Synopsis
Playing in a marching band isn’t always as easy as it looks. Imagine the predicament in which composer Hector Berlioz found himself on today’s date in 1840, conducting 210 musicians under a broiling noonday sun as they slowly progressed to the Place de Bastille.
To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the French “July” Revolution of 1830, a memorial column had been erected on the spot where the Bastille once stood, and the remains of fallen revolutionary heroes were being transferred to a cenotaph at the foot of the column, accompanied by Berlioz’s specially commissioned Funeral and Triumphal Symphony, composed for massed military bands. Berlioz, in full military uniform and conducting with a saber, led the solemn procession that hot July day.
In a letter to his father, he wrote: “The old know-it-alls were claiming that I’d never manage to have my symphony performed on the march and that my 210 musicians wouldn’t stay together for even 20 bars. So I placed the trumpets and drums in front so that I could give them the beat while walking backwards. I planned it so that in the opening bars these instruments play by themselves, so they could be heard by the rest of the band. The symphony’s march and finale were played six times, on the march, with an ensemble and effect that were truly extraordinary.”
Music Played in Today's Program
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869): Symphonie Funebre et Triomphale; London Symphony; Colin Davis, conductor; Philips 416 283
On This Day
Births
1893 - Danish composer Rued Langgaard, in Copenhagen
Deaths
1750 - German composer Johann Sebastian Bach, 65, in Leipzig. He died a little after 8:15 p.m. and was buried at St. John’s cemetery on either July 30 or 31. In 1894 his body was exhumed, examined, and reburied in the Leipzig’s St. Thomas Church, where he had served as Kantor.
1838 - Finnish composer Bernard Henrik Crusell, 62, in Stockholm
1969 - American songwriter and musical composer Frank Loesser, 59, in New York City
Premieres
1717 - Handel: Water Music on the river Thames (Julian date: July 17)
1823 - Spohr: opera Jessonda, in Kassel
1840 - Berlioz: Symphonie Funebre et Triomphale, in Paris, with the composer conducting (with a sword) over 200 marching musicians
Others
1741 - In Vienna, burial of Italian composer and violinist Antonio Vivaldi
1850 - To mark the centenary of the composer’s death, The Bach Gesellschaft is founded in Leipzig. Their goal is to publish a complete edition of Bach’s works.
1954 - Premiere of Columbia Pictures film On the Waterfront, with a score by Leonard Bernstein
1997 - Ligeti: opera La Grand Macabre (revised version), in Salzburg at the Grosses Festpielhaus
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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.