NOVEMBER 13 Today in classical music history

George Whitefield CHADWICK

1759 Birth of American composer Timothy OLMSTEAD in Connecticut. He was also a fifer during the Revolutionary war. d-15 AUG 1848.

1770 FP of GRÉTRY's "L'Amittié à l'épreuve" Fontainebleau.

1786 FP of GRÉTRY's "Le Comte d'Albert" Fontainebleau.

1817 Birth of French organist and composer Louis-Lefebure WELY. d-1870. Search Amazon.com for Louis-Lefebure WELY.

1824 FP of CARAFA's "It sonnambulo" La Scala.

1843 FP of DONIZETTI's "Dom Sébastien, Roi du Portugal" Paris.

1854 Birth of American composer and conductor George Whitefield CHADWICK in Lowell, MA. d-4 APR 1931. Search Amazon.com for George Whitefield CHADWICK.

1857 FP of Offenbach's "Les Deux Pêcheurs" Paris.

1868 Birth of German soprano Erika WEDEKIND in Hannover. d-Zürich, 10 OCT 1944. Sister of German playwright, Frank Wedekind. Début at the Dresden Royal Opera as Frau Fluth in Nicolai's Lustigen Weiber von Windsor.

1868 Death of Gioachino Antonio Rossini, in Paris at age of 86. Wrote Remembrances before he died which included some of his themes in a march for piano. b-Pesaro, Papal States, 29 FEB 1792.  Search Amazon.com for Gioachino Antonio Rossini

1868 Birth of Swiss composer Pierre MAURICE in Geneva. d-Geneva, 25 DEC 1936.

1874 Birth of French pianist Marguerite LONG in Nîmes. d-Paris, 13 FEB 1966. Search Amazon.com for Marguerite LONG

1879 Birth of French composer Maurice DELAGE in Paris. d-Paris, 21 SEP 1961. Search Amazon.com for Maurice DELAGE

1879 FP of AUDRAN's "Les noces d'Olivette" Paris.

1893 FP of Jean Sibelius's Karelia Suite, in Viborg, Finland. CD-Sibelius: Karelia Op11; Valse Triste Op44

1894 FP of SCHILLINGS's "Ingwelde" Karlsruhe.

1897 FP of ENNA's "The Match Girl" after Anderson, Copenhagen.

1899 FP of DE KOVEN's "Papa's Wife" New York.

1903 Founding of the national music sorority Mu Phi Epsilon in Cincinnati, OH. Search Amazon.com for Mu Phi Epsilon

1906 Birth of American baritone Conrad THIBAULT in Northridge, MA. Performer with Jacques Fray Music Room on WQXR AM-FM, NYC. Search Amazon.com for Conrad THIBAULT

1912 FP of ZANDONAI's "Melenis" Milan.

1915 FP of early vocal and chamber works of Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, in Rio de Janeiro. Search Amazon.com for Heitor Villa-Lobos

1921 Birth of Finnish composer Joonas KOKKONEN in Iisalmi. d-Järvenpää, 2 OCT 1996. See Finnish Music Centre. Search Amazon.com for Joonas KOKKONEN

1922 Birth of mezzo-soprano Lucretia West. 

1926 Birth of American computer music specialist Max V. MATHEWS. Search Amazon.com for Max V. MATHEWS

1928 FP of BITTNER's "Mondnacht" Berlin.

1931 FP of GRAENER's "Friedemann Bach" Schwerin.

1933 FP of Ruth Crawford Seeger's String Quartet. New World String Quartet at the New School in NYC. CD-Ruth Crawford Seeger: Portrait

1937 Birth of soprano Jitka Kovarikova. Search Amazon.com for Jitka Kovarikova

1937 First broadcast by the NBC Symphony Orchestra. Pierre Monteux conducting. Toscanini's first broadcast with the NBC Symphony was on Christmas Day, 1937.  Search Amazon.com for NBC Symphony Orchestra

1938 50th anniversary concert by Moriz Rosenthal of his NYC debut, at Carnegie Hall, NYC. Search Amazon.com for Moriz Rosenthal

