Synopsis
All artists, including composers, are frequently urged to “write what they know.”
Well, if that’s the case, then any new and sleep-deprived parent can relate to music which depicts a late-night session with a newborn baby. It’s the middle movement of a piano concerto that was given its premiere on today’s date in 1994 by the Kansas City Symphony, with Bill McGlaughlin conducting and pianist Richard Cass.
This new Concerto was by Kansas City composer James Mobberley, who wrote: “The piece is in three movements, each of which reflects a different emotional side of parenthood. The first movement represents the excitement and hysteria of forthcoming childbirth. The middle movement begins with amazingly soft moments following childbirth but leads into the period of sleeplessness and total chaos that inevitably follows. The final movement represents the wonderful fun and unpredictable interactions that start to happen, beginning with the child’s first smile.”
Mobberley was born in Iowa in 1954, raised in Pennsylvania, and balances teaching duties at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, with his composition work, which includes a wide range of concert and theatrical pieces, some combining electronic and live performing elements.
Music Played in Today's Program
James Mobberley (b. 1954): Piano Concerto; Richard Cass, piano; Czech National Symphony; Paul Freeman, conductor; Albany 335
On This Day
Births
1844 - Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, in Tikhvin (Julian Date: March 6)
1882 - Italian composer and first editor of the collected works of Monteverdi and Vivaldi, Gian Francesco Malipiero, in Venice
Deaths
1994 - American composer Williams Bergsma, 72, in Seattle
Premieres
1902 - Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night) for string sextet, in Vienna, by the Rosé Quartet and two extra players
1904 - Liadov: symphonic poem Baba Yaga, in St. Petersburg (Julian date: March 5)
1927 - Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 4, (original version) in Philadelphia, with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Leopold Stokowski and the composer as soloist. On the same program was the premiere performance of Rachmaninoff’s Three Russian Songs for chorus and orchestra (dedicated to Stokowski). A revised (and much shortened) version of this concerto premiered in Philadelphia on October 17, 1941, with Eugene Ormandy conducting and the composer again as soloist.
1949 - Peter Mennin: Symphony No. 4 (The Cycle), in New York City
1965 - Broadway premiere of Richard Rodgers: musical Do I Hear a Waltz?, with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The musical had its trail-run premiere in New Haven on Feb. 1, 1965.
1970 - Roger Sessions: Rhapsody for orchestra, in Baltimore
1994 - James Mobberley: Piano Concerto, at the Lyric Theater in Kansas City, Missouri, by the Kansas City Symphony, with Richard Cass the soloist and Bill McGlaughlin conducting
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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.