“In the Hall of the Mountain King” is a piece of orchestral music composed for the sixth scene of act 2 in Henrik Ibsen’s 1867 play Peer Gynt. It was originally part of Opus 23 but was later extracted as the final piece of Peer Gynt, Suite No. 1, Op. 46. Its easily recognizable theme has helped it attain iconic status in popular culture, where it has been arranged by many artists, including for the piano.
Borrow a copy of the sheet music from the O’Connor Music Studio. I have this arranged for piano, duet, 2-piano, simplified…
8 part vocal orchestra (plus a tiny pair of cymbals)
• 1682 ~ Johann Heinrich Kittel, Composer, died at the age of 29
• 1702 ~ Johann Schneider, Composer
• 1775 ~ August Harder, Composer
• 1817 ~ Ignace Xavier Joseph Leybach, Composer
• 1832 ~ Johan August Soderman, Composer
• 1839 ~ Friedrich Gernsheim, Composer
• 1853 ~ Francesco Fanciulli, Composer
• 1871 ~ Karl Tausig, Polish pianist, died at the age of 29
• 1873 ~ Antonina Neshdanova, Russian soprano
• 1875 ~ Donald Francis Tovey, English, musicologist and composer
• 1876 ~ Vittorio Gnecchi, Composer
• 1878 ~ Henri Zagwijn, Composer
• 1885 ~ Benjamin James Dale, Composer
• 1904 ~ Jef Alpaerts, Flemish pianist and conductor
• 1908 ~ Rudolf Petzold, Composer
• 1913 ~ Everett Helm, Composer
• 1915 ~ Esther Williamson Ballou, Composer
• 1916 ~ Eleanor Steber, American soprano. She was an internationally acclaimed Metropolitan Opera diva, appeared in 50 different leading operatic roles, heard in more premieres at the Met than any other artist.
• 1928 ~ Vince Guaraldi, Pianist on the Charlie Brown TV specials
• 1933 ~ Mimi Hines, Pop singer in Ford & Hines (with husband, Phil Ford) and Broadway singer
• 1939 ~ Spencer Davis, Musician with Spencer Davis Group
• 1939 ~ Charlie Barnet and his orchestra recorded Cherokee for Bluebird Records. Listen carefully and you’ll hear the horn of Billy May on the piece.
• 1952 ~ Phoebe Snow, American singer of popular music
• 1952 ~ Nicolette Larson, Singer
• 1954 ~ The first Newport Jazz Festival was held on the grass tennis courts of the Newport Casino in Newport RI. Eddie Condon and his band played Muskrat Ramble as the opening number of the world’s first jazz fest.
• 1961 ~ Rocker Bobby Lewis was starting week #2 of a seven-week stay at number one (one, one, one) on the pop-music charts with his smash, Tossin’ and Turnin’. Lewis, who grew up in an orphanage, learned to play the piano at age 5. He became popular in the Detroit, MI area before moving on to fame and fortune with Beltone Records.
• 1967 ~ John (William) Coltrane passed away
• 1967 ~ Monkees performed at Forest Hills NY as Jimi Hendrix’s opening act
• 1968 ~ The Beatles’ feature-length cartoon, Yellow Submarine, premiered at the London Pavilion. The song, Yellow Submarine, had been a #2 hit for the supergroup (9/17/66) and was the inspiration for the movie.
• 1987 ~ “Les Miserables” opened at Imperial Theatre in Tokyo
• 2002 ~ Lee Maye, a singer who played in the Milwaukee Braves outfield with Hank Aaron in the 1960s, died. He was 67. Maye began his 13-year major league career in 1959 and played with the Braves from 1959 to 1965. He later played for the Houston Astros, Cleveland Indians, Washington Senators and Chicago White Sox before retiring in 1971. Maye had a lifetime average of .274 and was admired for his ability to juggle his baseball and music careers. He performed with two doo-wop groups – Arthur Lee Maye and the Crowns, and Country Boys & City Girls – and sometimes sang with The Platters. He produced several popular singles during his 1960s recording career, including Gloria, Cool Loving and I Wanna Love.
