Borodin's String Quartet No. 2

Synopsis

One of the most popular Romantic string quartets had its premiere performance on today’s date in 1882 at a Russian Musical Society concert in Saint Petersburg.

Alexander Borodin’s String Quartet No. 2 was dedicated to his wife, Ekaterina Protopova. They had met in Heidelberg, Germany 20 years earlier, and since Borodin had just returned from another trip to Heidelberg, his new quartet may have been an anniversary present.  Some commentators even suggest the cello represents Borodin and the first violin, Ekaterina. So what about the second violin and viola? Well, maybe they’re meant to be the two witnesses at the wedding!

Fast forward to 1953, when some of the tunes in Borodin’s Quartet were repurposed in a Broadway musical entitled Kismet. This one, for example, was set to the lyrics, “Baubles, bangles and beads,” which are, after all, more conventional anniversary presents.

Music Played in Today's Program

Alexander Borodin (1833-1877): String Quartet No. 2; Cleveland Quartet; Telarc 80178

On This Day

Births

• 1871 - Swedish composer Wilhelm Stenhammar, in Stockholm

• 1883 - American jazz pianist and song composer Eubie Blake, in Baltimore

• 1897 - American composer Quincy Porter, in New Haven, Connecticut

• 1925 - Rumanian-born French composer Marius Constant, in Bucharest

Deaths

• 1652 - Italian composer and Papal Chapel singer Gregorio Allegri, 70, in Rome

• 1779 - English composer and organist William Boyce, 67, in Kensington

Premieres

• 1733 - Handel: opera Orlando in London (Julian date: Jan.27)

• 1786 - Mozart: opera Der Schauspieldirektor (The Impressario), in Vienna at the Orangerie at Schönbrunn

• 1792 - Cimarosa: opera Il Matrimonio Segreto (The Secret Marriage), in Vienna at the Burgtheater

• 1873 - Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 2 (Little Russian), in Moscow (Julian date: Jan. 26)

• 1875 - Lalo: Symphonie Espagnole for Violin and Orchestra, in Paris, Edouard Colonne conducting, with Pablo de Sarasate the soloist

• 1882 - Borodin: String Quartet No. 2, in St. Petersburg (Julian date: Jan.26)

• 1893 - Brahms: Capriccio No. 7 from Fantasies for Piano, in Vienna

• 1908 - Chadwick: Symphonic Sketches, by the Boston Symphony, with Karl Muck conducting

• 1907 - Rimsky-Korsakov: opera Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh, in St. Petersburg (Gregorian date: Feb. 20)

• 1922 - Stenhammar: incidental music for Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, at the Lorensberg Theater in Gothenburg, Sweden

• 1931 - Deems Taylor: opera Peter Ibbetson at the Metropolitan Opera in New York

• 1941 - first public performance of Barber: Violin Concerto, by Philadelphia Orchestra, with Eugene Ormandy conducting and Albert Spalding the soloist

• 1941 - Hindemith: Cello Concerto, by the Boston Symphony, Serge Koussevitzky conducting with Gregor Piatigorsky the soloist

• 1953 - Martinu: The Marriage, one-act opera (after Gogol) on the NBC TV network. One of the earliest operas specifically written for television, it is nowadays all but forgotten.

• 1957 - Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 7 (arr. Bogatiiryov), in Moscow. This arrangement uses sketches for Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 3 and for another unfinished work for piano and orchestra as the basis for a “new” symphonic work by the late composer.

• 1964 - Sessions: Symphony No. 5, by the Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy conducting

• 1988 - Tan Dun: Out of Peking Opera for violin and orchestra, at Lincoln Center, with soloist Vera Weiling Tsu and the New York City Symphony, David Eaton conducting

• 1996 - Zwilich: Triple Concerto for violin, cello, piano and orchestra, by the Minnesota Orchestra, Zdenek Macal conducting, with the Kalichstein/Laredo/Robinson Trio as the soloists

Others

• 1973 - On his 90th birthday, jazz pianist and song composer Eubie Blake, the son of former slaves, is honored by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP)