Brubeck's birthday

Synopsis

Today marks the anniversary of the birth of American composer and pianist Dave Brubeck. Born in Concord, California on December 6, 1920, he would become one of the most famous jazz performers of our time — and one of the most successful at fusing elements of jazz and classical music.

Brubeck studied with Schoenberg and Milhaud, and in the late 1940s and ‘50s formed a jazz quartet incorporating Baroque-style counterpoint and unusual time signatures into a style that came to be known as “West Coast” or “cool” jazz, culminating in the 1960 release of a landmark jazz album for Columbia Records, Time Out. This album produced two Hit Parade singles: Blue Rondo à la Turk and Take Five. Ironically, he had to fight to convince Columbia to release an album composed totally of original material with no familiar standards to help sales!

In addition to works for chamber-sized jazz combos, Brubeck has written a number of large-scale sacred works, among them a 1975 Christmas Choral Pageant, La Fiesta de la Posada, or, The Festival of the Inn.

Originally written to celebrate the restoration of a Spanish mission in California, it wound up being premiered in Hawaii by the Honolulu Symphony. Since its premiere, La Fiesta de la Posada has been performed by both professional and amateur ensembles, ranging from symphony orchestras to mariachi bands. Its premiere recording was made by the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Dale Warland Singers, with Dennis Russell Davies conducting.

Music Played in Today's Program

Dave Brubeck (1920-2012): Blue Rondo a la Turk; The Dave Brubeck Quartet; Columbia 40585

Dave Brubeck: La Fiesta del Posada; Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra; Dennis Russell Davies, conductor; Columbia Legacy 64669

On This Day

Births

• 1550 - Baptism of Italian composer Orazio Vecchi, in Modena

• 1920 - American jazz pianist and composer Dave Brubeck, in Concord, California

• 1933 - Polish composer Henryk Górecki, in Czernica

• 1955 - Chinese-American composer Bright Sheng, in Shanghai

Premieres

• 1841 - R. Schumann: Symphony No. 4 (as his Symphony No. 2), by the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Ferdinand David conducting. Schumann withdrew the score, revised it, and reintroduced it in 1853 with the Düsseldorf Municipal Orchestra as his Symphony No. 4 (his other Symphony No. 2 and a Symphony No. 3 have been premiered in the meantime).

• 1842 - Schumann: Piano Quintet, at a private concert in the Leipzig home of Carl and Heinrich Voigt; Schumann’s wife, Clara, was to perform, but took ill, and Felix Mendelssohn stepped in for the informal performance, reading the work at sight. Mendelssohn’s critic of the work’s original second movement led Schumann to write a livelier replacement (see also Dec. 8, 1844).

• 1846 - Berlioz: dramatic legend, The Damnation of Faust, at the Paris Opéra-Comique, with the composer conducting

• 1876 - Tchaikovsky: opera Vakula the Blacksmith, at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg (Julian date: Nov. 24)

• 1880 - Tchaikovsky: Capriccio Italien, in Moscow (Gregorian date: Dec. 18)

• 1890 - Berlioz: opera La Prise de Troie (The Capture of Troy), Acts 1 & 2 of Les Troyens (The Trojans), first staged performance in Karlsruhe, Germany at the Hoftheater

• 1892 - Tchaikovsky: ballet, The Nutcracker and opera Iolanta, in St. Petersburg (Gregorian date: Dec. 18)

• 1919 - Stravinsky: symphonic suite, Le Chant du Rossignol, in Geneva, Ernest Ansermet conducting

• 1929 - Stravinsky: Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra, at the Salle Pleyel in Paris, with the Paris Symphony conducted by Ernest Ansermet, with the composer as soloist

• 1937 - Boris Blacher: Concertante Musik, in Berlin

• 1940 - Schoenberg: Violin Concerto, by the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Leopold Stokowski, with Louis Krasner the soloist

• 1949 - Prokofiev: Cello Sonata, at a private performance in Moscow, at the House of the Union of Composers, by cellist Mstislav Rostropovich and pianist Sviatoslav Richter. This first public performance, with the same artists, took place at the Moscow Conservatory on March 1, 1950.

• 1957 - Sessions: Symphony No. 3, by the Boston Symphony, Charles Munch conducting;

• 1974 - Wuorinen: Piano Concerto No. 2, in New York, with the composer as soloist on an amplified piano

• 1977 - Corigliano: Clarinet Concerto, in New York;

• 1997 - Kernis: Ecstatic Meditations, in Minneapolis, by the Plymouth Music Series, Philip Brunelle, conducting

Others

• 1786 - Mozart finishes his Symphony No. 38 (Prague)