The king is dead

Synopsis

On today’s date, Elvis left the building — permanently.

On August 16, 1977, Elvis Presley died in Memphis, Tennessee. Born in Tupelo, Mississippi in 1935, Elvis first earned his living as a mechanic and furniture repairman who occasionally played cowboy ballads on the guitar at parties. But somehow Elvis reinvented himself and became the archetypal rock ‘n’ roll superstar, revered more as the modern day reincarnation of the Greek god Dionysius than a mere mortal.

His funeral caused such an outpouring of hysteria and that two people died in the chaos and many more were injured. There was even a bizarre plot at the time to kidnap Elvis’ corpse and hold it for ransom. And, of course, some people claim he never died at all.

American composer Michael Daughtery has taken pop icons like Elvis as the inspiration for a number of his concert works. He has even written a bassoon concerto, Dead Elvis: a set of variations on the Dies Irae theme from the Latin Mass for the Dead. In performance, the composer asks that the soloist enter in the familiar costume of Las Vegas Elvis — sunglasses and a rhinestone-encrusted white jumpsuit with a plunging, open, neckline. Hip gyrations are optional.

Daugherty wrote: “Elvis is a part of American culture, history, and mythology, for better or for worse. If you want to understand American and all its riddles, sooner or later you have to deal with Elvis.”

Music Played in Today's Program

Michael Daugherty (b. 1954): Dead Elvis; Charles Ullery, bassoon; London Sinfonietta; David Zinman, conductor; Argo 458 145

On This Day

Births

• 1795 - German opera composer Heinrich August Marschner, in Saxony

• 1863 - French composer, conductor and organist Gabriel Pierné, in Metz

• 1929 - American jazz pianist and composer Bill Evans, in Plainsfield, New Jersey

Deaths

• 1914 - Russian composer Anatol Liadov (Gregorian date: August 28)

• 1977 - Rock superstar Elvis Presley, 42, in Memphis, Tennessee

Premieres

• 1876 - First complete performance of Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle continues at Bayreuth with the world premiere performance of Siegfried

• 1932 - Gershwin: Cuban Overture (under the title Rumba), by the New York Philharmonic at a Lewisohn Stadium concert conducted by Albert Coates

• 1936 - R. Strauss: Olympic Hymn at the opening of the Olympiad in Berlin

• 1944 - R. Strauss: opera Die Liebe der Danae (The Love of Danae), in a dress rehearsal performance in Salzburg at the Festspielhaus. The premiere was cancelled due to the closing of all German theaters and the declaration of total war. The belated premiere occurred on August 14, 1952, during the Salzburg Festival.

• 1961 - Kodály: Symphony (dedicated to the memory of Arturo Toscanini), at the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland

• 1973 - Bernstein: Dybbuk Variations, in Auckland, New Zealand, conducted by the composer; Bernstein’s ballet, Dybbuk, choreographed by Jerome Robbins, had premiered at the New York City Ballet on May 16, 1973

• 1995 - Michael Torke: July for saxophone quartet, at Cardiff Bay by the Apollo Saxophone Quartet

• 2001 - Lowell Liebermann: Violin Concerto, at Saratoga Arts Center, New York, by soloist Chantal Juillet and the Philadelphia Orchestra, Charles Dutoit conducting

• 2001 - Kaija Saariaho: Nymphea Reflection, at the Schlewswig-Holstein Festival in Germany, by Sinfonietta Cracova, Axelrod conducting

Others

• 1613 - Claudio Monteverdi becomes Master of Music, Republic of Venice

• 1814 - Beethoven finishes composing the Piano Sonata No. 27

• 1943 - La Scala Opera house in Milan, Italy, damaged by Allied bombers