Composers Datebook

Synopsis

It was Mozart who wrote the first great piano concertos, with Beethoven, Brahms and others following suit in the 19th century. Closer to our own time, the tradition continues, with new contributions appearing each year.

On today’s date in 1986, American composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s piano concerto received its premiere by the Detroit Symphony with Marc-Andre Hamelin the soloist.

“My piano concerto does not cast the pianist as the prototypical 19th-century hero battling the orchestral forces and triumphing through overwhelming virtuosity,” said Zwilich. “My concerto calls for a blending of forces — a joint exploration of the piano soloist and orchestra. The pianist is even asked to merge with various sections of the rather large orchestra at times.”

She continued, “To me, a part of the nobility of the piano is that it can change its color, chameleon-like without losing its special identity … One composer treats the piano as a percussion instrument, another as a singer … Certainly the vast and wonderful piano repertoire explores this remarkable range. And the world of composer-pianists is large enough to embrace Serge Rachmaninoff and Art Tatum.”

Music Played in Today's Program

Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (b. 1939): Piano Concerto; Joseph Kalichstein, piano; Florida State Orchestra; Michael Stern, Koch 7537

Synopsis

In the Guiness Book of Music Facts and Feats, the record for Most Prolific Composer goes to Georg Philip Telemann, who died on today’s date in 1767 at 86. And longevity gave an edge to productivity: Telemann outlived his prolific contemporary, J.S. Bach, by 21 years, and outlived Handel by 12.

But even considering the extra years he lived, Telemann’s output is staggering. Of Bach’s cantatas, 200 or so survive, but Telemann’s number 1400. He also wrote 125 orchestral suites, 125 concertos, 130 trios, 145 pieces for solo keyboard, and about 50 operas.

Most composers (if they are lucky), publish one autobiography; Telemann published three, and commented in one of them, “How is it possible for me to remember everything I wrote for violin and winds?” Sometimes, in addition to composing original music, Telemann was also asked to perform it: “A few days before I play a violin concerto,” he wrote, “I always locked myself away, fiddle in hand, shirt-sleeves rolled up, with something strong to calm the nerves, and practice.”

Fortunately, Telemann seemed to find musical inspiration everywhere, including from the pop and folk music of his day. As he put it, “One would scarcely believe what wonderful ideas pipers and fiddlers have when they improvise while dancers pause for breath. An observer could easily gather enough ideas from them in eight days to last a lifetime!”

Music Played in Today's Program

Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767): Violin Concerto in A (The Frog); Pavlo Beznosiuk, violin; New London Consort; Philip Pickett, conductor; London 455 621

Synopsis

In wartime London, on today’s date in 1943, a Promenade Concert featured the first performance of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Symphony No. 5. The composer conducted the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Queen’s Hall, the traditional home of the annual summertime Proms concerts, had been destroyed by German bombers two years earlier. The Proms concerts had moved into a new and larger venue, the Royal Albert Hall, where the series continues to this day.

For the 1943 season, Proms programs started earlier than usual so concert goers could get home before the nightly air raids on the city. To London audiences troubled by war fears and many sleepless nights of German bombing, the serene musical world of Vaughan Williams’ symphony must have seemed a real blessing. It’s not a “wartime” symphony in the conventional sense, full of defiance and bluster, but rather an evocation and affirmation of England’s musical past, blending hints of 16th century hymn tunes and modal folk melodies into symphonic form.

For some time, Vaughan Williams had been at work on an opera based on The Pilgrim’s Progress, a 17th century allegorical tale by the Puritan writer John Bunyan. Some of the tunes and motives from his projected opera ended up in the symphony, along with a sense of faith and optimism in the face of adversity that must have deeply affected the first audience to hear the work.

Music Played in Today's Program

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958): Symphony No. 5; London Philharmonic; Bernard Haitink, conductor; EMI 55487

Synopsis

In 2008, the National Convention of the American Guild of Organists was held in Minneapolis and St. Paul, and for the occasion a Minnesota Organ Book was commissioned. The idea was that six Minnesota composers should each write a short piece for organ plus one solo instrument, all suitable for use at a Sunday service.

One of the composers selected was Carol Barnett, who thought to herself, “Well, probably everybody else will do something slow and lovely, so I’m going to do something fast, which means a Recessional. The whole idea of a Recessional is, ‘We are done. We’re out of here!’”

She selected a bright, beautiful, but decidedly unusual extra instrument for her piece: the steel pan.

The steel pan is a chromatically-pitched concert instrument related to the calypso steel drums heard of Trinidad. Its bright, metallic sound blends surprisingly well with the pipe organ, holding its own against the organ’s mighty voice. Moreover, its calypso associations evoke a sense of joyful release — perfect for a recessional, in Barnett’s opinion.

She titled her piece Praise, and it received its premiere performance on today’s date in 2008 at Westminster Presbyterian Church, Minneapolis, with organist Jonathan Gregoire and percussionist Jay Johnson.

For the record, the six composers and pieces included in The Minnesota Organ Book are:

Cary John Franklin: "Morning Light" (for cello and organ)
Monte Mason: "The Dances of Our Lady" (for soprano saxophone and organ)
Janika Vandervelde: "Hachazarah: The Arousal of the Return" (for violin and organ)
Linda Tutas Haugen: "Invocation and Remembrance" (for trumpet and organ)
Carol Barnett: "Praise" (for steel pan and organ)
David Evan Thomas: "Psalm and Dance" (for flute and organ)

Music Played in Today's Program

Carol Barnett (b. 1949): Praise; Jay Johnson, steel pan; Jonathan Gregoire, organ; Augsburg Fortress Music CD (with ISBN: 9780800679118)

Synopsis

There is an ancient curse, popularly attributed to the Chinese, “May you live in interesting times!” French composer Étienne-Nicolas Mehul, who was born on this date in 1763, certainly lived and worked in an interesting time, politically and musically speaking.

His creative life spanned both the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Empire, and since Mehul live and worked in Paris, he found himself at the epicenter of some extremely interesting events. As one of the leading French composers of his day, he was commissioned to write patriotic works for state occasions, and had friends and supporters in high places, including Napoleon himself.

His operas, both dramatic and comic, were greatly admired by his contemporaries, although sometimes these proved too “politically incorrect” for the Parisian censors.

Beethoven (not always politically correct himself) was a Mehul fan and borrowed some striking theatrical effects from one of Mehul’s operas to use in his own opera, Fidelio.

Apparently this admiration — and the borrowing — was reciprocated. The last movement of Mehul’s Symphony No. 1 shows the impact of Beethoven’s dramatic Symphony No. 5 of a few years earlier.

Music Played in Today's Program

Étienne-Nicolas Méhul (1763-1817): Symphony No. 1; Les Musiciens du Louvre; Marc Minkowski, conductor; Erato 45026