Barber at Lincoln Center

Synopsis

Music Played in Today's Program

Samuel Barber (1910 – 1981) Piano Concerto, Op. 38 John Browning, piano; Saint Louis Symphony; Leonard Slatkin, cond. RCA/BMG 60732

On This Day

Births

• 1914 - Polish composer and conductor Andrzej Panufnik, in Warsaw;

• 1919 - Czech-born American composer Vaclav Nelhybel, in Polanska;

• 1945 - English composer and conductor John Rutter, in London;

Deaths

• 1813 - Belgian-born French composer André Grétry, age 72, in Montmorency;

• 1892 - Irish-born American bandmaster and composer Patrick Gilmore, age 62, in St. Louis;

Premieres

• 1909 - Rimsky-Korsakov: opera "The Golden Cockerel," posthumously, in Moscow (Gregorian date: Oct. 7);

• 1962 - Barber: Piano Concerto, with soloist John Browning and the Boston Symphony conducted by Erich Leinsdorf; This performance was the second concert scheduled at the newly-opened "Philharmonic Hall" (now Avery Fisher Hall) at Lincoln Center in New York City;

• 1965 - George Rochberg: "Black Sounds" for winds and percussion, on a "Lincoln Center" television broadcast (as a ballet by Anna Sokolov under the title "The Act");

• 1992 - Tobias Picker: "Bang!" by the New York Philharmonic, Kurt Masur onducting (A New York Philharmonic 150th Anniversary commission);

• 1994 - Zwilich: "American" Concerto for trumpet and orchestra, at the inaugural concert of the California Center for the Arts in Escondido, by the San Diego Symphony, JoAnn Faletta conducting, with soloist Doc Severinson;

Others

• 1947 - German-born composer Hans Eisler is questioned about his former membership in the Communist Party by the House Committee on Un-American activities; Eisler had been a member of the Party in the 1920s, left Germany when Hitler came to power in 1933, and had been working in Hollywood on film scores and as the musical assistant to Charlie Chaplin; He left the U.S. in 1948 and settled in East Germany - where he composed that country's national anthem.