Whitacre celebrates October

Synopsis

What's YOUR favorite month?

For American composer Eric Whitacre, it's October—and that's the title of this music as well. Whitacre was asked by Brian Anderson, a high school band director from Fremont, Nebraska, to write a work suitable for a consortium of 30 Nebraskan high school bands, a work at "grade three" level of difficulty, in band parlance.

As Whitacre explains, the inspiration came easily—but the "grade three" bit proved a challenge.

"October is my favorite month," says Whitacre. "Something about the crisp autumn air and the subtle change in light always makes me a little sentimental, and as I started to sketch I felt that same quiet beauty in the writing."

[But] "Writing a 'grade three' work was a different challenge. It's easy to write your way out of a corner with flashy, virtuosic material, but with 'easier' music your solutions must be simple, elegant, and functional. I worked hard to create a piece that could be successfully performed by all of the high schools in the consortium, yet never compromised its musical integrity. Frankly, writing 'easy' music is one of the hardest things I've ever done."

"I'm quite happy with the result," says Whitacre, "especially because I feel there just isn't enough lush, beautiful music written for winds. 'October' is dedicated to Brian Anderson, the man who brought it all together."

Music Played in Today's Program

Eric Whitacre (b. 1970) October IUP Wind Ensemble; Jack Stamp, cond. Klavier 11184

On This Day

Births

• 1832 - American composer Henry Clay Work, in Middletown, Conn.; A printer by trade, he wrote some famous popular songs, including "Grandfather's Clock," "Father, Come Home," and "Marching Through Georgia";

• 1865 - French composer Paul Dukas, in Paris;

• 1931 - Italian composer Sylvano Bussotti, in Florence;

Deaths

• 1708 - British composer John Blow, age c. 59, in London;

• 1964 - Austrian-born American composer Ernst Toch, age 76, in Santa Monica, Calif.; He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1956 for his Symphony No. 3;

• 1979 - American composer Roy Harris, age 81, in Santa Monica, Calif.;

Premieres

• 1733 - Rameau: opera, "Hippolyte et Aricie," in Paris at the Palais Royal Opéra;

• 1913 - Elgar: symphonic poem, “Falstaff,” at the Leeds Festival, with the composer conducting;

• 1937 - Miaskovsky: Symphony No. 18, in Moscow, Alexander Gauk conducting;

• 1961 - Shostakovich: Symphony No. 12 ("The Year 1917"), by the Leningrad Philharmonic, Yevgeny Mravinsky conducting;

• 1967 - Sessions: Symphony No. 7, in Ann Arbor, Mich., by the Chicago Symphony, Jean Martinon conducting;

• 1975 - Shostakovich: Viola Sonata, in Leningrad, by Fyodor Druzhinin (viola) and Mikhail Muntyan (piano);

• 1992 - Michael Torke: “Chalk” for string quartet, at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester (U.K.), by the Balanescu Quartet;

• 1998 - Ives (arr. David G. Porter): "Emerson Overture," for piano and orchestra, with soloist Alan Feinberg and the Cleveland Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnányi conducting;

• 2005 - John Adams: opera "Dr. Atomic,," in San Francisco by the San Francisco Opera, Donald Runnicles, cond;

Others

• 1880 - John Philip Sousa, age 25, is appointed 17th Leader of the U.S. Marine Band, a post he would hold for 12 years; During this time, the band made its first concert tour, premiered many of Sousa's most famous marches, and produced some of the first phonograph recordings ever made;

• 1924 - Opening of The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, funded by a gift of $12.5 million from the American patroness Mary Louise Curtis Bok, who had inherited her fortune from the Curtis Publishing Company; The faculty, providing instruction for 203 students, includes Leopold Stokowski and Josef Hofmann heading conducting and piano departments, respectively; Polish-born coloratura Marcella Sembrich; Hungarian violinist Carl Flesch; French-born harpist/composer Carlos Salzedo; and Italian composer Rosario Scalero.