Composers Datebook

Synopsis

On today’s date in 1972, a most unusual chamber work by American composer George Crumb had its premiere at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

Ideally, and “impractically” according to Crumb, it should have been heard, not in a concert hall in March … but in the open air … heard at a distance across a body of water, on a moonlit evening in August.

Vox Balaenae, which is Latin for The Voice of the Whale, is scored for three masked musicians, performing on electric flute, electric cello and amplified piano.

Crumb wrote, “The work was inspired by the singing of the humpback whale, a tape recording of which I had heard two or three years previously. Each of the three performers is required to wear a black half-mask or visor-mask. The masks, by effacing the sense of human projection, are intended to represent, symbolically, the powerful impersonal forces of nature. I have also suggested that the work be performed under deep-blue stage lighting.”

In the opening of his piece, marked “Vocalise … from the beginning of time,” he quoted, with tongue firmly planted in masked cheek, the famous sunrise theme from Richard Strauss’ Also Sprach Zarathustra, used to great effect in the opening of the Kubrick film 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Music Played in Today's Program

George Crumb (b. 1929): Vox Balaenae (Voice of the Whale); Zizi Mueller, flute; Fred Sherry, cello; James Gemmell, piano; New World 357

Synopsis

A new opera by Jules Massenet had its premiere at the Paris Opera on today’s date in 1894. Thaïs and was based on a rather spicy novel of the same name by the popular French author of the day, Anatole France.

The novel and the opera are based on an old seventh-century manuscript, which mentions a fabulously beautiful Egyptian courtesan named Thaïs who converted to Christianity and spent the rest of her life meditating in seclusion on matters spiritual. In Massenet’s opera, the conversion from strip-tease artiste to nun is depicted by an instrumental interlude, the famous Meditation from Thaïs, which has become a favorite showpiece for solo violinists.

To add a dash of the piquant to the tale, in both the novel by Anatole France and in the opera by Massenet, the young monk who diligently convinces Thaïs to change her wicked ways suddenly falls madly in love with her himself, and just as diligently tries to persuade her to add just one more name — his — to her list of satisfied customers.

As they used to say in ancient Egypt: “Ooh-la-la!”

Music Played in Today's Program

Jules Massenet (1842-1912): Meditation from Thaïs; Nigel Kennedy, violin; English Chamber Orchestra; EMI 57330

Synopsis

The thick historical novels of 19th century French writer Alexandre Dumas, Sr. are packed with some fact and a lot of fiction. Chapter 22 of The Three Musketeers, for example, set during the 17th century reign of King Louis XIII, begins as follows:

“Nothing was talked of in Paris but the ball which the aldermen were to give to the king and queen in which their Majesties were to dance the famous La Merlaison — the favorite ballet of the king. Eight days had been spent preparing for the important evening. The city carpenters erected risers for the guests; the hall would be lit by two hundred huge candles of white wax, a luxury unheard of; and twenty violins were ordered, the price for them double the usual rate, since they would be playing all night.”

In this case, Dumas was referencing a real event.

On today’s date in 1635, at Chantilly castle, a gala ballet premiered. It depicted in stylized dance the Louis’ favorite activity: hunting the blackbird (“la merlaison” in French). The choreography, the costumes, and music were all created by the king — who also danced several of the lead roles.

It got a rave review in the press of the day. If there were any critics, we suspect Cardinal Richelieu, the dreaded power behind the throne in Dumas’ novel — and in real life — had them hauled off and “dealt with.”

Ah yes, it's good to be King.

Music Played in Today's Program

Louis XIII Roi de France (1601-1643): Ballet de la Merlaison; Ancient Instrument Ensemble of Paris; Jacques Chailley, conductor; Nonesuch LP H-71130

Synopsis

On today’s date in 1942, on a radio broadcast by the NBC Symphony, 75-year-old Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini led a performance of El Salón Mexico by 41-year-old American composer Aaron Copland. Copland, who attended the performance, was amazed to see that Toscanini knew his score by heart, apparently unaware that the extremely nearsighted Toscanini always memorized the scores he conducted.

After the performance, Copland was invited backstage to the Green Room to meet Toscanini. “He addressed me as ‘maestro.’ That was a shock. It was rather fun to be addressed as ‘maestro’ by the maestro. But Toscanini seemed disturbed. I wondered what was bothering him and apparently the rhythmic complications of my piece had caused him considerable headache, trying to remember all these changes of rhythms in the piece by heart, and made him a little unsure of his memory,” he recalled

Years later, among Toscanini’s papers, a copy of Copland’s score was found, written out in Toscanini’s own hand, from first note to last, apparently made as an aide to — or test of — his memory. Copland asked Toscanini’s son Walter for a photocopy, and it remained one of his prized possessions.

Music Played in Today's Program

Aaron Copland (1900-1990): El Salòn Mèxico; NBC Symphony; Arturo Toscanini, conductor

Synopsis

It might seem farfetched that Winona Ryder, Emma Watson and Charles Ives might have anything in common, but there is a connection of sorts: Ryder appeared in a 1994 film based on Louisa May Alcott’s classic 19th century novel, Little Women, Emma Watson appears in the 2019 remake and, in 1913, American composer Charles Ives composed “The Alcotts,” the second movement of his Concord Sonata for piano, which evokes Louisa May, her novel and her real-life family and friends, who included the New England Transcendentalists, Emerson and Thoreau.

Set during the American Civil War, Alcott’s Little Women chronicles the coming of age of four young women in Concord, Massachusetts. The story of has charmed readers and film-goers around the world. Ives’s music, like Alcott’s novel, is nostalgic, affectionate, and quietly powerful.

Contemporary American composer, Mark Adamo, crafted an opera based on Alcott’s Little Women which premiered on today’s date in 1998 at the Opera Studio of Houston Grand Opera. After its premiere, that company’s general director, David Gockley, pronounced Adamo’s opera “destined to become an American classic,” and since its successful Houston Opera revival in 2000, Adamo’s Little Women has been staged again and again, to equal acclaim from audiences and critics.

Music Played in Today's Program

Charles Ives (1874-1954): The Alcotts from Concord Sonata; Anthony de Mare, piano; CRI 837

Mark Adamo (b. 1962): Little Women; Houston Grand Opera; Patrick Summers, conductor; Ondine 988