Published by American Public Media
Composers Datebook™ is a daily two-minute program designed to inform, engage, and entertain listeners with timely information about composers of the past and present. Each program notes significant or intriguing musical events involving composers of the past and present, with appropriate and accessible music related to each.
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Synopsis On today’s date in 2012, at the Royal Albert Hall in London, the BBC’s Scottish Symphony, under the direction of Scottish conductor Donald Runnicles, gave the world premiere of a new orchestral piece by Scottish composer Thea Musgrave. You might be forgiven for asking, “Were any bagpipes involved?” No, but the piece did involve the next best thing — if you’re Scottish that is — namely the Loch Ness monster. Here’s how Thea Musgrave described her new work, Loch Ness – A Postcard from Scotland : “This Scottish loch is famous for its monster — only very occasionally seen. In this lighthearted work he, the monster (a tuba), emerges from the depths (E flat) to find the sun (A major) coming out from a thick mist (string clusters). “As he plays he is warmed by the sparkling sun (trumpets) and by the strains of an ancient Scottish melody. As the sun goes down, he dives back into the deep waters with a big splash. Then a cool moon rises, a light breeze ruffles the surface of the waters, and all is at peace.” Music Played in Today's Program Thea Musgrave (b. 1928): Loch Ness – A Postcard from Scotland ; BBC National Orchestra of Wales; William Boughton, conductor; Lyrita 372
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Synopsis By the time of his death in 1998, pop singer Frank Sinatra was such a domineering figure in his field that he was known as “The Chairman of the Board.” By the time of his death in 1992, the same nickname might have applied to the American composer William Schuman, who was, at various times, director of publications for G. Schirmer, president of the Juilliard School, president of Lincoln Center, and on the board of many other important American musical institutions. He even looked the part of a distinguished, well-dressed CEO. Oddly enough, he came rather late to classical music. Schuman was born on today’s date in 1910, and, as a teenager in New York City, was more interested in baseball than music, even though his dance band was the rage of Washington High School. It was with some reluctance that 19-year old Billy Schuman was dragged to a New York Philharmonic concert conducted by Arturo Toscanini. The program included a symphony by someone named Robert Schumann, and Billy was pretty impressed. When he heard the Symphony No. 1 of contemporary American composer Roy Harris in 1933, Schuman was hooked, and soon was writing concert music himself. By 1941, when his Symphony No. 3 premiered, he was recognized as a major talent, and in 1943 he was awarded the first Pulitzer Prize for Music. Music Played in Today's Program William Schuman (1910-1992): Symphony No. 3; New York Philharmonic; Leonard Bernstein, conductor; Sony Classical 63163 Robert Schumann (1810-1856): Symphony No. 1 ( Spring ); Berlin Philharmonic; James Levine, conductor; DG 435 856 Roy Harris (1899-1979): Symphony No. 1; Louisville Orchestra; Jorge Mester, conductor; Albany/Louisville First Edition 012
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Synopsis On today’s date in 1778, Italy’s most famous opera house opened with a performance of L’Europa Riconosciuta , or Europa Revealed , a work written specially for the occasion by Antonio Salieri. The new theater took its name from its location, previously occupied by the church of Santa Maria della Scala, which in turn was named after a Milanese nobleman’s wife, Beatrice della Scala. These days Milan’s Teatro alla Scala — or “La Scala” for short — is still in operation, although today performances of Salieri operas are not as common as those of his 18th century rival, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In the 19th century, La Scala was at the center of the golden age of Italian opera, which boasted the greatest works of Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti and Verdi. In August of 1943, 165 years after it opened, La Scala was damaged by Allied bombers as World War II drew to a close. The theater was repaired and reopened in 1946 with a series of gala concerts conducted by Arturo Toscanini. Over 60 years later, the theater was newly refurbished and re-opened in December of 2004 with a gala production of the same Salieri opera written for its original opening 226 years earlier. Music Played in Today's Program Antonio Salieri (1750-1825): Falstaff Overture ; London Mozart Players; Matthias Bamert, conductor; Chandos 9877