• 2014 ~ Elaine Stritch, American actress (30 Rock, Two’s Company), singer and member of the American Theater Hall of Fame, died in her sleep at the age of 89
• 2016 ~ Gary S. Paxton [Larry Wayne Stevens], American musician and songwriter (Monster Mash, Alley Oop), died at the age of 77
• 1858 ~ Eugène Ysaÿe, Belgian violinist, conductor and composer. He taught fellow violinist Yehudi Menuhin for a short period.
• 1868 ~ Louis-Francois Dauprat, Composer, died at the age of 87
• 1901 ~ Fritz Mahler, Composer
• 1909 ~ John Edward “Teddy” Buckner, Trumpeter
• 1911 ~ Ginger Rogers, Dancer
Ginger and Fred Astaire
Ginger Rogers at 92 years old, dancing with her 29-year-old great-grandson. The first minute or so is a bit of a slow intro.. but stick it out, she is incredible. Most of us would love to be able to move like this at 22, let alone 92! (You do have to wonder whether she has bionic knees).
• 1912 ~ Ray Barr, American pianist on the Vincent Lopez Show
• 1916 ~ Ludwig P Scharwenka, German Composer, died at the age of 70
• 1925 ~ Cal Tjader, Vibraharpist
• 1928 ~ Bella Davidovich, Soviet-born American pianist
• 1934 ~ The NBC Red radio network premiered the musical drama, Dreams Come True. It was a show about baritone singer Barry McKinley and his novelist sweetheart.
• 1936 ~ Buddy Merrill, American guitarist on the Lawrence Welk Show
• 1939 ~ William Bell, American singer
• 1940 ~ Tony Jackson, British rock bassist, vocalist with the Searchers
• 1947 ~ Tom Boggs ~ rock drummer (Box Tops)
• 1948 ~ Pinchas Zuckerman, Israeli violinist, violist and conductor
• 1948 ~ Ruben Blades, Singer
• 1949 ~ Alan “Fitz” Fitzgerald, Rock keyboardist, vocalist
• 1949 ~ Ray Major, Rock guitarist
• 1952 ~ Stewart Copeland, Drummer
• 1956 ~ Ian Curtis ~ English rock vocalist (Joy Division-Transmission)
• 1972 ~ Giorgio Nataletti, Composer, died at the age of 65
• 1972 ~ Max Zehnder, Composer, died at the age of 70
• 1981 ~ Harry Chapin, Folk vocalist, died in a car crash in New York. Chapin was 38. His hit songs included Taxi, W-O-L-D and the million-seller, Cat’s in the Cradle. He was a champion of the hungry and homeless and organized a massive effort to provide food for the needy. This was his legacy to the world; his work continues by other performers.
• 1984 ~ Billy Williams, Singer in Your Show of Shows, died at the age of 73
• 1985 ~ Wayne King, Orchestra leader, Wayne King Show, died at the age of 84
• 1986 ~ Columbia Records announced that after 28 years with the label, the contract of country star Johnny Cash would not be renewed. Cash recorded 13 hits on the pop music charts from 1956 to 1976, all but four on Columbia. The others were on Sam Phillips’ Memphis-based label, Sun. Cash’s biggest hit for Columbia was A Boy Named Sue in 1969.
• 1989 ~ Herbert von Karajan, Austrian conductor, died at the age of 81. He was one of the great conductors of the 20th century, dominating the post-war world of music in the concert hall, opera house and recording studio.
