NOVEMBER 12 Today in classical music history
1606 Death of composer Matthaus Ludecus, at 79.
1676 Baptismal of Italian composer Giovanni Antonio POLLAROLO.
1679 Death of French organist Michel de La Guerre in Paris. b-Paris, 1605 or 1606.
1724 FP of J. S. Bach's Sacred Cantata No. 139 Wohl dem, der sich auf seinen Gott performed on the 23rd Sunday after Trinity as part of Bach's second annual Sacred Cantata cycle in Leipzig. Search Amazon.com for Bach's Sacred Cantata No. 139
1738 (GC, JC=1 NOV)Handel completes Part II Moses’ Song of his oratorio Israel in Egypt. Search Amazon.com for Israel in Egypt
1730 Birth of Italian soprano Catterina GABRIELLI in Rome.
1735 FP of GALUPPI's "Ergilda" Venice.
1739 Death of German composer Ernst Ludwig, at 71. b-1667.
1767 Birth of German cellist Bernhard ROMBERG. Search Amazon.com for Bernhard ROMBERG
1771 FP of ARNE's "The Fairy Prince" London.
1817 Birth of composer Carlo PEDROTTI. Scena ed aria ... Pedrotti ... Ländler (Styrian Dance) " Alplers Lust " - Kéler Béla. < Conductor [and military band parts]. > (Boosey's military Journal)
1817 Birth of composer Martin Gustav NOTTEBOHM. Search Amazon.com for Martin Gustav NOTTEBOHM.
1823 Death of composer Emmanuel Aloys Forster, at 75.
1827 Birth of German composer Gustav Adolf MERKEL in Oberoderwitz, Dresden. d-30 OCT 1885. Search Amazon.com for Gustav Adolf MERKEL
1831 FP of Coccia's "Enrico di Monfort" Milan.
1833 (JC, GC=31 OCT) Birth of Russian composer Alexander BORODIN in Georgia. d-St. Petersburg, 27 FEB 1887. Search Amazon.com for Alexander BORODIN
1844 Birth of French composer Fouque Pierre OCTAVE in Pau. d-Paris, 22 APR 1883. Search Amazon.com for Fouque Pierre OCTAVE
1852 Death of composer and violinist Georg Hellmesberger, at 22. Search Amazon.com for Georg Hellmesberger
1856 FP of DELIBES's "Six demoiselles à marier" Paris.
1858 Birth of Canadian composer Alexis CONTANT in Montreal. d-Montreal, 28 NOV 1918. Search Amazon.com for Alexis CONTANT
1865 FP of HERVÉ's "Une fantasia" Paris.
1866 FP of Delibes ballet La Source, in Paris. CD-Delibes: Coppelia/La Source
1881 FP of Peter Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 2. Madeleine Schiller with the New York Philharmonic conducted by Theodore Thomas. CD-Tchaikovsky: Concerto No. 1/Rachmaninoff: Concerto No. 2
1888 (JC, GC=24)FP of Tchaikovsky's symphonic fantasy overture Hamlet in Moscow.
1890 FP of AUDRAN's "Miss Hélyett" Paris.
1892 Birth of Welsh tenor Tudor Davies, in Cymmer. d. Penault, Apr. 2, 1958. Search Amazon.com for Tudor Davies
1893 FP of COWEN's "Signa" Milan, [rev] London (1894).
1896 Death of composer Spyridon Xyndas, at 84.
1897 Birth of German composer Karl MARX in Munich. d-Stuttgart, 8 MAY 1985.
1898 FP of GRANADOS:'s"Maria del Carmen" Zzarzuela, Madrid.
1901 Birth of German composer Ernst PEPPING. d-1 FEB 1981. Search Amazon.com for Ernst PEPPING
1901 Birth of Swiss soprano Helen Fahrni. d. Bern Apr. 14, 1985.
1902 Enrico Caruso records Vesti la giubba from Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci, and it becomes the first
record to sell a million copies. Search Amazon.com for Caruso records Vesti la giubba
1902 FP of HUMPERDINCK's "Dornröschen" Frankfurt.
1903 FP of Berlioz La Mort de Cleopatra. Felix Weingartner conducting in London, at Queen's Hall. Search Amazon.com for Berlioz La Mort de Cleopatra
1904 FP of GALLI's "David" Milan w/ Francesco Maria Bonini.
1905 Birth of Russian composer Evgeny Grigor'yevich BRUSLOVSKY.
1905 Birth of Greek composer Solon MICHAELIDES in Nicosia, Cyprus. d-Athens, 9 SEP 1979. Search Amazon.com for Solon MICHAELIDES 
1908 (14th?)FP of Oskar Strauss's operetta The Chocolate Soldier in Vienna. Work based on George Bernard Shaw's Arms and the Man. CD-Strauss: The Chocolate Soldier
1909 FP of LEHÁR's "Der Graf von Luxemburg" operetta, Vienna.
1912 FP of D'ALBERT's "Liebesketten" Vienna.
1915 Birth of American baritone Lawrence Winters, in Kings Creek, SC. d. Hamburg, Sep. 24, 1965.

