Synopsis
The intimate combination of flute and guitar has proven to be an attractive one for a number of composers — and if the composer herself plays the flute, so much the better.
Canyon Echoes, written by the American composer and flutist Katherine Hoover premiered on today’s date in 1991 at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis by flutist Susan Morris De Jong and guitarist Jeffrey Van.
Katherine Hoover gave her Canyon Echoes a subtitle: An Apache Folktale.
“This piece was inspired by a book called The Flute Player, a simple and beautifully illustrated retelling of an Apache folktale by Michael Lacapa,” Hoover explained. “It is the story of two young Apaches from different areas of a large canyon. They meet at a Hoop Dance, and dance only with each other. The next day, as the girl works up on the side of the canyon in her father's fields, the boy sits below by a stream and plays his flute for her (flute-playing was a common manner of courtship). She puts a leaf in the stream which flows down to him, so he knows she hears.”
Music Played in Today's Program
Katherine Hoover (1937-2018): Canyon Echoes (Duologue); Susan Morris De Jong, flute; Jeffrey Van, guitar; Gasparo 336
On This Day
Births
1919 - American composer and arranger Hershy Kay, in Philadelphia
1930 - American composer, French horn player and conductor David Amram, in Philadelphia
Deaths
1959 - Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, 72, in Rio de Janeiro
1982 - Estonian composer Eduard Tubin, 77, in Stockholm
Premieres
1726 - Bach: Sacred Cantata No. 55 (Ich Armer Mensch, ich Sündenknecht) performed on the 22nd Sunday after Trinity as part of Bach's third annual Sacred Cantata cycle in Leipzig (1725/27)
1839 - Verdi: opera Oberto in Milan at the Teatro all Scala; This was Verdi's first opera
1866 - Ambroise Thomas: opera, Mignon, in Paris at the Opéra-Comique
1876 - Tchaikovsky: Marche Slav in Moscow (see Julian date: Nov. 5)
1877 - Gilbert & Sullivan: operetta, The Sorcerer, at the Opera Comique Theatre in London
1888 - Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5, in St. Petersburg, with the composer conducting (se Julian date: Nov. 5)
1924 - Ernst von Dohnányi: Ruralia Hungarica in Budapest, with composer conducting
1937 - Daniel Gregory Mason: A Lincoln Symphony, John Barbirolli conducting the New York Philharmonic
1955 - Bernstein: incidental music for The Lark (play by Jean Anoilh adapted by Lillian Hellman) in New York City at the Longacre Theater, performed by New York Pro Musica conducted by Noah Greenberg. A trial run of this show had opened in Boston at the Plymouth Theater on October 28, 1955.
1977 - Vincent Persichetti: Concerto for English Horn & Strings, soloist Thomas Stacy, Erich Leinsdorf conducting New York Philharmonic
1991 - Katherine Hoover: Canyon Echoes, by flutist Susan Morris De Jong and guitarist Jeffrey Van, at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis
1996 - Michael Torke: Chrome for flute and piano, at Colden Center in Queens, N.Y., by Marina Piccinini (flute) and Andreas Haefliger (piano)
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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.