"Beethoven's" Jena Symphony

Synopsis

Music Played in Today's Program

Friedrich Witt (1770 – 1832) Jena Symphony in C Westphalian Symphony; Hubert Reichert, cond. Turnabout LP TV-S 34409

On This Day

Births

• 1770 - German composer Friedrich Witt, in Niederstetten, Württemberg; Like Beethoven, he composed 9 symphonies, and one of them, his “Jena Symphony,” was for a time mistakenly believed to be an early work by Beethoven;

• 1883 - English composer Arnold Bax, in Streatham;

• 1945 - American composer and pianist Judith Lang Zaimont, in Memphis;

Deaths

• 1599 - Spanish composer Francisco Guerrero, age 71, in Seville;

• 1890 - Belgian-French composer César Franck, in Paris, age 67;

• 1894 - Russian composer Anton Rubinstein, age 64, near St. Petersburg (Gregorian date: Nov. 20);

• 1924 - Russian composer Sergie Liapunov, age 65, in Paris;

Premieres

• 1879 - Brahms: Violin Sonata No. 1 in G, Op. 78, in Bonn, by violinist Joseph Joachim and the composer at the piano;

• 1919 - Stravinsky: "The Soldier's Tale" Suite (for violin, clarinet and piano), in Lausanne; The staged version of "The Soldier's Tale" had premiered in Lausanne at the Théatre Municipal on September 28, 1918;

• 1926 - Gershwin: musical "Oh, Kay!" at the Imperial Theater in New York City; This show featured Gertrude Lawrence, and included the classic Gershwin songs "Clap Yo' Hands," "Do, Do, Do," and "Someone to Watch over Me";

• 1936 - Jean Françaix: Piano Concerto, in Berlin.