NOVEMBER 15 Today in classical music history

Johann Staden

1604 Birth of English violinist, clockmaker and composer Davis MELL in Wilton. d-London, 1662. Did an analysis of the clockmaking trade in seventeenth century London. Scored popular country dance for recorder and harpsichord.

1634 Death of German composer and organist Johann Staden, at age 53 in Nuremburg. bap-Nuremburg 2 JUL 1581. Search Amazon.com for Johann Staden

1640 Baptismal of German violinist, organist and composer Nicolaus Adam STRUNGK. d- Dresden, 23 SEP 1700. Search Amazon.com for Nicolaus Adam STRUNGK

1657 Birth of French organist and composer Michel Richard DELALANDE in Paris. d- Versailles, 18 JUN 1726. Search Amazon.com for Michel Richard DELALANDE

1672 FP of Lully's The Festival of Love and Bacchus at the Paris Opera.

1696 Birth of Dutch organist and composer Gerhardus HAVINGHA in Groningen. d-Alkmaar, 6 MAR 1753. Search Amazon.com for Gerhardus HAVINGHA

1705 Birth of French violinist and composer Louis-Gabriel GUILLEMAIN in Paris. d-Suicide, nr Paris, 1 OCT 1770. Search Amazon.com for Louis-Gabriel GUILLEMAIN

1732 (GC, JC=4 NOV) FP of G. F. Handel's opera Catone in London.

1738 Birth of German astronomer, oboist and composer Sir William HERSCHEL in Hanover. In England from 1755 where he was also an astronomer. Originally 'Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel', he discovered (1781) the planet Uranus, which led (1782) to his position as private astronomer to the king. Search Amazon.com for Sir William HERSCHEL

1746 Birth of composer Joseph QUESNE. d-3 JUL 1809.

1772 (Or 16th DEC 1770?), Birth of German composer Ludwig Von BEETHOVEN. d- 26 MAR 1827. Baptised on Dec 17th 1772. He said 1770 was the year of birth of his older brother who died as a young child. He said his own birth was in 1772. Family name is Dutch meaning "beet garden". Search Amazon.com for Ludwig Von BEETHOVEN

1774 Birth of English organist and composer William HORSLEY in London. d-London, 12 JUN 1858. Search Amazon.com for William HORSLEY

1775 Birth of composer Georges-Julien SIEBER. d-22 JAN 1847.

1787 Death of German composer Christoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck, at 73 in Vienna. b-Erasbach, 2 JUL 1714. Search Amazon.com for Christoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck

1788 Death of composer Peregrinus Pogl, at 77.

1800 Birth of composer George RODWELL. d-22 JAN 1847. Search Amazon.com for George RODWELL

1807 FP of Beethoven's Symphony No. 4 in Vienna. CD-Beethoven Collection: Symphonies Nos. 1-9, Complete Recording (Box Set)

1810 Birth of Austrian composer, teacher and pianist Marie Leopoldine BLAHETKA in Guntransdorf, Baden. d-Boulogne, France 12 JAN 1887. Search Amazon.com for Marie Leopoldine BLAHETKA

1815 Death of German physician and composer Johann Lukas Schubaur, at 65 in Munich. Bap.- Lechfeld, 23 DEC 1749.

1829 Birth of French composer Frederic Etienne BARBIER in Metz. d-Paris, 12 FEB 1889.

1831 Death of Bohemian pianist, organist and composer Vincenc Masek, at 76 in Prague. b- Zwikovecz, 5 APR 1755. See Czech concertos. Search Amazon.com for Vincenc Masek,

1832 FP of Felix Mendelssohn's Reformation Symphony, in Berlin. CD-Mendelssohn: 5 Symphonies; 7 Overtures

1842 Death of Italian conductor and composer Joseph Rastrelli, at 43 in Dresden. b-Dresden, 13 APR 1799. Search Amazon.com for Joseph Rastrelli,

