This Week in Classical Music: October 23, 2023.Short notes, II.Today is Ned Rorem’s 100th anniversary.Rorem died last year, just days short of his 99th birthday.He was a wonderful composer of songs and a whimsical writer.He spent almost a decade in France, where for a while he studied with Arthur Honegger (rather than Nadia Boulanger, as many American composers and pianists had done).In 1966 he published a book, Paris Diaries, based on his real diaries, full of gossip, gay stories, and a good read overall.In addition to about 500 art songs, some exceptionally good, he wrote two full-length operas, one of which, Our Town, based on a play by Thornton Wilder, was successfully staged in the US and abroad (he also wrote several smaller, one-act operas).In addition to that he composed three symphonies and a lot of piano music, including two concertos, but none of that music was as successful as his songs.Here is Rorem’s Sonnet.Susan Graham is accompanied by the pianist Malcolm Martineau and Ensemble Oriol.
If Rorem wrote about 500 art songs, Domenico Scarlatti, who was born on October 26th of 1685, wrote more than 500 piano sonatas.They are mostly short, about as long as Rorem’s songs.Domenico was born in Naples, where his father, the renowned opera composer Alessandro Scarlatti, was working as maestro di capella at the court of the Spanish Viceroy of Naples.Though a thoroughly Italian composer, his link with Spain lasted throughout his life.He moved to Spain in 1729 and lived there for the remaining 25 years of his life.
Another Italian, Luciano Berio, was also born this week, on October 24th of 1925.He was one of the most influential composers of the 20th century.You can read more about him here.
Niccolo Paganini and Georges Bizet both had their anniversaries this week, as did a minor but talented Russian composer of liturgical music, Alexander Gretchaninov.Next year is his 160th anniversary, so we’ll dedicate a post to him.
Short Notes II, October 2023
This Week in Classical Music: October 23, 2023. Short notes, II. Today is Ned Rorem’s 100th anniversary. Rorem died last year, just days short of his 99th birthday. He was a wonderful
composer of songs and a whimsical writer. He spent almost a decade in France, where for a while he studied with Arthur Honegger (rather than Nadia Boulanger, as many American composers and pianists had done). In 1966 he published a book, Paris Diaries, based on his real diaries, full of gossip, gay stories, and a good read overall. In addition to about 500 art songs, some exceptionally good, he wrote two full-length operas, one of which, Our Town, based on a play by Thornton Wilder, was successfully staged in the US and abroad (he also wrote several smaller, one-act operas). In addition to that he composed three symphonies and a lot of piano music, including two concertos, but none of that music was as successful as his songs. Here is Rorem’s Sonnet. Susan Graham is accompanied by the pianist Malcolm Martineau and Ensemble Oriol.
If Rorem wrote about 500 art songs, Domenico Scarlatti, who was born on October 26th of 1685, wrote more than 500 piano sonatas. They are mostly short, about as long as Rorem’s songs. Domenico was born in Naples, where his father, the renowned opera composer Alessandro Scarlatti, was working as maestro di capella at the court of the Spanish Viceroy of Naples. Though a thoroughly Italian composer, his link with Spain lasted throughout his life. He moved to Spain in 1729 and lived there for the remaining 25 years of his life.
Another Italian, Luciano Berio, was also born this week, on October 24th of 1925. He was one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. You can read more about him here.
Niccolo Paganini and Georges Bizet both had their anniversaries this week, as did a minor but talented Russian composer of liturgical music, Alexander Gretchaninov. Next year is his 160th anniversary, so we’ll dedicate a post to him.