A Diamond premiere

Synopsis

Today we have a “Tale of THREE Cities” to tell: Boston, Minneapolis, and Seattle — and the coast-to-coast saga of a symphony by the American composer David Diamond.

On today’s date in 1944, Diamond’s Second Symphony was given its first performance by the Boston Symphony, with the legendary Russian-born Serge Koussevitzky conducting. Now, Koussevitzky was a famous patron of new music, and in the 1930s and ‘40s, the Boston Symphony premiered many new works, but in this case, Diamond’s symphony was originally written for Minneapolis.

The famous Greek-born conductor, Dimitri Mitropoulos, admired Diamond’s music and had intended to premiere the new work with his orchestra, the Minneapolis Symphony. Mitropoulos had even personally paid for the preparation of the symphony’s orchestral parts. But when it seemed the premiere would have to be postponed, Mitropolous suggested Diamond offer the first performance to Koussevitzky in Boston, who gave the work’s premiere to great acclaim.

In 1990, after decades of relative neglect, Diamond’s Symphony came to Seattle. To celebrate the composer’s 75th birthday, a new compact disc recording of Diamond’s Second symphony was made by the Seattle Symphony and its conductor, Gerard Schwarz. The disc sparked renewed interest in Diamond’s work. In 1995, in recognition of his lifetime achievements, Diamond received the National Medal of Arts from then-President Bill Clinton.

Music Played in Today's Program

David Diamond (1915-2005) Symphony No. 2 Seattle Symphony; Gerard Schwarz, cond. Delos 3093

On This Day

Births

• 1864 - Russian composer Alexander Grechaninov, in Moscow (Gregorian date: Oct. 25);

• 1912 - Moravian-born American composer Hugo Weisgall, in Ivancice, Czechoslovakia;

Deaths

• 1694 - German composer and trumpeter Johann Christoph Pezel, age c. 55, in Bautzen;

• 1979 - English composer Rebecca Clarke, age 93, in New York City;

Premieres

• 1855 - Brahms: Piano Trio No. 1 in B (first version, European premiere?), in Danzig (Germany); The American premiere occurred just one month later, on Nov. 27, 1955, at Dodworth's Hall in New York City, with violinist Theodore Thomas, cellist Carl Bergmann, and pianist William Mason; For many years, the American performance was claimed as the first performance anywhere; A recent Grove dictionary cites this earlier Danzig performance, but does not indicate if it was a private reading or public performance;

• 1917 - Mussorgsky (arr. Cui): opera "The Fair at Sorochinsky," posthumously, in St. Petersburg (Gregorian date: Oct. 26);

• 1944 - David Diamond: Symphony No. 2, by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Serge Koussevitzky, conductor;

• 1945 - Martinu: Symphony No. 3, by the Boston Symphony, Serge Koussevitzky conducting;

• 1958 - William Kraft: "Nonet" for brass and percussion, in Los Angeles;

• 1968 - Allan Pettersson: Symphony No. 7, in Stockholm;

• 1977 - Andrew Imbrie's "Concerto for Flute" at New York Philharmonic concert with Julius Baker as the soloist.

• 1982 - Bernstein: opera-house version of "Candide," at Lincoln Center by the New York City Opera;

• 1991 - Daniel Asia: "Black Light" for orchestra, at Carnegie Hall in New York by the American Composers Orchestra, Dennis Russell Davies conducting;

• 1994 - James MacMillan: "Memento" for string quartet, at Merkin Hall in New York City, by the Kronos Quartet;

• 1998 - Kancheli: Piano Quartet ("L'istesso tempo), in Seattle, by the Bridge Ensemble