August

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    1 August

    1 August 1505 Jacob Obrecht dies in Ferrara, aged approximately 48 years.

    1 August 1757 Halleluja, amen, Lob und Ehr und Weisheit und Dank, Cantate auf Dankfest Wegen des Sieges bei Lowoschütz, by Georg Philipp Telemann (76) is performed for the first time, in Hamburg.

    1 August 1775 La Cythère assiégée, an opéra-ballet by Christoph Willibald Gluck (61) to words of Favart, is performed for the first time, at the Académie Royale, Paris.  It is a revision of Gluck’s 1759 opéra-comique.  The response is not favorable.

    1 August 1777 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (21) (actually written by Leopold (57)) petitions Archbishop Colloredo to be dismissed so that he may seek his fortune elsewhere.

    1 August 1781 Antonio Sacchini (51) is presented to Parisian society at a ball given by Queen Marie Antoinette.  Also present is the Queen’s brother, Emperor Joseph II of Austria, who had urged her to bring Sacchini to Paris.

    1 August 1786 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (30) dates the score to his Piano Sonata K.497.

    1 August 1804 Carl Maria von Weber (17) makes his first appearance in Breslau (Wroclaw) conducting Mozart’s (†12) La clemenza di Tito.

    1 August 1807 Georg Joseph Vogler (58) is appointed Hofkapellmeister and Privy Councillor for Ecclesastical Affairs to Grand Duke Ludwig I of Hesse-Darmstadt.

    1 August 1809 The Vintagers, a musical romance by Henry R. Bishop (22) to words of Eyre, is performed for the first time, in the Little Theatre in the Haymarket, London.

    1 August 1817 The Vienna Singakademie, with director Antonio Salieri (66), opens its doors.  The first students are twelve female and twelve male voice students.

    1 August 1824 Gioachino Rossini (32) arrives in Paris under contract to the Ministry of the Royal Household to write two new operas and produce one of his already existing works.  He also agrees to become director of the Théâtre-Italien.

    1 August 1829 Felix Mendelssohn (20) and Karl Klingemann set out on a three-week tour of the Scottish highlands.  They travel mostly by foot.

    1 August 1840 As Friedrich Wieck is unable to substantiate Robert Schumann’s (30) drunkeness, legal consent to the marriage of Schumann to Clara Wieck (20) is granted by a Leipzig court.  Wieck is given ten days to appeal.

    Camille Saint-Saëns (4) gives his first public performance as he accompanies a Beethoven (†13) violin sonata before a small drawing-room audience in Paris.

    1 August 1841 Felix Mendelssohn (32) and his family move to Berlin where he is to take up nebulous duties given to him by King Friedrich Wilhelm for the reestablishment of musical culture in the city.

    1 August 1844 At the Festival de l’Industrie, Paris, Hector Berlioz (40) leads 1,000 performers in the premiere of his Hymne à la France for chorus and orchestra to words of Barbier.  By intermission, Berlioz has developed cold sweats.  He is induced to change clothes and drink punch.  He is then attended by a former teacher, Dr. Amussat, who diagnoses typhoid, lets the composer’s blood, and prescribes a vacation.

    1 August 1845 One day after departing Dresden for the Beethoven festival in Bonn, Robert Schumann (35), accompanied by his wife Clara (25), suffers an attack of “anxiety and dizziness.”

    1 August 1847 The second incarnation of Tannhäuser und der Sängerkrieg auf Wartburg, a grosse romantische Oper by Richard Wagner (34) to his own words, is performed for the first time, in the Dresden Hoftheater.  See 19 October 1845, 13 March 1861 and 1 August 1867.

    1 August 1853 Pepita-Polka op.138 by Johann Strauss (27) is performed for the first time, in the Sperl Ballroom, Vienna.

    1 August 1867 The fourth and last incarnation of Richard Wagner’s (54) grosse romantische Oper Tannhäuser und der Sängerkrieg auf Wartberg to his own words is performed for the first time, in the Königliches Hof-und Nationaltheater, Munich.  See 19 October 1845, 1 August 1847, and 13 March 1861.

    1 August 1886 Richard Strauss (22) enters into a three year contract as third conductor at the Munich Court Opera.

    1 August 1892 John Philip Sousa’s (37) contract with manager David Blakely goes into effect.  He will direct a new, civilian concert band.

    1 August 1897 While director Wilhelm Jahn is on medical leave, Gustav Mahler (37) begins serving as interim director of the Vienna Hofoper.

