Tag Archives: opera

June 10: Today’s Music History

Posted by MaryO on

today

Be sure your student reads and listens to Today’s Daily Listening Assignment

• 1781 ~ Giovanni Battista Polledro, Composer

• 1790 ~ Louis Joseph Daussoigne-Mehul, Composer

• 1800 ~ Johann Abraham Peter Schulz, German Composer, died at the age of 53

• 1818 ~ Pesaro opera theater opened with Rossini’s “La gaza ladra”

• 1831 ~ W A Remy, Composer

• 1843 ~ Heinrich von Herzogenberg, Composer

• 1865 ~ Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” first performance Münich, Germany

• 1883 ~ Carl Gradener, Composer, died at the age of 71

• 1890 ~ Powell Weaver, Composer

• 1891 ~ Al Dubin, Swiss songwriter of Tiptoe Through the Tulips

• 1893 ~ Elek Erkel, Composer, died at the age of 49

• 1894 ~ Pavel Borkovec, Czech Composer

• 1899 ~ Ernest Chausson, French Composer, died at the age of 44
More information about Chausson

• 1901 ~ Frederick Loewe, Austrian-born American composer for the musical theater
More information about Loewe

• 1902 ~ Gaston Brenta, Composer

• 1906 ~ Janos Viski, Composer

• 1910 ~ Robert Still, Composer

• 1910 ~ Howlin’ Wolf (Chester Arthur Burnett), Harmonica, blues musician, rhythm guitar, singer

• 1911 ~ Ralph Kirkpatrick, Harpsichordist, famed for playing the works of Domenico Scarlatti

• 1913 ~ John Edmunds, Composer

• 1918 ~ Arrigio Enrico Boito, Composer, died at the age of 76

• 1922 ~ Judy Garland (Frances Ethel Gumm), American actress and singer of popular music

• 1925 ~ Nat Hentoff, Journalist and music critic

• 1926 ~ Bruno Bartoletti, Italian conductor

• 1929 ~ Vasile Herman, Composer

• 1934 ~ Nicolas Roussakis, Composer

• 1934 ~ Frederick Delius, English Composer, died at the age of 72
More information about Delius

• 1940 ~ John William Stevens, Jazz drummer

• 1941 ~ Shirley Owens Alston, Singer with The Shirelles

• 1946 ~ Matthew Fisher, English keyboardist with Procol Harum

• 1954 ~ Will Rossiter, Composer, died at the age of 87

• 1964 ~ Louis Gruenberg, Composer, died at the age of 79

• 1964 ~ Rolling Stones recorded their 12×5 album at Chess Studios Chicago

• 1966 ~ The Beatles Paperback Writer was released in England

• 1966 ~ The Beatles recorded Rain, first to use reverse tapes

• 1966 ~ Janis Joplin’s first live concert in the Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco

• 1966 ~ The Mamas and The Papas won a gold record for Monday, Monday

• 1968 ~ Yury Sergeyevich Milyutin, Composer, died at the age of 65

• 1972 ~ Elvis Presley recorded a live album at NY’s Madison Square Garden

• 1972 ~ The Rolling Stones double album Exile On Main Street went to No.1 on the UK chart, the band’s seventh UK No.1 album. In 2010, the re-released album entered the UK chart at No.1, almost 38 years to the week after it first occupied that position. The Rolling Stones are the first act to ever have a studio album return to No.1 after it was first released.

• 1972 ~ Sammy Davis, Jr. earned his place at the top of the popular music charts for the first time, after years in the entertainment business. His number one song, The Candy Man, stayed at the top for three consecutive weeks. The Candy Man was truly a song of fate for Sammy. He openly did not want to record the song, but did so as a favor to MGM Records head Mike Curb, since it was to be used in the film, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Davis said he would give the tune one take, “and that’s it!” Sure enough, in that one-time recording, Sammy nailed it. The Candy Man stayed on the pop charts for 16 weeks. The best the legendary performer had done before was 12 weeks for Love Me or Leave Me in 1955 and 11 weeks for I’ve Gotta Be Me (from Golden Rainbow) in 1969. After The Candy Man became a hit, Davis included it in his stage shows and concerts — and collected huge royalties from it.

• 1976 ~ Paul McCartney and Wings set a record for an indoor concert crowd as 67,100 fans gathered in Seattle, WA to hear the former Beatle and his new group.

• 1982 ~ Addie “Micki” Harris, American singer with the Shirelles, died at the age of 42

• 1985 ~ Nineteenth Music City News Country Awards: Statler Brothers, Barbara Mandrell

• 1990 ~ “Meet Me St Louis” closed at Gershwin Theater NYC after 253 performances

• 1992 ~ Hachidal Nakamura, Composer, died at the age of 61 of heart failure

• 1996 ~ Thirtieth Music City News Country Awards: Alan Jackson

• 2001 ~ Pianist Yaltah Menuhin, last of three famous siblings whose musical talents brought them fame at an early age, died at the age of 79. Yaltah, the youngest, and her sister Hepzibah, also a pianist, did not achieve the international renown of their brother, the violinist Yehudi Menuhin. But they often appeared with him in concerts around the world, including the Bath Festival in Britain, where Yehudi was artistic director in the 1960s. Yaltah Menuhin was born in San Francisco, to Russian-Jewish parents. Like her siblings, she began studying music as a child, and moved about the world performing. Her brother was astonishing audiences with his virtuosity by the age of 7. Yaltah Menuhin and her husband, pianist Joel Ryce, often performed together as a duo in the United States, and she also performed with violist Michael Mann.

