Gustav Mahler

Synopsis

Music Played in Today's Program

Gustav Mahler Symphony No. 3

Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) Symphony No. 3 New York Philharmonic; Leonard Bernstein, cond. DG 427 328

On This Day

Births

• 1860 - Austrian composer and conductor Gustav Mahler, in Kalischt, Bohemia

• 1911 - Italian-born American composer and conductor Gian Carlo Menotti, in Cadegliano

• 1940 - Drummer and songwriter Ringo Starr (of the Beatles), in Liverpool, England

Deaths

• 1968 - American organist and composer Leo Sowerby, age 73, in Port Clinton, Ohio

Premieres

• 1713 - Handel: "Utrecht Te Deum," at St. Paul's Cathedral in London (Gregorian Date: July 18)

• 1956 - Moore: opera "The Ballade of Baby Doe," in Center City, Colo.; According to Opera America, this is one of the most frequently-produced American operas during the past decade

• 1994 - John Williams: Cello Concerto, at the opening of Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood, Mass., by the Boston Symphony, with the composer conducting and Yo-Yo Ma the soloist

• 2001 - David Ward-Steinman: "Dublin Down," for 2 pianos, during the College Music Society International Conference in Limerick, Ireland, by the composer and Patrice Madura Ward-Steinman

Others

• 1720 - Funeral of J.S. Bach's first wife, Maria Barbara (age 35); The cause of her death is unknown, and Bach's son Carl Philip Emmanuel reported that his father was at Carlsbad when she died: "The news that she had been ill and died reached him only when he entered his own house";

• 1747 - J.S. Bach dedicates his "Musical Offering" to Frederich the Great of Prussia

• 1791 - Haydn conducts his Symphony No. 92 ("Oxford") at the Sheldonian Theater ofOxford University, where he was awarded an honorary degree.