May 6, 2019.Neither Brahms nor Tchaikovsky.By an unfortunate coincidence for us, two great 19th century composers were born on the same date, March 7th: Johannes Brahms in 1833 and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1840.Both are important and influential: Brahms as the key developer of the Beethoven symphonic tradition, Tchaikovsky as the central figure in the new Russian music.Every year we contrive to write about both in one short entry, fully recognizing how different their music is, even if there are some curious formal similarities.This year we’ll skip both and write about (or at least mention) composers and performers admittedly not as consequential but who deserve our attention.And this is a large and colorful group. Jules Massenet and Gabriel Fauré, two well-known French composers were born on May 12th, the former in 1842, the latter three years later.Massenet, a conservative composer of the Belle Époque, is famous for two of his operas, Manon and Werther; a much more adventuresome Fauré influenced generations of French composers, from the Impressionists to Les Six. Another Frenchman, from an earlier era, Jean-Marie Leclair, is known as the father of the French violin school; he was also born this week, on May 10th of 1697.There are two Italians -- Giovanni Battista Viotti, who like Leclair, was famous for his violin concertos (he was born on May 12th of 1755) and Giovanni Paisiello, now almost forgotten but in the late 18th century famous for his operas that were staged all across Europe (he was born on May 9th of 1740).Then there was another early-Classical composer, the German Carl Stamitz of the Stamitz family which also gave us Anton and Johan Stamitzs (Carl was born on May 8th of 1745).Jan Václav Voříšek was a very fine composer: born in Bohemia on May 11th of 1791, he spent the most productive years of his life in Vienna, where he met Beethoven and befriended Schubert.Voříšek died of tuberculosis in 1825, at just 34 years old.Here’s his Symphony in D Major, performed by the Chicago Sinfonietta, Paul Freeman conducting.Anatol Liadov was a minor but pleasant composer of short piano pieces.Were it not for his laziness and lack for self-assurance, he might’ve developed into a major talent (Liadov was born on May 12th of 1855).And let’s not forget Milton Babbitt, one of the most important American composers and teachers of the second half of the 20th century, influential not only in the US but in Europe as well; he was born on May 10th of 1916.
Several noted interpreters were also born this week, for example Vladimir Sofronitsky, on May 8th of 1901, a socially awkward but greatly talented Russian-Soviet pianist.He’s not well known in the West but was considered the supreme interpreter of the music of Scriabin and Chopin in the Soviet Union.Scriabin was his favorite composer; Sofronitsky’s first wife was Scriabin’s daughter, and by the end of his life he stopped giving concerts at the large Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory, and performed instead in one of the rooms of the Scriabin museum (the composer lived the three last years of his life, from 1921 to 1915 on the first floor of this lovely mansion on one of the side streets in the center of Moscow).Here’s Scriabin’s Poeme Op. 36 (Satanique), recorded live in 1960.
Two very important conductors also have their anniversaries this week: Jascha Horenstein, who was born in Kiev on May 6th of 1898, lived and performed in Vienna and Berlin, but in 1933, because of the growing antisemitism, left for Paris and then for the US.Horenstein was a renowned Mahlerian.Also, Carlo Maria Giulini, an Italian conductor with a major career both in Europe and the US; he was born on May 9th of 1914.
Neither Brahms nor Tchaikovsky, 2019
May 6, 2019. Neither Brahms nor Tchaikovsky. By an unfortunate coincidence for us, two great 19th century composers were born on the same date, March 7th: Johannes Brahms in 1833 and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1840. Both are important and influential: Brahms as the key developer of the Beethoven symphonic tradition, Tchaikovsky as the central figure in the new Russian music. Every year we contrive to write about both in one short entry, fully recognizing how different their music is, even if there are some curious formal similarities. This year we’ll skip both and write about (or at least mention) composers and performers admittedly not as consequential but who deserve our attention. And this is a large and colorful group. Jules Massenet and Gabriel Fauré, two well-known French composers were born on May 12th, the former in 1842, the latter three years later. Massenet, a conservative composer of the Belle Époque, is famous for two of his operas, Manon and Werther; a much more adventuresome Fauré influenced generations of French composers, from the Impressionists to Les Six. Another Frenchman, from an earlier era, Jean-Marie Leclair, is known as the father of the French violin school; he was also born this week, on May 10th of 1697. There are two Italians -- Giovanni Battista Viotti, who like Leclair, was famous for his violin concertos (he was born on May 12th of 1755) and Giovanni Paisiello, now almost forgotten but in the late 18th century famous for his operas that were staged all across Europe (he was born on May 9th of 1740). Then there was
another early-Classical composer, the German Carl Stamitz of the Stamitz family which also gave us Anton and Johan Stamitzs (Carl was born on May 8th of 1745). Jan Václav Voříšek was a very fine composer: born in Bohemia on May 11th of 1791, he spent the most productive years of his life in Vienna, where he met Beethoven and befriended Schubert. Voříšek died of tuberculosis in 1825, at just 34 years old. Here’s his Symphony in D Major, performed by the Chicago Sinfonietta, Paul Freeman conducting. Anatol Liadov was a minor but pleasant composer of short piano pieces. Were it not for his laziness and lack for self-assurance, he might’ve developed into a major talent (Liadov was born on May 12th of 1855). And let’s not forget Milton Babbitt, one of the most important American composers and teachers of the second half of the 20th century, influential not only in the US but in Europe as well; he was born on May 10th of 1916.
Several noted interpreters were also born this week, for example Vladimir Sofronitsky, on May 8th of 1901, a socially awkward but greatly talented Russian-Soviet pianist. He’s not well known in the West but was considered the supreme interpreter of the music of Scriabin and Chopin in the Soviet Union. Scriabin was his favorite composer; Sofronitsky’s first wife was Scriabin’s daughter, and by the end of his life he stopped giving concerts at the large Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory, and performed instead in one of the rooms of the Scriabin museum (the composer lived the three last years of his life, from 1921 to 1915 on the first floor of this lovely mansion on one of the side streets in the center of Moscow). Here’s Scriabin’s Poeme Op. 36 (Satanique), recorded live in 1960.
Two very important conductors also have their anniversaries this week: Jascha Horenstein, who was born in Kiev on May 6th of 1898, lived and performed in Vienna and Berlin, but in 1933, because of the growing antisemitism, left for Paris and then for the US. Horenstein was a renowned Mahlerian. Also, Carlo Maria Giulini, an Italian conductor with a major career both in Europe and the US; he was born on May 9th of 1914.