• 2001 ~ Harold S. Grossbardt, a founder of Colony Records, the famed record collector’s store in Manhattan, died at the age of 85. Grossbardt founded the store in 1948 with his partner, Sidney Turk, and the shop quickly became popular with music lovers. Hundreds of musicians, including Frank Sinatra, John Lennon and Michael Jackson, shopped at the store. Grossbardt worked at Colony Records until his retirement in 1988.

• 2004 ~ US singer, songwriter Ray Charles died aged 73. Glaucoma rendered Charles blind at the age of six. He scored the 1962 UK & US No.1 single ‘I Can’t Stop Loving You’ plus over 30 other US Top 40 singles and the 2005 US No.1 album ‘Genius Loves Company.’ Charles who was married twice and fathered twelve children by nine different women appeared in the 1980 hit movie, The Blues Brothers was also the winner of 17 Grammy Awards.

Daily Listening Assignments ~ June 7, 2025

Posted by MaryO on

Today, we’ll be listening to the end of the William Tell Overture by Gioachino Rossini.  This piece, originally the overture to an opera, has been arranged for piano and is in several method books, including Piano Pronto Movements 1 and 2.  It’s also in Bastien Book 4 and Piano Maestro.
The original story

Maybe your grandparents watched the original Lone Ranger

Or you saw the newer Lone Ranger with Johnny Depp

Here’s the entire William Tell Overture played by an orchestra

Piano Solo

Franz Liszt made a really hard version for piano solo. See if you can follow along!

Piano Duet (1 piano, 4 hands)

Piano Duet arranged by Louis Moreau Gottschalk

Piano Duo (2 pianos, 8 hands)

Piano Quartet (4 pianos, 16 hands)

For pipe organ

For synthesizer

And then things get nuts with cartoons. Lots of cartoons used this music. Here are Mickey Mouse and friends

And Spike Jones

Handbells…

Poor Rossini – I think he’d have a fit if he knew how is music was being used.

Have a nice day!

Daily Listening Assignments ~ June 3, 2025

Posted by MaryO on

 

Today we’re going to listen and learn about the opera Carmen.

I chose this for today since it’s the anniversary of French composer Georges Bizet‘s death.

Georges Bizet was born in Paris, France. Both his parents were musicians, and they actually wanted their son to become a composer when he grew up! Bizet loved music, but he also loved to read books. His parents wound up hiding his books so that he would spend more time on his music.

When Georges was 10 years old, his father enrolled him in the Paris Conservatory. While he was there, he wrote his only symphony, but it wasn’t performed until many years after he died. Bizet graduated from the Conservatory with awards in both composition and piano.

Bizet also composed operas. His most famous opera is Carmen. When Carmen first opened in Paris, the reviews were terrible. Many critics said there were no good tunes in it, so audiences stayed away.

In the middle of the night during the first round of Carmen performances, Bizet died. He was only 36. Four months later, Carmen opened in Vienna, Austria, and was a smash hit. It is now one of the most popular operas ever written. Bizet never knew that audiences would come to consider it his masterpiece.

 

Vladimir Horowitz made Carmen his own by turning it into a fantasy (or the more musical spelling – fantasie).

The fantasia (Italian; also English: fantasy, fancy, fantazy, phantasy, German: Fantasie, Phantasie, French: fantaisie) is a musical composition with its roots in the art of improvisation. Because of this, like the impromptu, it seldom approximates the textbook rules of any strict musical form.

When you play wrong notes for an audience, just tell the audience it’s a “Fantasie”, not the original work!

As you can see, Carmen is a popular work. Here it is for two pianos, played by Anderson and Roe.

The Canadian Brass tell the story of Carmen in their own humorous words.

If you want to learn this, just let me know!

June 1: Today’s Music History

Posted by MaryO on

today

Be sure your student reads and listens to Today’s Daily Listening Assignment

• 1893 ~ Allesandre Spontone, Composer

• 1653 ~ Georg Muffat, Composer

• 1755 ~ Frederico Fiorillo, Italian Violist and composer

• 1757 ~ Ignaz Playel, Austrian Composer and piano builder

• 1763 ~ Johann Caspar Vogler, Composer, died at the age of 67

• 1765 ~ Friedrich Ludwig Seidel, Composer

• 1769 ~ Joseph Antoni Frantiszek Elsner, Composer

• 1771 ~ Ferdinando Paer, Composer

• 1776 ~ John George Schetky, Composer

• 1804 ~ Mikhail Glinka, Russian composer; “The Father of Russian Music”
More information about Glinka

