DECEMBER 8 Today in classical music history

František Xaver Dušek

1731 Birth of Bohemian pianist and composer Frantisek Xaver DUSEK. d- 12 FEB.(both names are spelt Dušek in the Czech spelling). František Xaver Dušek (Franz Xaver Duschek) (bapt. December 8, 1731, Chotěborky, nearby Jaroměř.  Search Amazon.com for Frantisek Xaver DUSEK

1733 FP of J. S. Bach's Secular Cantata No. 214 Tönet ihr Pauken, erchallet Trompeten at a public performance in the garden of Zimmermann's Coffee House in Leipzig. Birthday of the Princess-Elector and Queen of Poland, Maria Josepha, wife of August III.

1737 Birth of composer Robert KIMMERLING.

1741 Birth of French dancer and choreographer Maximilian JLP GARDEL, Menuet Reine. d-11 MAR 1787.

1744 Birth of composer Pierre Joseph CANDIELLE. d-24 APR 1827.

1785 Death of composer Antonio Maria Mazzoni, at 68. b-4 JAN 1717.

1789 Birth of composer John FAWCETT. d-26 OCT 1867.

1795 Birth of French composer and horn player Jacques Francois GALLAY in Perpignan. d-Paris, 1864.

1806 Birth of French tenor Louis-Gilbert Duprez in Paris. Died 23 Sep 1896, Debut as Almaviva in Barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini) 1825 Teacher :- Alexander Choron Pupils :- Luigi Agnesi, Emma Albani, Bantu, Fides Devries, Jeanne Devries, Emile Engel, Marie Heilbronn, Adele Isaac, Marie Marimon, Marie Miolan-Carvalho, Albert Niemann, Pol Plancon, Celine Schutz, Constance Nantier-Didiee, Caroline Carvalho, Elie Sylva, Pietro Scudo Created Duke of Bedford in Charles VI (Halevy) Benvenuto Cellini in Benvenuto Cellini (Berlioz) Fernando in Favorita (Donizetti) Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti) Ugo in Parisina (Donizetti) Henry II in Rosmunda D'Inghilterra (Donizetti) Poliuto in Poliuto (Donizetti) Dom Sebastian in Dom Sebastian (Donizetti) Gaston in Jerusalem (Verdi) Demetrio in Marsa (Coccia).

1809 Birth of bassonist and teacher at Brussels and Paris Conservatories, J. B. WILLENT-BORDOGNI.

1811 Birth of German composer Louis Alexander Balthasar SCHINDELMEISSER in Königsberg. d-Darmstadt, 30 MAR 1864.

1813 FP of Beethoven's Symphony No. 7. Conducted by the nearly deaf composer, in Vienna. CD-Beethoven: 9 Symphonien

1844 FP of Schumann's Piano Quartet, Op 47 at the Gewandhaus. Clara Schumann was pianist, Ferdinand David violinist and Niels W. Gade violist, in Leipzig. CD-Robert Schumann: Meisterwerke Zum Kennenlernen

1846 FP of Hector Berlioz's opera La Damnation de Faust. CD-Berlioz: La Damnation de Faust

1849 FP of Giuseppe Verdi's opera Luisa Miller, in Naples. CD-Verdi - Luisa Miller / Pavarotti · Caballé · Milnes · Giaiotti · Reynolds · van Allan · NP · Maag

1853 Death of American piano craftsman Jonas Chickering, who founded the firm bearing his name in 1823. 

1865 Birth of Finnish composer Jean (Johan) Julius SIBELIUS in Tavastehus, Hameenlinna. d-Jarvenpaa, 20 SEP 1957. Search Jean SIBELIUS

1873 Birth of American ragtime composer Max HOFFMAN. d-1963.

1877 Birth of composer Paul Emile LADMIRAULT. Poésie et musique au féminin (The Feminine in Poetry and Music)

1879 FP of Tchaikovsky's Orchestral Suite No. 1, in Moscow.

1882 Birth of popular Mexican composer and conductor Manuel Maria PONCE (POHN seh) in Fresnillo, Zacatecas Mexico. The composer of Estrellita and other popular pieces. d-Mexico City, 24 APR 1948. Ponce Society Bio Site. Search Manuel Maria PONCE.

1887 Birth of American composer Jesse Randal BAXTER. d-1960.

1887 Birth of composer Vicente Emilio SOJO. Vicente Emilio Sojo Works for Guitar, Volume 1

1890 Birth of Czech composer Bohuslav MARTINU in Policka. d-nr Basel, 28 AUG 1959.  Search Bohuslav MARTINU.

1895 Birth of Spanish mezzo-soprano Conchita Supervia in Barcelona. Died 30 Mar 1936, Debut in Amantes de Teruel (Breton) 1910. 

1897 Birth of British composer Leslie HEWARD. Search Leslie HEWARD

1900 Death of English song composer, singer and organist Henry Russell in London. Father of Sir Landon Ronald Russell. b-Sheerness, 24 DEC 1812.

1903 Birth of violinist Zoltan SZEKELY. d-5 OCT 2001. Obit. Search Zoltan SZEKELY.

1903 Birth of German soprano Irene Eisinger in Kosel. Died 8 APR 1994, Debut 1926 Teacher :- Paula Mark-Neusser

1905 Birth of American composer Charles CUSHING. d-1982.

1905 Birth of German composer Ernst Hermann MEYER in Berlin. d-Berlin, 1988. English Chamber Music: The History of a Great Art (Da Capo Press Music Reprint Series)

1907 Birth of American composer Tony AUBIN. Search Tony AUBIN.

1911 American composer and conductor Henry Hadley leads the first subscription concert of the San Francisco Symphony at the Cort Theater in San Francisco. With Wagner's Prelude from Die Meistersinger, Tchaikovsky's Pathétique Symphony, Theme and Variations, from Haydn's Emperor Quartet, Liszt's tone-poem Les Préludes by Liszt. Search Henry Hadley.

