Tiomkin finds a home in Hollywood (and London)

Synopsis

Music Played in Today's Program

Dmitri Tiomkin (1894-1979) Rhapsody of Steel Royal College of Music Orchestra; David Willcocks, cond. Unicorn-Kanchana 9047

On This Day

Births

• 1872 - German-born American conductor of the Chicago Symphony (and occasional composer) Frederick Stock, in Jülich;

Deaths

• 1936 - English composer Sir Edward German, age 74, in London;

• 1945 - American songwriter, Jerome Kern, age 60, in New York City;

• 1979 - Ukranian-born American film music composer Dimitri Tiomkin, age 85, in London;

Premieres

• 1727 - Handel: opera “Riccardo Primo, re d’Inghilterra” (Richard the First, King of England), in London at the King’s Theater in the Haymarket (Gregorian date: Nov. 22);

• 1866 - Brahms: String Sextet in G, Op. 36, in Boston, at a concert by the Mendelssohn Quintet Club; The European premiere occurred in Zürich, Swizterland, a few days later, on November 20;

• 1889 - R. Strauss: tone-poem "Don Juan," in Weimar, with the composer conducting;

• 1890 - Brahms: String Quintet No. 2 in G, Op. 111, in Vienna, by the Rosé Quintet;

• 1898 - Coleridge-Taylor: oratorio "Hiawatha's Wedding Feast," in London;

• 1899 - Leslie Stuart: operetta "Floradora" in London; This operetta was tremendously popular in England and America for many seasons, but is seldom heard today;

• 1906 - Ethel Smyth: opera "The Wreckers" (under its German title "Strandrecht") in Leipzig;

• 1923 - Bloch: Piano Quintet, in New York, with Harold Bauer piano, at the first concert of the League of Composers;

• 1952 - Stravinsky: "Cantata," by the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra conducted by the composer;

• 1999 - Corigliano: "Vocalise," for soprano, electronics and orchestra, by Sylvia McNair, with the New York Philharmonic conducted by Kurt Masur;

• 2004 - Augusta Read Thomas: “Dancing Galaxy” for wind ensemble, in Boston, Ma. by the New England Conservatory Wind Ensemble.

Others

• 1898 - Shortly after it was finished, the painting “Nevermore” by Gaugin is purchased by the English composer Frederick Delius; The painting was inspired by Poe’s famous poem and is now in the collection of London’s Cortland Gallery;

• 1922 - The British Broadcasting Company (BBC) begins daily radio transmissions; The BBC had been formed on Oct. 18, 1922, broadcast its first orchestral concert on Dec. 23, 1922, and on Dec. 24 its first radio play, “The Truth About Father Christmas.”