• 1810 ~ Johann Paul Wessely, Composer, died at the age of 47

• 1826 ~ Carl Bechstein, German piano inventor

• 1826 ~ Hermann Zopff, Composer

• 1848 ~ Otto Valdemar Malling, Composer

• 1886 ~ Ernst Kurth, Austrian/Swiss musicologist

• 1892 ~ Samuel L M Barlow, Composer

• 1893 ~ Opera “Falstaff” was produced in Berlin

• 1898 ~ Edgar “Cookie” Fairchild, Bandleader for the Jerry Colonna Show

• 1898 ~ Lieb Glantz, Composer

• 1903 ~ Percy William Whitlock, Composer

• 1905 ~ Dinora de Carvalho, Composer

• 1909 ~ Szymon Goldberg, Polish/American violinist and conductor

• 1909 ~ Giuseppe Martucci, Composer, died at the age of 53

• 1918 ~ Friedrich Richard Faltin, Composer, died at the age of 83

• 1918 ~ Jaroslav Novotny, Composer, died at the age of 32

• 1919 ~ Boris Lazarevich Klyuzner, Composer

• 1921 ~ Nelson Riddle, Grammy Award-winning orchestra leader and arranger of popular music for Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole

• 1926 ~ Vasily Mikhaylovich Metallov, Composer, died at the age of 64

• 1929 ~ Yehudi Wyner, Composer

• 1934 ~ Pat (Charles Eugene) Boone, Singer, married to Red Foley’s daughter, Shirley

• 1935 ~ Alberto Cametti, Composer, died at the age of 64

• 1941 ~ Edo de Waart, Dutch conductor

• 1942 ~ Ernest Pingoud, Composer, died at the age of 53

• 1943 ~ Ely van Tongeren, Dutch guitarist and singer

• 1943 ~ Richard Goode, concert pianist. In 1980 he won the Avery Fisher Award

• 1945 ~ Frederica Von Stade, American mezzo-soprano

• 1945 ~ Linda Scott, Singer

• 1946 ~ Carol Neblett, American soprano with the NYC Opera

• 1947 ~ Ron Wood, Guitar with Rolling Stones after 1975

• 1949 ~ Mike Levine, Rock keyboardist/bassist

• 1950 ~ Graham Russell, Singer with Air Supply

• 1955 ~ F Melius Christiansen, Composer, died at the age of 84

• 1959 ~ Celebrating a solid year at the top of the album charts was “Johnny’s Greatest Hits” on Columbia Records. The LP stayed for several more years at or near the top of the album charts. It became the all-time album leader at 490 weeks.

• 1960 ~ “Finian’s Rainbow” closed at 46th St Theater NYC after 12 performances

• 1961 ~ There was a new sound in the air this day. FM multiplex stereo broadcasting was enjoyed for the first time by listeners to FM radio in Schenectady, NY, Los Angeles and Chicago. The FCC adopted the standard a year later.

• 1964 ~ Rutkowski Bronislaw, Composer, died at the age of 66

• 1966 ~ George Harrison was impressed by Ravi Shankar’s concert in London

• 1967 ~ The Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” was released. One of the first critically-acclaimed rock albums, “Sgt. Pepper’s” became the number one album in the world and was at the top of the U.S. album list for 15 weeks.

• 1968 ~ Simon and Garfunkel’s Mrs Robinson hit #1

• 1970 ~ Everything was Beautiful by Ray Stevens hit #1

• 1971 ~ “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown” opened at Golden NYC for 31 performances

• 1972 ~ Dmitri Shostakovich’s 15th Symphony premiered in West Berlin

• 1973 ~ George Harrison’s Living in the Material World went gold

• 1973 ~ Paul McCartney and Wings released Live and Let Die

• 1974 ~ Alanis Nadine Morisette, Singer

• 1974 ~ “My Girl Bill” by Jim Stafford hit #12

• 1975 ~ “Chicago” opened at 46th St Theater NYC for 947 performances

• 1980 ~ Barbra Streisand appeared at an ACLU Benefit in California

• 1988 ~ “Les Miserables” opened at Shubert Theatre, LA

• 1996 ~ Don Grolnick, Jazz musician, died at the age of 48

May 29: Today’s Music History

Posted by MaryO on

• 1680 ~ Abraham Megerle, Composer, died at the age of 73

• 1680 ~ Luca Fumagalli (1837) Composer

• 1730 ~ William Jackson, Composer

• 1731 ~ Orazio Mei, Composer

• 1741 ~ Johann Gottfried Krebs, Composer

• 1750 ~ Giuseppe Porsile, Composer, died at the age of 70

• 1753 ~ Joseph Haydn’s “Krumme Teufel,” premiered

• 1791 ~ Pietro Romani, Composer

• 1833 ~ William Marshall, Composer, died at the age of 84

• 1860 ~ Isaac Albéniz, Spanish pianist and composer
More information about Albéniz