• 1994 ~ 3 Tenors, Placido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti and José Carreras, perform in LA
• 1995 ~ Charles Bruck, Hungarian-French-American conductor, died at the age of 83
• 1996 ~ John Panozzo, Drummer, died at the age of 48
• 1738 ~ Antonio Maria Pacchioni, Composer, died at the age of 84
• 1779 ~ Clement Moore, Lyricist, author of ’Twas the Night before Christmas (A Visit from St. Nicholas) born
• 1782 ~ Farinelli, Italian singer, died at the age of 77
• 1782 ~ Richard Wainwright, Composer, died at the age of 33
• 1789 ~ Jacques Duphly, Composer, died at the age of 74
• 1795 ~ Marseillaise became the French national anthem
• 1798 ~ Gaetano Pugnani, Composer, died at the age of 66
• 1810 ~ Jean-Baptiste Rey, Composer, died at the age of 75
• 1854 ~ Wincenty Studzinski, Composer, died at the age of 39
• 1857 ~ Carl Czerny, Austrian pianist and Composer, died at the age of 66
More information on Czerny
• 1905 ~ Dorothy Fields born, Composer, lyricist with Cy Coleman of Sweet Charity and Seesaw; with Jimmy McHugh – I Can’t Give You Anything But Love, I’m in the Mood for Love and On the Sunny Side of the Street. She was the daughter of comedian Lew Fields
• 1913 ~ Cowboy (Lloyd) Copas born. He was a country singer who was killed in a plane crash with singer, Patsy Cline
• 1915 ~ Ludwik Grossman, Composer, died at the age of 80
• 1929 ~ Hugo von Hofmannstahl, Austrian author and librettist, died. He was best known for his collaboration with composer Richard Strauss for whom he wrote the libretto to the opera “Der Rosenkavelier.”
• 1930 ~ Leopold von Auer, Hungarian-American violinist, died
• 1933 ~ Julian Bream, British guitarist and lutenist
• 1934 ~ Harrison Birtwistle, British composer
• 1940 ~ Tommy Dee (Thomas Donaldson) Singer and record company executive
• 1942 ~ Glenn Miller and his band recorded the classic Jukebox Saturday Night for Victor Records.
• 1945 ~ Peter Lewis, Guitarist, singer with Moby Grape
• 1946 ~ Linda Ronstadt, American singer of rock and popular music
• 1949 ~ “Miss Liberty” opened at Imperial Theater New York City for 308 performances
• 1952 ~ Singer Patti Page made her TV debut in a summer replacement series for Perry Como. The 15-minute program spotlighted Patti three times each week on CBS.
• 1959 ~ Ernest Bloch, Swiss-American Composer, died at the age of 78
More information about Bloch
• 1960 ~ Lawrence Mervil Tibbett, baritone, died after surgery at 63
• 1966 ~ Singer Percy Sledge earned a gold record for When a Man Loves A Woman. It was his only song to make it to number one (5/28/66) and the only one of five to break into the top ten.
• 1967 ~ “Sweet Charity” closed at Palace Theater New York City after 608 performances
• 1972 ~ Elton John landed at the top spot on the Billboard album chart for the first time as Honky Chateau made it to the top for a five-week stay.
• 1978 ~ Bob Dylan performed before the largest open-air concert audience (for a single artist). Some 200,000 fans turned out to hear Dylan at Blackbushe Airport in England.
• 1980 ~ Henri Martelli, Composer, died at the age of 85
• 1982 ~ Bill (William E.) Justis (Jr.) passed away
• 1983 ~ Linda Ronstadt debuted as Mabel “Pirates of Penzance”
• 2000 ~ Canadian baritone Louis Quilico, who sang many of the most famous opera roles, died after complications from surgery. He was 75.
• 2000 ~ Singer Paul Young, who found fame with the band Mike and the Mechanics, died from what might have been a heart attack at the age of 53. The band just finished recording their fifth album and had planned to tour Europe this month.
• 2001 ~ Denes Koromzay, a violist who helped found the Hungarian String Quartet, died at the age of 88. Koromzay studied at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest when composer Béla Bartók was on the faculty. Though trained as a violinist, Koromzay was the violist in the group that founded the Hungarian String Quartet in 1935. He remained with the famed ensemble until it disbanded in 1972. For the next seven years, he performed with the New Hungarian Quartet, an ensemble at Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio. Koromzay moved to Boulder in 1962, when the Hungarian String Quartet was named resident ensemble at the University of Colorado. He returned to the university to teach viola and coach chamber music in 1980. He retired from the school in 1996.
Today’s piece is the one that all kids seem to be able to teach each other without having any lessons at all.
“Chopsticks” (original name “The Celebrated Chop Waltz”) is a simple, widely known waltz for the piano. Written in 1877, it is the only published piece by the British composer Euphemia Allen (under the pseudonym Arthur de Lulli).