1912 Birth of Welsh composer Daniel JONES. d-1993. Search Daniel JONES.

1915 On his 50th birthday, Jean Sibelius conducts the FP of the final version of his Fifth Symphony, in Helsinki. CD-Sibelius: Symphony No. 1, 2, 5 & 7; The Swan of Tuonela

1918 Birth of French baritone Gerard SOUZAY (Gerard Marcel Tisserand) in Angers. d-17 AUG 2004. Debut as Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas (Purcell) 1960 Teachers:- Pierre Bernac, Claire Croiza, Lotte Lehmann, Jean-Emile Vanni-Marcoux Pupils :- Penelope Walker, Nancy Argenta. Search Gerard SOUZAY. 

1919 Birth of German film score composer Hans-Dieter HOSALLA. Search Hans-Dieter HOSALLA.

1919 Birth of Polish-Russian composer Moisei VAINBERG in Warsaw. d-Moscow, Russia, 26 FEB 1996. Search Moisei VAINBERG.

1921 Birth of cellist Terence WEIL.

1924 Death of Polish-German pianist and composer Franz X Scharwenka at 74, in Berlin. b-Szamotuly, 6 JAN 1850. Search Franz X Scharwenka.

1925 Death of German composer Carl Wilhelm Drescher.

1930 Birth of composer Alain WEBER. Search Alain WEBER.

1931 Birth of Polish composer Rudolf KOMOROUS in Prague.

1931 FP of George Gershwin's musical political satire Of Thee I Sing, book by George S. Kaufman and Morris Ryskind, at the Majestic Theater in Boston. CD-Gershwin: Of Thee I Sing/Let 'em Eat Cake

1933 (7th?) Death of Dutch composer Jan Willem Frans Brandts Buys in Salzburg, Austria. b-Zutphen, 12 SEP 1868.

1934 Birth of American tenor Edward Sooter in Salina, Kansas. Debut as Florestan in Fidelio (Beethoven) 1966.

1934 Death of composer Bernhard Seklas, at 62.

1939 Death of American composer, pianist and conductor Ernest Schelling, at age 63 in NYC. b-Belvidere, NJ 16 JUL 1876. Oxford piano course teacher's manual.

1939 Birth of Irish flutist James GALWAY in Belfast. Search  James GALWAY.

1943 FP of Miaskovsky's Symphony No. 24, in Moscow. Nikolay Myaskovsky: Symphonies Nos. 24 & 25

1946 Birth of American composer, actor and classical music commentator John RUBINSTEIN in Los Angeles. Son of pianist Arthur Rubinstein. Biography. Search John RUBINSTEIN.

1947 Birth of  Russian tenor Yuri Marusin in Perm. Debut 1972. Search Yuri Marusin.

1953 Death of Irish baritone Frederick Ranalow. Born 7 Nov 1873, Kingstown, Ireland. Debut as Papageno in Zauberflote (Mozart) 1914 Teacher :- Albert Randeggar Created Policeman in Boatswain's Mate (Smyth) Sang in premiere of The Critic (Stanford).

1955 Death of Swiss musicologist Jacques Handschin, at 69. Search Jacques Handschin.

1956 Death of composer Edgar Leslie Bainton, at 76. Search Edgar Leslie Bainton.

1960 Birth of American composer Joel Phillip FRIEDMAN.

1960 Birth of American composer Thomas TUMULTY.

1961 Death of composer William Beatton Moonie, at 78.

1969 Birth of American composer Robert VOISEY. Oregon.

1969 Death of composer Vincenzo Davico, at 80. Impressions crépusculaires, for pianoforte

1971 Death of Australian soprano Marie Collier. Born 16 Apr 1926 in Melbouurne. Debut as Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana (Mascagni) 1954 Teachers:- Joan Cross, Dawson Freer, Getrude Johnson, Katherine Wielaert, Elizabeth van Rompaey Created Hecuba in King Priam (Tippett) Christine Mannon in Mourning Becomes Electra (Levy). 

1980 "Bravo" network premieres on cable TV. Originally conceived as a cultural network.

1981 Death of Maria Pedrini Soprano Born 1910 in Brisighella, a comune (municipality) in the Province of Ravenna in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about 45 km southeast of Bologna. Debut as Helena in Mefistofele (Boito) 1931 Sang in premiere of Giulio Cesare (Malipiero). Search Maria Pedrini.

1990 Death of American tenor John Alexander. Born 21 Oct 1923, Meridian, Mississippi. Debut as Faust in Faust (Gounod) 1952 Teachers:- Dimitri Onofrei, Robert Weede Pupil :- Dana Talley Created Marco in Monna Vanna (Rachmaninov). John Alexander (tenor)

1996 Death of Belgian baritone Jules Bastin. Born 18 Aug 1933 in Pont-Ligneville. Debut as Caronte in L'Orfeo (Monteverdi) Teacher :- Frederic Anspach Pupil :- Daniel Ottevaere.

2003 Death of German bass-baritone Hans Hotter See obituary in The Guardian Unlimited. Hotter enjoyed an operatic career spanning more than 50 years. b-Offenbach am Main, Germany, 9 JAN 1909. Links ~ age 94. Search Hans Hotter.