• 1843 ~ Emile Pessard, Composer

• 1862 ~ Franciszek Wincenty Mirecki, Composer, died at the age of 71

• 1881 ~ Frederik Septimus Kelly, Composer

• 1883 ~ William Beatton Moonie, Composer

• 1889 ~ August Strindberg’s “Hemsoborna,” premiered in Copenhagen

• 1890 ~ Francis de Bourguignon, Composer

• 1897 ~ Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Austrian-born American composer
More information about Korngold

• 1897 ~ Ignace Lilien, Composer

• 1899 ~ Frantz Jehin-Prume, Composer, died at the age of 60

• 1903 ~ Bob Hope, Entertainer

• 1905 ~ Fela Sowande, Composer

• 1905 ~ Leon Francis Victor Caron, Composer, died at the age of 55

• 1906 ~ Hans Joachim Schaeuble, Composer

• 1910 ~ Mily Alexeyevich Balakirev, Russian Composer, died at the age of 73

• 1911 ~ Sir William Gilbert, English librettist who together with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan collaborated on many operettas, died of a heart attack after rescuing a woman from drowning. He was 74.

• 1911 ~ Carl M Story (1916) Fiddler

• 1912 ~ Fifteen women were dismissed from their jobs at the Curtis Publishing Company in Philadelphia, PA — for dancing the Turkey Trot while on the job!

• 1922 ~ Iannis Xenakis, Rumanian-born French theorist and composer
More information on Xenakis

• 1923 ~ Eugene Wright, Jazz musician, bass with Dukes of Swing, played with Brubeck

• 1935 ~ Josef Suk, Czech violinist and composer, died at the age of 61

• 1930 ~ Eleanor Fazan, Opera and show choreographer

• 1937 ~ Peter Kolman, Composer

• 1941 ~ Roy Crewsdon, Guitarist with Freddie and The Dreamers

• 1942 ~ The biggest selling record of all time was recorded. A little out of season, perhaps, but White Christmas, the Irving Berlin classic, was recorded by Bing Crosby for Decca Records. The song was written for the film “Holiday Inn”. More than 30-million copies of Crosby’s most famous hit song have been sold and a total of nearly 70-million copies, including all versions of the standard, have been sold.

• 1942 ~ “Yankee Doodle Dandy”, based on life of George M. Cohan, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring James Cagney and Joan Lesley, premiered in New York City (Academy Awards Best Actor 1943)

• 1943 ~ Hermann Hans Wetzler, Composer, died at the age of 72

• 1943 ~ “The Million Dollar Band” was heard for the first time on NBC radio. Charlie Spivak was the first leader of the band that featured Barry Wood as vocalist. The unusual feature of the show was the awarding each week of five diamond rings!

• 1945 ~ Gary Brooker, Keyboard player, singer

• 1948 ~ Linda Esther Gray, opera singer

• 1948 ~ Michael Berkley, Composer and broadcaster

• 1949 ~ Francis Rossi, Guitarist

• 1949 ~ Gary Brooker, Rock keyboardist with Procol Harum

• 1950 ~ Rebbie (Maureen) Jackson, Singer, oldest member of the Jackson family

• 1951 ~ Dimitrios Levidis, Composer, died at the age of 66

• 1951 ~ Fanny Brice, Ziegfeld Girl (Baby Snooks Show), died at the age of 59

• 1951 ~ Josef Bohuslav Foerster, Composer, died at the age of 91

• 1951 ~ Robert Kahn, Composer, died at the age of 85

• 1951 ~ Danny Elfman (1953) Singer with Oingo Boingo;, composer of soundtracks to Batman, Beetlejuice and The Simpsons

• 1956 ~ LaToya Jackson, Singer

• 1956 ~ Hermann Abendroth, German conductor (Gewandhausorkest), died at the age of 73

• 1956 ~ Arnold Schoenberg’s “Modern Psalm,” premiered

• 1960 ~ Everly Brothers Cathy’s Clown hit #1

• 1961 ~ Melissa Etheridge, Singer

• 1961 ~ Uuno Kalervo Klami, Composer, died at the age of 60

• 1961 ~ Ricky Nelson reached the top spot on the “Billboard” singles chart with Travelin’ Man. It was Nelson’s second chart-topping hit. Poor Little Fool made it to the top in August of 1958.

• 1962 ~ Barbra Streisand appeared on “Garry Moore Show”

• 1967 ~ Geronimo Baqueiro Foster, Composer, died at the age of 69

• 1971 ~ Max Trapp, Composer, died at the age of 83

• 1972 ~ The Osmonds received a gold record for the album, “Phase III”.

