November 21, 2016. Eight composers in seven days. This is one of the weeks when practically every day allows us to celebrate a talented, if not necessarily great, composer. Monday is Francisco Tarrega’s birthday: he was born on November 21st of 1852 in Villareal, Spain. A virtuoso guitarist and an imaginative, if rather conservative, composer, he was part of the romantic revival of Spanish music at the second half of the 19th century. A friend of Isaac Albéniz and Enrique Granados, he lived most of his life in Barcelona. Here’s one of his most famous compositions, Capricho Árabe, performed by Eric Henderson. And speaking of guitar compositions, some of the most famous were written by another Spanish composer whose birthday falls on Tuesday: Joaquin Rodrigo, the author of Concierto de Aranjuez and Concierto Andaluz was born on November 22nd of 1901. Rodrigo went blind at the age of three after contracting diphtheria. This didn’t stop him from composing (he wrote in Braille music code which was then transcribed into regular music notation), studying and travelling.
He went to Paris to study with Paul Dukas and it was in Paris that he composed his most famous piece, Concierto de Aranjuez for the guitar and orchestra. It’s interesting that while Tarrega was a virtuoso guitar player, Rodrigo never learned to play the instrument. Here’s another well-known piece by Rodrigo written for the guitar and orchestra: his Fantasía para un gentilhombre (Fantasia for a Gentleman). Fantasia was written at the request of Andrés Segovia who premiered it in 1958. Segovia is the soloist in this recording, and the conductor, Enrique Jordá, was conducting the premier. The orchestra, though, is different: in the recording it’s “Symphony Of The Air”, while the premier was played by the San Francisco Symphony.
Also on Tuesday we mark the birthday of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, Johan Sebastian’s oldest son. Friedmann was born on November 22nd of 1710 in Weimar, where his father worked in the employ of Wilhelm Ernst, duke of Saxe-Weimar. A talented composer, he never found satisfying employment throughout his entire life. As a young man, he worked as the organist at Sophienkirche in Dresden, then moved to Halle, taking the appointment at Liebfrauenkirch. While his early years in Halle seemed to be agreeable, eventually Friedemann grew unsatisfied with his position, and so were his superiors. He left Halle without securing employment anywhere else and spent the rest of his life in difficult circumstances. Eventually he was forced to sell his music library, which also contained the sheet music he inherited from his father. Friedemann died on July 1st of 1784 in Berlin, still remembered as a supreme organist and a major composer but leaving his family in poverty. Here’s a lovely Duet for two violas, performed by Ryo Terakado and François Fernandez of the Ricercar Consort.
Also born on the same day, November 22nd, was one of the most important composers of the 20th century, Benjamin Britten. And speaking of important 20th century composers: three more were born this week. Krzysztof Penderecki on November 23rd of 1933, Alfred Schnittke on November 24th of 1934, and Virgil Thomson on November 25th of 1897. And to round things out, we should mention Sergei Taneyev, a prolific composer, a wonderful pianist and a good friend of Tchaikovsky’s (he successfully premiered Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto in Moscow after it flopped in St-Petersburg where Gustav Kross was the soloist). Taneyev was born on November 25th of 1856.
Eight Composers, 2016
November 21, 2016. Eight composers in seven days. This is one of the weeks when practically every day allows us to celebrate a talented, if not necessarily great, composer. Monday is Francisco Tarrega’s birthday: he was born on November 21st of 1852 in Villareal, Spain. A virtuoso guitarist and an imaginative, if rather conservative, composer, he was part of the romantic revival of Spanish music at the second half of the 19th century. A friend of Isaac Albéniz and Enrique Granados, he lived most of his life in Barcelona. Here’s one of his most famous compositions, Capricho Árabe, performed by Eric Henderson. And speaking of guitar compositions, some of the most famous were written by another Spanish composer whose birthday falls on Tuesday: Joaquin Rodrigo, the author of Concierto de Aranjuez and Concierto Andaluz was born on November 22nd of 1901. Rodrigo went blind at the age of three after contracting diphtheria. This didn’t stop him from composing (he wrote in Braille music code which was then transcribed into regular music notation), studying and travelling.
He went to Paris to study with Paul Dukas and it was in Paris that he composed his most famous piece, Concierto de Aranjuez for the guitar and orchestra. It’s interesting that while Tarrega was a virtuoso guitar player, Rodrigo never learned to play the instrument. Here’s another well-known piece by Rodrigo written for the guitar and orchestra: his Fantasía para un gentilhombre (Fantasia for a Gentleman). Fantasia was written at the request of Andrés Segovia who premiered it in 1958. Segovia is the soloist in this recording, and the conductor, Enrique Jordá, was conducting the premier. The orchestra, though, is different: in the recording it’s “Symphony Of The Air”, while the premier was played by the San Francisco Symphony.
Also on Tuesday we mark the birthday of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, Johan Sebastian’s oldest son.
Friedmann was born on November 22nd of 1710 in Weimar, where his father worked in the employ of Wilhelm Ernst, duke of Saxe-Weimar. A talented composer, he never found satisfying employment throughout his entire life. As a young man, he worked as the organist at Sophienkirche in Dresden, then moved to Halle, taking the appointment at Liebfrauenkirch. While his early years in Halle seemed to be agreeable, eventually Friedemann grew unsatisfied with his position, and so were his superiors. He left Halle without securing employment anywhere else and spent the rest of his life in difficult circumstances. Eventually he was forced to sell his music library, which also contained the sheet music he inherited from his father. Friedemann died on July 1st of 1784 in Berlin, still remembered as a supreme organist and a major composer but leaving his family in poverty. Here’s a lovely Duet for two violas, performed by Ryo Terakado and François Fernandez of the Ricercar Consort.
Also born on the same day, November 22nd, was one of the most important composers of the 20th century, Benjamin Britten. And speaking of important 20th century composers: three more were born this week. Krzysztof Penderecki on November 23rd of 1933, Alfred Schnittke on November 24th of 1934, and Virgil Thomson on November 25th of 1897. And to round things out, we should mention Sergei Taneyev, a prolific composer, a wonderful pianist and a good friend of Tchaikovsky’s (he successfully premiered Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto in Moscow after it flopped in St-Petersburg where Gustav Kross was the soloist). Taneyev was born on November 25th of 1856.