Stravinsky strikes a chord

Synopsis

Imagine yourself in a Parisian cafe in the spring of 1931, eavesdropping on violinist Samuel Dushkin and composer Igor Stravinsky seated at the table next to you. From their conversation, it appears Dushkin has asked Stravinsky to write him a violin concerto, and, since Stravinsky himself is not a violinist, he's consulting with Dushkin on what is and what is NOT possible on that instrument.

Stravinsky writes a chord on a napkin and passes it to Dushkin. "Is it possible to play this chord on the violin?" he asks. Duskhin looks at the napkin and says, "No." Stravinsky seems quite upset. "Quel dommage!" he mutters. When they both leave, you might safely assume, as you finish your café au lait, that's ONE violin concerto that will probably never see the light of day.

What you couldn't have known in the café was that when Dushkin returned home, he took up his violin and decided to try out Stravinsky's chord anyway. To his amazement, it WAS playable. Dushkin quickly telephoned Stravinsky with the news. The Concerto was back on track.

"When the concerto was finished, more than six months later," recalled Duskin, "I understood Stravinsky's disappointment when I first said 'No.' This chord, in a different dress, begins each of the four movements of the concerto. Stravinsky himself calls it his 'passport' to the entire work."

And on today's date in 1931, Dushkin gave the first performance of Stravinsky's concerto in Berlin, with the composer conducting.

Music Played in Today's Program

Igor Stravinsky (1882 – 1981) Violin Concerto in D Maxim Vengerov, violin; London Symphony; Mstislav Rostropovich, cond. EMI Classics 56966

On This Day

Births

• 1801 - German composer Albert Lortzing, in Berlin;

• 1906 - American composer Miriam Gideon, in Greeley, Colorado;

• 1923 - American composer Ned Rorem, in Richmond, Indiana;

Premieres

• 1754 - Rameau: opera-ballet "Anacréon," at Fortainebleau;

• 1890 - Borodin: opera "Prince Igor" (completed posthumously by Rimsky-Korsakov and Glazunov) at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, with K.A. Kuchera conducting (Gregorian date: Nov. 4);

• 1897 - Scriabin: Piano Concerto, in Odessa, with the composer as soloist (Gregorian date: Nov. 4);

• 1903 - MacDowell: symphonic poem “Lamia” (after Keats), by the Boston Symphony, Max Fiedler conducting;

• 1913 - Delius: "On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring" and "Summer Night on the River," by the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra,Artur Nikisch conducting;

• 1931 - Stravinsky: Violin Concerto, in Berlin, by the Berlin Radio Orchestra conducted by the composer, with Samuel Dushkin as soloist;

• 1941 - William Grant Still's "Plain Chant for America," by the New York Philharmonic, John Barbirolli conducting;

• 1959 - Piston: "Three New England Sketches" for orchestra, in Worcester, Mass., by the Detroit Symphony, Paul Paray conducting;

• 1959 - Rorem: "Eagles," by the Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy conducting;

• 1963 - Hovhaness: Symphony No. 17 ("Symphony for Metal Orchestra"), in Cleveland;

• 1970 - Crumb: "Black Angels (13 Images from the Dark Lord)" for string quartet,in Ann Arbor, Mich.;

• 1981 - Sessions: "Concerto for Orchestra," by the Boston Symphony; This work won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1982;

• 1997 - Danielpour: "Celestial Night," by the New Jersey Symphony, Zdenek Macal conducting;

• 2002 - Peter Maxwell Davies: "Naxos Quartet" No. 1, at Wigmore Hall, London, by the Maggini Quartet;

Others

• 1739 - Handel completes in London his Concerto Grosso in Bb, Op. 6, no. 7 (see Julian date: Oct.12);

• 1881 - First concert by Concerts Lamoureux, in Paris, founded by Charles Lamoureux.