• 1975 ~ Melanie “Scary Spice” Brown, Singer

• 1976 ~ One Piece At A Time by Johnny Cash hit #29

• 1977 ~ Goddard Lieberson, Composer, died at the age of 66

• 1989 ~ Danielle Riley Keough, granddaughter of Elvis Presley

• 1991 ~ “Les Miserables” opened at ACTEA Theatre, Auckland NZ

• 1992 ~ Peter John “Ollie” Halsall, Guitarist, died of a heart attack at 43

• 1994 ~ Oliver “Bops Junior” Jackson, drummer, died at the age of 61

• 1994 ~ “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” closed at Minskoff Theater NYC after 223 performances

• 1996 ~ James George “Jimmy” Rowles, Jazz pianist, died at the age of 77

• 1997 ~ Jeff Buckley, Musician, drowned at age 30

• 2003 ~ Janet Collins, the first black prima ballerina to appear at the Metropolitan Opera and one of a few black women to become prominent in American classical ballet, died. She was 86. In 1951, Collins performed lead roles in “Aida” and Bizet’s Carmen and danced in “La Gioconda” and “Samson and Delilah” at the Met in New York City. That was four years before Marian Anderson made her historic debut as the first black to sing a principal role at the Met. Collins left the Met in 1954. During the 1950s, she toured with her own dance group throughout the United States and Canada and taught. Collins also danced in films, including the 1943 musical “Stormy Weather” and 1946’s “The Thrill of Brazil.” The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1974 paid homage to Collins and Pearl Primus as pioneering black women in dance.

May 28: Today’s Music History

Posted by MaryO on

• 1608 ~ Claudio Monteverdi’s “Arianna,” premiered in Mantua

• 1650 ~ Gilles Hayne, Composer, died at the age of 59

• 1765 ~ Jean Baptiste Cartier, Composer

• 1777 ~ Joseph-Henri-Ignace Mees, Composer

• 1778 ~ Friedrich Westenholz, Composer

• 1780 ~ Joseph Frohlich, Composer

• 1787 ~ (Johann Georg) Leopold Mozart, Austrian Composer, Wolfgang’s father, died at the age of 67, in Salzburg.

• 1791 ~ Joseph Schmitt, Composer, died at the age of 57

• 1798 ~ Josef Dessauer, Composer

• 1805 ~ (Ridolfo) Luigi Boccherini, Italian composer and cellist, died at the age of 62

• 1830 ~ Karoly Filtsch, Composer

• 1833 ~ Johann Christian Friedrich Haeffner, Composer, died at the age of 74

• 1836 ~ Anton Reicha, Composer, died at the age of 66

• 1838 ~ Thomas Busby, Composer, died

• 1841 ~ Giovanni Sgambati, Composer

• 1844 ~ Leon Felix August Joseph Vasseur, Composer

• 1883 ~ George Dyson, Composer

• 1883 ~ August Freyer, Composer, died at the age of 79

• 1883 ~ Luigi Perrachio, Composer

• 1889 ~ Jose Padilla, Composer

• 1890 ~ Viktor Ernst Nessler, Composer, died at the age of 49

• 1892 ~ Comedienne Marie Dressler made her New York City singing debut in the comic opera, “The Robber of the Rhine”.

• 1896 ~ Marius Monnikendam, Dutch choir composer

• 1898 ~ Andy Kirk, Jazz musician

• 1906 ~ Phil Regan, Singer, My Wild Irish Rose

• 1906 ~ Shields/Cobbs musical “His honor, the Mayor,” premiered in New York City

• 1910 ~ T-Bone Walker, Legendary blues guitarist

• 1914 ~ Adolf Gustaw Sonnenfeld, Composer, died at the age of 76

• 1915 ~ Wolfgang Schneiderhan, Violinist

• 1923 ~ György Ligeti, Hungarian-born Austrian composer
More information about Ligeti

• 1922 ~ Carl Tieke, Composer, died at the age of 58

• 1922 ~ Otto Krueger conducted the Detroit News Orchestra, the first known radio orchestra, which was heard on WWJ Radio in Detroit, MI. The “Detroit News” owned the radio station at the time.

• 1925 ~ Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, German baritone. Known for his performance of opera, notably Mozart, Strauss and Wagner, he is also famed for his interpretation of German lieder.

• 1927 ~ Bernhard Lewkovitch, Composer

• 1930 ~ Julian Penkivil Slade, Composer

• 1931 ~ Peter Talbot Westergaard, Composer

• 1932 ~ Henning Christiansen, Composer

• 1934 ~ Julian Slade, Composer

• 1934 ~ Rob du Bois, Composer

• 1936 ~ Maki Ishii, Composer

• 1940 ~ Hans Dulfer, Tenor saxophonist and director of Paradiso

• 1940 ~ Theodor Streicher, Composer, died at the age of 65

• 1940 ~ Irving Berlin’s musical “Louisiana Purchase,” premiered in New York City

• 1941 ~ Frank Sinatra joined Tommy Dorsey’s orchestra in recording “This Love of Mine” for Victor Records.

• 1943 ~ Dennis Riley, Composer

• 1944 ~ Gladys Knight, American rhythm-and-blues singer. She has won 7 Grammys, had 6 number one R&B albums, and had 11 number one R&B singles. Her music career was at its most successful point during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. She began her career as part of the group Gladys Knight and the Pips and later gained recognition as a solo artist. Her most well-known songs include “I Heard it Through the Grapevine,” “Midnight Train to Georgia,” and “That’s What Friends Are For.” Knight has also made several appearances in film and television, often playing herself. Gladys Knight and the Pips were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.

