Synopsis
Troubled Island, an opera about Haiti by William Grant Still, was written in 1938 but had to wait 11 years for its first performance, which took place on today’s date in 1949.
That production was by the New York City Opera, and the original cast included baritone Robert McFerrin Sr., whose son, Bobby McFerrin Jr., also became a famous singer. Speaking of familiar names, the libretto for Troubled Island was written by Langston Hughes, and its dance sequences were choreographed by George Balanchine.
Still was born in Mississippi in 1895, studied music at Oberlin Conservatory and took private lessons from arch conservative composer George Whitefield Chadwick, as well as avant-garde firebrand Edgard Varèse. Like many composers active in the 1930s and ‘40s, he moved to Los Angeles to write for Hollywood, but also achieved fame as a preeminent African-American composer of concert works.
The critical reception to Troubled Island in 1949 was negative. One review wrote, “Troubled Island sounds rather as if the libretto of Tosca had been set to the music of The Desert Song.”
But with the hindsight of history, any project involving Still, Hughes and Balanchine sounds downright intriguing.
Music Played in Today's Program
William Grant Still (1895-1978): Symphony No. 1 (‘Afro-American’); Detroit Symphony; Neeme Järvi, cond. Chandos 9154
On This Day
Births
1732 - Austrian composer Franz Joseph Haydn, in Rohrau
1872 - Russian ballet impresario Sergei Diaghilev, in Gruzino, Novgorod district (Julian date: Mar. 19)
Deaths
1880 - Polish composer and violinist Henryk Wieniawski, 44, in Moscow
1901 - British composer John Stainer, 60, in Verona, Italy
Premieres
1723 - Handel: Concerto (HWV 331) (Julian date: March 20)
1739 - Handel: Organ Concerto (HWV 296a) (Julian date: March 20)
1745 - Rameau: opera-ballet, Platée, at Versailles
1784 - Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 16, in Vienna, with composer as soloist
1794 - Haydn: Symphony No. 100 (Military), conducted by the composer on his 62nd birthday, at the Hanover-Square Concert Rooms in London
1841 - R. Schumann: Symphony No. 1 (Spring), by Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Felix Mendelssohn conducting
1901 - Dvorák: opera Rusalka, in Prague at the National Theater
1913 - Webern: Six Pieces for orchestra, in Vienna
1932 - Chávez: ballet Horsepower, in Philadelphia
1947 - Ulysses Kay: Short Overture, in New York City
1949 - William Grant Still: opera Troubled Island, in New York City
1951 - R. Strauss: Munich Waltz, posthumously in Vienna; This music was originally written for the 1939 film
1961 - Françaix: L'Horloge de Flore, by oboist John de Lancie, and the Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy conducting
2001 - Peter Lieberson: Piano Quintet, at Carnegie Hall, by pianist Peter Serkin with the Orion String Quartet
Others
1837 - Franz Liszt and Sigismond Thalberg, the two reigning virtuosi of their day, perform a pianistic "duel" at a benefit concert in aid of Italian refuguees at the Parisian salon of Princess Cristina Belgiojso-Trivulzio
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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.
