Synopsis
The Grove Dictionary of Music defines “aleatory” as follows: “music whose composition and/or performance is, to a greater or lesser extent, undetermined by the composer.”
But isn’t music supposed to be organized, planned, determined sound? Isn’t “aleatoric music” a contradiction in terms? Well, not necessarily. Musicians throughout the ages have delighted in spontaneous, improvised sound, or musical games in which the results will be different with each performance.
In the 20th century, American composers like Charles Ives and Henry Cowell often gave performers a great deal of freedom in the realization of their scores, and John Cage developed what he called “chance operations” into an art form all its own.
On September 13, 1986, at Avery Fisher Hall in New York City, Leonard Bernstein conducted the Israel Philharmonic in the premiere of his new Concerto for Orchestra, subtitled Jubilee Games, which incorporates some aleatoric elements.
Bernstein explained, “Its first movement is musical athletics, with cheers and all. It is also charades, anagrams, and children’s counting games … therefore aleatoric, ranging from structured improvisation to totally free orchestral invention. It is thus inevitable that the movement will vary considerably from one performance to another, and even one rehearsal to another.”
Music Played in Today's Program
Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990): Concerto for Orchestra (Jubilee Games); Israel Philharmonic; Leonard Bernstein, conductor; DG 429 231
On This Day
Births
1819 - German pianist, teacher and composer Clara Schumann (née Wieck), in Leipzig
1874 - Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg, in Vienna
1917 - American composer Robert Ward, in Cleveland
1924 - French film composer Maurice Jarre, in Lyons. He won an Academy Award in 1965 for his Dr. Zhivago film score.
Deaths
1894 - French composer Emmanuel Chabrier, 53, in Paris
1977 - English-born American conductor, arranger and new music patron, Leopold Stokowski, 95, in Nether Wallop, Hampshire (England)
1985 - French-born American composer, painter and mystical philosopher Dane Rudhyar, 90, in San Francisco
Premieres
1948 - Cyril Scott: Oboe Concerto, at Royal Albert Hall in London
1956 - Stravinsky: Canticum Sacrum ad Honorem Sancti Marci Nomiminis, at St. Mark’s in Venice, with the composer conducting
1967 - Copland: Inscape for Orchestra (commissioned by the New York Philharmonic for its 125th Anniversary Year), at Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor, Michigan, by the New York Philharmonic conducted by Leonard Bernstein
1986 - Bernstein: Concerto for Orchestra (Jubilee Games), at Avery Fisher Hall in New York, by the Israel Philharmonic with composer conducting
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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.