Composers Datebook®

Bryars and Horner on the Titanic

Composers Datebook for April 15, 2021
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Synopsis

At 2:20 a.m. on this date in 1912, the luxury liner S.S. Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg in the North Atlantic. Of the 2201 people of on board, only 711 reached their intended destination in New York. Eight British musicians, members of the ship’s band stayed on board, reportedly playing a hymn-tune as the ship went down.

In 1969, British composer Gavin Bryars, prepared a multi-media musical work titled “The Sinking of the Titanic,” which incorporated spoken interviews by Titanic survivors with a set of variations on the hymn tune played by the ship’s band. In 1985, the sunken wreck of the Titanic was rediscovered, and renewed interest led to a 1990 revival performance and recording of Gavin Bryars’s score.

A few years later, composer James Horner wrote an Oscar-winning film score for director James Cameron’s Titanic–an incredibly successful cinematic dramatization of the story.

Horner has written other famous film scores like those for “Aliens” and “Braveheart”—but none quite as successful as “Titanic.” That film grossed more than $600 million at the domestic box office and more than $1.8 billion worldwide. Ironically, considering this “titanic” success, the first film for which Horner composed a score was entitled “The Drought.”

Music Played in Today's Program

Gavin Bryars (b. 1943) The Sinking of the Titanic Gavin Bryars and ensemble Point Music 446 249

James Horner (1953-2015) Titanic sountrack studio orchesra; James Horner, cond. Sony Classcial 63213

On This Day

Births

  • 1688 - German composer Johann Friedrich Fasch, in Buttelstadt;

Deaths

  • 1846 - Italian composer and double-bass virtuoso Domenico Dragonetti, age 83, in London;

Premieres

  • 1735 - Handel: opera "Alcina," in London at the Covent Garden Theatre; This was Handel's last operatic success in London (Gregorian date: April 27);

  • 1791 - Mozart: Symphony No. 40 (rescored to include a pair of clarinets) is performed in Vienna at concerts conducted by Antonio Salieri;

  • 1849 - Meyerbeer: opera "Le prophète" (The Prophet), at the Paris Opéra;

  • 1896 - Dvorák: String Quartet in A-flat, Op. 105, at the Prague Conservatory, by four students (at the composer's special request, on the first anniversary of his returning home from America);

  • 1909 - Arthur Foote: Suite for Strings in E, by the Boston Symphony with Max Fiedler conducting;

  • 1942 - Barber: "Second Essay" for orchestra, in New York City;

  • 1945 - Leo Sowerby: "Canticle of the Sun" for chorus and orchestra, in New York City;

  • 1956  - Persichetti: Symphony No. 6 ("Symphony for Band"), in St. Louis, by the Washington University Chamber Band, Clark Mitze conducting

  • 1959  - Ned Rorem: Symphony No. 3, by the New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein conducting

  • 1967  - Ligeti: Cello Concerto, by the Berlin Radio Symphony conducted by Henryk Czyz, with Siegfried Palm the soloist

  • 1994 - David Ward-Steinman: "Cinnabar" Concerto for viola and chamber orchestra, at the University of San Diego, Calif., by the San Diego Contemporary Music Ensemble conducted by Lily Hood Gunn, with Karen Elaine as soloist

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About Composers Datebook®

Host John Birge presents a daily snapshot of composers past and present, with timely information, intriguing musical events and appropriate, accessible music related to each.

He has been hosting, producing and performing classical music for more than 25 years. Since 1997, he has been hosting on Minnesota Public Radio's Classical Music Service. He played French horn for the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestra and performed with them on their centennial tour of Europe in 1995. He was trained at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Eastman School of Music and Interlochen Arts Academy.

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