This Week in Classical Music: September 20, 2021.Geography.This week is rich on anniversaries and exceptionally diverse on geography.Gustav Holst was born on September 21stof 1874 in Cheltenham, England.A thoroughly English composer, he got his German-sounding name from his German-Swedish ancestors on the paternal side: his great-grandfather, Matthias Holst, a minor composer, pianist and harpist, was born in Riga and served at the Imperial Russian Court in St. Petersburg.Gustav Holst was quite famous during his lifetime; these days outside of Britain he’s mostly known for his orchestral suite The Planets.Holst studied at the Royal College of Music under Charles Stanford.Another English composer, Ralph Vaughan Williams, was his close friend, and so was Arnold Bax.Holst was a wonderful teacher, among his students were composers Michael Tippett and Benjamin Britten.The Planets were composed between 1914 and 1917.Each of the “planet” movements is supposed to have an astrological meaning, which escapes us, and a certain mood, which can be heard much clearer.Here, for example, is the fourth movement of the suite: Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity. James Levine conducts the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Mikalojus Čiurlionis, a Lithuanian composer, painter and writer, was born on September 22nd of 1875.He’s one of the central cultural figures in modern Lithuanian history.Andrzej Panufnik, one of the most interesting Polish composers of the 20th century, was born on September 24th of 1914 in Warsaw.Here’s what we wrote about him to commemorate his 100th anniversary.Jean-Philippe Rameau, born on September 25th of 1683 in Dijon, was one of the greatest French composers of the Baroque, and probably of all of French music.Here’s the Overture to Rameau’s opera Dardanus, a tragédie en musique, as opera was then called in France.Dardanus premiered at the Paris Opéra on November 19th of 1739.Marc Minkowski leads Les Musiciens du Louvre.
So far we’ve visited England, Lithuania, Poland and France on our list of anniversaries.Three more countries are still ahead.Dmitry Shostakovich was born in imperial Russia, became one of the most famous composers of the Soviet Union and now is venerated as one of Russia’s greatest.Here’s one of our many entries on Shostakovich.Komitas was born in Turkey, in the town of Kütahya, on September 26th of 1869 and died in Paris, France on October 22nd of 1935, but he is an utterly Armenian composer and is celebrated in that country as Čiurlionis is in Lithuania or Shostakovich in Russia.He collected folksongs, as Bartok did in Hungary, and singlehandedly created a Western-style musical tradition in Armenia.And finally, an American: George Gershwin, named Jacob Gershowitz at birth, was born on September 26th of 1898 in Brooklyn, New York.
Seven composers, seven countries.Should we add a Canadian, Glenn Gould, born in Toronto on September 25th of 1932?Maybe next time.
Gustav Holst and more, 2021
This Week in Classical Music: September 20, 2021. Geography. This week is rich on anniversaries and exceptionally diverse on geography. Gustav Holst was born on September 21st
of 1874 in Cheltenham, England. A thoroughly English composer, he got his German-sounding name from his German-Swedish ancestors on the paternal side: his great-grandfather, Matthias Holst, a minor composer, pianist and harpist, was born in Riga and served at the Imperial Russian Court in St. Petersburg. Gustav Holst was quite famous during his lifetime; these days outside of Britain he’s mostly known for his orchestral suite The Planets. Holst studied at the Royal College of Music under Charles Stanford. Another English composer, Ralph Vaughan Williams, was his close friend, and so was Arnold Bax. Holst was a wonderful teacher, among his students were composers Michael Tippett and Benjamin Britten. The Planets were composed between 1914 and 1917. Each of the “planet” movements is supposed to have an astrological meaning, which escapes us, and a certain mood, which can be heard much clearer. Here, for example, is the fourth movement of the suite: Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity. James Levine conducts the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Mikalojus Čiurlionis, a Lithuanian composer, painter and writer, was born on September 22nd of 1875. He’s one of the central cultural figures in modern Lithuanian history. Andrzej Panufnik, one of the most interesting Polish composers of the 20th century, was born on September 24th of 1914 in Warsaw. Here’s what we wrote about him to commemorate his 100th anniversary. Jean-Philippe Rameau, born on September 25th of 1683 in Dijon, was one of the greatest French composers of the Baroque, and probably of all of French music. Here’s the Overture to Rameau’s opera Dardanus, a tragédie en musique, as opera was then called in France. Dardanus premiered at the Paris Opéra on November 19th of 1739. Marc Minkowski leads Les Musiciens du Louvre.
So far we’ve visited England, Lithuania, Poland and France on our list of anniversaries. Three more countries are still ahead. Dmitry Shostakovich was born in imperial Russia, became one of the most famous composers of the Soviet Union and now is venerated as one of Russia’s greatest. Here’s one of our many entries on Shostakovich. Komitas was born in Turkey, in the town of Kütahya, on September 26th of 1869 and died in Paris, France on October 22nd of 1935, but he is an utterly Armenian composer and is celebrated in that country as Čiurlionis is in Lithuania or Shostakovich in Russia. He collected folksongs, as Bartok did in Hungary, and singlehandedly created a Western-style musical tradition in Armenia. And finally, an American: George Gershwin, named Jacob Gershowitz at birth, was born on September 26th of 1898 in Brooklyn, New York.
Seven composers, seven countries. Should we add a Canadian, Glenn Gould, born in Toronto on September 25th of 1932? Maybe next time.