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Synopsis American composer John Harbison was born in 1938, and so, as a young lad, grew up at the tail end of the Golden Age of radio and the big band Era of Count Basie, Duke Ellington, the Dorsey Brothers, and Benny Goodman. “Over the radio came sounds played by bands in hotels and ballrooms, now distant memories that seemed to a seventh-grade, small town, late-night listener like the pulse of giant imagined cities,” he wrote. Decades later, he translated those early musical memories into a three-movement composition for a big band orchestra. “These sounds, layered with real experience of some of their places of origin, magnified, distorted, idealized and destabilized, came into contact with other sounds, some of recent origin, and resulted in a celebratory, menacing suite I titled Three City Blocks, ” he recalled. The U.S. Air Force Band gave the premiere performance of Three City Blocks on today’s date in 1993. And, keeping in the spirit of the old days when every major hotel could boast its own dance band, Harbison’s Three City Blocks premiered at the Hilton Hotel in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Music Played in Today's Program John Harbison (b. 1938): Three City Blocks ; New England Conservatory Wind Ensemble; Frank Battisti, conductor; Centaur 2288
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Synopsis Today’s date in 1914 marks the birthday of one of Puerto Rico’s most fascinating composers! Born in Ukraine under the name Yakov Ovcharov, he came to the United States in 1923, changed his name to Jack Delano, and in the 1930s became a photographer for Roosevelt’s New Deal programs. In 1941, he was sent to Puerto Rico on a shoot and fell in love with the island. After Pearl Harbor, he was drafted by the Army Air Corps to film U.S. forces in the South Pacific, but in 1946 returned to Puerto Rico to stay. Delano then started writing music incorporating Puerto Rican folk material, and even works performed by the island’s symphony orchestra. In his spare time he was also a notable cartoonist, poet, professor, architectural designer and founder of Puerto Rico’s first publicly funded educational television station. In 1951, he directed Los Peloteros , a movie about poor rural kids’ love of baseball which became a classic of Puerto Rican cinema, and he composed its film score as well — why are we not surprised? As they would say on the island, Jack Delano was chévere — a quite remarkable fellow! Music Played in Today's Program Jack Delano (1914-1997): “Allegretto Grazioso” from Sonatina; Duo Classico; Suellen Hershman, flute; David Witten, piano; Musical Heritage Society; MM-512502
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Synopsis On today’s date in 1892, The Washington Post’s headlines included one that read: “Sousa’s farewell toot — last appearance of the Marine Band under his baton — admirers of the popular conductor crowd forward for a farewell shake of the hand at the close of his final concert on the White House grounds.” In his 12-year tenure with the Marine Band, Sousa had made it one of the finest touring ensembles in his day. He was famous coast-to-coast — but not all that well paid. While on tour early in 1892, he had been approached in Chicago by an impresario with a business proposition: “Why not form your own band, Mr. Sousa? I can offer you four times your Marine Corps salary, plus a percentage of the new band’s profits.” He thought it over, and upon his return to Washington, D.C., submitted his resignation effective July 31, 1892. His final concerts with the Marine Band took place on July 29 and 30 that year. With that, one important chapter of his musical career had ended, but another was just beginning. Over the next four decades, the Sousa Band would go on to become famous worldwide. Music Played in Today's Program John Philip Sousa (1854-1932): Manhattan Beach ; Dallas Wind Symphony; Jerry Junkin, conductor; Reference 94
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Synopsis On today’s date in 1950, the Michigan All-Star Band, under the direction of Dale Harris, gave the premiere performance of a new work, George Washington Bridge at Interlochen Summer Music Camp . This music was written by American composer William Schuman, who was experiencing an especially creative period in the early 1950s. Schuman was living in New Rochelle, New York, but as president of the Juilliard School, spent much of his time in Manhattan, and, as Schuman explained: “There are few days in the year when I do not see the George Washington Bridge. I pass it on my way to work as I drive along the Henry Hudson Parkway on the New York shore. Ever since my student days when I watched the progress of its construction, this bridge has had for me an almost