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.