Baroness Fontyn

Synopsis

Back in the 18th century, Frederick the Great of Prussia was a prolific composer of sonatas, concertos and even a few symphonies. In the 19th century, Prince Albert, the consort of Queen Victoria, composed songs and choral pieces. There have been other composers who were members of the European nobility, but more often they crop up as patrons of music rather than creators of it.

But in our time, Belgian composer Jacqueline Fontyn, who was born in Antwerp on today’s date in 1930, was made an honorary baroness by the King of Belgium in 1993 in recognition of her contributions to music in her native country and around the world.

Now, Fontyn is probably a composer you never heard of until today, but she has a sizable body of orchestral and chamber works and enjoyed an international career as a composition teacher, holding positions at Georgetown University and the University of Maryland, as well as in Los Angeles, Tel Aviv, Cairo, Seoul and her native Belgium.

Her music might be described as “European modern.” Today, you can find all the manuscript scores of Fontyn in the Library of Congress.

Music Played in Today's Program

Jacqueline Fontyn (b. 1930) Piano Trio (1956); Morgenstern Trio AVI Music CD 8553315

On This Day

Births

• 1906 - American composer, pianist and entertainer Oscar Levant, in Pittsburgh, Pa.;

Deaths

• 1944 - American composer and pianist Amy Marcey Cheney (Mrs. H.H.A.) Beach, age 77, in New York;

• 1992 - American composer Stephen Albert, age 51, in a car accident in Truro, Mass.;

Premieres

• 1723 - Bach: Sacred Cantata No. 64 ("Sehet, welch eine Liebe hat uns der Vater erzeiget") performed on the 3rd Day of Christmas as part of Bach's first annual Sacred Cantata cycle in Leipzig (1723/24);

• 1724 - Bach: Sacred Cantata No. 133 ("Ich freue mich in dir") performed on the 3rd Day of Christmas as part of Bach's second annual Sacred Cantata cycle in Leipzig (1724/25);

• 1725 - Bach: Sacred Cantata No. 151 ("Süsser Trost, mein Jesus kömmt"") performed on the 3rd Day of Christmas as part of Bach's third annual Sacred Cantata cycle in Leipzig (1725/27);

• 1734 - Bach: Part 3 ("Herrscher der Himmels, erhöre das Lallen") of the 6-part "Christmas Oratorio," S. 248, in Leipzig;

• 1896 - Chausson: "Poéme," Op. 25, in Nancy, with Guy Ropartz conducting and Eugène Ysayë as soloist;

• 1901 - American premiere of Bruckner: Symphony No. 5, by the Boston Symphony, Wilhelm Gericke conducting;

• 1906 - Florent Schmitt: "Psalm XLVII," in Paris;

• 1954 - Menotti: "The Saint of Bleecker Street," in New York City; This work won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1955;

Others

• 1841 - Franz Liszt performs at the Singakademie in Berlin; Women swooned and the general audience reacts with such uncontrolled enthusiasm that Heinrich Heine coins the term "Lisztomania" to describe their fanatical devotion to the performer, which soon swept through most of Europe;