1866 Birth of English tenor Gervase Elwes, Gervase [Cary] in Billing Hall, Northampton. d. nr. Boston, Jan. 12, 1952. Search Amazon.com for Gervase Elwes

1868 The first complete performance of Tchaikovsky's Winter Dreams Symphony No. 1, in Moscow. Nikolai Rubinstein conducting. Search Amazon.com for Tchaikovsky's Winter Dreams

1874 Birth of Austrian soprano Selma KURTZ in Silesia. d- Vienna, 10 MAY 1933. (Cancer)

1874 Birth of Russian pianist and naturalized American teacher Josef LHEVINNE. d-NYC, 2 DEC 1944. m-Rosina Bessie, Russian pianist and teacher. Search Amazon.com for Josef LHEVINNE

1878 Birth of composer Bela REINITZ. d-26 OCT 1943. Search Amazon.com for Bela REINITZ

1882 (5th?) Birth of American composer Carl EPPERT in Milwaukee. d-1 OCT 1961. Search Amazon.com for Carl EPPERT

1884 Death of Hungarian composer Leó Festetics in Budapest. b-Pécs, 8 OCT 1800. Leó Festetics, bio

1886 Birth of Spanish composer Pedro SANJUAN, in San Sebastian. 

1887 Birth of Italian Mezzo-soprano Elvira Casazza, in Ferrara, Nov. 15, 1887; d. Milan, Jan. 24, 1965. 

1888 Birth of American ragtime composer and pianist Dr. Artie MATTHEWS in Braidwood, IL. d-25 OCT 1958.

1891 Birth of American soprano Nina Morgana, in Buffalo, NY. d. Ithaca, NY., July 8, 1986: She was singing in Buffalo churches at the age of four. In 1908, she auditioned for Enrico Caruso, during one of his concert tours, in Buffalo, at the Iroquois Hotel. Caruso wrote to Morgana, informing her that he would arrange vocal lessons with Teresa Arkel, a legendary soprano and vocal instructor. Morgana traveled to Italy and studied with Arkel (1909-1915), making a successful La Scala début (1915). Morgana and Caruso teamed for concert tours of the U.S. (1917-19). She married Bruno Zirato, secretary to Caruso. MET: Début: Concert, Mar. 28, 1920, First Stage: Nov. 27, 1920 [Gilda] Rigoletto, 16 seasons (1919-35) 126 perf., 13 roles, 12 works.

1902 Birth of Portugese conductor composer Frederico FREITAS in Lisbon. d- Lisbon, 12 JAN 1980. Search Amazon.com for Frederico FREITAS

1903 FP of Eugene d'Albert's opera Tiefland 'The Lowlands' at the New German Theater in Prague. CD-Eugen D'Albert: Tiefland

1905 Birth of Italian born English conductor and violinist Annunzio Paolo MANTOVANI, in Venice. d-Tunbridge Wells, 29 MAR 1980. Search Amazon.com for Annunzio Paolo MANTOVANI

1907 Death of American teacher and composer Horatio Richmond Palmer, at 73 in Yonkers, NY. b- Sherburne, NY, 26 APR 1834. Search Amazon.com for Horatio Richmond Palmer

1909 FP of Ralph Vaughan Williams' song-cycle, On Wenlock Edge, in London. CD-Vaughan Williams - Along the Field on Wenlock Edge · Merciless Beauty · Ten Blake Songs, and others / Ainsley · The Nash Ensemble

1913 FP of Rachmaninov's The Bells, the composer conducting his choral symphonic poem in St. Petersburg. CD-Rachmaninov: The Symphonies; The Bells

1914 (? Dec 28) Birth of Rumanian composer Gheorghe DUMITRESCU in Otesani. d-FEB 1996.

1914 Birth of Cuban-born American pianist and conductor Jorge BOLET. ['George' boh LET]. d-Mt. View, CA; 16 OCT 1990. Search Amazon.com for Jorge BOLET.

