Still and Singleton

Synopsis

Music Played in Today's Program

William Grant Still (1895 - 1978) Sahdji Ballet Eastman-Rochester Orchestra and Chorus; Howard Hanson, cond. Mercury 434 324

Alvin Singleton (b.1940) A Yellow Rose Petal Atlanta Symphony; Louis Lane, cond. Nonesuch 79231

On This Day

Births

• 1813 - German composer Richard Wagner, in Leipzig;

Deaths

• 1949 - German composer Hans Pfitzner, age 80, in Salzburg;

Premieres

• 1813 - Rossini: "L'Italiana in Algeri" (The Italian Woman in Algiers), in Venice at the Teatro San Benedetto;

• 1836 - Mendelssohn: oratorio "Paulus" (St. Paul), at the Lower Rhine Music Festival in Düsseldorf, with the composer conducting;

• 1874 - Verdi: "Requiem Mass," at the Milan Cathedral, with the composer conducting;

• 1911 - Debussy: "Le Martyre de Saint-Sebastien," in Paris at the Théatre du Châtelet, André Caplet conducting;

• 1924 - Stravinsky: Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments, at the Paris Opéra at a concert conducted by Serge Koussevitzky, with the composer as the piano soloist;

• 1931 - William Grant Still: ballet "Sahdji," by the Eastman Ballet and Rochester Civic Orchestra, Howard Hanson conducting;

• 1950 - R. Strauss: "Four Last Songs" for soprano and orchestra, in London, with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Wilhelm Furtw ä ngle and Kristen Flagstad the vocalsoloist;

• 1982 - Alvin Singleton: "A Yellow Rose Petal" for orchestra, by the Houston Symphony, C. William Harwood conducting;

• 1990 - John Harbison: "Simple Daylight" (to a text by Michael Fried) at the Herbst Theater in San Francisco, by soprano Dawn Upshaw and pianist Alan Feinberg;

• 1999 - Bright Sheng: "Flute Moon," with soloist Aralee Dorough (flute/piccolo) and the Houston Symphony, Christoph Eschenbach conducting;

Others

• 1723 - J.S. Bach, the newly appointed cantor of Leipzig's St. Thomas Church, arrives in that city with his family;

• 1790 - Possible premiere of Mozart's String Quartets in D (K. 575) and Bb (K. 589) at Mozart's apartment in Vienna, very likely with the composer as violist;

• 1872 - On his 59th birthday, Richard Wagner lays the cornerstone of his Festival Theater in Bayreuth, Germany.