    1 August 1908 Carl Nielsen (43) enters upon duties as conductor of the Royal Orchestra, Copenhagen.

    1 August 1911 Sergey Prokofiev’s (20) orchestral work Autumn is performed for the first time, in Moscow.

    1 August 1913 Lili Boulanger (19) signs an exclusive contract with Ricordi Company, guaranteeing her a yearly stipend.

    1 August 1914 The 1914 season of the Bayreuth Festspielhaus closes early with a production of Parsifal.  At the performance, Ernest MacMillan (20) overhears the conductor Karl Muck tell someone that Germany has declared war on Russia.

    1 August 1921 String Quartet no.3 op.16 by Paul Hindemith (25) is performed for the first time, in Donaueschingen.

    1 August 1932 Todavia estas a tiempo for jazz band by Charles Martin Loeffler (71) is performed for the first time.

    1 August 1933 An orchestral suite from incidental music to Flecker’s play Hassan by Frederick Delius (71) is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of the BBC.  See 20 September 1933.

    1 August 1934 Merlino, mastro d’organi, a dramma musicale by Gian Francesco Malipiero (52) to his own words, is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of Rome Radio.  See 28 March 1972.

    1 August 1936 The Games of the Eleventh Olympiad of the Modern Era open in Berlin.  Olympic Hymn for chorus and orchestra by Richard Strauss (72) to words of Lubahn is performed for the first time, at the opening ceremonies in Olympic Stadium along with Olympische Festmusik for orchestra by Werner Egk (35).

    1 August 1938 Leonard Bernstein (19) plays his first full-length piano recital, at the Scituate Yacht Club, Massachusetts.

    1 August 1942 Credo in Us for four performers by John Cage (39) is performed for the first time, at Bennington College, Bennington, Vermont.  It is for dances by Merce Cunningham and Jean Erdman.

    The first of a series of radio broadcasts entitled Labor for Victory with music by Marc Blitzstein (37) is heard for the first time, over the airwaves of WEAF, New York.

    Canon and Fugue op.33 for strings by Wallingford Riegger (57) is performed for the first time, in Berkeley, California.  See 14 February 1944.

    1 August 1945 A priest from nearby San Lorenzo in Lucina is summoned to administer Last Rites to Pietro Mascagni (81) in his Rome hotel room.  He is joined by an emissary from Pope Pius XII, Monsignor Pucci.

    1 August 1954 Michael Tippett’s (49) Four Inventions for two recorders is performed for the first time, at the Froebel Institute, London.

    1 August 1960 Circles for female voice, harp, and percussion by Luciano Berio (34) to words of cummings is performed for the first time, at Tanglewood, Lenox, Massachusetts.

    1 August 1962 Six Renaissance Lyrics for tenor and seven instruments by Gunther Schuller (36) is performed for the first time, at Tanglewood, Lenox, Massachusetts.

    1 August 1965 Christian Wolff (31) marries Holly Nash.

    1 August 1966 Mesa for cybersonic bandoneon by Gordon Mumma (31) and David Tudor is performed for the first time, in St. Paul de Vence, France by the creators.

    1 August 1968 Rondo for string quartet by Anton Webern (†22) is performed for the first time, at the Fourth International Webern Festival, Hanover, New Hampshire, 62 years after it was composed.  On the same program, Instant Remembered for soprano, orchestra, and tape by Ernst Krenek (67) to words of various authors, is performed for the first time, the composer conducting.  The work is dedicated to the memory of Webern.

    Music for saxophone and piano by Leslie Bassett (45) is performed for the first time, in Tempe, Arizona.

    1 August 1972 Sim Tjong, an opera by Isang Yun (54) to words of Kunz, is performed for the first time, in the Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich.

    1 August 1973 Gian Francesco Malipiero dies in Treviso City Hospital, Republic of Italy, of a heart ailment, aged 91 years, four months, and 14 days.

    1 August 1976 Don Chisciotte, an opera by Hans Werner Henze (50) after Paisiello to words of Lorenzi and Paisiello, is performed for the first time, in Montepulciano.

    1 August 1979 String Quartet no.2 by Charles Wuorinen (41) is performed for the first time, on the Grand Teton Music Festival Stage, Jackson, Wyoming.

    1 August 1981 Der Tribun, a radio play by Mauricio Kagel (49), is staged for the first time, in Aix-en-Provence.  See 7 November 1979.

    1 August 1987 New Fanfares for brass by George Perle (72) is performed for the first time, at Tanglewood, Lenox, Massachusetts.

    1 August 1992 Three Campion Choruses for chorus by Paul Lansky (48) is performed for the first time, in Aarhus, Denmark.

    1 August 1993 Concerto for horn and string orchestra by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (54) is performed for the first time, in Vail, Colorado.