Allen, whose brother was a music publisher, was sixteen when she composed the piece, with arrangements for solo and duet.
• 1789 ~Bastille Day (France) This was the day the French Revolution began — at the fall of the Bastille. It is still celebrated in many countries throughout the world and is a public holiday in France; generally called Bastille Day or Fete National. It is considered the day freedom was born in France.
• 1682 ~ Henry Purcell appointed organist of Chapel Royal, London
More information about Purcell
• 1707 ~ Jacques-Philippe Lamoninary, Composer
• 1788 ~ Johann Gottfried Muthel, Composer, died at the age of 60
• 1803 ~ Esteban Salas y Castro, Composer, died
• 1839 ~ Edward Sydney Smith, Composer
• 1844 ~ Oscar Beringer, Pianist
• 1854 ~ Alexander Alexandrovich Kopilov, Composer
• 1855 ~ Richard Samuel Hughes, Composer
• 1873 ~ Ferdinand David, Dutch violinist and composer, died at the age of 63
• 1883 ~ Alexandru Zirra, Composer
• 1895 ~ Alexander Ewing, Composer, died at the age of 65
• 1901 ~ Gerald Raphael Finzi, British composer
• 1906 ~ Arthur James Bramwell Hutchings, Composer
• 1908 ~ William Mason, Composer, died at the age of 79
• 1910 ~ Peter Stadlen, Pianist, critic
• 1912 ~ Woody (Woodrow Wilson) Guthrie born. He was the ‘father of modern American folk music’, American folk singer, songwriter of more than 1,000 original songs and author and father of folk singer Arlo Guthrie
• 1917 ~ Arthur Leavins, Violinist
• 1922 ~ Peter Andrew Tranchell, Composer
• 1923 ~ Louis Ganne, Composer, died at the age of 61
• 1925 ~ Luis Antonio Escobar, Composer
• 1926 ~ Jan Krenz, Composer
• 1927 ~ Alexander Popov, Bulgarian composer
• 1928 ~ Ole Schmidt, Composer
• 1929 ~ George Alan Dawson, Jazz drummer, teacher
• 1930 ~ Eric Norman Stokes, Composer
• 1930 ~ Polly Bergen, Pop Singer
• 1933 ~ Del (Franklin Delano) Reeves, Singer, guitarist
• 1942 ~ Helen O’Connell and Bob Eberly sang their last duet together as they recorded the famous Brazil with the Jimmy Dorsey band.
• 1945 ~ Peter James Leonard Klatzow, Composer
• 1951 ~ “Courtin’ Time” closed at National Theater New York City after 37 performances
• 1951 ~ “Make a Wish” closed at Winter Garden Theater New York City after 102 performances
• 1952 ~ George Louis Francis Lewis, Composer
• 1956 ~ Jaroslav Ridky, Composer, died at the age of 58
• 1962 ~ Bobby Vinton’s Roses are Red became the top song in the U.S. The song stayed at the top for four weeks and was the first of four #1 hits for Vinton. The others were: Blue Velvet, There! I’ve Said It Again and Mr. Lonely. Roses are Red was also Vinton’s first million-seller. He had two others: I Love How You Love Me (#9 in 1968) and My Melody of Love (#3 in 1974.)
• 1973 ~ Clarence White, Guitarist with the Byrds, killed by a car
• 1973 ~ Phil Everly stormed off stage declaring an end to Everly Brothers
• 1975 ~ Tameka Cottle, Rock Singer
• 1975 ~ Zutty Singleton, American jazz drummer, died at the age of 77
• 1982 ~ George Amadee Tremblay, Composer, died at the age of 71
• 1984 ~ Philippe Wynne, American soul singer, died at the age of 43
• 1996 ~ “How To Succeed Business…” closed at Richard Rodgers New York City after 548 performances
• 1996 ~ “Thousand Clowns” opened at Criterion Theater New York City for 32 performances
• 2001 ~ Norman Singer, a teacher and director of several music organizations in New York City, died at the age of 80. Singer began his career in the arts in 1948 as a psychology and sociology teacher at the Juilliard School. Dance played a major role in programming when Singer served as executive director of the City Center of Music and Drama from 1968 to 1975. He was the executive director of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center from 1975 until his retirement in 1981.
