NOVEMBER 6 Today in classical music history

Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer

1492 Death of Franco-Flemish composer Antoine Busnois aka Busnoys in Brugge, Belgium. b-c.1430. Search Amazon.com for Antoine Busnois

1607 Baptismal of German piper, organist and composer Sigmund STADEN in Kulmbach. d-Kulmbach, 30 JUL 1655. Search Amazon.com for Sigmund STADEN

1644 FP of PROVENZALE's "Il martirio di S. Gennaro" Naples.

1672 Death of German composer Heinrich Schutz in Dresden. b-Köstritz, 8 OCT 1585. Search Amazon.com for Heinrich Schutz

1717 Bach goes to jail for three weeks for breaking his contract for his service in Weimar. His employer, Duke Wilhelm Ernst of Weimar, was upset because Bach had taken a post with Prince Leopold of Coethen without getting permission.

1753 Birth of French composer Jean Baptiste Sebastien BREVAL in Paris. d-Colligis, Aisne, 18 MAR 1823.

1760 FP of GAVINIÈS' "Le Prétendu" Paris.

1776 Death of Dutch composer Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer in The Hague. b-Delden, 2 NOV 1692. Search Amazon.com for Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer

1795 Death of Czech-German opera composer Jiri Antonin Benda at age 73, in Köstritz, Germany. b-Staré Benátky, Czech Republic, 30 JUN 1722. Search Amazon.com for Jiri Antonin Benda

1814 Birth of Belgian instrument maker Adolphe SAX in Dinant. Inventor of the saxophone in 1840. Search Amazon.com for Adolphe SAX

1828 FP of Friedrich Kuhlau's The Fairie's Mound in Copenhagen.

1825 FP of Beethoven's String Quartet in a, Op.132, in public by the Schuppanzigh Quartet in Vienna. Search Amazon.com for Beethoven's String Quartet in a, Op.132

1854 Birth of American bandmaster and composer John Philip SOUSA in Washington, DC. The March King wrote over 100 marches. d-Reading, PA 6 MAR 1932. Search Amazon.com for John Philip SOUSA

1860 Birth of Polish pianist, composer and statesman Ignace Jan PADEREWSKI. d- 1941.

1862 Birth of Croatian violinist and violist Louis SVECENSKI. Member of the Kneisel Quartet 1885-1917.

1868 Birth of Swedish baritone [Carl] John FORSELL in Stockholm. d-Stockholm, 30 MAY 1941. Début in Stockholm, as Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, 1896. Covent Garden, Don Giovanni, 1909. He taught Set Svenholm, and Jussi Björling. From 1923-39, he held an administrative position at the Stockholm Opera. MET Opera début 20 NOV 1909 as Frederic in Lohengrin, 1909-10. Search Amazon.com for John FORSELL

1883 Birth of English composer and conductor Hubert BATH in Barnstaple. d-Harefield, 1945. Search Amazon.com for Hubert BATH

1883 FP of Chabrier's Espana Rhapsody, in Paris. CD-Fantastic Philadelphians

1893 Death of Russian composer Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky cholera epidemic in St. Petersburg, age 53. b-Wotkinsk, Russia 7 MAY 1840. Search Amazon.com for Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky

1902 FP of Francesco Cilea's opera Adriana Lecouvreur at the Teatro Lirico in Milan. w/Enrico Caruso. CD-Cilea: Adriana Lecouvreur

1903 Birth of Hungarian soprano Margit Angerer, in Budapest. d. London, Jan. 31, 1978. Search Amazon.com for Margit Angerer,

1906 FP of PETRAUSKAS's "Birute" Vilnius, w/ Kipras Petrauskas (t).the brother of the composer.

1907 FP of LEROUX's "Le Chemineau" Paris.

1909 FP of D'ALBERT's "Izeyl" Hamburg.

1909 FP of HERBERT's "Old Dutch" Operetta, Wilkes-Barre, PA.

1910 Birth of American composer, conductor and author Arthur COHEN. The Collector's 20th-Century Music in the Western Hemisphere and 20th-Century Music in Europe. d-1998.

1911 Birth of Amenian baritone Pavel Lisitsian, in Vladikavkaz, Russia. d. Moscow, July 7, 2004. MET Mar. 3, 1960 Verdi [Amonasro] Aida, 1 season (1959-60) 1 perf., 1 work. Search Amazon.com for Pavel Lisitsian

1912 Death of Ukrainian composer Mykola Lysenko in Kyiv, Ukraine. b-Poltava region, Ukraine, 22 MAR 1842. Search Amazon.com for Mykola Lysenko

1920 Birth of Italian bass Nicola Rossi-Lemeni, in Istanbul. d. Bloomington, IN, Mar. 12, 1991. MET Début Nov. 16, 1953 [Méphistophélès] Faust, 1 season (1953-54) 12 perf. 3 roles. Search Amazon.com for Nicola Rossi-Lemeni

1922 Death of English composer and pianist William Baines in York. b-Horbury, Yorkshire, 29 MAR 1899. Search Amazon.com for William Baines

1923 Birth of English trombonist Don LUSHER. Search Amazon.com for Don LUSHER

1923 Birth of Italian baritone Renato Capecchi, in Cauro. d. Milan, Italy, June 30, 1998. MET Début: Nov. 24, 1951 [Germont] La Traviata, 21 seasons (1951-54, 75-86, 87-94) 304 perf. 19 roles, 15 works. 

