Composers Datebook®

Reminding you that all music was once new ® • with host John Birge

Coleridge-Taylor in Washington

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875 – 1912) Hiawatha's Departure Welsh National Opera Chorus and Orchestra; Kenneth Alwyn, cond. Argo 430 956

Shostakovich and his String Quartets

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906 – 1975) String Quartet No. 15, Op. 144 Emerson String Quartet DG 463 284

Danielpour's "American Requiem"

Richard Danielpour (b. 1956) An American Requiem Soloists, Pacific Chorale and Symphony; Carl St. Clair, cond. Reference 97

Ruth Crawford Seeger

Ruth Crawford Seeger (1901 – 1953) String Quartet Schoenberg Ensemble DG 449 925

Tchaikovsky and Brahms in New York

Johannes Brahms (1833 – 1897) Tragic Overture Chicago Symphony; Daniel Barenboim, cond. Erato 95192 Peter Tchaikovsky (1840 – 1893) Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 44 Barry Douglas, piano; Philharmonia Orchestra; Leonard Slatkin, cond. RCA/BMG 61633

The indomitable Dame Ethel

Ethyl Smyth (1858 - 1944) The Wreckers Soloists and BBC Philharmonic; Odaline de la Martinez , cond. Conifer 51250

John Dowland, whistle-blower

John Dowland (1563 – 1626) A Jig Paul O'Dette, lute Harmonia Mundi 907164

Takemitsu and Tanaka

Toru Takemitsu (1930 - 1996) November Steps Katsuya Yokoyama, shakuhachi; Kunshi Isuruta, biwa; Concertgebouw Orchestra; Bernard Haitink, cond. Philips 426 667 Karen Tanaka (b. 1961) Night Bird Claude Delangle, saxophone BIS 890

Schumann and Zaimont

Clara Schumman (1819 – 1896) Four Polonaises, Op. 1 Josef de Beenhouwer, piano CPO 999 758 Judith Lang Zaimont (b. 1945) September, fr Calendar Collection Judith Lang Zaimont, piano Four Tay 4001

Varese and Zappa

Edgar Varèse (1883 - 1965) Ionisation New York Philharmonic; Pierre Boulez, cond. Sony 45844 Frank Zappa (1940 – 1993) Dog Breath Variations Cincinnati Conservatory Wind Symphony; Eugene Corporon, cond. Mark 1116

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.