“The Entertainer” is a 1902 classic piano rag written by Scott Joplin. It was sold first as sheet music, and in the 1910s as piano rolls that would play on player pianos.
It was used as the theme music for the 1973 Oscar-winning film The Sting by composer and pianist Marvin Hamlisch.
The Sting was set in the 1930s, a full generation after the end of ragtime’s mainstream popularity, thus giving the inaccurate impression that ragtime music was popular at that time.
Find the sheet music in a variety of levels including Songs I Love to Play, Volume 1 and Alfred Premier Piano Course Book 4. It’s also available in Piano Maestro and to borrow from the O’Connor Music Studio
• 1668 ~ Van Marco Cesti’s opera “Il Pomo d’Oro,” premiered in Vienna
• 1813 ~ Johann Friedrich Peter, Composer, died at the age of 67
• 1844 ~ Johann Gansbacher, Composer, died at the age of 66
• 1866 ~ C.C. Birchard, Music Publisher
• 1877 ~ Karl Erb, German tenor
• 1884 ~ John Francis Larchet, Composer
• 1889 ~ Carli Zoeller, Composer, died at the age of 49
• 1891 ~ Franco Casavola, Composer
• 1894 ~ Juventino Rosas, Composer, died at the age of 26
• 1898 ~ Guglielmo Marconi patented the radio
• 1903 ~ August Reissmann, Composer, died at the age of 77
• 1906 ~ Harry Sosnik, American orchestra leader of the Jack Carter Show and Your Hit Parade
• 1909 ~ David Branson, Composer
• 1909 ~ Paul Constantinescu, Composer
• 1909 ~ Washington Castro, Composer
• 1913 ~ Ladislav Holoubek, Composer
• 1915 ~ Paul Williams, Jazz saxophonist and bandleader Williams played with Clarence Dorsey in 1946, and then made his recording debut with King Porter in 1947 for Paradise before forming his own band later that year.
• 1921 ~ Ernest Gold, Composer
• 1921 ~ Charles Scribner Jr, Music publisher
• 1923 ~ Asger Hamerik (Hammerich) German composer, died at the age of 80
• 1924 ~ Carlo Bergonzi, Italian tenor
• 1926 ~ Meyer Kupferman, American composer
• 1928 ~ Donal Michalsky, Composer
• 1932 ~ Per Nørgård, Danish composer
More information about Nørgård
• 1934 ~ Roger Reynolds, Composer
• 1936 ~ Izydor Lotto, Composer, died at the age of 91
• 1939 ~ Frank Sinatra made his recording debut with the Harry James band. Frankie sang Melancholy Mood and From the Bottom of My Heart.
• 1942 ~ Roger McGuinn, Musician, guitarist and vocalist with the Byrds (1965 US & UK No.1 single ‘Mr Tambourine Man’). He was the only member of The Byrds to play on the hit, the others being session players. He toured with Bob Dylan in 1975 and 1976 as part of Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue, and later worked with fellow ex-Byrds Gene Clark and Chris Hillman to form “McGuinn, Clark and Hillman”.
• 1951 ~ Arnold Schoenberg, Austrian-born composer, died in Los Angeles; he was best known for his 12-note serial method and his composition Verklaerte Nacht and his opera “Moses und Aaron.”
More information about Schoenberg
• 1942 ~ Stephen Jo Bladd, American drummer with the J Geils Band
• 1954 ~ Louise Mandrell, American country singer with the Mandrell Sisters
• 1958 ~ Karl Erb, German tenor, died on 81st birthday
• 1959 ~ Dedicated to the One I Love, by The Shirelles, was released. The tune went to number 83 on the Top 100 chart of “Billboard” magazine. The song was re-released in 1961 and made it to number three on the charts.
• 1961 ~ Lawrence Donegan, Musician, bass with Lloyd Cole & The Commotions
• 1965 ~ Neil Thrasher, Country Singer
• 1973 ~ Martian Negrea, Composer, died at the age of 80
• 1973 ~ The Everly Brothers called it quits during a concert at the John Wayne Theatre in Buena Park, CA. Phil Everly walked off the stage in the middle of the show and brother Don said, “The Everly Brothers died ten years ago.” The duo reunited a decade later for a short time.