1918 MET debut of Rosa Ponselle in the U.S. premiere of Verdi's La Forza del Destino . Search Amazon.com for Rosa Ponselle

1918 Death of Belgian composer Georges Antoine, at 26 of military illness in Bruges. b-Liege, 28 APR 1892.

1920 Birth of American composer Jerome RICHARDSON. d-23 JUN 2000. Search Amazon.com for Jerome RICHARDSON

1920 FP of Holst's The Planets. Albert Coates conducting at Queen's Hall, London. CD-Gustav Holst: The Planets, Op 32

1925 Birth of Dutch pianist and composer Jurriaan ANDRIESSEN in Haarlem. d-The Hague, 23 AUG 1996. Son of Hedrik, brother of Louis Nephew of Willem.

1926 NBC Radio makes it's first broadcast of a music program. NY Sym Orch, Damrosch. NY Oratorio Society, Goldman Band, under Goldman.

1927 FP of Jerome Kern's musical Show Boat in Washington, D.C. CD-Show Boat (1988 Studio Cast)

1928 FP Gershwin's An American In Paris, under Walter Damrosh in NYC. CD-Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue - Piano Concerto in F - An American in Paris

1928 FP Arnold Bax 2nd Symphony. Boston Sym. CD-Sir Arnold Bax: The Complete Symphonies

1930 FP Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms by Brussels Sym. Dedicated to Boston Sym. CD-Stravinsky Conducts Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms/Symphony in 3 Movements

1934 Birth of English composer Peter DICKINSON in Lytham St Anne's. Peter Dickinson: Piano & Organ Concertos; Outcry.

1940 Birth of American composer Robert Hampton BURT in Biloxi, MI.

1942 Birth of Argentine-born Israeli pianist and conductor Daniel BARENBOIM. Search Amazon.com for Daniel BARENBOIM.

1949 Birth of American composer and pianist David RUBINSTEIN. David Rubinstein Plays Schubert

1950 FP of Alan Rawsthorne's Symphony No. 1 in London. Search Amazon.com for Rawsthorne's Symphony No. 1

1959 Birth of American composer Tom MYRON. O Speak Again Bright Angel - full score Composer Tom Myron

1963 Death of Hungarian-American conductor Fritz Reiner, at 74 in NYC. Chicago Sym, 1953-1962. b-Budapest, 19 DEC 1888. Search Amazon.com for Fritz Reiner

1967 Birth of American composer Pierre JALBERT.

1972 Birth of American composer Misha PIATIGORASKY.

1974 FP of Dimitri Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 15. Taneyev Quartet in Leningrad. CD-Shostakovich: The String Quartets

1974 FP of William Grant Still's opera Bayou Legend by Opera South in Jackson, MI.

1983 FP of John Harbison's Mirabai Songs based on poems of Mirabai and translated by Robert Bly. Soprano Susan Larson and pianist Craig Smith at Emmanuel Church in Boston. Chamber orchestra version FP in Cambridge, MA on 1 FEB 1984. Marabai Songs / Knoxville: Summer of 1915

1986 Death of Polish composer Alexandre Tansman, at 89, in Paris. b-Lódz, 12 JUN 1897. Search Amazon.com for Alexandre Tansman.

1989 Leonard Bernstein awarded a National Medal of the Arts from President George Bush. Refused in protest against revoked NEA funding for a New York City exhibit on AIDS.

2000 Death of German composer Gene Gutchë in White Bear Lake, MN. b-Berlin, 3 JUL 1907. Search Amazon.com for Gene Gutchë

2001 FP of Michael Daugherty's Philadelphia Stories. Philadelphia Orchestra, David Zinman, conducting at the Academy of Music. Search Amazon.com for Daugherty's Philadelphia Stories

2002 Death of Austrian soprano Sylvia Holzmayer, in Vienna. b-1940.

2002 FP of Jake Heggie's Holy the Firm for cello and orchestra. Oakland East Bay Symphony conducted by Michael Morgan, with Emil Miland, cello, at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland, CA.