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Musicians and Composers/Invention
This year has flown by. Birthdays come and go. This final month of musicians and composers birthdays contains one of our greatest composers. Three clues are. . .he was born on December 16th, he composed the famous "Moonlight Sonata" and became deaf when he was a young man. Let's start with the beginning of December and work up through the final month of the year 2004. December 1, 1709 - Franz Xaver Richter was born in Hoileschau. He was a great German composer and Kapellmeister at Strasbourg Cathedral.December 1, 1847 - Agathe Backer-Grondahl was born in Holmestrand. She was a pupil of Franz Liszt. Agathe was a great Norwegian composer and pianist. December 3, 1596 - Nicola Amati was born in Cremona. He was the famous violin-maker of world famous instruments. Antonio Stradivari and Andrea Guarneri received their training in his workshop. December 3, 1721 - On this day Johann Sebastian Bach married Anna Magdalena. December 3, 1883 - Anton Webern was born in Vienna, Austria. Webern's contemporary compositions were influenced by his studies with Arnold Schoenberg.. December 3, 1898 - Lev Knipper was born in the Soviet Union. He was a composer and collector of the folksongs of the various nationalities of the Soviet Union. December 4, 1806 - Johann Friedrich Franz Burgmuller was born in Regensburg, Germany. He composed numerous piano works. He died February 13, 1874. December 5. 1916 - Veronika Dudarova, the Soviet conductor was born in Baku. December 6, 1920 - Dave Brubeck was born in Concord, California. He was a a great jazz pianist, and composer. December 7, 1849 - Carl Fischer the German-American music publisher was born in Buttstadt. December 7, 1887 - Ernst Toch, Austrian-American composer and pianist was born in Vienna. December 8, 1865 - Jean Sibelius, the son of a doctor, was born in Tavastebus, Finland. His musical inspiration came from native legends. December 9, 1882 - Joaquin Turina was born in Seville. This Spanish composer and pianist was also a professor at the Conservatory of Madrid. December 10, 1822 - Cesar Franck was born in Liege. He was a Belgian-French composer, organist and professor at the Paris Conservatory. When Franck was just eleven he gave a concert tour through Belgium. He became the organist at Sainte Clotilde. He died on November 8, 1890. December 11, 1803 - Hector Berlioz was born in Cote-saint-Andre, France. He introduced thematic repetition in program music. December 11, 1908 - Elliot Carter was born in New York City. He was honored on his 70th birthday when New York's Mayor Edward Koch presented him with the city's highest cultural honor, the Handel Medallion. December 12, 1887 - Kurt Atterberg was born in Goteborg, Sweden. He was a composer who founded the Society of Swedish Composers. Atterberg headed the organization from 1924- 1947. December 13, 1874 - Josef Lhevinne was born in Orel, Russia. He was a distinguished teacher at the Juilliard School of music in New York City. Josef and his wife, Rosina appeared as duo-artists in piano concerts. December 14, 1914 - Rosalyn Tureck was born in Chicago. She was a noted exponent of Bach's music and played the piano and harpsichord.. December 16, 1882 - Zoltan Kodaly was born in Kecskemet, Hungary.. Koldaly was a folk-song collector with Bela Bartok. He was a composer and music critic. December 16, 1770 - Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany. He was baptized on December 17th. He deserves to be called the Shakespeare of music. Beethoven reached the heights and depths of human emotion as no other composer has done. Beethoven composed even when he was deaf, which underscores his genius. He died March 26, 1827. Beethoven's funeral attracted much attention. Schools were closed to attend, more than 200 carriages and 30,000 pedestrians took part in the funeral procession. December 17, 1894 - Arthur Fiedler was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He was the conductor of the famous Boston Pops orchestra. In 1976 he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. December 18, 1860 - Edward MacDowell was born in New York City. He was America's first great composer and taught at Columbia University. His 400 acre farm in Peterborough, New Hampshire was where he composed. The estate is a working retreat today for artists, writers and composers. December 22, 1853 - Teresa Carreno was born in Caracas, Venezuela. She was a child prodigy and played for President Abraham Lincoln when she was ten years old. Terresa taught Edward MacDowell. Teresa composed a string quartet and numerous piano works. She died in 1917. December 23, 1906 - Ross Lee Finney was born in Wells, Minnesota. He was a contemporary composer and educator. Finney was award a Purple Heart in World War II. December 24, 1881 - Charles Wakefield Cadman was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. He was a choral conductor, organist and composer. His best remembered song is "At Dawning". December 28, 1896 - Roger Sessions was born in Brooklyn, New York. He was a composer and professor. His students include: David Diamond, Milton Babbitt, Leon Kirchner, and Paul Bowles. December 30, 1904 - Dmitri Kabalevsky was born in St. Petersburg. He was a brilliant Soviet composer and pianist. Copyright © 2003 by Mel Bay Publications, Inc., Pacific, MO 63069. All Rights Reserved. | ||||
