Synopsis
On today’s date in 1945, Serge Koussevitzky conducted the Boston Symphony in the premiere performance of the Symphony No. 3 by Czech composer Bohuslav Martinu.
Martinu had finished the first two movements of his symphony as World War II was rushing to a close and later claimed he had Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, the Eroica, very much on his mind, convinced that there was somehow an ethical force at work in the creation of a symphony, and, just as in Beethoven’s Eroica, it was possible to express moral and ethical ideals in music.
As an exile from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia and France, Martinu had come to the United States in 1941, and his mood is understandable in the anxious yet hopeful spring and summer of 1945.
After liberation of Czechoslovakia, he returned to his homeland and was offered a teaching post in Prague. Martinu, unhappy with Czechoslovakia’s new Communist rulers, declined the offer, and returned to America, where he became a naturalized citizen in 1952. After his death in 1957, his remains were eventually returned to his family mausoleum in Czechoslovakia, and in 1990, the centenary of his birth was celebrated in that country as a major cultural event.
Music Played in Today's Program
Bohuslav Martinu (1890-1959): Symphony No. 3; National Orchestra of Ukraine; Arthur Fagen, conductor; Naxos 8.553350
On This Day
Births
1686 - German composer and lutenist Silvius Leopold Weiss, in Breslau
1713 - Baptismal date of German composer Johann Ludwig Krebs, in Butterstedt, Weimar
1872 - English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, in Down Ampney, Gloucestershire
1880 - English-born Canadian composer and organist Healey Willan, in London
Deaths
1692 - Italian composer Giovanni Battista Vitali, in Bologna, 60
Premieres
1910 - Vaughan Williams: A Sea Symphony (after Walt Whitman) at the Leeds Festival
1924 - Mahler: Symphony No. 10 (first and third movements only), arranged by Ernest Krenek (with additional retouching by Alexander von Zemlinksy and Franz Schalk), by Vienna Philharmonic, Franz Schalk conducting. The American premiere of these two movements was give on Dec. 6, 1949, by the Erie (Pennsylvania) Philharmonic conducted by the composer’s nephew, the Austro-American conductor Fritz Mahler (1901-1973). English musicologist Deryck Cooke prepared the first performing edition of Mahler’s entire Symphony No. 10 which received its first performance on August 13, 1964, by the London Symphony conducted by Berthold Goldschmidt. Since then, Cooke has revised his arrangement, and several other musicologists have prepared their own rival performing editions of Mahler’s surviving notation for this symphony.
1931 - Rachmaninoff: Variations on a Theme of Corelli (La Folia) for solo piano, in Montréal (Canada), by the composer
1951 - Bizet: opera Ivan le Terrible (posthumously), in Bordeaux
1951 - Dessau: opera Die Verurteilung des Lukullus (The Trial of Lucullus) (2nd version), in East Berlin at the Deutsche Staatsoper
1961 - Douglas Moore: opera The Wings of the Dove (after the novel by Henry James), in New York
1971 - Andrew Lloyd Webber: rock musical Jesus Christ Superstar, in New York City. A choral version of this musical was performed in Kansas City, Kansas. On May 15, 1971, and a touring company was launched to present the musical on July 12, 1971. Prior to any staged presentations, the work was first released as a double LP record album in October of 1970.
1984 - Olly Wilson: Siinfonia, by the Boston Symphony, Seiji Ozawa conducting
1984 - Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Celebration for orchestra, by the Indianapolis Symphony, John Nelson conducting
1997 - Sallinen: Overture Solennel, in Monaco by the Monte Carlo Philharmonic, James DePreist conducting
1998 - Philip Glass: opera The Voyage, at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Bruce Ferden conducting
2000 - Rautavaara: Harp Concerto, in Minneapolis with harpist Kathy Kienzle and the Minnesota Orchestra, Omso Vänskä conducting
Others
1739 - Handel completes his Concerto Grosso No. 7 (Gregorian date: Oct. 23)
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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.