1916 Birth of Canadian composer Jean Papineau-COUTURE in Montreal. d-Montreal, AUG 2000. Search Amazon.com for Jean Papineau-COUTURE
1919 FP of HEGER's "Ein Fest aug Haderslen" Nuremberg w/Tourangeau, & Burrows (1971).
1920 Birth of English bass Michael Langdon, in Wolverhampton. d. Hove, Susses, Mar. 12, 1991. MET Début: Nov. 2, 1964 [Ochs] Der Rosenkavalier, This was the only performance by this artist.
1921 Birth of Canadian composer Robert FLEMING.
1923 FP of FREEMAN's "Vendetta" New York.
1925 Death of Polish composer Roman Statkowski, at 65. b-1859. Search Amazon.com for Roman Statkowski
1925 FP of JANÁCEK's "Sárka" rev. Brno.
1926 Birth of American baritone William Justus, in Kansas City, MO. d. Miami, FL., Apr. 1, 1986. MET Début: Apr. 30, 1976 [Escamillo] Carmen, The only performance by this artist.
1931 FP of PFITZNER's "Das Herz" Munich.
1931 FP of S. Rachmaninoff's Oriental Sketch by composer, solo piano, in NYC. Search Amazon.com for Rachmaninoff's Oriental Sketch
1936 Birth of American composer Alfred 'Corky' FABRIZIO.
1939 Birth of Czech soprano Lucia POPP in Bratislava. d. Munich, Nov. 16, 1993, (Brain cancer.) After finishing school, she studied medicine for two semesters. Only then did she begin studying music and singing at the Conservatories of Brünn and Prague. Début Bratislava [Queen of Night] Die Zauberflöte (1963). She was engaged by the Vienna Staatsoper and became famous overnight singing the Queen of the Night. Sang [Barbarina] Le nozze di Figaro in Vienna (1963), and was engaged by State Opera, where she then sang regularly. Salzburg Fest. début [First Boy] Die Zauberflöte (1963). CG début [Oscar] Un ballo in maschera (1966). She was a notable singer of Strauss roles; Arabella, Sophie, Marschallin, Christine, and the Countess in Capriccio), and of Mozart and Janácek. Popp also had a successful concert and recital career. MET: Début: Feb. 19, 1967 [Queen] Die Zauberflöte, 3 seasons (1966-67, 69-70, 80-81) 26 perf. 3 roles, 2 works. Search Amazon.com for Lucia POPP

