Dr. Bob Prescribes Mahler Symphony No. 6
November
17th,
2020
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) in 1907 Mahler’s first four symphonies, composed between 1888 and 1901, are “program symphonies”: multi-movement works that tell an extra-musical, literary story. In order to help his audience follow those “stories”, Mahler (1860-1911) prepared written “programs” for each of his first four symphonies. For example, in reference to the titles he gave…
Music History Monday: Chopin’s Last Concert
November
16th,
2020
Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849), daguerreotype taken by Louis-Auguste Bisson (1814–1876) in 1847 (not 1849, as is often incorrectly indicated) It was on November 16, 1848 – 172 years ago today – that Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) performed his final concert. It was given at a benefit ball held in London’s Guildhall, staged to raise money for Polish exiles.…
Dr. Bob Prescribes Rachmaninoff Piano Concerti
November
10th,
2020
As close to a smile as he will get: Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) with his granddaughter Sophie in 1927 Yesterday’s Music History Monday began with the story of the tenor Michele Molese’s call out of the critic Harold Schonberg from the stage of the New York City Opera in 1974 after Schonberg had made a snarky critical…
Music History Monday: “You will write your concerto. . .”
November
9th,
2020
Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) in 1902 We mark the first complete performance of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 on November 9, 1901 – 119 years ago today – in Moscow. Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) was the piano soloist. The performance was conducted by his cousin: the pianist, conductor and composer Alexander Siloti (1863-1945). Before moving on…
Dr. Bob Prescribes Dmitri Shostakovich, Complete String Quartets
November
3rd,
2020
Question: is it true that only by working directly with a composer can an ensemble deliver a “definitive” performance? Answer: no. Composer supervision guarantees nothing. Beethoven, for one, oversaw the premieres of every one of his nine symphonies (though the deaf Beethoven’s “oversight” of his Ninth Symphony in 1824 was much more a hindrance than…
Music History Monday: Shostakovich and His String Quartet No. 8 in C minor, Op. 110
November
2nd,
2020
A laughing Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich (1906-1975) in London, September 21, 1960 I’m doing something today that I have never done before in Music History Monday and which, I hope, I will never have to do again. November 2 is not a day bereft of musical events. For example, November 2, 1739 saw the birth, in…
Dr. Bob Prescribes Steve Reich
October
27th,
2020
Stephen (Steve) Michael Reich (born 1936) in 2005 Yesterday’s Music History Monday post, entitled “Musical Riots and Assorted Mayhem”, included a report of what happened when Steve Reich’s Four Organs for four electric organs and maracas (composed in 1970) was performed at Carnegie Hall on January 19, 1973. As we noted yesterday, the boos and…
Music History Monday: Musical Riots and Assorted Mayhem
October
26th,
2020
Bill Haley (1925-1981) and his Comets at the Berlin Sportspalast, October 26, 1958 We mark the riot that occurred on October 26, 1958 – 62 years ago today – when Bill Haley and his Comets played a concert at Berlin’s Sportpalast to an audience of some 7000 people. Signs of trouble had occurred at Haley’s…
Dr. Bob Prescribes George Gershwin Songs
October
20th,
2020
George Gershwin (1898-1937) Two weeks ago, my Dr. Bob Prescribes post featured the guitarist Tommy Emmanuel, despite the fact that it would have been entirely appropriate – given the Music History Monday post the day before on Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice - to feature a post on that opera. Given yesterday’s Music History Monday post…
Franz Schubert’s “Gretchen am Spinnrade”
October
19th,
2020
Franz Peter Schubert (1797-1828) in 1825, watercolor by Wilhelm August Rieder On October 19, 1814 – 206 years ago today – Franz Schubert composed his first masterwork, the song Gretchen am Spinnrade – “Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel” – for solo voice and piano, on a text by Johann von Goethe. Schubert was 17 years…