Vaughan Williams at Westminster
Synopsis On today’s date in 1958, just nine days after his death, a funeral service was held for British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams at...
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Composers Datebook
Composers Datebook™ is a daily two-minute program designed to inform, engage, and entertain listeners with timely information about composers of the past and present. Each program notes sign...
Episodes
20 of 183 episodesElgar's Fifth
Synopsis On today’s date in 1930, in Kingsway Hall in London, British composer Edward Elgar conducted the first performance of his Pomp and...
Sierra's 'La Salsa'
Synopsis The Milwaukee Symphony was one of the first American orchestras to offer recordings of their live performances as digital downloads...
Shostakovich on Broadway?
Synopsis On today’s date in 1925, Vincent Youman’s musical No, No Nanette opened on Broadway after a trial run in Detroit and additional pre...
Gisela Hernández
Synopsis Today’s date in 1912 marked the birthday of Cuban composer, choral director, and educator Gisela Hernández. She began her musical s...
Tan Dun and Beethoven – in (and out) of China
Synopsis On this date in 1973, Eugene Ormandy conducted the Philadelphia Orchestra in music by Mozart, Brahms and American composer, Roy Har...
Copland counts to 12
Synopsis On today’s date in 1967, Aaron Copland’s final orchestra work, Inscape, was premiered by Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philhar...
A serenata by Vivaldi
Synopsis For decades many of the 20th century’s greatest composers routinely visited Venice’s famous canals and churches during a biennial m...
Dvorak's 'Luzany' Mass
Synopsis In 1886, a Czech patron of the arts, Josef Hlavka, had a chapel built at his summer residence at Lužany in Bohemia and asked his co...
Cowell's Hymn and Fuguing Tunes
Synopsis American composer Henry Cowell lived from 1897 to 1965 and wrote thousands of musical works in a wide variety of styles. As a young...
Finzi's Clarinet Concerto
Synopsis On today’s date in 1949, British composer Gerald Finzi conducted the premiere performance of his Clarinet Concerto at the Three Cho...
Davis? Davies? Or Mavis?
Synopsis Today's date in 1934 marked the birthday of British composer Peter Maxwell Davies. His name is spelled D-A-V-I-E-S, so most America...
A 40-voice birthday greeting from Tallis?
Synopsis On today’s date in 1573, Queen Elizabeth the First celebrated her 40th birthday. According to some musicologists, the music-loving...
A 'well-Krafted' concerto?
Synopsis Consider, if you will, the poor timpanist. At most symphony concerts, they sit quietly — waiting for the moment when a dramatic exc...
Prokofiev's String Quartet No. 2
Synopsis In 1941, as the German army was overrunning Russia, the Soviet government evacuated important artists to remote places of safety. C...
Tchaikovsky and Glass at the movies
Synopsis For ballet lovers, the opening of Tchaikovsky’s ballet Swan Lake conjures up tutus, but for old-time movie buffs, this same music t...
Beethoven's 'Razumovsky' Quartets
Synopsis On today’s date in 1806, Ludwig van Beethoven offered his publisher Breitkopf and Härtel three new string quartets — works we know...
E.J. Moeran
Synopsis On today’s date in 1948, at a Proms concert at the Royal Albert Hall, the London Symphony gave the premiere performance of the Sere...
Mozart 'dissed' by Dittersdorf?
Synopsis On today’s date in 1785, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart dedicated six of his string quartets to his friend and older colleague, Joseph Hay...
Barber's 'scandalous' overture
Synopsis On today’s date in 1933, the Philadelphia Orchestra was performing at its summer home at Robin Hood Dell. Conductor Alexander Small...