A chamber quartet by Cowell

Synopsis

A surprise best-selling entry on the Billboard charts in 1968 was an LP titled Switched-On Bach. Of course, the 1960s were a kind of turned-on time in general, but the LP’s title didn’t refer to the sexual revolution or anything that Timothy Leary was advocating — no, this was just Johann Sebastian Bach performed on an electronic synthesizer, a Moog synthesizer to be precise, a maze of electronic circuits, wires, knobs and keyboards invited by Robert Arthur Moog, who enlisted several composers for help in its development as a musical instrument. One of them was Wendy Carlos, whose Switched-On Bach album helped put the Moog on the map.

On today’s date in 1971, it was a synthesized electronic theme that introduced a new program from NPR, All Things Considered. The original theme was created by Wisconsin composer Don Voegeli on a tiny Putney synthesizer, but in 1974, when Voegeli was asked to create a new, updated version of the ATC theme, he used the brand-new Moog synthesizer he had just purchased for his Madison studio, which was installed by Robert Moog — and took up an entire room.

For almost 10 years, Voegeli’s Moog version of the ATC theme was heard week-in, week out on public radio, until in 1983 the very familiar electronic theme was arranged for live studio musicians.

Music Played in Today's Program

J.S. Bach (1685-1750) arr. Carlos: Fugue No. 7, from WTC Book 1; Wendy Carlos, Moog synthesizer; Sony 7194

Don Voegeli (1920-2009): All Things Considered theme (1974 version); Don Voegeli, Moog synthesizer NPR recording

On This Day

Births

• 1886 - French organist and composer Marcel Dupré, in Rouen

• 1920 - American composer and jazz pianist John Lewis, in LaGrange, Illinois

Deaths

• 1704 - Austrian composer Heinrich Biber, 59, in Salzburg

Premieres

• 1831 - Hérold: Zampa, at the Opéra-Comique in Paris

• 1893 - Horatio Parker: oratorio Hora Novissima, in New York City

• 1917 - Bloch: Schlemo and Israel Symphony at Society of the Friends of Music Concert, Artur Bodanzky conducting

• 1919 - Debussy: Clarinet Rhapsody (orchestral version), in Paris, with clarinetist Gaston Hamelin, at Pasdeloup Concert

• 1929 - Poulenc: Concert Champêtre for harpsichord and orchestra, at the Salle Pleyel in Paris, by the Paris Symphony with Pierre Monteux conducting and Wanda Landowska the soloist

• 1934 - Bernard Rogers: Three Japanese Dances, in Rochester, New York

• 1943 - Cowell: American Melting Pot (Set for Chamber Orchestra), at Carnegie Hall in New York, by the Orchestrette of New York, Frédérique Petrides conducting

• 1952 - Vaughan Williams: Romance for harmonica and orchestra, in New York City

• 1958 - Walter Hartley: Concerto for 23 Winds, at the Eastman School in Rochester, New York, by the Eastman Wind Ensemble, Frederick Fennell conducting

• 1963 - Cowell: Quartet for Flute, Oboe, Cello and Harp, at the University of Miami, by John Bitter (flute), Julien Balogh (oboe), Hermann Busch (cello) and Mary Spalding (Mrs. Fabien) Sevitzky (harp). The work is dedicated to the conductor Fabien Sevitzky “in honor of his many services to American music.”

• 1969 - Shostakovich: Violin Sonata, in Moscow, with David Oistrakh and Sviatoslav Richter

• 1989 - James MacMillan: Visions of a November Spring for string quartet, at University Concert Hall in Glasgowm Scotland, by the Bingham String Quartet

Others

• 1971 - Debut broadcast of National Public Radio’s All Things Considered with an electronic theme by composer Don Voegeli of the University of Wisconsin (In 1974, Voegeli composed a new electronic ATC theme, the now-familiar signature tune of the program)