'Four Weddings and a Funeral' by Clarke and Wagner?

Synopsis

Because it's often played at weddings, the Trumpet Voluntary is one piece of Baroque music that just about everyone has heard. Once attributed to famous 17th century British composer Henry Purcell, this music was, in fact, composed by Purcell’s slightly younger and not-so-famous contemporary Jeremiah Clarke.

Clarke was born around 1674 and sang as a boy soprano in London’s Chapel Royal. After his voice changed, he became a choir director and rejoined the Chapel Royal as an organist in 1700. Tragically, on December 1, 1707, Clarke shot himself — according to some contemporary accounts as the result of a hopeless love affair.

And speaking of such things: also on today’s date — in 1886 — the American premiere of Tristan Und Isolde, Richard Wagner’s classic opera of ill-fated passion, took place at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Anton Seidl, a protégé of Wagner, conducted. While composing Tristan, Wagner wrote to his lover, Mathilde Wesendonck: “Child! This Tristan is turning into something fearsome ... the opera will probably be banned ... only mediocre performances can save me! Good performances will drive people mad!”

If not driven mad, American audiences in 1886 were at least remarkably enthusiastic. The Musical Courier reported that “the audience filled every available seat and listened to the performance, which lasted until nearly midnight, with an attention and genuine enthusiasm unequaled in the musical history of this land.”

Music Played in Today's Program

Jeremiah Clarke (ca. 1674-1707): Trumpet Voluntary (Prince of Denmark March); Maurice André, trumpet; Jane Parker-Smith, organ; EMI 64899

On This Day

Births

• 1709 - German composer Franz Xaver Richter, probably in Holleschau, Moravia

• 1823 - French opera composer Ernest (Louise-Etienne-Ernest) Reyer, in Marseilles; An ardent admirer of Wagner, Ernest Reyer added a Germanic “-er” to his real last name “Rey.” His most famous opera is Sigurd (1884), a retelling of the Siegfried story familiar from Wagner's "Ring" cycle, but set in the style of a French grand opera

• 1847 - Norwegian composer and pianist Agathe Backer-Grondahl, in Holmestrand

Deaths

• 1707 - British composer and organist Jeremiah Clarke, 33, dies by suicide in London, supposedly after an unhappy love affair. This date is according to the Julian “Old Style” calendar still in use in England that year (Gregorian date: Dec. 12).

• 1950 - Anglo-Irish composer Ernest John Moeran, 55, near Kenmare, Ireland

Premieres

• 1832 - Mendelssohn: Overture, Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage, in Berlin

• 1902 - Nielsen: Symphony No. 2 (The Four Temperaments) in Copenhagen

• 1924 - Gershwin: musical Lady, Be Good, at the Liberty Theater in New York City. This show featured Fred and Adele Astaire and included the classic Gershwin songs “Fascinating Rhythm,” “Oh, Lady Be Good,” and “The Half of It, Dearie, Blues.”

• 1934 - Ravel: Don Quichotte à Dulcinée, his last work, in Paris at a Colonne Concert

• 1935 - Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 2, by the Madrid Symphony, with the Spanish conductor Enrique Fernández Arbós and the French violinist Robert Soëtens

• 1937 - Vaughan Williams: one-act opera Riders to the Sea, in London

• 1944 - Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra, by the Boston Symphony, Serge Koussevitzky conducting; Bartók composed a revised and more dramatic ending for this work this work soon after the Boston premiere (The original ending heard at the premiere was judged too perfunctory and abrupt)

• 1944 - Gruenberg: Violin Concerto, by violinist Jascha Heifetz, and the Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy conducting

• 1951 - Britten: opera, Billy Budd (libretto by E.M. Forester, after Hermann Melville), in London, at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, with the composer conducting

• 1956 - Bernstein: musical Candide (original version) at Martin Beck Theater in New York City. A trial run opened at the Colonial Theater in Boston on October 29, 1956. Bernstein revised the work in 1973 (Chelsea Theater version), 1982 (New York City Opera version), 1988 (opera house version), and 1989 (concert version with narrator).

• 1957 - Stravinsky: ballet Agon, at the New York City Ballet, choreographed by Georges Balanchine. The first concert performance of Stravinsky’s ballet score occurred on June 17, 1957, at a 75th birthday concert for Stravinsky in Los Angeles conducted by Robert Craft.

• 1977 - Lukas Foss: American Cantata, in New York City

Others

• 1736 - J.S. Bach gives an organ recital at the Frauenkirche in Dresden

• 1822 - The 11 year-old pianist Franz Liszt performs for the first time in Vienna at that city’s town hall. His first public appearance ever had occurred in October of 1820, in Oedenberg, when he was 9 years old.

• 1859 - The French Opera House opens in New Orleans with Rossini’s William Tell

• 1886 - Wagner’s opera Tristan und Isolde receives its American premiere at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, with Wagner's protégé, Anton Seidl, conducting