Passing time with Henry VIII and Richard Rodgers

Synopsis

Music Played in Today's Program

Henry VIII Pastime with Good Company Muscia Antigua de Albequerque Dorian 93175

Richard Rodgers (1902-1979) arr. Bennett March of the Siamese Children, fr The King and I Cincinnati Pops; Erich Kunzel, cond. Telarc 80278

On This Day

Births

• 1491 - English monarch, instrument collector and part-time composer Henry Tudor(as King Henry VIII he reigned 1509-1547) in Greenwich;

• 1712 - Swiss author, philosopher and composer Jean-Jacques Rousseau, in Geneva;

• 1831 - Hungarian violinist and conductor and composer Joseph Joachim, in Kittsee (now Köpcsény), near Poszony;

• 1902 - American composer Richard Rodgers, in Hammels Station, Long Island, N.Y.;

• 1913 - English composer George Lloyd, in St. Ives, Cornwall;

• 1946 - American composer Robert Xavier Rodriguez, in San Antonio, Texas;

Deaths

• 1745 - French composer and gamba virtuoso Antoine Forqueray, age 74,in Nantes;

• 1979 - East German composer Paul Dessau, age 85, in Königs Wusterhausen, near (then) East Berlin;

Premieres

• 1905 - Leoni: opera, "L'oracolo" (The Oracle), in London; The opera's story of opium and crime is set in San Francisco, and caused protests from that city's Chinese community when it was revived in San Francisco in 1937;

• 1916 - Hindemith: Cello Concerto, Op. 3, by the Frankfurt Conservatory Orchestra, with the composer conducting and Maurits Frank the soloist;

• 1951 - Leroy Anderson: "Blue Tango" at a Decca recording session in New York City, with the composer conducting; This recording reached No. 1 on the pops charts and earned Anderson a Gold Record award in 1952 when it became the first instrumental record to sell over one million copies (see also June 29);

• 1959 - Hovhaness: Symphony No. 4 for wind band, in Pittsburgh.