Harris in China and Zhou in America

Synopsis

On this date in 1973, Eugene Ormandy conducted the Philadelphia Orchestra in music by Mozart, Brahms, and this Third Symphony of American composer Roy Harris. The program itself was nothing out of the ordinary, but the concert happened to take place in the People's Republic of China, making the Philadelphia Orchestra the first American orchestra ever to perform in Communist China.

The orchestra was invited following the famous visit to China of President and Mrs. Nixon and secretary of state, Henry Kissinger. Like them, the Philadelphia Orchestra was given a warm, even royal welcome by the Chinese. At one concert in Beijing, Madame Mao herself appeared on stage to give flowers to each of the players.

Musical interaction between China and America really took off in the 1980s, when a number of Chinese composers immigrated to America. Among them was Zhou Long, who was born in Beijing in 1953. His musical education was interrupted by the Madame Mao's Cultural Revolution, but resumed in 1973, the same year as the Philadelphia Orchestra's visit. He came to the United States in 1985 to study at Columbia University, and made New York his home.

Of his music, Zhou says: "I have stretched the Western instruments eastward, the Chinese instruments westward, to achieve a volatile common ground." This is his arrangement of a Chinese folksong titled "Driving the Mule Team," recorded by the Shanghai Quartet.

Music Played in Today's Program

Roy Harris (1898-1979) Symphony No. 3 Dallas Symphony; Eduardo Mata, cond. Dorian 90170

Zhou Long (b. 1953) Lan Hua Hua (Shanbei) Shanghai Quartet Delos 3233

On This Day

Births

• 1737 - Austrian composer Johann Michael Haydn, in Rohrau; He was the younger brother of Franz Joseph Haydn (b. 1732);

• 1760 - Italian composer Luigi Cherubini, in Florence (although August 14 is occasionally cited as his birthdate);

• 1910 - American composer and eminent theatrical conductor Lehman Engel, in Jackson, Miss.;

• 1910 - Swiss composer Rolf Liebermann, in Zurich;

Premieres

• 1854 - Bruckner: Mass in Bb ("Missa Solemnis") in St. Florian, Austria;

• 1952 - Frank Martin: Concerto for Harpsichord, in Venice;

• 1954 - Britten: opera "The Turn of the Screw," in Venice at the Teatro La Fenice;

• 1968 - Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 12, in Moscow, by the Beethoven Quartet;

• 1978 - Barber: Third Essay for Orchestra, by the New York Philharmonic conducted by Zubin Mehta;

• 1994 - Richard Danielpour: Cello Concerto, commissioned and performed by San Francisco Symphony conducted by Herbert Blomstedt, with soloist Yo-Yo Ma;

• 1996 - Stockhausen: "Freitag aus Licht" (Friday from Light), at the Leipzig Opera;

• 1997 - Saariaho: "Graal Théâtre" (chamber version), in Helsinki, by the Avanti Ensemble and violinist John Storgards.

• 2002 - David Amram: Flute Concerto ("Giants of the Night"), in New Orleans by the Louisiana Philharmonic conducted by Klauspeter Seibel, with James Galway the soloist;

• 2002 - Colin Matthews, Judith Weir, Poul Ruders, David Sower, Michael Torke, Anthony Payne, and Magnus Linberg: "Bright Cecilia: Variations on a Theme by Purcell," at Royal Albert Hall in London, with the BBC Symphony, Leonard Slatkin conducting; This set of orchestral variations on a Purcell theme was commissioned by BBC Music magazine to celebrate its 10th anniversary;

Others

• 1731 - J.S. Bach performs organ recitals in Dresden on Sept. 14-21;

• 1741 - Handel finishes scoring his famous oratorio, "Messiah," begun on August 22 (The entire work was composed in a period of 24 days); These dates are according to the Julian "Old Style" calendar (Gregorian dates: Sept 2 to Sept. 25);

• 1914 - W. C. Handy copyrights his most famous song, "The St. Louis Blues";

• 1973 - The Philadelphia Orchestra gives a concert in Beijing, the first American orchestra to perform in Red China; Eugene Ormandy conducts symphonies by Mozart (No. 35), Brahms (No. 1) and the American composer Roy Harris (No. 3).