October 8 Today in classical music history

Toru TAKEMITSU
(1930-1996)

  • 1551 Birth of Italian composer Giulio CACINI aka Romano, in Tivoli. d-Florence, 10 DEC 1618. First composer to publish an operatic score, I che dal ciel cadere io renderebbe a luna a privatly in Florence, 1589; Il combattimendo d'Apolline col serpente, Euridice, The rapimento of Cefalo another Euridice, 1602. [called Romano, because he lived mostly in Rome]



  • 1585 Birth of German composer Heinrich SCHUTZ in Kostritz. d-Dresden, 1 NOV 1672. Opera, Dafne in Torgau, 1627. Opera: "Dafne" (Torgau, 1627). Search Amazon.com for Heinrich SCHUTZ



  • 1644 Birth of Italian composer Alessandro STRADELLA, in Montefestino. d-? Search Amazon.com for Alessandro STRADELLA



  • 1690 Birth of composer Jaime de Casellas



  • 1692 Birth of composer Antonio Palella



  • 1739 G. F. Handel finishes his Concerto Grosso in G, Op. 6, no. 4 in London. Search Amazon.com for HANDEL Concerto Grosso in G, Op. 6, no. 4



  • 1740 Birth of composer Michel-Julien Mathieu



  • 1747 Birth of composer Johann Wilhelm Stadler



  • 1748 Birth of German conductor and composer Franz SEYDELMANN in Dresden. d-Dresden, 23 OCT 1806. Search Amazon.com for Franz SEYDELMANN



  • 1760 FP of HASSE's "Alcide al bivio" festa teatrale, Vienna. Search Amazon.com for HASSE's "Alcide al bivio



  • 1772 Death of French composer Jean-Joseph Cassanea de MONDONVILLE in Belle. Search Amazon.com for Jean-Joseph Cassanea de MONDONVILLE



  • 1789 FP of CIMAROSA's "La Cleopatra" St. Petersburg. Cimarosa: Overtures



  • 1790 Birth of composer Waldemar Thrane



  • 1800 Birth of Hungarian composer Leó FESTETICS in Pécs. d-Budapest, 15 NOV 1884.



  • 1807 FP of DALAYRAC's "Lina, ou Le mystère" Paris.



  • 1813 Birth of composer Carl Ludwig Amand Mangold



  • 1820 Birth of composer Stanislaw Katski



  • 1820 FP of Overture to Der Freischutz by C. M. Von Weber in Copenhagen. CD-Freischutz-Complete Opera



  • 1821 Birth of German composer Friedrich KIEL in Puderbach. d-14 SEP 1885. Search Amazon.com for Friedrich KIEL



  • 1823 FP of AUBER's "La neige, ou Le nouvel Éginard" Paris.



  • 1826 Birth of composer Williaim Ignace GIBSONE in London. d-London, 9 JUN 1897.



  • 1831 Birth of composer Michal Jelski



  • 1834 Death of French composer François Boieldieu at age 58, in Jarcy. b-Rouen, 16 DEC 1775. Search Amazon.com for François Boieldieu



  • 1837 Birth of Norwegian organist, lutenist and critic Otto WINTER-HJELM in Christiania. d- Christiania, 3 MAY 1931.



  • 1842 Death of German composer Christoph Ernst Friedrich Weyse in Copenhagen, Denmark. b-Altona, 5 MAR 1774. Search Amazon.com for Christoph Ernst Friedrich Weyse



  • 1842 Birth of Belgian composer Pierre DEGEYTER. Search Amazon.com for Pierre DEGEYTER



  • 1860 Birth of composer Felix Woyrsch



  • 1861 Birth of German composer, pianist and teacher Emil SAUER in Hamburg. d-Vienna, 27 APR 1942. Search Amazon.com for Emil SAUER



  • 1861 Birth of American soprano Marie Van Zandt, in New York. d. Cannes, Dec. 31, 1919: MET Début: Nov. 13, 1891 [Amina] La Sonnambula, 1 season (1891-92) 28 perf., 7 works.



