Synopsis
In Pittsburgh on today’s date in 1996, the Latin-American Quartet of Mexico gave the premiere of the String Quartet No. 3 by American composer David Stock. Stock was probably best known for his orchestral music and served as composer-in-residence with both the Pittsburgh and Seattle Symphonies, writing large-scale works for those ensembles, but he wrote 13 string quartets as well.
The first was a student work that premiered in Paris. The second is subtitled Speaking Extravagantly after a quote by Charles Ives: “Perhaps music is the art of speaking extravagantly.” Stock’s String Quartet No. 3 is a more personal work: its scherzo movement concludes with a set of variations on “Happy Birthday” — a tribute to the his wife on the occasion of her turning 50.
In addition to composing and teaching, Stock was an advocate for other composers’ works. For 23 years, Stock served as director of the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, and as host of a weekly radio series on WQED in that city. And speaking of radio, in 2001 Stock conducted the Charlottesville Symphony in the premiere of his piece Drive Time, which Stock described as “an updated version of the music usually programmed on Public Radio during the morning and evening drive time slots.“
Music Played in Today's Program
David Stock (1939-2015): String Quartet No. 3; Cuarteto Latinoamericano; Innova 563
On This Day
Births
1726 - French opera composer and chess master François André Danican-Philidor, in Dreux
1923 - English composer, pianist and actress Madeleine Dring, in Hornsey, London
1924 - American film composer Leonard Rosenman, in Brooklyn
Deaths
1881 - American poet, flutist and composer Sidney Lanier, 39, in Lynn, North Carolina
Premieres
1922 - Bliss: Colour Symphony, at the Three Choirs’ Festival in Glouchester, England
1940 - David Diamond: Concerto for Orchestra, in Yaddo, N.Y.
1949 - Ghedini: opera, Billy Budd, in Venice (Benjamin Britten's more successful operatic treatment of the same Hermann Melville novella premiered in London on December 1, 1951)
1971 - Bernstein: Mass (public dress rehearsal), at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. The work's official gala premiere occurred on Sept. 8, 1971.
1996 - David Stock: String Quartet No. 3, in Pittsburgh, by Cuarteto Latinoamericano
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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.