The sounds of summer by Barber and Wagner

Synopsis

Music Played in Today's Program

Samuel Barber (1910 - 1981) Summer Music, Op. 31 Reykjavik Wind Quintet Chandos 9174

Richard Wagner (1813 - 1881) Act I Prelude, fr Die Meistersinger SWR Radio Symphony; Roger Norrington, cond. Hänssler Classics 93000

On This Day

Births

• 1732 - German composer Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach (9th son of J.S.), in Leipzig;

• 1862 - American pianist and composer Henry Holden Huss, in Newark, N.J.;

• 1892 - Swedish composer Hilding Rosenberg, in Bosjökloster (Ringsjon, Skane);

• 1932 - Argentinian-born American composer Lalo Schifrin, in Buenos Aires; He wrote the famous "Mission Impossible" TV theme;

Deaths

• 1908 - Russian composer Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, age 64, in Lyubensk, near St. Petersburg (Julian date: June 8);

• 2000 - American composer Allan Hovhaness, age 89, in Seattle;

Premieres

• 1868 - Wagner: opera "Die Meistersinger von Nürenberg" (The Mastersingers of Nuremberg), in Munich at the Hofoper;

• 1890 - R. Strauss: tone-poem "Death and Transfiguration" and "Burleske" for Piano and Orchestra, in Eisenach, at a convention of the General German Music Association, with the composer conducting and Eugen d'Albert as the piano soloist in the "Burleske";

• 1898 - Fauré: incidental music, "Pelléas et Mélisande," in London;

• 1980 - Peter Maxwell Davies: "Farwell to Stromness" for piano, at the St. Magnus Festival in Orkney, performed by the composer;

• 1980 - Persichetti: "Mirror Etudes," in Lawton, Oklah., by pianist Virginia Sircy;

• 1985 - Rautavaara: "Thomas," in Joensuu, Finland.

• 1994 - Philip Glass: opera "La Belle et la Bête" (Beauty and the Beast) based on the film by Jean Cocteau), by the Philip Glass Ensemble, in Gibellina, Italy;