by Daniel Hathaway
HAPPENING TODAY:
This evening at 7:30 at First Methodist Church in Cuyahoga Falls, Apollo’s Fire sets out on a local, four-concert tour with its program “Winter Sparks from Bach & Vivaldi,” curated by assistant music director and violinist Alan Choo. Oboist Debra Nagy will be featured in a concerto by Antonio Vivaldi, flutist Kathie Stewart will step forward in J.S. Bach’s Second Orchestral Suite, and cellist Sarah Stone will solo in Marin Marais’ Sonnerie de Sainte Geneviève, and an oboe concerto by Vivaldi.
The Canton Symphony’s Divergent Sounds concert scheduled for this evening has been rescheduled to April 30.
TODAY’S ALMANAC:
It’s interesting that two British composers who have achieved cult status rather than wide acceptance were both born on January 29 — Frederick Delius (pictured) in Bradford, Yorkshire in 1862, and Havergal Brian in Dresden, Staffordshire in 1876.
Delius’ music was championed by conductor Sir Thomas Beecham, and one click will take you to an 8-1/2 hour compendium of his complete orchestral and choral music led by Beecham.
Brian, mostly self-taught and largely supported by a wealthy businessman, wrote 32 symphonies, including the mammoth “Gothic” Symphony No. 1, which Oscar Wilde might have foreseen in his bon mot, “Nothing succeeds like excess.”
Brian’s allies on the podium were Sir Adrian Boult, who was persuaded to conduct his 8th Symphony in 1954, and Leopold Stokowski, who led the 28th Symphony in a BBC broadcast in 1973 when both composer and conductor were 91.
Watch An Introduction to Havergal Brian’s symphonies and orchestral music by Malcolm MacDonald here, and follow the score along with a nearly two-hour-long performance of the “Gothic Symphony” with Martyn Brabbins conducting the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, BBC Concert Orchestra, The Bach Choir, BBC National Chorus of Wales, Brighton Festival Chorus, Côr Caerdydd, Huddersfield Choral Society, London Symphony Chorus, CBSO Youth Chorus, Eltham College Boys’ Choir, Southend Boys’ and Girls’ Choirs, Susan Gritton (S), Christine Rice (Mezzo-S), Peter Auty (T), and Alastair Miles (B), recorded live on July 17th, 2011 in the Royal Albert Hall
And mark the birth on this date in 1924 of Italian composer Luigi Nono, with a performance of his Il canto sospeso, commemorating the victims of fascism. He wrote the work at the age of 32, a piece that first brought him to international prominence.