• 1945 ~ John Fogerty, Songwriter, singer with Creedence Clearwater

• 1945 ~ Gary Stewart, Country singer

• 1954 ~ Achille Longo, Composer, died at the age of 54

• 1957 ~ The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) was established. This is the organization that brings us the Grammy Awards for all forms of musical entertainment each year.

• 1958 ~ Mikulas Schneider-Trvavsky, Composer, died at the age of 77

• 1959 ~ Johnson and Bart’s musical “Lock up your daughters,” premiered in London

• 1963 ~ Vissarion Yakovlevich Shebalin, Composer, died at the age of 60

• 1964 ~ John Finley Williamson, conductor of the Westminster Choir, died at the age of 76

• 1964 ~ Dmitri Shostakovich completed his Ninth String quartet

• 1966 ~ Percy Sledge hit number one with his first, and what turned out to be his biggest, hit. When a Man Loves a Woman would stay at the top of the pop music charts for two weeks. It was the singer’s only hit to make the top ten and was a million seller.

• 1966 ~ Dmitri Shostakovich’s Eleventh String quartet, premiered in Leningrad

• 1967 ~ Dmitri Shostakovich completed his Second Violin Concerto

• 1973 ~ Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt, German composer and conductor, died at the age of 73

• 1975 ~ The Doobie Brothers went gold with the album, “Stampede”. The group, formed in San Jose, CA, recorded 16 charted hits. Two made it to number one, becoming million-selling, gold record winners: Black Water in March, 1975 and What a Fool Believes in April, 1979.

• 1977 ~ Jiri Reinberger, Composer, died at the age of 63

• 1981 ~ Mary Lou Williams, Musician, died at the age of 71

• 2014 ~ James K. Randall, American composer, died at the age of 84

May 21: Today’s Music History

Posted by MaryO on

today

• 1633 ~ Joseph de La Barre, Composer

• 1671 ~ Azzolino Bernardino Della Ciaia, Composer

• 1680 ~ Frederich Karl Erbach, Composer

• 1720 ~ Antonio Corbisiero, Composer

• 1722 ~ Wilhelm Gottfried Enderle, Composer

• 1841 ~ Joseph Parry, Composer

• 1867 ~ Marie Joseph Leon Desire Paque, Composer

• 1888 ~ May Aufderheide, Ragtime composer

• 1892 ~ The opera “I Pagliacci,” by Ruggiero Leoncavallo, was performed for the first time in Milan, Italy.

• 1895 ~ Franz von Suppe, Austrian composer of light operas, notably “Poet and Peasant,” died.
More information about von Suppe

• 1898 ~ Karel Haba, Composer

• 1901 ~ Horace Heidt, Bandleader: Horace Heidt and His Musical Knights

• 1904 ~ “Fats” Waller, American jazz pianist, organist, singer, bandleader and composer
Listen to Waller’s music
More information about Waller

• 1905 ~ Edward Lockspeiser, Composer

• 1917 ~ Dennis Day (Eugene Denis McNulty), Singer

• 1924 ~ Robert Parris, Composer

• 1926 ~ Joseph Horovitz, Composer

• 1929 ~ Charles Wadsworth, Pianist

• 1930 ~ Tommy Bryant, Jazz/studio musician: bassist

• 1932 ~ Robert Sherlaw Johnson, Composer

• 1933 ~ Maurice André, French trumpeter

• 1935 ~ Terry Lightfoot, Clarinetist, bandleader with the New Orleans Jazzmen

• 1939 ~ Heinz Holliger, Swiss oboist, composer and conductor

• 1940 ~ Will Bradley and his orchestra recorded one of the best of the Big Band era. Ray McKinley played drums and did the vocal for the boogie-woogie tune, Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar. The song, on Columbia Records, was so long it took up both sides of the 78 rpm record.

• 1941 ~ Ronald Isley, Singer with The Isley Brothers

• 1944 ~ Marcie Blane, Singer

• 1948 ~ Leo (Gerard) Sayer, Pop-singer and songwriter. Some of his hits were YouMake Me Feel like Dancing and When I Need You

• 1959 ~ Gypsy opened. Ethel Merman played the lead role in the musical which opened at the Broadway Theatre in New York City. The popular show ran for 702 performances. It was based on the memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee, the famous burlesque queen.

• 1973 ~ Vaughn Monroe passed away

• 1973 ~ The sensual Pillow Talk, by Sylvia (Sylvia Vanderpool), earned a gold record.

• 1985 ~ Marvin Gaye’s last album was released. Dream of a Lifetime featured songs that critics considered too offensive, such as the controversial, pop version of The Lord’s Prayer. Three of the songs from the album were completed after Gaye’s death. Marvin Gaye was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.

May 18: Today’s Music History

Posted by MaryO on

today

• 1799 ~ Pierre Beaumarchais, French playwright, died. Famed for his two comedies “The Marriage of Figaro” (Mozart used this for an opera) and “The Barber of Seville” Rossini used this for an opera).

