More wind music today on the Composers Datebook, this time describing the events which led to Sousa leaving the Marine Band to form his own touring band. As you'll hear, the reason for this was, in part, due to the band leader's personal finances. #programnotes #datebook #blog

Given our recent concert with Pulcinella, today's Composers Datebook seemed appropriate. Audio for Composers Datebook 5/15/2011 Stravinsky and Rochberg start trends Today we celebrate two premieres and one three-letter prefix: "neo," meaning "new." On today's date in 1920, Igor Stravinsky's ballet "Pulcinella" was produced for the first time in Paris by Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. Stravinsky incorporated into the score some instrumental pieces attributed to the 18th century I

Below is the text and the audio link for Composers Datebook from Sunday, May 8. Andrew Boysen Jr.'s Symphony No. 1, a piece for winds, was the featured composition. Composers Datebook Audio-5/8/2011 On today's date in 1998, a new symphony for winds and percussion had its premiere performance at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. It was the first symphony -- and first major commission -- for American composer, Andrew Boysen, Jr., who was 30 years old at the time. "

Today's Composers Datebook featured an instrument that is not particularly well-known, but important to any discussion of the music of Olivier Messiaen, whose music UMWO is currently working on. Composers Datebook Audio-4/20/2011 The Ondes Martenot Today in 1928, a French musician and inventor named Maurice Martenot gave the first public demonstration of a strange, new electronic instrument he had created. It was a gadget that had pull-wires, pointers and a keyboard diagram w

See the text and audio link from today's Composers Datebook that highlights Giannini's Symphony No. 3 for band. Composers Datebook Audio: April 10, 2011 On today's date in 1959, the Duke University Band under its conductor, Paul Bryan, gave the official premiere performance of a new work they had commissioned: the Symphony No. 3 for concert band by the American composer, Vittorio Giannini, a noted composer of vocal music, including songs and operas. With the growth of concert

See below the post and audio link from Composer's Datebook for today featuring Howard Hanson's work for wind band, Laude. Audio Link for Composer's Datebook: 2/7/2011 Howard Hanson's Laude On today's date in 1975, Laude, a new work for symphonic winds by American composer Howard Hanson received its premiere performance in Berkeley, California, by the California State University Long Beach Band conducted by Larry Curtis. The new work was a commission from the College Band Dire

Today on Composers Datebook, you can read about Messiaen's Oiseaux Exotiques, which will be performed by UMWO on our April 1 concert. The text is below and you can get audio of today's broadcast here. More information on Birds can be found elsewhere on this blog. Messiaen and Respighi: For the Birds The song of birds has fascinated composers for centuries, and imitations of especially melodious birds like the lark or the nightingale are fairly common in musical works from the

Composers Datebook Audio 10/1/2010 "Flagg-waving" in Colonial Boston? On today's date in 1768, two regiments of British redcoats marched into Colonial Boston with colors flying -- and bayonets fixed -- accompanied by martial music provided by their regimental wind band. It was that city's introduction to the exotic sound of massed oboes, bassoons, and French horns. One Bostonian who was very impressed by these new sounds was Josiah Flagg, an engraver by trade, and a boyhood f

Below you can find today's Composers Datebook, discussing Kurt Weill's Three-Penny Opera. Composers Datebook audio Weill's Three-penny Opera in Berlin On today's date in 1928, Kurt Weill's Three-Penny Opera debuted at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm, a small, but opulent Baroque-style theater in Berlin. It must have seemed a rather ironic setting for Kurt Weill's "opera for beggars," whose cast members portrayed thieves, murderers, prostitutes and other low-lifes. The Three-Pe

Below is Composers Datebook which features the wind band icon John Philip Sousa. You can find the audio clip and the text below. Enjoy! Composers Datebook audio (8/30/10) Sousa gets stiffed in Minneapolis It was on this day in 1929 that a new march by John Philip Sousa was played for the first -- and last -- time until almost 60 years later. The Foshay Tower Washington Memorial March was commissioned by Wilbur Foshay, a high-flying Minneapolis businessman of the Roaring 20's