by Daniel Hathaway
IN THIS EDITION:
. Charnofsky visits some rare repertory
. Almanac tips a hat to Czerny, Grainger (pictured), Takemitsu
HAPPENING TODAY:
From 2 to 4 this afternoon, on Not Your Grandmother’s Classical Music, Eric Charnofsky DeeJays Bohuslav Martinů’s Double Concerto for Strings, Piano, and Timpani, Steve Reich’s Triple Quartet, Mara Gibson’s Spark (trombone and piano), J.S. Bach’s Chaconne (violin and orchestra) arr. by Felix Mendelssohn and Julian Milone, Gioachino Rossini’s Wind Quartet in D, Ivan Wyschnegradsky’s Meditation on Two Themes from the Day of Existence (cello and piano) & selections from A Venetian Coronation, featuring works by Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli. Click here to listen to the internet feed, or tune in to 91.1 FM in the greater Cleveland area.
ALMANAC FOR FEBRUARY 20:
Austrian pianist and composer Carl Czerny who was born on February 20, 1791, became one of Beethoven’s star pupils and was said to be able to play any of his master’s works from memory if merely requested by opus number. Czerny is remembered today chiefly for his piano etudes, but his more than 1,000 compositions include such interesting works as the Piano Concerto in C for Four Hands, Op. 153, and the Symphony No. 5 in E-flat.
Australian composer and pianist Percy Grainger left the scene on February 20, 1961 in White Plains, NY, at the age of 78. Grainger joined a group of musicians in a lifelong quest to rescue British and Scandinavian music from central European influences, largely through the use of folk music, though he also dabbled in mechanical music-making (including recording piano rolls of his compositions and arrangements.)
Among Grainger’s most popular arrangements are wind band versions of Lincolnshire Posy (listen here to the Cleveland State University Symphonic Wind Ensemble’s performance at a Trinity Cathedral Brownbag Concert) and Irish Tune from County Derry (aka “Danny Boy,” performed here by the University of Michigan Symphonic Band). As a high schooler, I looked forward to hearing Irish Tune at the end of each of the University of Kansas summer music camp concerts, and still get the chills in the last verse when the horns suddenly soar out their counter melody.
And on February 20, 1996, Japanese composer Tōru Takemitsu died in Tokyo. His nature-based compositions are popular and frequently performed — especially at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Click on the links to listen to Water-ways, Rain Spell, Toward the Sea, and And Then I Knew ‘Twas Wind, and join the CIM New Music Ensemble live stream on February 28 for his Stanza II.