    1 August 1995 Tan Dun (37) enters upon duties as Associate Composer/Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

    1 August 2004 Sontags-Abschied from the opera Sontag aus Licht by Karlheinz Stockhausen (75) is performed for the first time, in the Sülztalhalle, Kürten.

    The Veil of the Temple for soprano, chorus, brass, and non-western instruments by John Tavener (60) is performed for the first time, in London.

    1 August 2015 Cold Mountain, an opera by Jennifer Higdon (52) to words of Scheer after Frazier, is performed for the first time, in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

    2 August

    2 August 1768 Joseph Haydn’s (36) neighborhood in Eisenstadt is destroyed by fire.  He loses his furnishings and many scores.  There was not enough time to save them.

    2 August 1774 Orphée et Eurydice, a tragédie opéra by Christoph Willibald Gluck (60) to words of Moline after Calzabigi, is performed for the first time, at the Paris Opéra.  See 5 October 1762.

    2 August 1776 Les romans, a ballet héroïque by Giuseppe Cambini (30) to words of Bonneval, is performed for the first time, at the Paris Opéra.

    2 August 1784 La statue, a comédie by Giuseppe Cambini (38) to words of Montalembert, is performed for the first time, at the Hôtel de Montalembert, Paris.

    2 August 1828 Gianni di Calais, a melodramma semiseria by Gaetano Donizetti (30) to words of Gilardoni after d’Arlincourt, is performed for the first time, in Teatro del Fondo, Naples to a warm reception by the audience.

    Hector Berlioz (24) receives the second Prix de Rome for his setting of the cantata Herminie.

    2 August 1834 Richard Wagner (21) debuts as opera conductor with a performance of Mozart’s (†42) Don Giovanni in Lauchstädt, Thuringia.

    2 August 1838 César Franck (15) wins the First Prize in piano at the Paris Conservatoire.  The jury, consisting of Director Luigi Cherubini (77), Adolphe Adam (35), Camille Pleyel (26), Charles-Valentin Alkan (24), Jacques Herz, Charles Kontzki, Félix Le Couppey, and Jean Schneitzhoeffer, are unanimous.

    2 August 1870 Norwegian Sailor’s Song EG163 for male chorus by Edvard Grieg (27) to words of Bjørnson is performed for the first time, in Christiania.

    2 August 1873 Accompanied by a small local ceremony, the roof is raised on the Bayreuth Festspielhaus.  Attending along with Wagner (60) and his family is his father-in-law, Franz Liszt (61).

    2 August 1874 Du und Du op.367, a waltz by Johann Strauss (48), is performed for the first time, in Schwender’s “Neue Welt”, Vienna.

    2 August 1875 Richard Wagner (62) hears an orchestra in the Bayreuth Festspielhaus for the first time and is pleased by the acoustical results.

    2 August 1892 Inno per l’esposizione di Palermo for tenor, chorus, and orchestra by Pietro Mascagni (28) to an anonymous text, is performed for the first time, in the Piazza Grande, Livorno.

    2 August 1905 Claude Debussy (42) receives a divorce from his wife, Rosalie “Lily” Texier.

    Karl Amadeus Hartmann is born at Elvirastraße 18 in Munich-Neuhausen, Germany the youngest of four children born to Friedrich Richard Hartmann, schoolteacher and painter, and Gertrud Schwamm.

    2 August 1917 Fêtes Galantes for mezzo-soprano and orchestra by Willem Pijper (22) to words of Verlaine, is performed for the first time, in the Kurhaus, Scheveningen.

    2 August 1921 Enrico Caruso dies in Naples at the age of 48.

    2 August 1923 The First Festival of the International Society for Contemporary Music opens in Salzburg.  The first concert includes chamber music of Berg (38), Schoenberg (48) and Bartók (42).

    2 August 1935 Federal Project Number One is publicly announced.  Directors of the departments for music, theatre, art, and writers are named.  The Director of the Federal Music Project will be Nikolay Sokoloff.

    2 August 1936 Incidental music to Valmy Baisse’s play Bertran de Born by Darius Milhaud (43) is performed for the first time, in Théâtre Antique, Orange.

    2 August 1940 Omnipotent Chair for bass and percussion by Lou Harrison (23) is performed for the first time, at Mills College, Oakland.

    2 August 1944 Sonata for two pianos by Igor Stravinsky (62) is performed for the first time, in the Edgewood College of the Dominican Sisters, Madison, Wisconsin.  Nadia Boulanger (56) and Richard Johnson are the pianists.

