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Friday, December 4, 2015

Birthdays

File:HerbertHamiltonHarty.png

Sir Herbert Hamilton Harty

In 1879 Sir Herbert Hamilton Harty was born in Hillsborough, Northern Ireland. After an early career as a church organist in his native Ireland, Harty moved to London at about age 20, soon becoming a well-known piano accompanist. The Musical Times called him “the prince of accompanists”. As a composer he wrote throughout his career, many of his works being well received, though few are regularly performed in the 21st century. In his career as a conductor, which began in 1904, Harty was particularly noted as an interpreter of the music of Berlioz. From 1920 to 1933 he was the chief conductor of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, which he returned to the high standards and critical acclaim that it had enjoyed under its founder, Charles Hallé. His last permanent post was with the London Symphony Orchestra, but it lasted only two years, from 1932 to 1934. During his conducting career, Harty made some recordings with his orchestras. Shortly after his dismissal by the LSO, Harty began to suffer the symptoms of a brain tumour. After surgery, he resumed his career until 1940, but the tumour returned to cause his death at the age of 61. 1

Premiers

In 1816 Gioachino Rossini’s opera Otello premiered in Naples.

In 1845 Robert Schumann’s Piano Concerto was given a preview performance in Dresden with his wife, Clara, as soloist. It would have its official premier on New Year’s Day 1846 in Leipzig, again with Clara as soloist and Ferdinand Hiller conducting (it was dedicated to him).

In 1878 Antonín Dvořák’s Slavonic Dances Nos 1-4 were given their first public performance in Dresden.

In 1881 Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto was premiered in Vienna. Adolph Brodsky was conducted by Hans Richter. Critic Eduard Hanslick would report that it “brought us face to face with the revolting thought that music can exist which stinks to the ear”. He also wrote that “the violin was not played but beaten black and blue”, as well as labeling the last movement “odorously Russian”. 2

In 1898 Antonín Dvorák conducted the premier of his symphonic poem Hero’s Song, Op. 111, in Vienna.

In 1909 Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari’s one act opera Susanna’s Secret was premiered in Munich.

Today in Classical Music

In 1830 Franz Liszt and Hector Berlioz meet for the first time in Parish, becoming close friends.

In 1845 students at the Leipzig Conservatoire protest after their usual discounted tickets are not offered for Mendelssohn’s directing of Jenny Lind in concert. The concert was oversold and there was no seats left.

In 1893 Nellie Melba made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.

In 1903 Ralph Vaughan Williams determines to collect English folk songs after hearing a worker in Essex singing Bushes and Briars. He wrote down the notes he heard and thus began his catalogue of folk music that had previously only been handed down from generation to generation without ever being recorded.

In 1912 Sergei Diaghilev introduces Ardoln Schoenberg and Igor Stravinsky to Berlin.

In 1934 Wilhelm Furtwängler resigned as vice-president of the Reichsmusikkammer, the director of the Berlin State Opera, and the conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic. His close friend Berta Geissmar wrote, “He told me that he knew now what was behind Hitler’s narrow-minded measures. This is not only antisemitism, but the rejection of any form of artistic, philosophical thought, the rejection of any form of free culture…” 3

  1. Wikipedia contributors, “Hamilton Harty,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hamilton_Harty&oldid=680743161(accessed December 3, 2015).
  2. Wikipedia contributors, “Violin Concerto (Tchaikovsky),” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Violin_Concerto_(Tchaikovsky)&oldid=690460302 (accessed December 3, 2015).
  3. Wikipedia contributors, “Wilhelm Furtwängler,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wilhelm_Furtw%C3%A4ngler&oldid=692999629 (accessed December 3, 2015).