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Composers Datebook®

with host John Birge

Haydn's imperial anthem

Just to show that political spin and manipulation is nothing new, consider this tune by Franz Joseph Haydn, first heard on today’s date in 1797, which happened to be the birthday of Franz II, the Hapsburg Emperor. And so an Austrian poet was commissioned to write some verses that would inspire...Episode details...

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Donizetti's "Daughter" in 1840 and 1940

On today’s date in 1840, a new opera by Gaetano Donizetti debuted at the Opéra Comique in Paris. This was “La fille du régiment,” or “The Daughter of the Regiment.” Other operas by the popular Italian composer were already playing in Paris, and others scheduled. Despite being tailor-made to...Episode details...

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Maslanka's Symphony No. 4

A question: what do you SEE when you HEAR music? An odd question perhaps, but sometimes composers themselves confess that particular places, persons, and scenes play a role in how music is created. On today’s date in 1994, in San Antonio, Texas, for example, a new symphony for wind ensemble by...Episode details...

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Clyne's music of voyages

Composers have always been fascinated by the sea, and, if you’re curious, Spotify offers a playlist of 50 sea-inspired classical works from composers ranging from Mendelssohn to Debussy to Takemitsu. On today’s date in 2012, conductor Riccardo Muti and the Chicago Symphony premiered a new...Episode details...

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Wagner on the banks of the Mississippi?

For a magic golden ring, the dwarf Alberich was willing to renounce love to become master of the world. At least, that’s the story in Richard Wagner’s four operas entitled “The Ring of the Nibelungen,” which premiered in 1876 at Wagner’s specially-constructed theater in Bayreuth, Germany. And...Episode details...

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Eubie Blake flunks retirement

You might say that Eubie Blake flunked retirement. In 1946, with a five-decade career as a successful performer and composer behind him, Eubie Blake retired at the age of 63. The son of former slaves, Blake’s religious mother objected to ragtime music on principle, but in 1899, while still a...Episode details...

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Buzzing Stravinsky

In St. Petersburg, Russia, on today’s date in 1909, Alexandre Siloti conducted the first performance of a new orchestral work by a 26-year-old composer named Igor Stravinsky. The work was billed as “Scherzo fantastique,” but Stravinsky’s original title was “Bees.” Stravinsky had just completed...Episode details...

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Reger-ized Mozart

In Berlin on today’s date in 1915, the prolific German composer Max Reger conducted the premiere performance of what would become his most popular orchestral work. Like Bach, Reger was a master of counterpoint and the fugue, and, like Beethoven, loved writing variations. Reger’s “Variations and...Episode details...

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Before you go...

Who’s who and what’s what is our specialty at Composers Datebook. Take 2 minutes to make a gift today, to help us continue to share this musical education experience.

Liszt pulls a switcheroo

By 1837, the symphonies of Beethoven had become quite popular in Paris. Beethoven had been dead for ten years, but surprisingly, much of his chamber music had yet to be performed publicly in Paris. So Franz Liszt organized a series of chamber concerts at the Salle Erard to introduce Beethoven’s...Episode details...

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A summer Sextet by Brahms

If he hadn’t turned composer, Johannes Brahms might have made an excellent travel agent. He was in the habit of spending his summer vacations working on his music, and consequently was always on the lookout for scenic spots and comfortable rooms at a decent price. In the summer of 1865, Brahms...Episode details...

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