  • 1865 Death of Czech composer Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst in Nice. b-Brno, 6 MAY 1814. Search Amazon.com for Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst



  • 1869 Birth of Armenian musicologist Sogomon Sogomonyan KOMITAS in Kyotaya, Turkey. d-Paris, 22 OCT 1935. Search Amazon.com for Sogomon Sogomonyan KOMITAS



  • 1870 Birth of blind French organist and composer Louis VIERNE (Loo ee vee AIRN') in Poitiers. d-Paris, 2 JUN 1937. Search Amazon.com for Louis VIERNE



  • 1877 Birth of Russian conductor Constantin SARADJEV. Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Amenian Philharmonic Orchestra in 1941.



  • 1882 FP of DVORÁK's "Dmitrj" Prague; rev. 1883 & 1885.



  • 1885 Birth of American composer William Henry Bennett VODERY. d-1951.



  • 1895 The Berliner Gramophone Company was founded in Philadelphia.



  • 1898 Birth of composer Clarence Williams



  • 1898 Publication of the first issue of Musical America.



  • 1900 Birth of composer Zeno Octavian Vancea



  • 1901 Birth of composer Eivind Groven



  • 1903 FP of Carl Nielsen's Helios Overture, in Copenhagen. CD-Neilsen: Concertos, etc.



  • 1908 Birth of American composer Paul V. YODER. d-1990. Search Amazon.com for Paul V. YODER



  • 1909 Birth of American baritone Mack HARRELL in Celeste, TX. d- Dallas, 29 JAN 1960. Father of cellist Lynn Harrell. He studied at the Juilliard School, and won the Metropolitan Opera Auditions of the Air in 1939, début as Biterolf in Tannhäuser. He created Samson in Bernard Rogers's The Warrior in 1947. Search Amazon.com for Mack HARRELL



  • 1911 FP of HERBERT's "The Lady of the Slipper" Operetta, Philadelphia. Search Amazon.com for HERBERT's "The Lady of the Slipper



  • 1913 FP of Moussorgsky's opera The Fair at Sorotchintz, in Moscow. Search Amazon.com for Moussorgsky



  • 1913 Birth of American choral conductor Walter SCHUMANN in NYC.  Composed popular theme to TV's 'Dragnet'. d-21 Aug 1958.  



  • The Voices of ChristmasThe Voices Of Walter Schumann



  • 1917 Birth of composer Hans Poser



  • 1918 Birth of German flutist and conductor Kurt REDEL. Search Amazon.com for Kurt REDEL



  • 1919 Birth of Spanish baritone Manuel Ausensi, in Barcelona. Search Amazon.com for Manuel Ausensi



  • 1920 Birth of American soprano Dorothy Dow, in Houston. Début, Buffalo (1946). Search Amazon.com for Dorothy Dow



  • 1922 Birth of composer Svend Westergaard



  • 1923 Birth of soprano Franziska Wachmann



  • 1925 Birth of American mezzo-soprano, teacher and administrator Irene DALIS in San Jose, CA. MET Début: Mar. 16, 1957 [Eboli] Don Carlo, 19 seasons (1956-58, 59-76) 272 perf., 22 roles, 21 works. Search Amazon.com for Irene DALIS



  • 1928 FP of Alfredo Casella's Violin Concerto in a. By Joseph Szigeti and the Persymphans, in Moscow. Search Amazon.com for Casella's Violin Concerto in a



  • 1928 FP of Jeremiáš: "Bratri Karamazovi" (The Brothers Karamazov) in Paris.



  • 1930 Birth of Japanese composer Toru TAKEMITSU in Tokyo. d-Tokyo, 20 FEB 1996. Search Amazon.com for Toru TAKEMITSU



  • 1936 Birth of composer Carman Moore



  • 1937 Birth of English educator, Dame Merle PARK, Director of the Royal Ballet School, 1983-89



  • 1939 Birth of composer Armando Gentilucci



  • 1939 FP of Eugene Zador's oratorio Christopher Columbus in NYC.