1942 Birth of Austrian conductor Lothar ZAGROSEK. Search Amazon.com for Lothar ZAGROSEK

1943 Birth of American tenor Aaron Bergell, in Bayonne, N.J.

1943 FP of B. Martinu's Symphony No. 1. Boston Symphony, Serge Koussevitzky conducting. CD-Martinu:Symphony No.1/Concerto for Double String Orchestra,Piano and Timpani

1943 In NYC, illness forces NY Philharmonic Orchestra conductor Bruno Walter to use somewhat unknown Leonard Bernstien to conduct the orchestra. It began his legendary career as conductor and composer. Search Amazon.com for Leonard Bernstien

1946 Birth of American composer Martin BRESNICK, in NYC. Search Amazon.com for Martin BRESNICK

1947 Birth of American composer and trumpeter Anthony PLOG. Search Amazon.com for Anthony PLOG

1948 Death of American contralto Josephine Jacoby, in New York City. b-1875. MET Oct. 15, 1899, Concert: 1st opera: Nov. 25, 1903 [Rossweisse] Die Walküre, 6 seasons (1899-00, 1903-08) 296 perf., 30 roles, 27 works. Search Amazon.com for Josephine Jacoby

1951 Birth of American composer and master of the shakuhachi, John Kaizan NEPTUNE. Search Amazon.com for John Kaizan NEPTUNE

1951 Death of Russian-born composer Nikolai Medtner, age 71, in London. b-Moscow, 5 JAN 1880. Photo. Search Amazon.com for Nikolai Medtner

1951 MET debut of American bass-baritone George London, as Amonasro in Verdi's Aida. Search Amazon.com for George London

1952 Birth of Dutch pianist and composer Marius van PAASSEN in Bunnik.

1953 FP of Dimitri Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 5. Beethoven Quartet in Moscow. CD-Shostakovich: String Quartets 1-13

1955 Birth of Dutch composer Cord MEIJERING in Esens, Germany. 

1964 FP of Richard Yardumian's Symphony No. 2 Psalms, soprano Lili Chookasian, with the Philadelphia Orchestra, under Eugene Ormandy. CD-Symphony No.2, Armenian Suite

1967 Birth of American composer Belinda REYNOLDS. COVER

1973 Death of Italian-born composer Bruno Maderna, age 53, in Darmstadt, Germany. b-Venice, 21 APR 1920. Additional Bio. Search Amazon.com for Bruno Maderna

1976 Birth of American composer Scott UNREIN.

1981 Hawaii's Classical music station, KHPR-FM, begins broadcasting from an improvised studio in the quarry area of University of Hawaii, Manoa. Mahler's "Das Lied von der Erde" was the first selection aired. Cliff Eblen, was Hawaii Public Radio's first President and Manager. Heard during the first years were announcers Bob Miller, Rick Hutto, Charles Andrews, Alan Campbell, Tom Armbruster, TV-anchor-Joe Moore's Moore Mozart. Search Amazon.com for Hawaii Public Radio

1988 Death of Hungarian conductor and composer Antal Dorati in Gerzensee, Switzerland. b-Budapest, 9 APR 1906. Detroit Symphony Orchestra, 1977-81. Bio. CDs. Search Amazon.com for Antal Dorati

1997 FP of Poul Ruders' Symphony No. 2, Lincoln Center in New York. Riverside Symphony, under George Rothman. CD-Poul Ruders: Symphony No. 2 "Symphony & Transformation" (1995-96) / Piano Concerto (1994) - Michael Schonwandt / Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra / Rolf Hind, Piano / Markus Stenz

2001 Death of Dutch composer Marius Flothuis in Amsterdam. b-Amsterdam, 30 OCT 1914. Search Amazon.com for Marius Flothuis

2002 FP of John Tavener's Ikon of Eros for soloists, chorus and orchestra. Jorja Fleezanis, violin; Patricia Rozario, soprano; Tim Krol, baritone; the Minnesota Chorale and Minnesota Orchestra, Paul Goodwin conducting at the St. Paul Cathedral, St. Paul, MN. CD-Ikon of Eros

2003 FP of Paul Hayden's Filé for orchestra, one movement, 8 minutes. Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra Site, Timothy Muffitt, Director at Baton Rouge Centroplex Theater, Baton Rouge, LA.