The sensational Mademoiselle Holmès

Synopsis

These days, it’s still considered “news” when the Metropolitan Opera stages an opera by a female composer, so one might assume that in the 19th century, the performance of any opera written by a woman would have been even more sensational.

Well, that wasn’t the case on today’s date in 1895, when the Paris Opera staged “La Montagne noire,” or “The Black Mountain,” by Augusta Holmes, or “Augusta Holmès” as she was known in France. Her opera was performed 13 times, but never revived. The jaded French audiences were already quite familiar with the sensational Mademoiselle Holmès, it seems.

Born in Paris in 1847 of Irish parents, Augusta was a musical prodigy as a child, a stunning beauty as a young woman, and a composition student of César Franck. And, rare for her time, she was a financially independent artist due to a fortune inherited from her father. Rarer still: despite 19th century prejudice against female composers, Augusta’s orchestra scores were championed and premiered by Parisian orchestras, and she received major commissions for elaborate national celebrations.

By the time of her death in 1903, however, Augusta Holmès was regarded as a curious but minor figure in the history of French music. In our time, some of her orchestral works, like her symphonic tone-poem “Ireland,” have been revived, and, along with other creations of past women composers, are being reappraised by performers of the present.

Music Played in Today's Program

Augusta Holmès (1847 – 1903) Irlande (Ireland), Symphonic Poem Rheinland-Pfalz Philharmonic; Samuel Friedmann, cond. Marco Polo 8.223449

On This Day

Births

• 1741 - Belgian-born French composer André Grétry, in Liège;

• 1932 - American composer and conductor John Williams, in New York City;

Deaths

• 1709 - Italian composer Giuseppe Torelli, age 50, in Bologna;

• 1909 - Polish composer Mieczyslaw Karlowicz, age 32, near Zakopane, Tatra Mountains;

Premieres

• 1874 - Mussorgsky: opera “Boris Godunov”, at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, with bass Ivan Melnikov in the title role, and Eduard Napravnik conducting; This was the composer’s own revised, nine-scene version of the opera, which originally consisted of just seven scenes (Julian date: Jan.27);

• 1897 - Kalinnikov: Symphony No. 1 (Gregorian date: Feb. 20);

• 1904 - Sibelius: Violin Concerto (first version), in Helsinki, by the Helsingsfors Philharmonic conducted by the composer, with Victor Novácek as soloist; The revised and final version of this concerto premiered in Berlin on October 19, 1905, conducted by Richard Strauss and with Karl Halir the soloist;

• 1907 - Schoenberg: Chamber Symphony No. 1 in Vienna, with the Rosé Quartet and members of the Vienna Philharmonic;

• 1908 - Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2 in St. Petersburg, with the composer conducting (Julian date: Jan. 26);

• 1909 - Liadov: “Enchanted Lake” (Gregorian date: Feb. 21);

• 1910 - Webern: Five Movements, Op. 5, for string quartet, in Vienna;

• 1925 - Cowell: "Ensemble" (original version for strings and 3 "thunder-sticks"), at a concert sponsored by the International Composers' Guild at Aeolian Hall in New York, by an ensemble led by Vladimir Shavitch that featured the composer and two colleagues on "thunder-sticks" (an American Indian instrument also known as the "bull-roarer"); Also on program was the premiere of William Grant Still's "From the Land of Dreams" for three voices and chamber orchestra (his first concert work, now lost, dedicated to his teacher, Edgard Varèse);

• 1925 - Miaskovsky: Symphonies Nos. 4 and 7, in Moscow;

• 1934 - Virgil Thomson: opera "Four Saints in Three Acts" (libretto by Gertrude Stein), in Hartford, Conn.;

• 1942 - Stravinsky: "Danses concertantes," by the Werner Janssen Orchestra of Los Angeles, with the composer conducting;

• 1946 - Bartók: Piano Concerto No. 3 (completed by Tibor Serly after the composer's death), by the Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy conducting and György Sándor as the soloist;

• 1959 - Elie Siegmeister: Symphony No. 3, in Oklahoma City;

• 1963 - Benjamin Lees: Violin Concerto, by the Boston Symphony, with Erich Leinsdorf conducting and Henryk Szeryng the soloist;

• 1966 - Lou Harrison: "Symphony on G" (revised version), at the Cabrillo Music Festival by the Oakland Symphony, Gerhard Samuel condicting;

• 1973 - Crumb: "Makrokosmos I" for amplified piano, in New York;

• 1985 - Earle Brown: "Tracer," for six instruments and four-track tape, in Berlin;

• 1986 - Daniel Pinkham: Symphony No. 3, by the Plymouth (Mass.) Philharmonic, Rudolf Schlegel conducting;

• 2001 - Sierra: "Concerto for Orchestra," by the Philadelphia Orchestra, Wolfgang Sawallisch conducting;

Others

• 1875 - American composer Edward MacDowell admitted to the Paris Conservatory;

• 1877 - German-born (and later American) composer Charles Martin Loeffler admitted to the Paris Conservatory;

• 1880 - German opera composer Richard Wagner writes a letter to his American dentist, Dr. Newell Still Jenkins, stating "I do no regard it as impossible that I decide to emigrate forever to America with my latest work ["Parsifal"] and my entire family" if the Americans would subsidize him to the tune of one million dollars.