Persichetti's 'Pageant'

Synopsis

On today’s date in 1953, Pageant, a new work for symphonic winds premiered with the University of Miami Band. It was written by American composer Vincent Persichetti, who conducted the performance, as he did the work’s New York City debut later that same year with the Goldman Band, then America’s premiere professional wind ensemble, who had commissioned the work.

It might seem odd that an amateur, student ensemble should premiere a work commissioned for professionals, but in the 1950s, when the U.S. college system was rapidly expanding, the savvy Mr. Persichetti was ready and willing to supply both students and professionals with more than a dozen new wind band scores to perform.

He put it this way: “I find wonderful performances in the universities around the country. They may be students, but … they’ll find something there that you maybe didn’t quite even dream of, and make something of it, whereas sometimes the professional orchestras don't always get it as quickly. [The student musicians] have to work harder, but they do this all through high school and college, and by the time they get to the end of college they know what music is about and can phrase and shape it with some conviction.”

Music Played in Today's Program

Vincent Persichetti (1915-1987): Pageant; Winds of the London Symphony Orchestra; David Amos, conductor; Naxos 8.570123

On This Day

Births

• 1574 - Baptism of English madrigalist John Wilbye, in Diss (Norfolk)

• 1875 - French composer Maurice Ravel, in Ciboure

• 1887 - Estonian composer Heino Eller, in Tartu

Deaths

• 1786 - Bohemian-born composer and violinist Franz [Frantiek] Benda, 77, in Nowawes, near Potsdam; He was active at the court of King Frederich II of Prussia

• 1809 - Austrian composer and organist Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, 73, in Vienna

• 1979 - Norwegian composer Klaus Egge, 72, in Oslo

Premieres

• 1711 - Handel: opera, Rinaldo, in London (Julian date: Feb. 24)

• 1730 - Handel: opera Partenope, in London (Julian date: Feb. 24)

• 1819 - Rossini: opera Mosè in Egitto (Moses in Egypt) (second version in Italian), in Naples at the Teatro San Carlo

• 1867 - Brahms: Scherzo for piano, in Vienna

• 1883 - Balakirev: symphonic poem Tamara (Gregorian date: Mar. 19)

• 1884 - Chadwick: Scherzo (from Symphony No. 2, a work in progress), by the Boston Symphony, George Henschel conducting; The entire symphony was premiered by the same orchestra on Dec. 10, 1886, with the composer conducting

• 1892 - Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker Suite, in St. Petersburg (Gregorian date: Mar. 19)

• 1896 - Gilbert & Sullivan: operetta The Grand Duke at the Savoy Theatre in London

• 1899 - d’Indy: Chansons et Danses for winds, in Paris

• 1953 - Persichetti: Pageant for band, in Miami

• 1958 - Piston: Viola Concerto, by the Boston Symphony, Charles Munch conducting

• 1965 - Easley Blackwood: Symphony No. 3, in Chicago

• 1971 - Menotti: opera The Most Important Man, at the New York City Opera

• 1980 - Daniel Pinkham: Serenades for trumpet and winds, at Harvard University’s Sanders Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts, by trumpeter Rolf Smedvig and the Harvard Wind Ensemble conducted by Thomas Everett

• 2001 - Harbison: Partita (Concerto for Orchestra), in Minneapolis, by the Minnesota Orchestra, Yan Pascal Tortelier conducting

• 2002 - Colgrass: Crossworlds (Concerto for Flute, Piano and Orchestra), commissioned by the Boston Symphony for flutist Marina Piccinini and pianist Andreas Haefliger, with Hans Graf conducting

Others

• 1897 - Johannes Brahms attends his last concerts and hears his Symphony No. 4 conducted by Hans Richter.