Handel "Recycled" by Zwilich (and Handel himself)

Synopsis

One of the best-loved works of classical music, Handel’s oratorio “Messiah,” had its first performance on today’s date in Dublin, Ireland, in the year 1742. Handel wrote “Messiah” in a period of only four weeks, then put it aside until he received an invitation to present a new work in the Irish capital. Dublin gave “Messiah” an enthusiastic reception, but it took a few years before London recognized that ‘Messiah” was a masterpiece.

Baroque composers like Handel freely borrowed materials from previous works or even other composers to use in new ones, and among Handel’s own instrumental works, the Concerti “Due Cori,” for example, contain melodies familiar from “Messiah.”

The American composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich harks back to this Baroque custom in her own “Concerto Grosso 1985,” in which she quotes directly from Handel’s Violin Sonata in D—which in turns quotes from no fewer than four of Handel’s own earlier compositions.

Born in Miami, Florida in 1939, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich studied at Juilliard with two noted American composers, Roger Sessions and Elliott Carter, and in 1983 became the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for her Symphony No. 1.

Music Played in Today's Program

George Frederic Handel (1685 - 1759) Sinfoni, fr Messiah Boston Baroque Orchestra; Martin Pearlman, cond. Telarc 80348

Ellen Taafe Zwilich (b. 1939) Concerto Grosso 1985 New York Philharmonic; Zubin Mehta, cond. New World 372

On This Day

Births

• 1810 - French composer Felicien David, in Cadenet, Vaucluse;

• 1816 - English composer Sir William Sterndale Bennett, in Sheffield;

• 1938 - American composer and pianist Frederic Rzewski, in Westfield, Mass.;

Deaths

• 1756 - Burial date of the German composer and keyboard virtuoso Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, age c. 29, in Dresden;

• 1826 - German composer Franz Danzi, age 62, in Schwetzingen;

• 1944 - French composer and pianist Cécile Chaminade, age 86, in Monte Carlo;

Premieres

• 1742 - Handel: oratorio, "Messiah,"in Dublin (Gregorian date: April 24);

• 1789 - Mozart: Divertimento in Eb (K. 563) for string trio, in Dresden, by Anton Teiber (violin), Anton Kraft (cello), and the composer (viola);

• 1943 - Randall Thompson: "A Testament of Freedom" for men's voices and piano, at the University of Virginia; The orchestral version of this work premiered in Boston on April 6, 1945;

• 1952 - Morton Gould: Symphony No. 4 ("West Point Symphony") for band, during the West Point Military Academy Sesquicentennial Celebration in West Point, N.Y, by the Academy Band, with the composer conducting;

• 1961 - Luigi Nono: opera "Intolerance 1960," in Venice at the Teatro La Fenice;

• 1992 - Schnittke: opera "Life with an Idiot," in Amsterdam at the Dutch Opera;

• 1997 - Morten Lauridsen: "Lux Aeterna"for chorus and chamber orchestra, at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, by the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Paul Salamunovich conducting;

• 2000 - Danielpour: Piano Trio ("A Child's Reliquary"), at Hancher Auditorium at the University of Iowa, by the Kalichstein-Robinson-Laredo Trio;

Others

• 1823 - Franz Liszt, age 11, performs at the Imperial Redoutensaal in Vienna; Legend has it that Beethoven attended this performance and planted a kiss on the young performer's forehead, but in fact Beethoven did not attend the concert; According to Liszt, the incident occurred a few days before at Beethoven's home, after Liszt had performed one of Beethoven's works; See Dec. 1, 1822, for Liszt's Vienna debut;

• 1896 - The American Guild of Organists is founded in New York City;

• 1958 - American pianist Van Cliburn wins the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, the first American to do so.