Synopsis
Music Played in Today's Program
Stephen Sondheim (b. 1930) A Little Night Music New York City Opera Orchestra; Paul Gemignani, cond. MusicMasters 67099
Andrew Lloyd Webber (b. 1948) Angel of Music Cincinnati Pops; Erich Kunzel, cond. Telarc 80405
On This Day
Births
1930 - American composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim, in New York City;
1868 - Scottish composer and conductor Hamisch MacCunn, in Greenock;
1943 - American composer Joseph Schwantner, in Chicago;
1948 - British composer Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, in London;
Deaths
1687 - Italian-born French composer Jean Baptiste Lully, age 54, in Paris, following an inadvertent self-inflicted injury to his foot (by a staff with which he would beat time for his musicians) which developed gangrene;
Premieres
1963 - William Kraft: "Concerto grosso," in San Diego, Calif.;
1973 - Ginastera: Piano Concerto No. 2, in Indianapolis, with Hilde Somer as soloist;
1984 - John Harbison: Symphony No. 1, in Boston, with the Boston Symphony, Seiji Ozawa conducting;
1985 - John Harbison: "Twilight Music" for horn, violin and piano, at Alice Tully Hall, by members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (David Jolley, horn; James Buswell, violin; Richard Goode, piano);
1997 - Zwilich: "Peanuts Gallery" (after the "Peanuts" comic strip characters by Charles Schultz) for piano and chamber orchestra, at Carnegie Hall in New York by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra with soloist Albert Kim.
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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.