Rameau and Adams go dancing

Synopsis

Dance formed an integral part of the operas written by the great French composers of the Baroque age. In fact, in many of their operas, the singing often seemed little more than an excuse to frame the action of the ballet. Italian opera, on the other hand, always concentrated more on singing than dancing. Oddly enough, the great founder of French Baroque opera and its graceful dance music was Jean-Bapstiste Lully, who was born an Italian. Lully’s operas and dance music are occasionally revived today, but the works of a somewhat later French-born Baroque opera composer, Jean Phillipe Rameau, are enjoying a more robust revival in our time.

One of Rameau’s greatest operas, “Dardanus,” had its premiere in Paris on today’s date in 1739, and this is some of the dance music from that work.

Fast-forward 255 years, to 1994, when the Kronos Quartet premiered this dance music on today’s date at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido. Entitled “John’s Book of Alleged Dances,” this dance suite was composed for string quartet and pre-recorded rhythm track. The music was by the American composer John Adams, who explained his rather odd title as follows, “These dances, dedicated to my friends in Kronos, are ‘alleged’ because the steps for them have yet to be invented. They cuss, chaw, hock hooeys, scratch and talk too loud. They are also, so I’m told, hard to play!”

Music Played in Today's Program

Jean Philippe Rameau (1683 – 1764) Dardanus Suite Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra; Nicholas McGegan, cond. Conifer 51313

John Adams (b. 1947) John's Book of Alleged Dances Kronos Quartet Nonesuch 79453

On This Day

Births

• 1859 - Russian composer Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov, in Gatchina, near St. Petersburg (see Julian date: Nov. 7);

Deaths

• 1630 - German composer Johann Hermann Schein, age 44, in Leipzig;

• 1828 - Austrian composer Franz Schubert, age 31, in Vienna;

• 1825 - Bohemian composer Jan Vaclav Hugo Vorisek (or Worzischek), age 34, in Vienna;

• 1998 - American composer Earl Kim, age 78, in Cambridge, Mass.;

Premieres

• 1724 - Bach: Sacred Cantata No. 26 ("Ach wie flüchtig, ach wie nichtig") performed on the 24th Sunday after Trinity as part of Bach's second annual Sacred Cantata cycle in Leipzig (1724/25);

• 1739 - Rameau: opera "Dardanus," in Paris;

• 1875 - Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 3, in Moscow (see Julian date: Nov. 7);

• 1923 - In Budapest, for the 50th Anniversary of the union of the cities Buda and Pest (on opposite sides of the Danube), a gala concert premieres Ernst von Dohnányi's "Festive Overture," Zoltán Kódaly's "Psalmus Hungaricus," and Béla Bartók's "Dance Suite";

• 1953 - Elliott Carter: Sonata for flute, oboe, cello and harpsichord, in New York City;

• 1984 - Christopher Rouse: “Gorgon” for orchestra, by the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, David Zinman, cond;

• 1994 - John Adams: "John's Book of Alleged Dances" for string quartet and foot-controlled sampler, at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido, by the Kronos Quartet;

• 2000 - Philip Glass: Double Concerto for Timpani and Orchestra, at Lincoln Center in New York, by the American Composers Orchestra;

• 2004 - Henry Brant: "Wind, Water, Clouds and Fire," for six spatial arranged performing groups and choirs including the Present Music Ensemble,the Bucks American Indian Drumming and Singing Group, and the Milwaukee Youth Symphony, at the Cathredral of St. John the Evagelist in Milwaukee, Wisc.

Others

• 1863 - The U.S. Marine Corps Band accompanies President Lincoln to Gettysburg for the dedication of the National Cemetery on the occasion of his famous Gettysburg Address;

• 1937 - The RKO film "Damsel in Distress" is released, with music by George Gershwin; This film includes the classic Gershwin songs "A Foggy Day," and "Nice Work If You Can Get It";

• 1957 - Leonard Bernstein named Music Director of the New York Philharmonic, the first American-born and American-trained conductor to assume the post of a major American orchestra;