human personality, and this personality is astonishingly varied, assuming different moods, depending on the time of day or night, the weather, and, of course, my own mood as I pass by … I have walked across it late at night when it was shrouded in fog, and during the brilliant sunshine hours of midday … It is difficult to imagine a more gracious welcome or dramatic entry to the great metropolis.” The piece is in ABCBA form — a little like the rising and falling arch of a suspension bridge, in fact, and, since its 1950 premiere at Interlochen, Schuman’s George Washington Bridge has won a secure place as a classic of the wind band repertory. Music Played in Today's Program William Schuman (1910-1992): George Washington Bridge ; Rutgers Wind Ensemble; William Bertz, conductor; Naxos 572230
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Synopsis On today’s date in 1962, the Symphony No. 5 for strings, by German-born American composer Gene Gutchë, received its premiere performance at Chatauqua, New York. Romeo Maximilian Eugene Ludwig Gutchë was born in Berlin in 1907. His father, a well-to-do European businessman, was not amused by the notion of his son “wasting” his time on music, even though famous Berlin-based composer-pianist Ferruccio Busoni confirmed the young man’s talent. So he ran away from home, abandoning any hope of a sizeable inheritance in the process, and came to America. He studied at the Universities of Minnesota and Iowa, and, in 1950, at 43, produced his first symphony. He would go on to compose six symphonies in all, plus an hour-long symphonic work for chorus and orchestra, Akhenaten , premiered by Leonard Slatkin and the St. Louis Symphony in 1983. For most of his life, despite fellowships and commissions, Gutchë lived modestly with his wife, Marion, in a cottage in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. He died in the fall of 2001 — one year after this Cincinnati Symphony recording of his Symphony No. 5 was reissued on compact disc. Music Played in Today's Program Gene Gutchë (1907-2001): Symphony No. 5; Cincinnati Symphony; Max Rudolf, conductor; CRI 825
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Synopsis On today’s date in 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, effectively beginning World War I. Early in the course of that war, French composer Albéric Magnard became a national hero when he died defending his home against invading German troops. Maurice Ravel tried to enlist as a French pilot but was refused because of his poor health. Instead, he became a truck driver stationed at the Verdun front. British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams was too old to be drafted, but he enlisted as a private in the Royal Army Medical Corps. Another British composer, George Butterworth, would be killed by a sniper during the Battle of the Somme. Austrian violinist and composer Fritz Kreisler served briefly in the Austrian Army in 1914 before being wounded and honorably discharged. He arrived in then-neutral New York on November of 1914 and remained in America through the war years. In 1915, Kreisler made a recording of Bach’s Double Violin Concerto, performing with the Russian violinist Efrem Zimbalist. Austria and Russian may have been at war in Europe, but in a cramped New Jersey recording studio, at least, the music of Bach provided a brief island of peace and harmony. Music Played in Today's Program J.S. Bach (1685-1750): Double Concerto (recorded 1915); Fritz Kreisler, Efrem Zimbalist, violins; string quartet; Buddulph CD 21/22
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Synopsis Alfred Hitchcock’s cold war spy film Torn Curtain , opened in New York Theaters on today’s date in 1966. It was the swinging 60s, and Hitchcock had asked his long-time collaborator, composer Bernard Hermann, for a pop score that would be “with it” with a possible hit single as a main title. What Hitch did not want was, as he put it, “more Richard Strauss.” Hermann assured Hitch he knew exactly what was required — and then ignored him completely. Herrmann thought Torn Curtain was a dangerously weak film, and one that needed a huge symphonic score with an eerie choir of massed flutes and ominous, oppressive brass to make it effective. When Hitch heard a Hollywood studio orchestra rehearsing the main title music, he fired the composer on the spot and called in someone else to score the film. Herrmann was crushed. He had thought that Hitch should have been grateful. “You call in the doctor to make you healthy, not to make you rich!” he later quipped. Hermann may well have right. Torn Curtain is regarded as one of Hitchcock’s lamest efforts, while Herrmann’s rejected score has gone on to be recorded and admired on its own. Music Played in Today's Program Bernard Herrmann (1911-1975): Unused Torn Curtain film score; Los Angeles Philharmonic; Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor; Sony 62700