• 1976 ~ Max Butting, Composer, died at the age of 87
• 1978 ~ Antonio Veretti, Composer, died at the age of 78
• 1985 ~ Duran Duran took A View to a Kill, from the James Bond movie of the same name, to the top of the record charts this day. The song stayed on top for two weeks. Live and Let Die by Wings and Nobody Does It Better by Carly Simon — both James Bond themes — got only as high as number two on the record charts.
• 1985 ~ Live Aid, a rock concert masterminded by Bob Geldof, took place in London and Philadelphia and raised over 60 million dollars for famine in Africa.
• 1992 ~ Carla van Neste, Belgian violinist, died at the age of 78
• 1994 ~ Eddie Boyd, Blues vocalist and pianist, died at the age of 79
This week’s Summer Camp piece is I Got You (I Feel Good) by James Brown. There are 3 levels – Just the Melody Line, Simplified and the whole piece in d minor. The sharps are written in.
• 1943 ~ Christine (Perfect) McVie, Singer with Fleetwood Mac
• 1946 ~ Benjamin Britten’s “Rape of Lucretia,” premiered at Glyndebourne
• 1947 ~ James Melvin Lunceford, American jazz dance-band leader, passed away
More information about Lunceford
• 1949 ~ John Wetton, Bassist, singer with Asia
• 1952 ~ Liz Mitchell, Singer
• 1953 ~ Marie-Alphonse-Nicolas-Joseph Jongen, Belgian composer, died at the age of 79
• 1956 ~ Sandi Patti, Gospel Singer
• 1958 ~ “Li’l Abner” closed at St James Theater New York City after 693 performances
• 1958 ~ Yakety Yak, by The Coasters, became the number one song in America according to Billboard magazine. It was the first stereo record to reach the top of the chart.
• 1962 ~ The Rolling Stones first performance, at the Marquee Club, London. The lineup featured Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, bass player Dick Taylor and drummer Mick Avory. Taylor and Avory were soon replaced.
• 1970 ~ Blues-Rock singer Janis Joplin’s debut, in Kentucky
• 1979 ~ Kalervo Tuukkanen, Composer, died at the age of 69
• 1979 ~ Minnie Ripperton (Andrea Davis) Singer, died at the age of 30
• 1985 ~ “Singin’ in the Rain” opened at Gershwin Theater New York City for 367 performances
• 1990 ~ Les Miserables opened at National Theatre, Washington
• 1995 ~ Alan David Marks, Pianist and composer, died at the age of 49
• 1995 ~ Earl Coleman, Singer, died at the age of 69
• 1995 ~ Ernie Furtado, Bassist, died at the age of 72
• 1996 ~ Gottfried von Einem, Composer, died at the age of 78
• 1996 ~ Jonathan Melvoin, Keyboardist with Smashing Pumpkins, died
• 2000 ~ Ras Shorty I, who fused calypso with an up-tempo beat that he said represented the true soul of calypso, died of bone cancer. He was 59. He was born Garfield Blackman and started singing calypso as Lord Shorty. Dozens of musicians later adopted his up-tempo “soca” beat, which he called the “Indianization of calypso,” bringing together the music of his Caribbean nation’s two major ethnic groups, descendants of African slaves and of indentured laborers from India.
• 2001 ~ James Bernard, who composed the eerie musical scores for some of Britain’s most famous horror films, died at the age of 75. The British composer was best known for his work with Hammer Film studios, which made low-budget gothic horror films featuring actors Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. During his nearly 40-year career, Bernard composed scores for “The Curse of Frankenstein” (1957), “Dracula” (1958) and “The Devil Rides Out” (1968). He won an Academy Award, but not for his music. Bernard shared an Oscar in 1951 with Paul Dehn for best motion picture story for “Seven Days to Noon.” His last work was the score for “Universal Horror” in 1998, a documentary of Universal Studios’ horror films of the 1930s and 1940s.
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