Synopsis
Today is National Hot Dog Day, but we’re taking this opportunity to celebrate the non-grill variety, namely the Weiner dog or dachshund, a breed beloved of some famous composers and performers.
Leonard Bernstein was passionate about the many dachshund he owned, all named Henry, and once on a flight to Paris, booked a seat for a furry passenger named “Henry Bernstein.”
When composer Benjamin Britten and tenor Peter Pears moved into their house in Aldeburgh, the brick wall surrounding the property soon sported signs in English, German, and Latin, warning “Beware of the Dog,” “Bisseger Hund,” and “Caveat Canem,” lest passersby ankles be savaged by their classically-named dachshunds, Klithe and Jove. Britten’s friend and frequent collaborator, the Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, also a dachshund owner, presented Britten and Pears with an additional warning sign in Russian.
We’re told that Rostropovich’s miniature, long-haired dachshund, Pooks, upon command, would play the piano with its front paws, then, after the humans’ appreciative applause died down, would walk up and down the keyboard as an encore. “Pooks” even gets a shout-out in Leonard Bernstein’s short orchestral tribute to Rostropovich entitled “Slava!” – at one point in the score members of the orchestra are invited call out the talented dog’s name.
Music Played in Today's Program
Leonard Bernstein (1918 – 1990): Slava! A Political Overture (Israel Philharmonic Orchestra; Leonard Bernstein, cond.) Naxos 8.559813
On This Day
Births
1796 - Swedish composer Franz Berwald, in Stockholm
1866 - Italian opera composer Francesco Cilea, in Palmi, Calabria
1916 - American composer Ben Weber, in St. Louis, Mo.
Deaths
1757 - Italian composer and harpsichordist Domenico Scarlatti, age 71, in Madrid
1983 - French composer Georges Auric, age 84, in Paris
Premieres
1982 - John Harbison: "Variation" for clarinet, violin and piano, at the Sante Fe Chamber Music Festival in New Mexico, by clarinetist David Satz, violinist Rose Mary Harbison, and pianist Ursula Oppens
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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.
