Synopsis
Today’s date in 1914 marks the birthday of one of Puerto Rico’s most fascinating composers! Born in Ukraine under the name Yakov Ovcharov, he came to the United States in 1923, changed his name to Jack Delano, and in the 1930s became a photographer for Roosevelt’s New Deal programs. In 1941, he was sent to Puerto Rico on a shoot and fell in love with the island. After Pearl Harbor, he was drafted by the Army Air Corps to film U.S. forces in the South Pacific, but in 1946 returned to Puerto Rico to stay.
Delano then started writing music incorporating Puerto Rican folk material, and even works performed by the island’s symphony orchestra.
In his spare time he was also a notable cartoonist, poet, professor, architectural designer and founder of Puerto Rico’s first publicly funded educational television station. In 1951, he directed Los Peloteros, a movie about poor rural kids’ love of baseball which became a classic of Puerto Rican cinema, and he composed its film score as well — why are we not surprised?
As they would say on the island, Jack Delano was chévere — a quite remarkable fellow!
Music Played in Today's Program
Jack Delano (1914-1997): “Allegretto Grazioso” from Sonatina; Duo Classico; Suellen Hershman, flute; David Witten, piano; Musical Heritage Society; MM-512502
On This Day
Births
1779 - Baltimore lawyer Francis Scott Key, who in 1814 wrote the words of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” setting his text to the tune of a popular British drinking song of the day, “To Anacreon in Heaven,” written by John Stafford Smith. The text and the tune became the official national anthem by and Act of Congress in 1931.
1858 - Austrian composer Hans Rott, in Vienna
1913 - American composer Jerome Moross, in Brooklyn
1930 - British pop song and musical composer Lionel Bart, of Oliver! fame, in London
Deaths
1973 - Gian-Francesco Maliperio, Italian composer and first editor of collected works of Monteverdi and Vivaldi, 91, in Treviso
Premieres
1740 - Thomas Arne: masque, Alfred (containing Rule, Brittania), in Clivedon (Gregorian date: August 12)
1921 - Hindemith: String Quartet No. 3, by the Amar Quartet (which included the composer on viola) in Donaueschingen, Germany
1968 - Webern: Rondo for string quartet, written in 1906, at the Congregation of the Arts at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire
1993 - Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Concerto for Horn and String Orchestra, at the Bravo! Music Festival in Vail, Colorado, by soloist David Jolley with the Rochester Philharmonic, Lawrence Leighton Smith conducting
Others
1892 - John Philip Sousa, 37, quits the U.S. Marine Corps Band to form his own 100-piece marching band
1893 - In Spillville Iowa, Antonín Dvořák finishes his String Quintet (The American) during his summer vacation at the Czech settlement
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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.