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.
Gesamtlänge aller Episoden: 3 days 20 hours 52 minutes
Higdon's Violin Concerto
On today’s date in 2009, Hilary Hahn premiered a new violin concerto by the American composer Jennifer Higdon, a work tailor-made for the violinist, according to Higdon: “She’s got gorgeous tone i...
Schoenberg hissed
It was in Vienna, on today’s date in 1907, that the String Quartet No. 1 in d minor of the Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg had its first performance by the Rosé Quartet, an ensemble headed by A...
A Hovhaness premiere
On today’s date in 1945, the Armenian-American composer Alan Hovhaness served as both the soloist and conductor in the first performance of his piano concerto entitled “Lousadzak.” The exotic title...
Chen Yi's "Spring Festival"
Chinese New Year, or “Spring Festival,” is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays and its observance traditionally begins on the first day of the first month in the Chinese lunar ca...
Kreisler in the style of Kreisler
Today marks the birthday anniversary of the Austrian-born American violinist and composer Fritz Kreisler, who was born in Vienna on February 2, 1875. When he was only 4, Kreisler’s musical talent ...
Torke abroad
On today’s date in 2002, a new work by the American composer Michael Torke had its premiere performance at Edinburgh’s Usher Hall, at a concert by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra conducted by...
"Old Churches" by Michael Colgrass
In the rarified world of contemporary music, composers are expected to “challenge” performers—to push the envelope of instrumental technique and difficulty. But in the fall of 1999, it was the Puli...
Herbert L. Clarke
Today a salute to a remarkable American composer and performer—the cornet virtuoso Herbert Lincoln Clarke. Clarke was born in Wolburn, Massachusetts, on September 12, 1867, into a peripatetic musi...
A String Quartet by John Adams
In New York City on today’s date in 2008, The Juilliard School’s annual FOCUS! Festival showcased music from the opposite coast, including the world premiere performance of a new string quartet by ...
Bolcom's "Ghost" Rags
Many good things come in threes—at least William Bolcom seems to think so. On today’s date in 1971, in a converted garage next to a graveyard in Newburgh, New York, American composer and pianist W...