Messiaen and Respighi for the birds

Synopsis

The song of birds has fascinated composers for centuries, and imitations of especially melodious birds like the lark or the nightingale are fairly common in musical works from the 18th and 19th centuries.

In the 20th century, musical ornithology became more scientific—and bolder. The modern French composer Olivier Messiaen recorded and notated the birds of rural France and elsewhere, and used birdsong as the core thematic material in many of his scores. We're listening to the solo piano opening of Messiaen's chamber work "Exotic Birds" from 1956.

But on today's date in 1924, an orchestral work premiered in Rome that included—for the first time in musical history—the actual song of an actual bird. On that occasion, over faint, muted strings and clarinet, conductor Bernardino Molinari cued a member of his orchestra to start up a 78-rpm phonograph record of a real nightingale's song, as indicated in the score of Ottorino Respighi's orchestral suite titled "The Pines of Rome."

This was the second of three suites composed by Respighi depicting Roman landscapes: the others being "The Fountains of Rome" from 1917 and "Roman Festivals" from 1929. The British music critic Norman Lebrecht calls these three pieces, "God's gift to hi-fi salesmen," and, truth be told, ever since the early days of stereo, Respighi's colorful scores HAVE served to show off many a newly acquired audio system.

Music Played in Today's Program

Franz Schubert (1891-1828) Hark, hark the Lark (arr. Franz Liszt) Frederic Chiu, piano Harmonia Mundi 90.7054

Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) Oiseaux Exotiques Peter Donohoe, piano; Netherlands Wind Ensemble Chandos 9301/2

Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) The Pines of Rome Minnesota Orchestra; Eiji Oue, cond. Reference 95

On This Day

Births

• 1873 - Belgian composer and organist Joseph Jongen, in Liège;

• 1929 - American composer Ron Nelson, in Joliet, Illinois;

Deaths

• 1788 - German composer Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, age 74, in Hamburg;

• 1861 - German opera composer Heinrich Marschner, age 66, in Hanover;

Premieres

• 1918 - Puccini: one-act opera trilogy "Il Trittico" ("Il Tabarro," "Suor Angelico," and "Gianni Schicchi") at the Metropolitan Opera in New York;

• 1924 - Respighi: tone poem, "The Pines of Rome," in Rome, at the Augusteo, Bernardo Molinari conducting;

• 1925 - Berg: opera, "Wozzeck," in Berlin, at the Staatsoper, with Erich Kleiber conducting;

• 1936 - Barber: String Quartet, Op. 11, at the Villa Aurelia in Rome (Italy), by the Pro Arte Quartet;

• 1969 - Ligeti: String Quartet No. 2, in Baden-Baden, Germany, by the LaSalle Quartet;

• 1975 - Ruth Crawford Seeger: Suite for Piano and Woodwind Quintet, in Cambridge, Mass.;

• 1983 - George Perle: Serenade No. 3 for Piano and Chamber Orchestra,in New York City, by Richard Goode and the Music Today Ensemble conducted by Gerard Schwarz;

• 1997 - Morten Lauridsen: “Ave Maria” for a cappella chorus, by the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Paul Salamunovich conducting;

• 1997 - Joan Tower: "Rain Waves," at the Frick Museum in New York, by the Verdehr Trio;