Synopsis
On today’s date in 2019 a new documentary film, Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am, debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah examining her powerful works and her career as a Black American artist.
Appropriately enough, the musical score for that documentary was crafted by another talented Black American woman, namely Kathryn Bostic, an accomplished composer of film, TV, theatrical, and concert hall scores.
Bostic is a recipient of many fellowships and awards including several from the Sundance Festival. She served the Vice President of the Alliance for Women Film Composers, is a member of the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences, and in 2016 she became the first female African American score composer in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
“My parents loved music and my mother was a classical pianist and teacher. Listening to the wide range of music while growing up brought me to a phenomenal treasure trove of black composers including William Grant Still, Ulysses Kay, George Walker, Margaret Bonds, Duke Ellington, Quincy Jones, Isaac Hayes … I mean I could go on and on. They are all such extraordinary innovators of rich textures and amazing emotional depth. Definitely big influences for me,” Bostic said.
Music Played in Today's Program
Kathryn Bostic: Main Title, from Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am; Lakeshore Records 35495 (original soundtrack album)
On This Day
Births
1756 - Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, in Salzburg
1806 - Spanish composer Juan Crisostomo Arriage, in Rigoitia
1823 - French composer Edouard Lalo, in Lille
1885 - American composer Jerome Kern, in New York City
Deaths
1901 - Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi, 87, in Milan
Premieres
1726 - Bach: Sacred Cantata No. 72 (Alles nur nach Gottes Willen) performed on the third Sunday after Epiphany as part of Bach's third annual Sacred Cantata cycle in Leipzig (1725/27)
1733 - Handel: opera Orlando in London at the King's Theater in the Haymarket (Gregorian date: Feb. 7)
1844 - Erkel: opera Hunyady László, considered the first national Hungarian opera, in Budapest
1849 - Verdi: opera La Battaglia di Legnano (The Battle of Legnano), in Rome at the Teatro Argentina
1874 - Mussorgsky: opera Boris Godunov, in St. Petersburg (Gregorian date: Feb. 8)
1944 - Paul Creston: Saxophone Concerto, in New York
1947 - Stravinsky: Concerto in D, in Basle (Switzerland), by the Basle Chamber Orchestra conducted by Paul Sacher (who commissioned the work)
1955 - Tippett: opera The Midsummer Marriage, in London at the Royal Opera House, with John Pritchard conducting (and soprano Joan Sutherland in the cast)
1967 - Leon Kirchner: Quartet No. 3 for strings and electronic tape, in New York City, by the Beaux Arts Quartet. This work was awarded the 1967 Pulitzer Prize for Music.
1991 - Off-Broadway premiere of Sondheim: musical Assassins
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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.