Tomorrow is the birthday of Ralph Vaughan Williams. Tune in this afternoon to The Classical Network to hear selections from a new CD issued on Dutton Vocalion Records that features what is billed as the world premiere recording of RVW’s incidental music to a radio presentation of Shakespeare’s “Richard II.”

Also, we’ll celebrate the anniversary of the birth of R. Nathaniel Dett. Dett was born in what is now Niagara Falls, Ontario. His grandfather was an escaped slave who found freedom on the Underground Railroad. Dett became an important figure in the American music of his time. Yet he is remembered today, if at all, for a lone piano suite, “In the Bottoms,” or perhaps only for its two-minute concluding dance, “Juba,” which was championed by Percy Grainger, among others.

Clipper Erickson, piano, was the first to record all of Dett’s keyboard works. His performances have been collected on an album titled “My Cup Runneth Over,” on Navona Records, a division of PARMA Recordings.

If you find this music attractive, you can hear more by joining Clipper, soprano Rochelle Ellis, and the Westminster Jubilee Sings, at Westminster Choir College’s Bristol Chapel, tonight at 7:30, for an R. Nathaniel Dett birthday blow-out. Get there early, at 6:45, to attend a pre-concert talk.

Back to radio: Coming up at 6:00 this evening, it’s music from the suspense, horror, and crime thrillers of director Brian De Palma, on “Picture Perfect” – music for the movies. We’ll hear selections by Bernard Herrmann, John Williams, Pino Donaggio, and Ennio Morricone.

The week ends strong, from 4 to 7 p.m. EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.