2 min
Synopsis On today’s date in 1882, the first performance of Richard Wagner’s new opera Parsifal took place at the Bayreuth Festival in Bavaria. In the audience was 25-year-old American Gustav Kobbé, an ardent opera fan who would go on to write Kobbé’s Complete Opera Book , a standard reference work on the subject. As he watched the opening scene of Parsifal , his gaze became fixed on one spot of the painted scenery, depicting a pile of rocks. Was that Wagner’s face painted on one of the rocks? Or was that Wagner himself, staring out at the singers on stage? During the intermission, he asked others if they had seen what he had, but they just looked at him as if the heat of the Bavarian summer had affected the young American’s brain. But after the opera he asked one of the singers, who was surprised at his sharp eyesight — but confirmed what he saw. To ensure that singers followed his specific directions where to stand and when to move, Wagner had, in fact, been standing on stage amid the painted rocks. To all eyes but Kobbé’s, Wagner’s craggy, sun-tanned face had blended in perfectly with the painted scenery. Music Played in Today's Program Richard Wagner (1813-1883): Act I excerpt from Parsifal ; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; James Levine, conductor; DG 437 501
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Synopsis On today’s date in 1976, an unusual opera premiered at the Théatre Municipale in Avignon, France. It ran for five hours with no breaks between acts. The audience was invited to wander in and out as it pleased. The libretto consisted of numbers, solfege syllables and some cryptic poems written by a pupil from a New York School for Disturbed Children. Even the title of this new opera, Einstein on the Beach , was unusual, suggesting something at once serious and surreal. In the opera, a violinist dressed up like Albert Einstein wanders in and out of some scenes, a reference to the fact that, in real life, the famous physicist was also a talented amateur violinist. Einstein on the Beach was collaboration between two Americans: composer Philip Glass and set designer Robert Wilson. It made the rounds in Europe, attracted a great deal of attention, and came to America in November of 1976 for two sold-out performances in New York staged at the Metropolitan Opera with Glass and his ensemble. Its music was even referenced as a kind of “in joke” during a famous TV commercial in which Einstein debates the merits of Coke vs. Pepsi. For the record, Albert chooses Pepsi. Music Played in Today's Program Philip Glass (b. 1937): Violin Solo from Einstein on the Beach ; Gregroy Fulkerson, violin; New World 80313
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Synopsis The composer of this familiar theme was born on today’s date in 1904 in Lyon, France. He was christened Noel Arnaud, but is better known as Leo Arnaud, the name he adopted after emigrating to the United States. He studied music in his native France with two of its leading composers, Vincent d’Indy and Maurice Ravel. In the 1930s, Arnaud settled in Hollywood, where he churned out scores for everything from Blondie Goes Latin to The Ice Follies of 1939 . The high point of his cinematic career was an Oscar nomination for his work as an arranger for the 1964 musical The Unsinkable Molly Brown . Some years earlier, Hollywood Bowl conductor Felix Slatkin commissioned Arnaud to write some music for a 1958 LP sonic spectacular designed to show off the new “stereophonic” recording process. The album was titled Charge! and featured military style fanfares and suites, including Bugler’s Dream . In 1968, when ABC television was looking for a musical theme for its Olympic coverage, it chose Bugler’s Dream . By 1988, when the NBC network secured TV rights for the Olympics, Arnaud’s theme had become the instantly recognizable signature theme for the games. Music Played in Today's Program Leo Arnaud (1904-1991): Olympic Theme ; Cleveland Symphonic Winds; Frederick Fennell, conductor; Telarc 80099
2 min