• 1830 ~ Karl Goldmark, composer

• 1876 ~ The first issue of the first music magazine in America, Musical America, was published

• 1892 ~ Ezio Pinza, Italian bass and actor

• 1902 ~ Meredith Willson, American composer, flutist, arranger and orchestrator
More information about Willson

• 1909 ~ Isaac Albéniz, Spanish pianist and composer (Suite española, Tango in D), died from nephritis at the age of 48

• 1911 ~ Gustav Mahler, Czech-born Austrian composer, died. His last word was “Mozart”.  He completed nine symphonies and several song-cycles notably “Das Lied von der Erde.”
More information about Gustav Mahler

• 1911 ~ Big Joe (Joseph Vernon) Turner, Rhythm & blues singer

• 1913 ~ Perry (Pierino Roland) Como, Grammy Award-winning American singer of popular music, 15 gold records
More information about Como

• 1919 ~ Dame Margot Fonteyne, British prima ballerina. She started her career with the London Sadler’s Wells company in 1934 and in 1962 began a legendary partnership with Rudolph Nureyev.

• 1922 ~ Kai Winding, Jazz musician: trombone

• 1948 ~ Joe Bonsall, Singer with The Oak Ridge Boys

• 1968 ~ Tiny Tim’s warbly Tiptoe Through the Tulips was released. An eventual top twenty hit, Tiptoe was a remake of a number one hit for Nick Lucas in 1929.

• 1970 ~ Opening this night in New York City was The Me Nobody Knows at the Orpheum Theatre. The musical had a run of 586 performances.

• 2002 ~ Wolfgang Schneiderhan, a violinist who began performing as a child, became a concertmaster at 17 and played with orchestras across Europe, died. He was 86. A child prodigy, Schneiderhan quickly rose to international fame, performing with leading ensembles, including the Vienna Symphonic Orchestra and the Philharmonic. A regular at Europe’s most important music festivals, Schneiderhan played with Wilhelm Backhaus and other well-known pianists and gave violin concerts under such legendary conductors as Bruno Walter and Wilhelm Furtwängler. Later, Schneiderhan was a teacher at the Salzburg Mozarteum and at the Vienna Academy of Music. At age 11, Schneiderhan played in Copenhagen, Denmark – his first major concert abroad. Already a distinguished interpreter of the music of Mozart and Beethoven, Schneiderhan became concertmaster of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra at age 17, a job he also held with the Vienna Philharmonic in 1937.

• 2003 ~ Broadway’s ‘Les Miserables’ Ended After 16 Years. The pop opera based on Victor Hugo’s 1832 novel closed after 16 years, making it the second longest-running show ever on the Great White Way. The show played 6,680 performances since opening at the Broadway Theater in 1987. Only “Cats” has played more performances on Broadway with 7,485. The last performance at the Imperial Theater included a finale featuring 300 alumni of the Broadway run. Although it is now gone from the New York stage, the show is performed around the world by touring companies and is a fixture in London’s West End.

• 2012 ~ Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, German baritone, died at the age of 86

• 2014 ~ Jerry Vale, American singer, died at the age of 83

May 14: Today’s Music History

Posted by MaryO on

today

• 1847 ~ Fanny Cacilia Mendelssohn Hensel, German composer, died at the age of 41

• 1885 ~ Otto Klemperer, German conductor, In his early career he championed modern works.

• 1916 ~ Skip (Lloyd) Martin, Bandleader, composer, arranger

• 1916 ~ Lance Dossor, British-born concert pianist

• 1917 ~ Norman Luboff, Choral leader, The Norman Luboff Choir

• 1925 ~ Patrice Munsel, Soprano, Metropolitan Opera diva at age 17; actress in The Great Waltz, Melba; radio performer: The Great Sopranos – Voices of Firestone Classic Performances; radio host: The Patrice Munsel Show

• 1925 ~ Al Porcino, Jazz musician, trumpet

• 1936 ~ Bobby Darin (Cassotto), Grammy Award-winning singer, inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990

• 1937 ~ Duke Ellington and his band recorded the classic, Caravan, for Brunswick Records.

• 1943 ~ Jack Bruce, Musician: bass with the group Cream

• 1943 ~ Derek Leckenby, Guitarist with Herman’s Hermits

• 1944 ~ Troy Shondell, Singer

• 1945 ~ Gene Cornish, Guitarist with The Young Rascals

• 1952 ~ David Byrne, American rock composer, singer, American rock composer, performance artist and movie director

• 1957 ~ The musical, New Girl in Town, opened at the 46th Street Theatre in New York City. Thelma Ritter and Gwen Verdon starred in the Broadway adaptation of Eugene O’Neill’s Anna Christie. New Girl in Town had a run of 431 performances.

