Howard Hanson, you incurable Romantic, you. I wish I really had time to write about you today, on this, your birthday – but I don’t.

For four decades, you were the director of the Eastman School of Music; you were the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize in 1944 for your Symphony No. 4; and you were the champion of hundreds of American composers as conductor of the Eastman-Rochester Orchestra. Your Symphony No. 2, subtitled “Romantic,” is still one of the most frequently encountered of all American symphonies.

We’ll enjoy some of your recordings today, and save you a little cake, between 4 and 7 p.m. EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.