Ott on Second

Synopsis

In January of 1991, a new symphony had its premiere in Michigan at a concert by the Grand Rapids Symphony, conducted by Catherine Comet. The new work was by the American composer David Ott, and featured prominent parts for the cello section of the orchestra.

The piece was, in fact, conceived and commissioned as a tribute to the orchestra's principal cellist, Robert ("Bob") Madura, who had lost a long battle with leukemia two years earlier. Madura had been scheduled to perform Ott's Concerto for Two Cellos with his stand partner in the Grand Rapids Symphony, but after his death that performance had to be cancelled.

As composer David Ott recalled: "Catherine Comet told me that between treatments Bob worked on my piece and it was what kept him alive -- working for the performance gave him a sense of purpose. I went back to the piano to work, and I couldn't keep away from those words. I realized as composers we touch other people with what we do. That was a very powerful thing to come to face with."

The Grand Rapids Symphony commissioned Ott to write a symphony in tribute to Madura, and Ott was happy to oblige. "I felt a lot of love and affection for him. It seems to me that the human side of music was important to be expressed here."

The Grand Rapids Symphony later recorded the new piece, paired with Ott's Third Symphony, a work they commissioned immediately after their successful premiere of his Second.

Music Played in Today's Program

David Ott (b. 1947) Symphony No. 2 Grand Rapids Symphony; Catherine Comet, cond. Koss 3301

On This Day

Births

• 1586 - German composer Johann Hermann Schein, in Grünhain;

• 1855 - French composer Ernest Chausson, in Paris;

• 1869 - Russian composer and violinist Julius Conus, in Moscow (Gregorian date: Feb. 1);

• 1894 - American composer Walter Piston, in Rockland, Maine;

Deaths

• 1952 - American composer and music educator Arthur Farwell, age 79, in New York;

Premieres

• 1649 - Cesti: opera "Orontea," in Venice;

• 1726 - Bach: Sacred Cantata No. 13 ("Meine Seufzer, meine Tränen") performed on the 2nd Sunday after Epiphany as part of Bach's third annual Sacred Cantata cycle in Leipzig (1725/27);

• 1856 - Brahms: Two Sarabandes (in a & b) and Gavotte in A (arranged from Gluck's "Paris ed Elena"), for piano, in Vienna;

• 1880 - Brahms: Two Rhapsodies, Op. 79, for piano, in Krefeld;

• 1892 - Catalani: opera "La Wally," in Milan;

• 1933 - Gershwin: musical "Pardon My English," at the Majestic Theater in New York City; This show included the classic Gershwin songs "Isn't It a Pity," "My Cousin in Milwaukee," and "So What?";

• 1939 - Ives: Piano Sonata No. 2 ([Concord, Mass. 1840-1860), by John Kirkpatrick, in New York City;

• 1941 - Bartók: String Quartet No. 6, in New York City, by the Kolisch Quartet;

• 1944 - Hindemith: "Symphonic Metamorphosis on a Theme of Weber," by the New York Philharmonic, Artur Rodzinski conducting;

• 1956 - Hanson: “Elegy” (to the Memory of Serge Kousseviztky), by the Boston Symphony, Charles Munch conducting;

• 1961 - Poulenc: "Gloria," in Boston;

• 1977 - Tobias Picker: Sextet No. 3, at Alice Tully Hall in New York City, by Speculum Musicae;

• 1979 - Rochberg: String Quartets Nos. 4-6 ("The Concord Quartets"), at the University of Pennsylvania, by the Concord Quartet.

Others

• 1626 - Payments to the royal musician, lutenist and composer John Dowland cease, and his son, Robert Dowland, succeeds him in his post at court; This date is often cited as the day the famous elder Dowland died, but his burial at St Ann Blackfriars was not recorded until a month later, on February, 20, 1626, which suggests the elder Dowland had perhaps been too ill to continue in service as of January 20-21 when the records state the transfer took place, and that the elder Dowland might have in fact died sometime in mid-February;