Saint Cecilia’s Day AND the eve of Thanksgiving. Give thanks for a bounty of American music, between 4 and 7 p.m. EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.
Category: Daily Dispatch
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Thanksgiving American Music from Marlboro
Happy Thanksgiving to you! On the busiest travel day of the year, we’ve got the perfect soundtrack for your journey over the river and through the woods, with an all-American hour on this week’s “Music from Marlboro.”
At the heart of the program will be a work by Moravian composer John Antes (1740-1811). Antes, born in Frederick, Montgomery County, PA, is credited with being one the first composers born on American soil to write chamber music, and as the creator of perhaps the earliest surviving bowed string instrument made in the American colonies. Antes’ violin, made in 1759, is housed in the Museum of the Moravian Historical Society in Nazareth, PA. A viola, made by Antes in 1764 (again believed to be the earliest surviving of American origin), is housed in the Lititz Moravian Congregation Collection in Lancaster County. Antes created at least seven such instruments.
In 1752, Antes attended school in Bethlehem, PA. In 1760, he was admitted into the Single Brethren’s choir there. From Bethlehem, he travelled to Herrnhut, Germany, the international center of the Moravians, to prepare for a career as a missionary. In the meantime, he also took up watchmaking. He was ordained a minister in 1769, then set out for Egypt. There, he served as a missionary to the Coptic Church in Grand Cairo. After a largely uneventful decade, he was captured and tortured by followers of Osman Bey.
During his convalescence, he occupied himself with the composition of three string trios. He also sent a copy of six quartets to Benjamin Franklin, whom he had known in America. The quartets are lost (nice job, Ben), but the trios survive. We’ll hear Antes’ Trio in D minor, from the 1976 Marlboro Music Festival.
To open the hour, from the 1977 festival, we’ll hear a Divertimento for Nine Instruments by two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Walter Piston. In addition to being an important teacher, Piston was regarded as one of our country’s great symphonists. Finally, we’ll have the suite from Aaron Copland’s beloved Pulitzer Prize decorated ballet “Appalachian Spring,” in its original version for 13 instruments, performed at Marlboro in 2006.
Give thanks for performances of American music from the archives of the celebrated Marlboro Music Festival, this Wednesday evening at 6 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.
Marlboro School of Music and Festival: Official Page
PHOTO: The Antes violin (which kind of sounds more like a creation of Salvador Dali), now in Nazareth, PA
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Dmitri Hvorostovsky Remembered
Beloved operatic baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky has died, following a two-and-a-half year battle with brain cancer. His final operatic performance was in December of last year, though he continued to give recitals through at least June. He also made a surprise appearance at the Met’s five-hour 50th anniversary gala in May. At the time of his death, he was 55 years-old.
I saw him only once, at the Met. He wasn’t singing; he passed me getting off of the elevator at a performance of “Rusalka,” starring his friend Renée Fleming. Even in the lobby, his was a striking presence.
There “have been many beautiful voices,” Fleming said, “but none more beautiful than Dmitri’s.”
R.I.P.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/22/arts/music/dmitri-hvorostovsky-dead.html
Hvorostovsky and Fleming in “Eugene Onegin:”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8mJsowhByo
PHOTO: The couple during happier times, at a Lyric Opera of Chicago subscriber appreciation concert in 2012
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Henry Kramer’s Sweeping Piano Program on WWFM
Judging from the content of today’s Noontime Concert on The Classical Network, pianist Henry Kramer crams a lot into his programs. Join me for a journey from Mozart to Stravinsky, by way of Brahms, Albéniz, and Ravel.
On the program will be Mozart’s Piano Sonata No. 9 in D major, K. 311; Brahms’ Six Pieces for Piano, Op. 118; Albéniz’s Iberia: Book I; Ravel’s “Gaspard de la Nuit;” and Stravinsky’s Etudes, Op. 7. The concert took place at Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Music Center in New York City on October 31.
Merkin’s Tuesday Matinees present a new generation of critically acclaimed, extraordinary young performers in a concert hall known for its near-perfect acoustics. The next concert in the series will take place on November 28. Violinist Stephen Waarts will join pianist Chelsea Wang for Schumann’s Sonata No. 1 in A minor, Op. 105; Schubert’s Sonata in A major “Grand Duo,” D. 574; Ravel’s Sonata No. 1 in A minor “Posthumous;” and Stravinsky’s Divertimento from “The Fairy’s Kiss.” More information is available at kaufmanmusiccenter.org.
We’ll also remember Malcolm Williamson, on the anniversary of his birth, as part of an hour devoted to works by former Masters of the Queen’s Music. In fact, I’ll be using the royal “we” until 4:00 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.
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Chanticleer Walden on WWFM This Monday
“I do not propose to write an ode to dejection, but to brag as lustily as Chanticleer in the morning, standing on his roost, if only to wake my neighbors up.” So wrote Henry David Thoreau in his preface to “Walden.”
American composer Daniel Gregory Mason’s “Chanticleer Festival Overture” will lead off music for your afternoon commute.
“All climates agree with brave Chanticleer. He is more indigenous even than the natives. His health is ever good, his lungs are sound, his spirits never flag.”
I’ll give you something to crow about, this Monday from 4 to 7 p.m. EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.
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