    2 August 1945 07:15  Pietro Mascagni dies in his apartment in the Hotel Plaza on the Via del Corso in Rome, Kingdom of Italy, aged 81 years, seven months, and 26 days.  He is attended by his wife and other family members, although his son Edoardo is currently in prison for fascist activities.  The French commanders, who use the hotel for their officers, order their flag outside lowered to half-staff.  As the news is broadcast on the radio, a crowd begins to form outside the hotel.

    2 August 1946 Arnold Schoenberg (71) suffers a serious heart attack at his home in Los Angeles and is only saved by an injection made directly into his heart.

    2 August 1949 Piano Quintet by Walter Piston (55) is performed for the first time, in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

    2 August 1950 String Quartet no.16 by Darius Milhaud (57) is performed for the first time, in the Music Academy of the West, Santa Barbara.

    2 August 1953 Three Dedications to Lorca for chorus by Kenneth Gaburo (27) is performed for the first time, at McNeese State University, Lake Charles, Lousiana.

    2 August 1955 The name of Aaron Copland (54) is removed from the Security Index.  He is no longer due to be arrested by the US government in case of national emergency.

    2 August 1960 Early Voyagers, a ballet by Ned Rorem (36) to a scenario by Truman Capote, is performed for the first time, at Jacob’s Pillow, Lee, Massachusetts.

    2 August 1961 Two pieces by Charles Wuorinen (23) are performed for the first time, at the School of Sacred Music, Union Theological Seminary, New York:  Concertante III for solo harpsichord, oboe, violin, viola, and cello and Tiento Sobre Cabézón for flute, oboe, violin, viola, cello, harpsichord, and piano.

    2 August 1963 Rheinische Kirmestänze for 13 winds by Bernd Alois Zimmermann (45) is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of WDR, Cologne.

    Pied Beauty for baritone, cello, and percussion by Lou Harrison (46) to words of Hopkins is performed for the first time, in San Francisco, 23 years after it was composed.

    2 August 1964 Concerto for piano and orchestra op.90 by Vincent Persichetti (49) is performed for the first time, at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire.

    2 August 1968 Sun Music, a ballet by Peter Sculthorpe (39) to a choreography by Helpmann, is performed for the first time, in Her Majesty’s Theatre, Sydney.

    Sonatensatz for piano by Anton Webern (†22) is performed for the first time, at the Fourth International Webern Festival, Hanover New Hampshire, 62 years after it was composed.

    2 August 1971 Transitions, a Fantasy for Ten Instruments by TJ Anderson (42) is performed for the first time, at Tanglewood, Lenox, Massachusetts.

    2 August 1978 Mycenae alpha for two-track tape by Iannis Xenakis (56) is performed for the first time, in Mycenae.

    Il vitalino raddopiato for violin and chamber orchestra by Hans Werner Henze (52) is performed for the first time, in Salzburg.

    Carlos Antonio de Padua Chávez y Ramirez dies of a heart ailment while visiting his daughter in Coyoacán, near Mexico City, aged 79 years, one month, and 20 days.  His earthly remains will be laid to rest in Panteón Civil de Dolores, Mexico City.

    2 August 1980 Pollicino, an opera by Hans Werner Henze (54) to words of Leva after Collodi, Grimm, and Perrault, is performed for the first time, in Montepulciano.

    2 August 1986 Rencontre for clarinet, harp, and cello by Isang Yun (68) is performed for the first time, in Hitzacker.

    The third and fourth of the Fünf Stücke for piano four hands by György Ligeti (63) are performed for the first time, in Schloss Hohenems.

    2 August 1987 à R. for piano by Iannis Xenakis (65) is performed for the first time, in Montpellier.

    2 August 1990 Moz-Art à la Mozart for eight flutes and harp by Alfred Schnittke (55) after Mozart is performed for the first time, in Salzburg.

    2 August 1991 Three Lullabies op.49 for chorus by Henryk Górecki (57) is performed for the first time, in Lerchenborg, Denmark.

    2 August 1993 Three City Blocks for band by John Harbison (54) is performed for the first time, at the Hilton Hotel Convention Center, Fort Smith, Arkansas.

    2 August 1997 Night under the Big Sky for woodwind quintet and piano by Robert Ward (79) is performed for the first time, in Denver.

    2 August 2000 Mothers Shall Not Cry for two vocal soloists, women’s chorus, orchestra, and electronics by Jonathan Harvey (61) is performed for the first time, in Royal Albert Hall, London.

    2 August 2015 Rambles thru 44, The Mysterious Stranger by Mark Twain for speaker, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and harp by Betsy Jolas (88) is performed for the first time, at Tanglewood, Lenox, Massachusetts.