1959 ~ “President Dwight D. Eisenhower broke ground for Lincoln Center at the site of Avery Fisher Hall, then named Philharmonic Hall. Musicians representing the Lincoln Center constituents participated: Leonard Bernstein led the New York Philharmonic and the Juilliard Chorus (Frederick Prausnitz, director), and Leonard Warren and Risë Stevens (Juilliard Graduate School ’36, voice), both of The Metropolitan Opera, performed excerpts from I Pagliacci and Carmen.” ~Jeni Dahmus, archivist at The Juilliard School

• 1971 ~ The Honey Cone received a gold record for the single, Want Ads. The female soul trio was formed in Los Angeles in 1969 and scored two million-sellers, Want Ads and Stick Up. The trio had a total of four songs on the charts that were moderate hits. Only Want Ads, however, made it to the number one position.

• 1971 ~ Danny Wood, Singer with New Kids on the Block

• 1998 ~ Frank Sinatra, one of the world’s greatest popular singers, died.

• 2001 ~ Loften Mitchell, a Tony Award-nominated playwright and early leader of the black theater movement, died at the age of 82. Mitchell was nominated for a Tony Award in 1976 for his book for the musical “Bubbling Brown Sugar,” a performance of black music and dance. He also wrote “A Land Beyond the River,” “Star of the Morning,” and the books “Voices of the Black Theater” and “Black Drama.” For many years he taught at the State University of New York at Binghamton, and he was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation.

• 2003 ~ Otto Edelmann, whose dark bass-baritone propelled him to some of the world’s most renowned opera stages over a career spanning more than four decades, died. He was 86. Edelmann was often associated with masterful performances as Ochs in “Der Rosenkavalier,” and Hans Sachs in “Die Meistersinger von Nuernberg.” With his powerful voice, Edelmann was a favorite choice for Wagnerian roles. Edelmann trained at the Vienna Music Academy, now the Vienna University for Music and Performing Arts, under coaches including Gunnar Graarud. After a 1937 debut as Figaro in Gera, Germany, he sang in Nuremberg until 1940, when he was drafted into Hitler’s army. Captured by the Soviets, he spent several years as a prisoner of war. Edelmann’s postwar debut at the Vienna State Opera, as the hermit in “Der Freischütz” in 1947, was the first of a 36-year engagement in the Austrian capital that included 430 performances in 36 different roles. He also was a regular for decades at the Salzburg Festival and other annual music events across Europe. Edelmann later turned increasingly to teaching, and in 1982 was appointed singing professor at the Vienna Music Academy.

• 2015 ~ B.B. King, “the King of the Blues,” whose stinging guitar solos and husky, full-throated vocals made him an international music icon and the most commercially successful performer in blues history, died at the age of 89.

May 12: Today’s Music History

Posted by MaryO on

• 1739 ~ Jan Krtitel Vanhal, composer

• 1754 ~ Franz Anton Hoffmeister, composer

• 1755 ~ Giovanni Battista Viotti, composer

• 1842 ~ Jules Emile Frédéric Massenet, French composer
More information about Massenet

• 1845 ~ Gabriel Fauré, French composer and organist
More information about Fauré

• 1871 ~ Daniel-Francois-Esprit Auber, French opera composer, died. He was best known for developing opera containing spoken as well as sung passages.

• 1884 ~ Czech composer Bedrich Smetana, composer of operas including “The Bartered Bride” and “The Brandenburgers in Bohemia”, died.
More information about Smetana

• 1909 ~ Margaret Harshaw, American opera singer and voice teacher

• 1921 ~ (Otis W.) Joe Maphis, Country singer with wife, Rose Lee

• 1928 ~ Burt Bacharach, American pianist and Oscar-winning composer. With Hal David, Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head, Tony award for score for Promises, Promises; What the World Needs Now, Walk on By, Close to You, I Say a Little Prayer, Do You Know the Way to San Jose? Oscar-winning team with his wife, Carol Bayer Sager

• 1943 ~ David Walker, Keyboards with Gary Lewis & The Playboys

• 1946 ~ Ian McLagan, Keyboards

• 1955 ~ Gisele MacKenzie played a singer on the NBC-TV program, Justice. She introduced her soon-to-be hit song, Hard to Get. The song went to number four on the Billboard pop music chart by September.

• 1971 ~ The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger married Bianca Perez Morena de Macias.

• 1973 ~ Dueling Tubas by Martin Mull hit #92

• 1977 ~ The Eagles earned a gold record for the hit, Hotel California. The award was the second of three gold record singles for the group. The other million sellers were New Kid in Town and Heartache Tonight. Two number one songs by The Eagles — Best of My Love and One of These Nights — didn’t quite make the million-seller mark.

• 1985 ~ Lionel Richie received an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Tuskegee Institute in Alabama (his alma mater). Richie had put 14 hits on the pop charts in the 1980s, including one platinum smash, Endless Love (with Diana Ross) and four gold records (Truly, All Night Long, Hello and Say You, Say Me). All but one song (Se La) of the 14 charted made it to the top ten.

• 1987 ~ Victor Feldman, British jazz pianist and drummer, died at the age of 53 of a heart attack

• 2001 ~ Perry Como, the crooning baritone barber famous for his relaxed vocals, cardigan sweaters and television Christmas specials, died after a lengthy illness. He was 87.

• 2016 ~ Julius La Rosa, American singer (fired by Arthur Godfrey on the air), died at the age of 86