Paine's Symphony No. 1

Synopsis

Today’s date marks an important anniversary in the history of the American symphony. It was on January 26, 1876, that John Knowles Paine’s Symphony No. 1 premiered in Boston. This was the first American symphony to be generally acknowledged both here and abroad as being on a par with the symphonies of the great European composers.

American musical life in the 19th century was heavily influenced by German models — and Paine’s Symphony No. 1 takes its key and much of its musical style from Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5. Contemporary American composer and conductor Gunther Schuller once quipped that Paine’s Symphony No. 1 was “the best Beethoven symphony that Beethoven didn’t write himself.”

Even so, Paine’s 1876 Symphony is a landmark in American musical history, as was one of Paine’s earlier works — a grandiose Mass for vocal soloists, chorus, and orchestra, which was premiered in Berlin in 1867 and successfully revived by Gunther Schuller in Boston in 1972.  

John Knowles Paine is remembered for other reasons as well: he was one of the founders of the American Guild of Organists, and he founded the music department at Harvard and became the mentor for a new generation of American composers.

Music Played in Today's Program

John Knowles Paine (1839-1906): Symphony No. 1; New York Philharmonic; Zubin Mehta, conductor New World 374

On This Day

Births

• 1924 - American composer Warren Benson, in Detroit, Michigan;

Deaths

• 1795 - German composer Johann Christioph Friedrich Bach, 62, in Bückeburg

• 1993 - American composer and teacher Kenneth Gaburo, 66, in Iowa City

Premieres

• 1732 - Handel: opera Ezio (Julian date: Jan.15)

• 1790 - Mozart: opera, Così fan Tutte, in Vienna at the Burgtheater

• 1873 - Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 2, in Moscow (Gregorian date: Feb. 7)

• 1882 - Borodin: String Quartet No. 2, in St. Petersburg (Gregorian date: Feb. 7)

• 1905 - Schoenberg: symphonic poem Pelleas und Melisande, in Vienna, with the composer conducting

• 1908 - Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2 in St. Petersburg (Gregorian date: Feb. 8)

• 1911 - Richard Strauss: opera, Der Rosenkavalier, in Dresden at the Hofoper, conducted by Ernst von Schuch, with vocal soloists Margarethe Siems (Marschallin), Eva von der Osten (Octavian), Minnie Nast (Sophie), Karl Perron (Baron Ochs) and Karl Scheidemantel (Faninal)

• 1920 - Prokofiev: Overture on Hebrew Themes, in New York by the Zimro Ensemble, with the composer at the piano

• 1922 - Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 3 Pastoral, by the Royal Philharmonic, London, Sir Adrian Boult conducting

• 1934 - Roy Harris: Symphony No. 1, by the Boston Symphony, Serge Koussevitzky conducting

• 1952 - Ernst von Dohnányi: Violin Concerto No. 2, in San Antonio, Texas

• 1957 - Bernstein: Candide Overture (concert version), by New York Philharmonic conducted by the composer. The musical Candide had opened at the Martin Beck Theater in New York City on December 1, 1956.

• 1957 - Poulenc: opera, Les Dialogues des Carmélites (The Dialogues of the Carmelites) in Milan at the Teatro alla Scala, Nino Sanzogno conducting

• 1962 - Diamond: Symphony No. 7, by the Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy conducting

• 1966 - Dominick Argento: Variations for Orchestra and Soprano (The Masque of Night), at the St. Paul Campus Student Center of the University of Minnesota, by the Minneapolis Civic Orchestra, Thomas Nee conducting, with soprano Carolyn Bailey. A second performance took place on Jan. 27th at Coffmann Memorial Union on the Minneapolis campus of the University of Minnesota.

• 1967 - Frank Martin: Cello Concerto, in Basel, Switzerland

• 1994 - Elisabetta Brusa: La Triade for large orchestra, by the Tirana (Albania) Radio and Television Orchestra, Gilberto Serembe conducting

• 1994 - Christopher Rouse: Cello Concerto, by the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by David Zinman, with Yo-Yo Ma the soloist

• 1995 - Joan Tower: Duets for Orchestra, by the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Christoph Perick conducting