1940 Disney releases the film of classical music favorites, Fantasia with Mickey Mouse and Leopold Stokowski conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra. DVD: The Fantasia Anthology
1940 Death of Cuban composer Alejandro Garcia Caturla, at 34. Search Amazon.com for Alejandro Garcia Caturla
1941 Birth of New Zealand composer Jennifer Helen McLEOD.
1941 Founding of National Negro Opera Company by opera singer, Madame Lillian Evanti, in Pittsburgh.
1942 Birth of American tenor David Holloway. MET Début: Oct. 16, 1973 Puccini: [Yamadori] Madama Butterfly, 7 seasons (1973-74, 80-83, 84-87) 121 perf. 14 roles, 13 works. Search Amazon.com for David Holloway
1943 FP of William Schuman's Symphony No. 5 Symphony for Strings in Boston. CD-Schuman: Symphony No5; Symphony No3
1944 Death of American composer Edgar Stillman Kelley, at 87 in NYC. b-Sparta, WI 14 APR 1857. Search Amazon.com for Edgar Stillman Kelley
1944 Death of Australian composer Roy Agnew, at 51.
1947 Birth of American soprano Sheri Greenawald, in Iowa City. MET Début: Nov. 25, 1995 [Jenny] Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, 1 season (199596) 2 perf., 1 work.

1948 Birth of composer Anthony Walter ADAMS.
1948 Death of Italian composer Umberto Giordano in Milan, age 81. b- Foggia, 28 AUG 1867. Search Amazon.com for Umberto Giordano 
1956 American debut of soprano Maureen Forrester in song recital in NYC. Search Amazon.com for Maureen Forrester
1959 Death of English composer Albert William Ketelbey in Cowes. b-Birmingham, 9 AUG 1875. Search Amazon.com for Ketelbey
1962 Death of German composer Alexander Spitzmuller-Harmersbach, at 68. Search Amazon.com for Alexander Spitzmuller-Harmersbach
1966 Death of American composer Quincy Porter, at 69 in Bethany CT. b-New Haven, CT 7 FEB 1897. Search Amazon.com for Quincy Porter
1969 Death of tenor Louis van Tulder, at 77. Search Amazon.com for Louis van Tulder
1972 Death of Czech-born American violinist and composer Rudolph Friml at 92. Operettas The Vagabond King' and `Rose Marie as well as songs such as The Donkey Serenade. Grave site photo | Search Amazon.com for Rudolph Friml
1973 FP of D. Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 14, by the Beethoven Quartet in Leningrad. CD-Shostakovich: String Quartets 1-13
1974 FP of George Crumb's Makrokosmos II for amplified piano, in NYC. CD-Makrokosmos Vol. 1 & 2: 24 Fantasy Pieces after the Zodiac for Amplified Piano
1976 Death of American composer Walter Piston in Belmont, MA at the age of 82. b-Rockland, ME 20 JAN 1894. Search Amazon.com for Walter Piston
1978 Death of American composer Howard Swanson, at 71.
1980 Death of Dutch composer Alexander "Alex" Nicholas Voormolen, at 85 in Leidschendam. b-Rotterdam, 3 MAR 1895.
1982 Birth of English composer Yusuf SMS ALBASRI in South Shields.
1987 Death of soprano Ida Franca in NYC. Wrote, 'Manual of bel canto.' Search Amazon.com for Ida Franca
1991 Death of American baritone Bruce Hubbard, in Indianapolis. b-1952. Search Amazon.com for Bruce Hubbard
1996 Death of English soprano Gwen Catley, at 90. b-9 FEB 1906. Search Amazon.com for Gwen Catley

1997 Death of Spanish-American conductor, teacher and composer Carlos Surinach in New Haven, CT. US citizen, 1959. b-Barcelona, 4 MAR 1915. Search Amazon.com for Carlos Surinach
2002 FP of David Del Tredici's Grand Trio. Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio at the 92nd Street Y in NYC.
2010 Death of Polish composer Henryk Gorecki . Górecki's Symphony No. 4 was to be premiered in London in 2010 but the event was cancelled due to the composer's ill health. He died before the work could be formally presented. He had been awarded the Order of the White Eagle, Poland's highest honour, just a month before his death. b-December 6, 1933 in the village of Czernica (Silesian Voivodeship) in southwest Poland.
Search Amazon.com for Henryk Gorecki

2013 Death of British composer John Tavener. Born, 28 Jan 1944. more