Synopsis On today’s date in 1757, Italian composer Domenico Scarlatti died in Madrid. He was 71, and for the last 38 years of his life was employed at the court of Princess Maria Barbara, first in her native Portugal, and then, when the princess married the heir to the Spanish throne, in Madrid. Although Domenico could very well have stayed in Italy and become a famous opera composer like his father, Alessandro Scarlatti, Domenico spent the better part of his life composing over 600 virtuoso sonatas for Maria Barbara. Only a handful of these were published during his lifetime. In the 19th century, Liszt and Brahms took the trouble to hunt down additional Scarlatti sonatas in manuscript, but the bulk of them remained unpublished and unknown until a complete edition was published in the 20th century. While not coming anywhere close to matching Scarlatti’s output, one 20th century American composer, Philadelphia-born Vincent Persichetti, composed ten harpsichord sonatas of his own. The growing number of modern-day harpsichordists has meant that in addition to the wealth of old music for the instrument, many contemporary composers have followed Persichetti’s example, and are writing new works for this old instrument. Music Played in Today's Program Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757): Sonata in C Minor; Elaine Comparone, harpsichord; Laurel 838 Vincent Pershichetti (1915-1987): Sonata No. 4; Elaine Comparone, harpsichord; Laurel 838
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Synopsis On today’s date in 1847, Giuseppe Verdi conducted the premiere performance of his newest opera, I Masnadieri or The Robbers , at Her Majesty’s Theater in London. And speaking of her Majesty, Queen Victoria was in the audience, as were other state dignitaries, including the Duke of Wellington and Louis Napoleon of France. It was the first time in over twenty years that a world-famous composer had composed an opera specifically for London. As one of Verdi’s young assistants put it, “Neither Rossini, Bellini, or Donizetti had ever pitched their tents on the banks of the Thames.” As an added attraction, 27-year old Swedish soprano, Jenny Lind, topped an all-star line-up of singers. It was Lind’s London debut and the first time ever that an operatic role had been specially written for her. The premiere was a great success for all concerned, with Verdi and the singers called to the stage again and again to cheers from the audience. The critics, for their part, were less than kind. “We take this to be the worst opera that has been given in your time at Her Majesty’s Theater. There does not exist an Italian composer more incapable of producing what is commonly called melody,” wrote one. I Masnadieri fared a little better back in Italy, but gradually faded from the active repertory until the revival of interest in all of Verdi’s opera in the 20th century. Music Played in Today's Program Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901): I Masnadieri Overture ; Hungarian State Opera Orchestra; Iper Giorgio Morandi, conductor; Naxos 8.554077
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Synopsis In London on today’s date in 1938, the Ballet Russe of Monte Carlo presented Nobilissima Visione , a work by German composer Paul Hindemith based on the life of Saint Francis of Assisi. The idea may have been suggested by his wife, who had recently converted to Catholicism. The Hindemiths had visited the Church of Santa Croce in Florence were deeply impressed by its frescoes depicting scenes from the life of St. Francis. He originally intended to incorporate melodies by 14th-century French composer Machaut into his ballet but ended up writing original themes in an archaic style. As a staged ballet or as a concert suite, Nobilissima Visione proved to be one of his most popular works. “My ballet is not an eye-catcher in the old style. It is not exactly full of sparkling wit, but all the same it makes a fine impression, with all the trappings of success that a composer greedy for recognition could wish. Even the earthshaking impresario Sol Hurok was so impressed that he pressed me to his smart businessman’s heart and is insisting on my conducting the piece myself in New York and surrounding villages,” Hindemith wrote in 1938. Music Played in Today's Program Paul Hindemith (1895-1963): Nobilissima Visione ; San Francisco Symphony; Herbert Blomstedt, conductor; London 433 809
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Synopsis Today a tip of the hat to a much-beleaguered and frequently unacknowledged species: the piano teacher. Do you, for example, remember the name of your first piano teacher? In the case of Duke Ellington, it was not a name one could easily forget. She was a certain Mrs. Clinkscales, and Ellington always gave her credit for her persistence. “Because of my enthusiasm for playing ball and racing through the street, I missed more lessons than I took. When she had her piano recital with all her pupils, I was the only one who could not play his part. So Mrs. Clinkscales had to play the treble, and I just played the umpy-dump bottom!” Ellington wrote. Avant-garde American composer Morton Feldman immortalized the name of his piano teacher in an elegiac chamber piece, Madame Press Died Last Week at Ninety . This music was premiered in France on today’s date in 1970. Madame Maurina Press had taught the children of the Czar and knew the Russian composer Alexander Scriabin. She started teaching Feldman when he was twelve, and his tribute to her is scored for 12 instruments — with the piano conspicuous by its absence! Music Played in Today's Program Morton Feldman (1926-1987): Madame Press died last week at 90 ; Orchestra of St. Luke’s; John Adams, conductor; Nonesuch 79249