1924 FP of Leos Janácek's opera The Cunning Little Vixen at the National Theater in Brno. "Príholy Lisky Bystrousky". CD-Janacek,Leos: The Cunning Little Vixen

1927 FP of Shostakovich's Second Symphony, October, in Leningrad. Composed for the 10th anniversary of the Soviet Union. CD-Shostakovich: Symphonies (Box Set)

1928 Birth of American contralto Beverly WOLFF in Atlanta, GA. Search Amazon.com for Beverly WOLFF

1932 FP of 20 year old Jean Francaix's Symphonie. Pierre Monteux conducts in Paris. CD-Jean Françaix: Scuolo de Ballo; Symphonie

1933 FP of Hoffmann, E.T.A: rev. version by L. Böttcher: "Aurora" Bamburg.

1935 FP of Sir William Walton's completed Symphony No. 1. BBC Symphony, Sir Hamilton Harty conducting. CD-Walton: Symphony No 1; Coronation March

1936 Birth of American baritone Leo Goeke, in Kirksville, MO. MET Début: Feb. 7, 1970 [Gastone] La Traviata, 6 seasons (1969-75) 211 perf., 25 roles, 21 works. Search Amazon.com for Leo Goeke

1936 Birth of American composer David Ward Steinman. Search Amazon.com for David Ward Steinman

1936 FP of Sergei Rachmaninoff's Third Symphony. Performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski conducts. CD-Rachmaninov: Symphonies 1 - 3

1937 Birth of American composer Gordon BRISKER. Search Amazon.com for Gordon BRISKER

1937 FP of MALIPIERO's "Il festino" Turin Radio.

1939 Birth of German tenor Eberhard Buchner, in Dresden.

1940 FP of Florence Price's Symphony No. 3. Michigan WPA Symphony, Valter Poole conducting, in Detroit. CD-Price: Symphony in Cm No3; Mississippi River Suite

1941 Birth of English counter-tenor James BOWMAN in Oxford. Search Amazon.com for James BOWMAN

1943 Birth of French mezzo-soprano Nadine Denize, in Rouen.

1943 FP of Carl Orff's Catulli Carmina at the Städische Bühnen in Leipzig. CD-Orff:Carmina Burana/Catulli Carmina/Trionfo Di Afrodite

1950 FP of Aaron Copland's Clarinet Concerto. Radio program with Benny Goodman and the NBC Symphony conducted by Fritz Reiner. CD-Copland: Clarinet Concerto; Bernstein, Gershwin / Stoltzman

1953 FP of Nikolaus Nakokov's Cello Concerto Les Hommages. Lorne Munroe, and the Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy conducting.

1954 Birth of American soprano Cheryl Parrish, in Pasadena, TX.

1955 FP of FOSS' "Griffelkin" NBC-TV.

1961 Birth of Italian opera conductor Daniele GATTI. MET Début: Dec. 1, 1994, Puccini: Madama Butterfly, 1 season, 10perf., 1 work. Search Amazon.com for Daniele GATTI

1965 Death of composer Edgard Varèse, in NYC. b-Paris, 22 DEC 1883. Most works published under name Edgar Varèse. Search Amazon.com for Edgard Varèse

1968 Death of Dutch composer Guillaume Landré in Amsterdam. b-The Hague, 24 FEB 1905. Search Amazon.com for Guillaume Landré

1976 FP of Andrew Imbrie's opera Angle of Repose in San Francisco. Search Amazon.com for Imbrie's opera Angle of Repose

1987 Death of French composer and teacher Jean Rivier in La Penne sur Huveaune. b-Villemombe, Seine 21 JUL 1896. Search Amazon.com for Jean Rivier

1999 FP of Elisabetta Brusa's Adagio for strings. Virtuosi of Toronto, Fabio Mastrangelo conducting. Search Amazon.com for Brusa's Adagio for strings

2001 Death of English clarinetist John Denman in Tucson. b-London, 1933. Search Amazon.com for John Denman

2003 FP of Sydney Hodkinson's Monumentum Pro Umbris by Stetson University Wind Ensemble. Composer in residence at Stetson University in Deland, Florida.