Composers Datebook®

Colorful music by Bliss and Torke

Synopsis

Music Played in Today's Program

Sir Arthur Bliss (1891-1975) Red, from A Color Symphony English Northern Philharmonia; David Lloyd-Jones, cond. Naxos 8.553460

Michael Torke (b. 1961) Bright Blue Music Baltimore Symphony; David Zinman, cond. Argo 433 071

On This Day

Births

  • 1726 - French opera composer and chess master François André Danican-Philidor, in Dreux;

  • 1923 - English composer, pianist and actress Madeleine Dring, in Hornsey, London;

  • 1924 - American film composer Leonard Rosenman, in Brooklyn;

Deaths

  • 1881 - American poet, flutist and composer Sidney Lanier, age 39, in Lynn, N.C.;

Premieres

  • 1922 - Bliss: "Colour Symphony," at the Three Choirs' Festival in Glouchester, England;

  • 1940 - David Diamond: "Concerto for Orchestra," in Yaddo, N.Y.;

  • 1949 - Ghedini: opera, "Billy Budd," in Venice (Benjamin Britten's more successful operatic treatment of the same Hermann Melville novella premiered in London on December 1, 1951);

  • 1971 - Bernstein: "Mass" (public dress rehearsal), at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.; The work's official gala premiere occurred on Sept. 8, 1971.

  • 1996 - David Stock: String Quartet No. 3, in Pittsburgh, by Cuarteto Latinoamericano.

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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.

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