  • 1943 Birth of American composer James SELLARS in Ft. Smith, AR. 



  • James Sellars



  • 1943 FP of Igor Stravinsky's Ode to Natalie Koussevitzky. Boston Symphony conducted by Serge Koussevitzky. CD-Stravinsky Conducts Stravinsky



  • 1945 Birth of American countertenor Jeffrey Dooley. 



  • Henry Purcell: Airs and Duets



  • 1946 (Oct 18?) Birth of American composer Howard SHORE. Search Amazon.com for Howard SHORE Wikipedia



  • 1947 Birth of Austrian bass Kurt Rydl, in Vienna. Search Amazon.com for Kurt Rydl



  • 1952 Death of  American soprano May Peterson Thompson in Austin TX. b. Oshkosh, WI. MET Début: Nov. 29, 1917 [Micaela] Carmen, 4 Seasons (1917-19, 21-23) 10 perf., 2 works.



  • 1953 Birth of English composer Robert SAXON in London.



  • 1953 Death of English contralto Kathleen Ferrier, of cancer, in London at age 41. b-Lancashire, 22 APR 1912. Search Amazon.com for Kathleen Ferrier



  • 1954 Birth of Australian composer Carl VINE. Search Amazon.com for Carl VINE



  • 1960 FP of Sergie Prokofiev's opera The Story of a Real Man. Performed posthumously at the Bolshoi in Moscow. CD-Prokofiev: Story of a Real Man



  • 1962 Birth of American composer Michael ABELS in Phoenix, AZ.



  • 1964 FP of HOIBY: "Natalia Petrovna" New York, 1964; rev. "A Month in the Country" Boston (1981).



  • 1966 FP of Igor Stravinsky's Requiem Canticles. Robert Craft conducting in Princeton, NJ. CD-Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring; Requiem Cantciles; Canticum Sacrum



  • 1968 Birth of German violist Tabea ZIMMERMAN. Search Amazon.com for Tabea ZIMMERMAN



  • 1969 Birth of American soprano Denise Daniels. 



  • 1971 Death of composer Johanna Bordewijk-Roepman in The Hague. b-Rotterdam, 4 AUG 1892.



  • 1972 Birth of American composer Jason BAHR.



  • 1973 Birth of French composer Marc KOWALCZYK in Clamart. Search Amazon.com for Marc KOWALCZYK



  • 1974 Death of English musiclogist Dom Anselm Hughes at Nashdom, age 85. b- 15 APR 1889. Search Amazon.com for Dom Anselm Hughes



  • 1978 Death of Hungarian composer Tibor Serly in London. b-Losonc, 25 NOV 1901. Search Amazon.com for Tibor Serly



  • 1992 FP of Gyorgy Ligeti's Violin Concerto. Ensemble Moderne conducted by Peter Eötvös, with soloist Saschko Gawriloff in Cologne. CD-György Ligeti: Concertos for Cello / Violin / Piano - Pierre Boulez / Ensemble InterContemporain



  • 1993 FP of John Corigliano's Troubadours Variations for Guitar and Orchestra. St. Paul Chamber Orchestra conducted by Hugh Wolff, with guitarist Sharon Isbin at the Ordway Music Theater in St. Paul, MN. CD-American Landscapes



  • 1999 FP of Alan Jay Kernis' Garden of Light with Michael Torke's Four Seasons, commissioned by Walt Disney Company and company president Michael Eisner for the Millennium season of the New York Philharmonic, with Kurt Masur conducting the orchestra, vocal soloists, and choirs.



  • 2003 FP of David Arditti's String Quartet No. 2, Op. 31. The Bingham Quartet in the Chapel of Christopher Wren's Royal Naval College at Greenwich.



  • 2011 Death of Swedish baritone Ingvar Wixell. b-7 MAy 1931. OBIT.