Composers Datebook

• Haydn encored

  SynopsisThese days if someone goes to all the trouble to write a symphony, they’re lucky to hear it performed once — and it might be years before a second hearing. But in 1791, when Haydn paid his first visit to England, Londoners were so enthusiastic about his new symphonies they asked for repeat performances as soon as possible. On today’s date in 1791, the work we know as Haydn’s Symphony No. 92 had its London premiere, and, “by particular desire,” as they phrased it back then, was repeated a week later and again the following month.And when Haydn paid a visit to Oxford University that summer to receive an honorary doctorate, he led a performance of this same symphony at Oxford’s Sheldonian Theatre. Ever since, this particular English favorite has been nicknamed Haydn’s Oxford Symphony.Haydn, being a politically astute sort of chap, didn’t publicize to his British fans that one of their favorite symphonies was actually commissioned by a French Count who had sponsored a series of Haydn concerts in Paris some five years earlier. One wonders how the music-loving Count fared during the French Revolution, which was well underway in 1791.Music Played in Today's ProgramFranz Josef Haydn (1732-1808): Symphony No. 92 (Oxford); Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra; Adam Fischer, conductor; Nimbus 5269

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• Paine in Boston

  SynopsisFollowing the successful premiere of his Symphony No. 1 in 1876, New England composer John Knowles Paine finished a second, which he gave a German subtitle: Im Fruehling or In Springtime. In 19th century America, “serious” music meant German music, and “serious” musicians like Paine all studied in Germany. Returning home, Paine became the first native-born American to win acceptance as a symphonic composer, and, accepting a teaching post at Harvard, became that school’s first professor of music.On today’s date in 1880, when Paine’s Spring Symphony was premiered at Sanders Theater, the normally staid Bostonians went nuts. One critic who was present, recalled that “ladies waved their handkerchiefs, men shouted in approbation, and the highly respected John S. Dwight, arbiter in Boston of music criticism, stood in his seat frantically opening and shutting his umbrella as an expression of uncontrollable enthusiasm.”Paine’s music remained tremendously popular in his own day. In 1883 George Henschel, then the conductor of the Boston Symphony, was sent the following poetic suggestion about his programming: Let no more Wagner themes thy bill enhance And give the native workers just one chance. Don’t give that Dvořák symphony a-gain; If you would give us joy, oh give us Paine!Music Played in Today's ProgramJohn Knowles Paine (1839-1906): Symphony No. 2; New York Philharmonic; Zubin Mehta, conductor; New World 350

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• Pachelbel and his Canon

  SynopsisOn today’s date in 1706, German composer and organist Johann Pachelbel was buried in Nuremberg, the town where he was born 53 years earlier.In his day, Pachelbel was regarded as an innovative composer of Protestant church music and works for harpsichord and organ. He was acquainted with the Bach family, and was, in fact, the teacher of the teacher of J.S. Bach, and served as godfather to one J.S. Bach’s older relatives. Pachelbel would be pretty much forgotten by most music lovers until late in the 20th century, when an orchestral arrangement of a little canon he had written would suddenly become one of the best-known classical themes of our time. In 1979, American composer George Rochberg even included variations on Pachelbel’s famous Canon as the third movement of his own String Quartet No. 6.Like Bach, some of Pachelbel’s children also became composers, and one of them, Karl Teodorus Pachelbel, emigrated from Germany to the British colonies of North America. As “Charles Theodore Pachelbel,” he became an important figure in the musical life of early 18th century Boston and Charleston, and died there in 1750, the same year as J.S. Bach.Music Played in Today's ProgramGeorge Rochberg (1918-2005): Variations on the Pachelbel Canon; Concord String Quartet; RCA/BMG 60712

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• International Women's Day

  SynopsisAs today is International Women's Day, we thought we’d tell you about a wonderful French composer you may or may not have heard of before.Mélanie Hélène Bonis, or Mel Bonis as she preferred to be called, was a prolific composer of piano and organ works, chamber music, art songs, choral music, and several orchestral pieces. She studied at the Paris Conservatoire, where her teachers included César Franck. She was born in 1858 and died in 1937, so her lifetime spanned the age of Hector Berlioz to Alban Berg.In the 1890s, Bonis reconnected with her first love, a man she had met while still a student, who had encouraged her musical talent. So she left her husband, who did not encourage her, to devote herself full-time to her music. Initially performed and admired in Paris, after World War I her music was neglected, and she became bedridden from arthritis. Despite everything, she continued to compose up to the time of her death at 79.Among her works are seven piano portraits of women, collectively titled Femmes de Légende, or Legendary Women — some of which, like Salomé, she arranged for full orchestra.Music Played in Today's ProgramMel Bonis (1858-1937): Salomé; Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse; Leo Hussain, conductor; Bru Zane BZ-2006

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• Persichetti's 'Pageant'

  SynopsisOn today’s date in 1953, Pageant, a new work for symphonic winds premiered with the University of Miami Band. It was written by American composer Vincent Persichetti, who conducted the performance, as he did the work’s New York City debut later that same year with the Goldman Band, then America’s premiere professional wind ensemble, who had commissioned the work. It might seem odd that an amateur, student ensemble should premiere a work commissioned for professionals, but in the 1950s, when the U.S. college system was rapidly expanding, the savvy Mr. Persichetti was ready and willing to supply both students and professionals with more than a dozen new wind band scores to perform.He put it this way: “I find wonderful performances in the universities around the country. They may be students, but … they’ll find something there that you maybe didn’t quite even dream of, and make something of it, whereas sometimes the professional orchestras don't always get it as quickly. [The student musicians] have to work harder, but they do this all through high school and college, and by the time they get to the end of college they know what music is about and can phrase and shape it with some conviction.”Music Played in Today's ProgramVincent Persichetti (1915-1987): Pageant; Winds of the London Symphony Orchestra; David Amos, conductor; Naxos 8.570123

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