Dohnanyi’s Second Symphony

Synopsis

Ernest von Dohnanyi’s Second Symphony was written during the closing years of World War II, begun during the German occupation of his native Hungary in early 1944, and finished after his flight to Vienna later that same year as Soviet troops advanced from the east. According to his wife, Dohannyi was so focused on the composition of this work, that on one occasion she had to tear him away from his desk to seek shelter during an Allied air raid.

Dohnanyi was wrongly accused of being a Nazi sympathizer, even though he had resigned from the Liszt Music Academy and disbanded the Budapest Philharmonic rather than dismiss any Jewish musicians. His strong anti-Soviet views also made him persona non grata with the post-war Communist government in Hungary. Dohnanyi eventually found a new home in America, where he taught at Florida State University in Tallahassee. He and his wife became American citizens in 1955.

Dohnanyi’s Second Symphony received its first performance by a semi-professional orchestra in London in 1948, but he revised it substantially for its American premiere on today’s date in 1957 by the Minneapolis Symphony under Antal Dorati. In its final movement, Dohnanyi quotes the Bach chorale, “Komm, Susser Tod” (Come, Sweet Death), and in program notes for the Minneapolis performance, quotes the Hungarian playwright Imre Madach: “The goal is death. Life is a struggle.”

Music Played in Today's Program

Ernest von Dohnanyi (1877 - 1960) Symphony No. 2 in E, Op. 40 (1945, revised 1954-7) BBC Philharmonic; Mattias Bamert, cond. Chandos 9455

On This Day

Births

• 1835 - Austrian composer and conductor Eduard Strauss, in Vienna; He was the youngest son of Johann Strauss, Sr.;

• 1864 - Norwegian composer, conductor and violinist Johan Halvorsen, in Drammen;

• 1901 - American composer Colin McPhee, in Montréal, Canada;

• 1926 - American composer Ben Johnston, in Macon, Ga.;

• 1928 - American composer Nicolas Flagello, in New York City;

Deaths

• 1842 - Italian composer Luigi Cherubini, age 81, in Paris;

• 1918 - French composer Lili Boulanger, age 24, in Mezy;

• 1942 - Austrian composer Alexander von Zemlinsky, age 70, in Larchmont, N.Y.;

Premieres

• 1807 - Beethoven: Symphony No. 4 (first public performance), in Vienna, at a benefit concert conducted by the composer;

• 1885 - Franck: symphonic poem "Les Dijinns" (The Genies), in Paris;

• 1897 - Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 1 (Gregorian date: Mar. 27);

• 1908 - Ravel: "Rapsodie espagnole" (Spanish Rhapsody), in Paris;

• 1911 - Scriabin: Symphony No. 5 ("Prometheus: Poem of Fire"), in Moscow, conducted by Serge Koussevitzky and with the composer performing the solo piano part (Julian date: Mar. 2);

• 1981 - Stockhausen: opera "Donnerstag, aus Licht" (Thursday, from Light), in Milan at the Teatro alla Scala; This is one of a projected cycle of seven operas, each named after a day of the week;

• 1994 - Peter Maxwell Davies: "Chat Moss" (the name of a quagmire in Lancashire) for orchestra, in Liverpool by the orchestra of St. Edward's College, John Moseley conducting;

• 2000 - Corigliano: "Mr. Tambourine Man: Seven Poems of Bob Dylan," at Carnegie Hall, by soprano Sylvia McNair and pianist Martin Katz; An orchestrated version of this song-cycle premiered in Minneapolis on October 23, 2003, with soprano Hila Plitmann and the Minnesota Orchestra conducted by Robert Spano;

Others

• 1895 - Italian tenor Enrico Caruso, age 22, makes his operatic debut at the Teatro Nuovo in Naples, singing the lead tenor role in Domenico Morelli's comic opera "L'Amico Francesco."