September 16, 2013.Catching up: recent anniversaries. We’ve missed several significant musical anniversaries during the past two weeks and we’re rectifying the omissions, however briefly, this week.Antonin Dvořák was born on September 8, 1841 in Nelahozeves, a village near Prague, then part of the Austrian Empire.Dvořák studied at the organ school in Prague and later, starting in 1862, played the viola in the Bohemian Provisional Theater Orchestra (in 1866 Bedřich Smetana became the orchestra’s chief conductor).Around that time Dvořák started seriously composing – his first two quartets were written in 1861 and ’62.In 1874, Dvořák submitted 15 works, including two symphonies, to the jury of the Austrian State Stipendium.Johannes Brahms and Eduard Hanslick were on the board (we mentioned Hanslick’s name recently when we wrote about Anton Bruckner – he was Brahms’s friend and a major Bruckner detractor).The influential Brahms was very impressed with the talent of the young Czech composer and Dvořák received the stipend.After that, Brahms became a supporter, and introduced Dvořák to Fritz Simrock, the owner of one of the largest publishing houses in Europe.In 1877 Simrock commissioned a piece, Symphonic Variations, which eventually became one of Dvořák’s most popular compositions (the 1877 Prague premier was not very well received, but Hanslick wrote to Dvořák that Brahms was very enthusiastic.Ten years later Hans Fisher conducted it in Vienna to a great success).You can hear it in the performance by the London Symphony Orchestra, the late Sir Colin Davis conducting.
In 1880s Dvořák became known internationally, with Hans Richter conducting his work in London and Vienna.In 1892 Dvořák was invited to New York to head The National Conservatory of Music of America.He stayed there three years, during which he wrote such things asSymphony No.9, "From the New World", and the American quartet in F Major.He also wrote a piano cycle of eight short pieces called Humoresques.The seventh piece, in G flat Major, became extremely popular.Here it is, from one of our recent uploads, in the performance by the Czech pianist Martin Kasik.
Darius Milhaud was born on September 4, 1892 in Marseille.He went to study at the Paris Conservatory, where he met Arthur Honegger and Germaine Tailleferre.From 1917 to 1919 Milhaud lived in Brazil, serving as the secretary to Paul Claudel, the famous poet and playwright, who at the time was the French ambassador to Brazil.While there, Milhaud became influenced by Brazilian folk music.One of the tunes he liked, an old tango, was called The Ox on the Roof.Milhaud used it (and many other folk tunes) in his ballet, which he named after the tango, Le boeuf sur le toit, (The Ox on the Roof in French).It was premiered in February of 1920 to great success.By then Milhaud, Honegger and Tailleferre linked with Francis Poulenc, Georges Auric and Louis Durey, and became known as Les Six (The Six).Jean Cocteau, the poet, playwrite and filmmaker, joined the group, and all of them started frquenting a bar called La gaya. The music to Le boeuf sur le toit became very popular, and Milhaud, with Georges Auric, and Arthur Rubinstein often played a six-handed version of it on the piano in the bar.In 1920 the bar moved to a larger space and the owner gave it the name Le boeuf sur le toit.It became one of the most famous gathering places in all of Paris: its patrons included the veritable who-is-who of the French cultural avant-garde (it still exist, but as a posh restaurant and with no Bohemians in attendance).Here’s the complete Le boeuf sur le toit in the performance by Orchestre de l’Opera de Lyon, Kent Nagano conducting.
Recent anniversaries September 2013
September 16, 2013. Catching up: recent anniversaries. We’ve missed several significant musical anniversaries during the past two weeks and we’re rectifying the omissions, however briefly, this week. Antonin Dvořák was born on September 8, 1841 in
Nelahozeves, a village near Prague, then part of the Austrian Empire. Dvořák studied at the organ school in Prague and later, starting in 1862, played the viola in the Bohemian Provisional Theater Orchestra (in 1866 Bedřich Smetana became the orchestra’s chief conductor). Around that time Dvořák started seriously composing – his first two quartets were written in 1861 and ’62. In 1874, Dvořák submitted 15 works, including two symphonies, to the jury of the Austrian State Stipendium. Johannes Brahms and Eduard Hanslick were on the board (we mentioned Hanslick’s name recently when we wrote about Anton Bruckner – he was Brahms’s friend and a major Bruckner detractor). The influential Brahms was very impressed with the talent of the young Czech composer and Dvořák received the stipend. After that, Brahms became a supporter, and introduced Dvořák to Fritz Simrock, the owner of one of the largest publishing houses in Europe. In 1877 Simrock commissioned a piece, Symphonic Variations, which eventually became one of Dvořák’s most popular compositions (the 1877 Prague premier was not very well received, but Hanslick wrote to Dvořák that Brahms was very enthusiastic. Ten years later Hans Fisher conducted it in Vienna to a great success). You can hear it in the performance by the London Symphony Orchestra, the late Sir Colin Davis conducting.
In 1880s Dvořák became known internationally, with Hans Richter conducting his work in London and Vienna. In 1892 Dvořák was invited to New York to head The National Conservatory of Music of America. He stayed there three years, during which he wrote such things as Symphony No.9, "From the New World", and the American quartet in F Major. He also wrote a piano cycle of eight short pieces called Humoresques. The seventh piece, in G flat Major, became extremely popular. Here it is, from one of our recent uploads, in the performance by the Czech pianist Martin Kasik.
Darius Milhaud was born on September 4, 1892 in Marseille. He went to study at the Paris Conservatory, where he met Arthur Honegger and Germaine Tailleferre. From 1917 to 1919 Milhaud lived in Brazil, serving as the secretary to Paul Claudel, the famous poet and playwright, who at the time was the French ambassador to Brazil. While there, Milhaud became influenced by Brazilian folk music. One of the tunes he liked, an old tango, was called The Ox on the Roof. Milhaud used it (and many other folk tunes) in his ballet, which he named after the tango, Le boeuf sur le toit, (The Ox on the Roof in French). It was premiered in February of 1920 to great success. By then Milhaud, Honegger and Tailleferre linked with Francis Poulenc, Georges Auric and Louis Durey, and became known as Les Six (The Six). Jean Cocteau, the poet, playwrite and filmmaker, joined the group, and all of them started frquenting a bar called La gaya. The music to Le boeuf sur le toit became very popular, and Milhaud, with Georges Auric, and Arthur Rubinstein often played a six-handed version of it on the piano in the bar. In 1920 the bar moved to a larger space and the owner gave it the name Le boeuf sur le toit. It became one of the most famous gathering places in all of Paris: its patrons included the veritable who-is-who of the French cultural avant-garde (it still exist, but as a posh restaurant and with no Bohemians in attendance). Here’s the complete Le boeuf sur le toit in the performance by Orchestre de l’Opera de Lyon, Kent Nagano conducting.