2 min
Synopsis During WWII, German troops encircled Leningrad for 900 days, a siege that caused immense suffering for that city’s residents. One of them, composer Dmitri Shostakovich, appeared on the cover of a July 1942 issue of TIME magazine, grim-faced and wearing the helmet of a Leningrad fireman. The publicity was for the American premiere of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 7 ( Leningrad ), as a live NBC Symphony radio broadcast on today’s date in 1942. The broadcast was dedicated to the Russian War Relief, and the NBC announcer explained how the score of the recently-completed symphony had been flown from the Soviet Union to the West via Teheran. Two famous conductors, Leopold Stokowski and Arturo Toscanini, had been hotly contesting who would conduct the American premiere. The older conductor pulled rank. “Don’t you think, my dear Stokowski, it would be interesting to hear the old Italian conductor play this work of a young Russian anti-Nazi composer?” Toscanini wrote. Friends of Shostakovich later suggested he may have had more than just the Nazis on his mind and quote him as saying: “Fascism is not simply National Socialism. This is music about terror, slavery, and oppression of the spirit.” Music Played in Today's Program Dimtri Shostakovich (1906-1976): Symphony No. 7 ( Leningrad ); NBC Symphony; Arturo Toscanini, conductor; RCA Toscanini Edition Vol. 22
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Synopsis Today we pay tribute to Pauline Viardot-Garcia, born in Paris on today’s date in 1821. Her father was Manuel Garcia, the tenor for whom Rossini had written the role of Count Almaviva in The Barber of Seville . Her older sister was legendary operatic diva Maria Malibran, a famous interpreter of operas by Bellini and Donizetti. Little Pauline wanted to be a piano virtuoso and took lessons from Liszt, but at 15, her mother decided she, too, should become a singer. Chopin adored her voice, and together they arranged some of his mazurkas as songs. Meyerbeer and Gounod wrote operatic roles for her. In 1860, with the composer at the piano croaking out the tenor part of Tristan, Viardot-Garcia sang the role of Isolde at the first private reading of music from Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde , and it was she who gave the premiere performance of Brahms’ Alto Rhapsody in 1870. She married Louis Viardot, the director of the Theatre Italien in Paris, and at their home one was just as likely to meet Charles Dickens or Henry James as Berlioz or Tchaikovsky. She was also a composer of songs and chamber operas, which are receiving renewed attention. Music Played in Today's Program Pauline Viardot-Garcia (1821-1910): 12 Poems by Pushkin, Fet and Turgenev: No. 12: Les Étoiles ; Laetitia Grimaldi, soprano; Ammiel Bushakevitz, piano; Bis 2546
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Synopsis On today’s date in 1877, the Vienna Philharmonic performed for the first time in Salzburg, the birthplace of Mozart, during a three-day music festival that included works by Mozart and others, including two living composers of that day, 44-year-old Brahms and 64-year-old Wagner. The Philharmonic would return to Salzburg six more times for mini-festivals through 1910, some led by composer-conductors like Richard Strauss and Gustav Mahler. In 1925, an annual Salzburg Festival was established, with the Vienna Philharmonic and Vienna State Opera as the main musical participants. World War II disrupted the festival in the 1940s, but soon after it reestablished itself among the most prestigious of international musical happenings. Traditionally, a familiar brass fanfare opens each Salzburg Festival radio broadcast, but probably few music lovers know the name of its composer. It was written by Joseph Messner, who wrote over 700 works. He was born in 1893 in the Austrian Tyrol and died in 1969 in a village near Salzburg, where he had served as church organist, conductor and composer for decades, leading many Festival concerts featuring sacred music by Mozart and others. Music Played in Today's Program Wolfgang Mozart (1756-1791): Menuetto and Trio from Haffner Symphony ; Vienna Philharmonic; Rafael Kubelik, conductor; Seraphim 68531 Joseph Messner (1893-1969): Salzburg Festival Fanfare ; Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra; Ivor Bolton, conductor; Oehmns CD 734
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