Synopsis
In Austrian culture there is a theatrical tradition that pokes fun at anything somber and serious. Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute taps into this in the person of Papageno, and in the 19th century the Austrian actor Johann Nestroy deflated pomposity in his satirical plays, including one wicked sendup of Wagner’s opera Tannhauser.
In our own time, this tradition is alive and well — and even Mozart is not immune. How else do you explain the 1991 Austrian film, Bring Me the Head of Amadeus! — a work ostensibly released in honor of the 200th anniversary of the composer’s death?
That film’s soundtrack was written by a musical jack-of-all-trades named H.K. Gruber, who was born in Vienna on today’s date in 1943. Gruber has composed what might be called “normal” concertos and such but is best known for “abnormal” works, including Frankenstein!!, a piece he describes as a “pandemonium” for voice and chamber ensemble.
Frankenstein!! is a musical setting of some very macabre poems by a fellow Austrian named H.C. Artmann. Oddly enough, its bizarre Viennese humor translates well with audiences worldwide. As Gruber put it: “The poems evokes in each culture a unique set of metaphors and associations. The gloomy Russian temperament, for example, seems to find our Frankenstein!! particularly amusing!”
Music Played in Today's Program
H.K. Gruber (b. 1943): Three Mob Pieces; London Mob Ensemble; H.K. Gruber EMI 56441
H.K. Gruber (b. 1943) Frankenstein!! H.K. Gruber, vocals; Salzburg Camerata; Franz Welser-Most, conductor; EMI 56441
On This Day
Births
1909 - Danish pianist and musical humorist Victor Borge, in Copenhagen
1943 - Austrian composer, singer (?), and double bass player H.K. Gruber, in Vienna
Deaths
1785 - Italian composer Baldassare Galuppi, 68, in Venice
1942 - Russian composer and violinist Julius Conus, 72, in Malenski (USSR)
Premieres
1738 - Handel: opera Faramondo in London at the King’s Theater in the Haymarket. This was the opening production of Handel’s opera season that year, and featured the London debut of Gaetano Majorano (called Caffarelli), a male soprano castrato (Gregorian date: Jan. 14).
1843 - Donizetti: opera Don Pasquale, in Paris
1890 - Tchaikovsky: ballet, Sleeping Beauty (Gregorian date: Jan. 15)
1897 - Dukas: Symphony in C, in Paris
1903 - Glazunov: Symphony No. 7, in St. Petersburg (Julian date: Dec. 21, 1902)
1941 - Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances, by the Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy conducting
Others
1925 - German conductor and composer Wilhelm Furtwängler makes his American debut, conducting the New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall
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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.