Dett's 'The Ordering of Moses'

Synopsis

On today’s date in 1937, the NBC radio network was carrying a live broadcast from the Cincinnati May Festival of a new oratorio The Ordering of Moses, inspired by the Biblical book of Exodus. The music was by 54-year old Canadian-born American composer, organist, pianist and music professor named Robert Nathaniel Dett.

Curiously, about 40 minutes into the live broadcast, which should have lasted a full hour, the NBC announcer broke in, stating, “We are sorry indeed, ladies and gentlemen, but due to previous commitments, we are unable to remain for the closing moments of this excellent performance.”

A live recording of the broadcast, preserved on scratchy acetate discs, documents that moment for posterity. No one knows for certain why the broadcast was cut short, but some have speculated that angry calls to NBC’s Southern affiliate stations might have been the reason, because Dett was African-American.

77 years later, in 2014, American conductor James Conlon led the Cincinnati May Festival Chorus in another live, broadcast performance of Dett’s oratorio, this time complete and uninterrupted from the stage of Carnegie Hall in New York City. That live performance was also recorded, this time digitally, and made available for posterity on a commercial release.

Music Played in Today's Program

R. Nathaniel Dett (1882-1943): The Ordering of Moses; Soloists; Cincinnati May Festival Chorus; Cincinnati Symphony; James Conlon, conductor; Bridge CD 9462

On This Day

Births

• 1833 - German composer Johannes Brahms, in Hamburg

• 1840 - Russian composer Pyotr Ilyitch Tchaikovsky, in Votkinsk, district of Viatka (Julian date: April 25)

• 1850 - Hungarian conductor Anton Seidl, in Budapest. He was Wagner assistant at the first Bayreuth Festival performances of the Ring operas in 1876-79, was engaged to conduct the German repertory at the Metropolitan Opera in 1885, and in 1891 as the permanent conductor of the New York Philharmonic. He conducted the American premieres of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde in 1886 and the world premiere of Dvořák’s New World Symphony in 1893. He died of ptomaine poisoning in 1898.

Deaths

• 1793 - Italian composer and violinist Pietro Nardini, 71, in Florence

• 1818 - Bohemian composer Leopold (Jan Antonín, Ioannes Antonius) Kozeluch (Kotzeluch, Koželuch), 70, in Vienna

• 1825 - Italian composer Antonio Salieri, 74, in Vienna

Premieres

• 1824 - Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 (Choral) at the Kärntnertor Theater in Vienna, with the deaf composer on stage beating time, but with the performers instructed to follow the cues of Beethoven’s assistant conductor, Michael Umlauf

• 1888 - Lalo: Le Roi d’Ys (The King of Ys) at the Opéra Comique, in Paris;

• 1926 - Milhaud: opera Les Malheurs d’Orphée (The Sorrows of Orpheus), in Brussels at the Théatre de la Monnaie

• 1944 - Copland: Our Town Film Music Suite (revised version), by the Boston Pops conducted by Leonard Bernstein. An earlier version of this suite aired on CBS Radio on June 9, 1940, with the Columbia Broadcasting Symphony conducted by Howard Barlow.

• 1947 - Virgil Thomson: opera The Mother of Us All, at Columbia University in New York City

• 1985 - David Ward-Steinman: Chroma Concerto for multiple keyboards, percussion, and chamber orchestra, in Scottsdale, Arizona, by the Noveau West Chamber Orchestra conducted by Terry Williams, with the composer and Amy-Smith-Davie as keyboard soloists.

• 1988 - Stockhausen: opera Montag von Licht (Monday from Light), in Milan at the Teatro alla Scala

• 1988 - Michael Torke: ballet Black and White, at the New York State Theater, with the NY City Ballet Orchestra, David Alan Miller conducting

• 1993 - Harrison Birtwistle: Five Distances for Five Instruments, in London at the Purcell Room, by the Ensemble InterContemporain

• 1998 - Joan Tower: Tambor, by the Pittsburgh Symphony, Mariss Jansons conducting

• 1999 - Robert X. Rodriguez: Bachanale: Concertino for Orchestra, by the San Antonio Symphony, Wilkins conducting

Others

• 1747 - J.S. Bach (62) visits King Frederick II of Prussia at his court in Potsdam on May 7-8; Bach improvises on a theme submitted by the King, performing on the King's forte-piano; In September of 1747 Bach publishes a chamber work based on the royal theme, Musical Offering.

• 1937 - The RKO film Shall We Dance? is released, with a filmscore by George Gershwin; This film includes the classic Gershwin songs “Beginner’s Luck,” “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off,” “They Can’t Take That Away from Me” and an instrumental interlude Walking the Dog (released as a solo piano piece under the title Promenade).