Synopsis
Okay, here’s a cocktail party question for music fans: “What do James Brown — the master of funk — and Soviet symphonic composer Dmitri Shostakovich have in common?”
The answer is Stomp, a piece by Seattle-based composer David Schiff that premiered on today’s date in 1990 at Alice Tully Hall in New York City at a concert by Marin Alsop’s Concordia orchestra.
For starters, on the score of Stomp, Schiff includes a reference to James Brown’s music, instructing the players, “Every instrument is treated like a drum.” Also, during its opening, there’s a staccato rhythm based on Brown’s iconic tune, “I Feel Good.”
And the Shostakovich connection? Well, Schiff confesses to modeling Stomp on the opening movement of that composer’s Symphony No. 9, right down to a strict imitation of Shostakovich’s repeat of the exposition, in sonata-form style.
On the origin and subsequent use of Stomp, Schiff said, “Marin Alsop conducted one of my pieces at Tanglewood in 1988 and later asked me for a new orchestral piece for her Concordia orchestra; since then, Stomp has since been played by many orchestras including the L.A. Philharmonic, who took it to high schools to demonstrate that classical music could be really loud.”
Music Played in Today's Program
David Schiff (b. 1945): Stomp; Baltimore Sym; David Zinman, conductor; Argo 444 454-2
On This Day
Births
1770 - German composer Friedrich Witt, in Niederstetten, Württemberg. Like Beethoven, he composed nine symphonies, and one of them, his Jena Symphony, was for a time mistakenly believed to be an early work by Beethoven.
1883 - English composer Arnold Bax, in Streatham
1945 - American composer and pianist Judith Lang Zaimont, in Memphis
Deaths
1599 - Spanish composer Francisco Guerrero, 71, in Seville
1890 - Belgian-French composer César Franck, in Paris, 67
1894 - Russian composer Anton Rubinstein, 64, near St. Petersburg (Gregorian date: Nov. 20)
1924 - Russian composer Sergie Liapunov, 65, in Paris
Premieres
1879 - Brahms: Violin Sonata No. 1, in Bonn, by violinist Joseph Joachim and the composer at the piano
1919 - Stravinsky: The Soldier’s Tale Suite (for violin, clarinet and piano), in Lausanne. The staged version had premiered in Lausanne at the Théatre Municipal on September 28, 1918.
1926 - Gershwin: musical Oh, Kay! at the Imperial Theater in New York City. This show featured Gertrude Lawrence, and included the classic Gershwin songs “Clap Yo’ Hands,” “Do, Do, Do,” and “Someone to Watch over Me.”
1936 - Jean Françaix: Piano Concerto, in Berlin.
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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.
