Requiems and Elegies by Faure and Rouse
On this day in 1900, the world first heard the Requiem of Gabriel Fauré in its full orchestral version at a concert at the Paris World Exhibition.
John Birge
YourClassical MPR
Composers Datebook®
Reminding you that all music was once new ® • with host John Birge
Composer's Datebook - July 12, 2022
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Hollywood Anniversaries
It was on today’s date in 1937 that George Gershwin died at 10:35 in the morning in a Hollywood hospital after an operation for a brain tumor.
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Handel declines, Schuman accepts
On today’s date in 1733, Georg Friderich Handel paid a visit to Oxford to conduct the premiere performance of his new oratorio, “Athalia,” at the Sheldonian Theater.
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Respighi's The Pines of Rome
Today marks the birthday in 1879 of Ottorino Respighi, a rare Italian composer more famous for orchestral works than operas.
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"The Composer is Dead!"
“The Composer Is Dead” – a collaboration between composer Nathaniel Stookey and novelist Daniel Handler – premiered on this date in 2006.
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"The Ballad of Baby Doe"
On today’s date in 1956, one of the most successful of all American operas had its first performance at the Center Opera House in Colorado.
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Noteworthy Boulanger and Zwilich
It was on this day in 1913 that the French Academy of Fine Arts presented its highest award, the Prix de Rome, to Lili Boulanger.
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Born on the Fourth of July?
Today we celebrate three legendary figures in American popular music.
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Brahms and Berg on busman holidays?
In the summers of 1877 and 1878, Johannes Brahms composed his Second Symphony and Violin Concerto.
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Elliott Carter's “Two Controversies and a Conversation”
On today’s date in 2012, a new chamber work by Carter with an odd title received its first performance at a concert in the New York Philharmonic’s CONTACT! Series.
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About Composers Datebook®
Host John Birge presents a daily snapshot of composers past and present, with timely information, intriguing musical events and appropriate, accessible music related to each.
He has been hosting, producing and performing classical music for more than 25 years. Since 1997, he has been hosting on Minnesota Public Radio's Classical Music Service. He played French horn for the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestra and performed with them on their centennial tour of Europe in 1995. He was trained at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Eastman School of Music and Interlochen Arts Academy.