band in Pittsburgh gave what they thought was its world premiere performance in 1954. It seems even Holst’s publisher had forgotten all about its 1932 American premiere.Music Played in Today's ProgramGustav Holst (1874-1934): Hammersmith; Dallas Wind Symphony; Howard Dunn, conductor; Reference Recordings 39
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Persichetti and Leon for band
SynopsisIn the years following the end of World War II, the “baby boom” led to a dramatic rise in the number of high school and college music programs across the country. By the mid-1950s, a number of well-known American composers started receiving commissions from these schools for new works for wind band.In the past half-century, the Symphony for Band, by American composer Vincent Persichetti, has been one of the most frequently performed. It was commissioned by the Washington University Chamber Band, and received its first performance by the ensemble in St. Louis, Missouri, on today’s date in 1956.In keeping with this tradition, in the late 1990s the American Composers Forum started commissioning major composers to write new works for middle school bands. The series was dubbed BandQuest, and in addition to new scores by composers like Chen Yi, Michael Colgrass, Libby Larsen, Robert X. Rodriguez and Alvin Singleton, the series offers music teachers interactive content, which places each piece of music in a wider cultural and historical context.This music is from Alegre, by Cuban-born composer Tania León. “Alegre” is a Spanish word meaning “joy,” and Leon’s piece is meant to demonstrate the link in Latin culture between music and dance. That’s something the New York-based León knows more than a little about — she was a founding member and the first music director of the Dance Theatre of Harlem. A music educator as well as a composer, she also set up the theater’s music school and orchestra.Music Played in Today's ProgramVincent Pershichetti (1915-1987): Symphony No. 6 (Symphony for Band); Eastman Wind Ensemble; Frederick Fennell, conductor; Mercury 432 754Tania León (b. 1943): Alegre; American Composers Forum Bandquest CD-ROM; Hal Leonard
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Handel's famous 'Largo'
SynopsisA few years back, when RCA records issued a boxed set of 100 favorite Boston Pops recordings made by Arthur Fiedler, they included Handel’s celebrated Largo.Over a hundred years earlier, the Theodore Thomas Orchestra had established this melody as a favorite with 19th century American audiences. Back then, Handel was best known for his sacred oratorios, and his Largo acquired a kind of honorary “halo” by association. Also, the Italian text for the melody began “Ombra mai fui,” and since “ombra” meant shade, many music lovers probably assumed it had something to do with the dear departed shade or spirit of a loved one — hence its melancholic solemnity.In fact, this melody originated in a decidedly secular, downright whimsical context: as the opening aria of an opera by Handel that premiered in London on today’s date in 1738. The opera, Xerxes, dealt with the real-life Persian King who invaded ancient Greece. In the writings of the Greek historian Herodotus, Xerxes is depicted as an all-powerful despot, whose every whim became law. As evidence of the irrational effect of absolute power, Herodotus tells of Xerxes’ fondness for a certain plane tree that he ordered decorated with gold ornaments and put under perpetual military guard as a sign of royal favor. In Handel’s opera, the famous Largo is actually Xerxes’s dreamy song to this famous tree — and the “shade” referred to is the sort to be found under its gold-bedecked branches.Music Played in Today's ProgramGeorge Frederic Handel (1685-1759): Largo, from Xerxes; Boston Pops; Arthur Fiedler, conductor; BMG 62698
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Delibes on stage and TV
SynopsisA number of the quintessentially French operas are set in other lands. Bizet’s Carmen is set in Spain and Gounod’s Faust is in Germany, to cite just two examples. But Spain and Germany were familiar next-door neighbors for 19th century Frenchmen, and in that colonizing age, Parisian audiences also enjoyed traveling to much more exotic corners, all the while safely ensconced in their plush balcony seats, of course. One of the grandest of French grand operas, Meyerbeer’s L’Africaine, has as its eponymous heroine the African Queen of an imaginary East Indian isle, with none other than European Vasco da Gama as her love interest.Another famous French opera set in the mysterious East had its premiere performance on today’s date in 1883, at the Opéra-Comique in Paris. This was Lakmé by Leo Delibes. In this one, the title heroine is an East Indian priestess of Brahma whose taboo love for an English Colonial officer leads to tragedy and death — but not before lots of gorgeous singing.The popular Flower Duet from Lakmé achieved a particularly late 20th-century brand of fame when it was used as the soundtrack to a British Airways TV commercial.Music Played in Today's ProgramLéo Delibes (1836-1891): Flower Duet, from Lakmé; BBC Concert Orchestra; Barry Wordsworth, conductor; London 473 371Léo Delibes: Flower Duet, from Lakmé; Natalie Dessay and Delphine Haidan, sopranos; Toulouse Capitole Orchestra; Michel Plasson, conductor; EMI 67830
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Gould at West Point
SynopsisIn 1952, the West Point Military Band celebrated that famous military academy’s Sesquicentennial by asking prominent composers to write celebratory works to mark the occasion. Among those who responded was American composer Morton Gould, whose West Point Symphony received its premiere performance on today’s date in 1952, at a gala concert featuring the West Point Academy.There are two movements in Gould’s West Point Symphony: “Epitaphs” and “Marches,” and the composer provided these descriptive comments:“The first movement is lyrical and dramatic … The general character is elegiac. The second and final movement is lusty … the texture a stylization of marching tunes and parades cast in an array of embellishments and rhythmic variations,” Gould said. “At one point, there is a simulation of a Fife and Drum Corp, which, incidentally, was the instrumentation of the original West Point Band.”Of all the pieces written in honor of West Point’s Sesquicentennial in 1952, Gould’s Symphony is probably the best known.The score of the West Point Symphony calls for a “marching machine,” but on this classic 1959 recording under the late Frederick Fennell, the required sound was provided by the very real marching feet of 120 Eastman School of Music students.Music Played in Today's ProgramMorton Gould (1913-1996): West Point Symphony (Symphony for Band); Eastman Wind Ensemble; Frederick Fennell, conductor; Mercury 434 320
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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