by Daniel Hathaway
HAPPENING TODAY:
At 12 Noon, Tuesdays at the Church of the Covenant in University Circle presents harpsichordist Mikhail Grazhdanov (pictured) in suites by Jean-Philippe Rameau & George Frideric Handel.
At 5:30 pm, a Rush Hour Concert at Fairmount Presbyterian Church presents soprano Lauren Vanden Broeck, pianist Adam Whiting, and guests in a program featuring J.S. Bach’s Cantata 51.
And tonight at 8 pm – Oberlin hosts a Warner Concert Hall guest recital by The Ize Trio (pianist Chase Morrin, cellist Naseem Alatrash, and percussionist George Lernis), who combine the American art form of Jazz with Middle Eastern traditions.
For details of these and other upcoming events, visit our Concert Listings.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR COMPOSERS:
The Violin Channel reports that “The American Composers Orchestra (ACO) has advertised five opportunities for composers, including calls for scores and composer residencies. At the heart of these is the ACO’s Earshot Call for Scores, in partnership with the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University and the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music.”
TODAY’S HEADLINES FROM ARTSJOURNAL:
The Composer Who Said She Channeled Liszt. Explore the fascinating story of Rosemary Brown, who claimed to channel the spirits of dead composers to create music, a narrative blending mystery, music, and spiritualism. – The Conversation
Gaza’s Music Conservatory Burned And Its Instruments Were Destroyed. All Except One. “More than half of the Conservatory was burned. All the instruments were broken, thrown outside. You start seeing cases of instruments as soon as you get close to the Conservatory on the streets. Violins, we had more than 50, completely smashed. Cellos, more than 40, completely smashed.” – BBC News
TODAY’S ALMANAC:
Whatever happened to Maria Anna Mozart, “Nannerl,” the composer’s beloved older sister, who died on this date in 1829? An accomplished pianist in her own right, she is said to have written music herself, although none survives. Her life was re-imagined in René Féret’s 2010 French language film, Nannerl, la sœur de Mozart. Watch a trailer here, and learn how you can rent the movie.
On October 29, 1911, Hungarian-born newspaper magnate Joseph Pulitzer died in Charleston, South Carolina. His estate endowed the Pulitzer Prizes, which, beginning in 1943, included an annual award for a classical musical composition by an American composer. In the late 1990s, the entry rules were expanded to include a wider range of American music, and the first such prize recognized Wynton Marsalis’ 1997 Blood on the Fields. George Gershwin and Duke Ellington were subsequently honored on their anniversary years in 1998 and 1999.
It’s interesting to read down the list of Pulitzer Prize winners in music, both to see what works have passed into wide use and which seem to have fallen by the wayside. Click here to view the list.
On this date in 1863, representatives from 18 countries met in Geneva to form the International Red Cross. Benjamin Britten was commissioned to write a piece to celebrate the centenary of the organization in 1963, resulting in his Cantata misericordium, Op. 69, a treatment of the New Testament parable of the Good Samaritan which has been called a “miniature appendix to the War Requiem.” The Cantata featured two of the same soloists, Peter Pears and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, at its premiere by Ernest Ansermet and the Orchestra de la Suisse Romande in Geneva on September 1, 1963.
Listen to a 1965 recording with the London Symphony, Britten, Pears, and Fischer-Dieskau here.
And on this day in 1929, dubbed “Black Tuesday,” the New York Stock Exchange crashed, launching the Great Depression. Just something to ponder, no music to suggest.
