Corigliano at 80

Synopsis

He was warned. He was given an explanation. Nevertheless, he persisted.

That’s pretty much the story of how John Corigliano, Junior became a famous American composer.

Corigliano’s father, John Corigliano, Senior, was the concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic from 1943 to 1966, and when Junior said he wanted to become a composer, his dad tried to warn him off. Corigliano Junior recalls: “He did everything he could to discourage me. He knew firsthand that the composer was the lowest man in the musical hierarchy. ‘Performers don’t want to bother with your work, and audiences don’t want to hear it. So what are doing it for?’ he would say.”

After graduating from college, John Junior got a teaching job and made ends meet by working at classical music radio stations, producing recordings for Columbia Masterworks, and assisting Leonard Bernstein with his Young People’s Concerts. He also persisted in composing.

In 1964, one of his early chamber works, a Sonata for Violin and Piano, was premiered in Italy at the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto. It won a chamber music prize, and its success helped launch young Mr. Corigliano as a composer to watch.

Since then, Corigliano. has been awarded the Grawmeyer Award, five Grammys for recordings of his music, an Oscar for “Best Film Score,” and the Pulitzer Prize.

On today’s date, composer John Corigliano, Jr. is celebrating his 80th birthday.

Congratulations, and here’s a toast to persistence!

Music Played in Today's Program

John Corigliano, Jr.: Violin Sonata (b. 1963) Violin Sonata (1963) John Corigliano, Sr, vn; Ralph Votpek, p. CRI CD-659

On This Day

Births

• 1709 - English composer and writer on music Charles Avison, in Newcastle upon Tyne;

• 1878 - Finnish composer Selim Palmgren, in Björneborg (now Pori);

• 1907 - American composer Alec Wilder (Alexander Lafayette Chew), in Rochester, N.Y.;

• 1938 - American composer John Corigliano, in New York;

Deaths

• 1829 - Belgian-born French composer François Joseph Gossec, age 95, in Paris;

• 1868 - Canadian composer Healey Willian, age 87, in Toronto;

• 1963 - Hungarian composer Laszlo Lajtha, age 70, in Budapest;

• 1987 - Soviet composer Dmitri Kabalevsky, age 82, in Moscow;

Premieres

• 1737 - Handel: opera “Giustino,” in London at the Covent Garden Theater (Gregorian date: Feb. 27);

• 1884 - Tchaikovsky: Orchestral Suite No. 2, in Moscow (Julian date: Feb. 4);

• 1892 - Massenet: opera, "Werther," in Vienna at the Court Opera;

• 1893 - Sibelius: tone-poem "En Saga," in Helsinki;

• 1929 - Copland: "Vitebsky" Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello, at New York's Town Hall at a League of Composers concert featuring two members of the Pro Arte Quartet (violinist Alphonse Onnou and cellist Robert Mass) and the German pianist Walter Gieseking;

• 1936 - Varèse: "Density 21.5" for solo flute, in New York, by flutist Georges Barrère;

• 1956 - Leon Kirchner: "Toccata" for strings, winds and percussion, in San Francisco.