    3 August

    3 August 1776 A Mass by Luigi Cherubini (15) is performed for the first time, in Comagnia di San Niccolò, Florence.

    3 August 1777 Il mondo della luna, a dramma giocoso by Joseph Haydn (45) to words of Goldoni, is performed for the first time, at the Esterháza Palace to celebrate the wedding of Prince Nicholas Esterházy’s second son, Nicholas, to Maria Anna, Countess von Weissenwolf.

    3 August 1778 L’Europa riconosciuta, a dramma per musica by Antonio Salieri (27) to words of Verazi, is performed for the first time, for the opening of Teatro alla Scala, Milan.  The audience reaction is mixed.  The theatre has been built to replace the Royal Ducal Theatre which burned down two years ago.  It is named after Regina della Scala who built a church here in the 1300s.

    3 August 1779 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (23) dates his Serenade K.320 in Salzburg.

    3 August 1784 Padre Giovanni Battista Martini dies in Bologna, Papal States, aged 78 years, three months and ten days.

    3 August 1795 The Paris Conservatoire is founded by the National Convention through the joining of the Institut national de musique and the École nationale de chant et de déclamation.  Five inspectors of instruction are appointed:  François-Joseph Gossec (61), André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (54), Luigi Cherubini (34), Étienne-Nicolas Méhul (32), and Jean-François Le Sueur.

    3 August 1811 Gaspare Spontini (36) marries Maria Caterina Celeste Erard, daughter of the Erard manufacturers of pianos and harps.

    3 August 1818 Natur und Liebe J.241, a cantata for mixed voices and piano by Carl Maria von Weber (31) to words of Kind, is performed for the first time, in Dresden, for the name day of the King of Saxony.

    3 August 1826 Fryderyk Chopin (16) travels to Bad Reinerz in Lower Silesia accompanied by his sisters Emilia and Ludwika and his mother.  They are there for treatment, especially for Emilia, who is showing symptoms of tuberculosis and is probably contagious.  Fryderyk, although ill himself, possibly contracts the disease from her.  They will remain here for five weeks.

    3 August 1829 Guillaume Tell, an opéra by Gioachino Rossini (37) to words of Jouy, Bis and others after Schiller, is performed for the first time, at the Paris Opéra.  The audience gives respectful applause but the critics are effusive in their praise.  Although Rossini will live another 39 years, he will never again write an opera.

    3 August 1852 Robert Schumann’s (42) overture Julius Cäser is performed for the first time, in Düsseldorf.

    3 August 1860 La colombe, an opéra comique by Charles Gounod (42) to words of Barbier and Carré after La Fontaine, is performed for the first time, in the Stadttheater, Baden-Baden.

    3 August 1863 Jules Massenet (21) receives the First Grand Prix de Rome and the first prize in fugue for his setting of the cantata David Rizzio.

    3 August 1886 As various dignitaries arrive for the Wagner (†3) Festival, the mortal remains of Franz Liszt are laid to rest at Bayreuth city cemetery.

    Gustav Mahler (26) conducts his first opera in Leipzig:  Lohengrin.

    3 August 1893 A Waltz-Caprice for piano-four hands op.9 by Max Reger (20) is performed for the first time, in Wiesbaden by the composer.

    3 August 1907 On the day before he leaves Troldhaugen, Percy Grainger (25) is led up a mountain near Bergen by the weak and asthmatic Edvard Grieg (64).  Grieg wants Grainger to see a Norwegian hillscape.  Before returning Grieg says, “I shall never get up here again.”  (Dorum, 70)

    3 August 1910 Zoltán Kodály (27) marries Emma Sándor, a prize-winning composer, pianist, poet and translator.  She will translate the texts of many of Kodály’s vocal compositions into German.

    3 August 1918 Schoolmaster Halfar, for male chorus by Leos Janácek (64) to words of Bezruc, is performed for the first time, in Luhacovice.

    Shepherd’s Sunday Song for voice and piano by Bohuslav Martinu (27) is performed for the first time, in Policka.

    3 August 1921 The Alcotts movement from the Piano Sonata no.2 by Charles Ives (46) is performed for the first time, in Hartford, Connecticut.

    3 August 1923 String Quartet no.3 by Ernst Krenek (22) is performed for the first time, in Salzburg.

    3 August 1935 New Dance op.18 by Wallingford Riegger (50) to a scenario by Humphrey, is performed for the first time, in Bennington, Vermont.

    3 August 1937 Cantate nuptiale op.168 by Darius Milhaud (44) to words from the Bible is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of Radio Marseille conducted by the composer.

    3 August 1948 String Quartet no.2 by Peter Sculthorpe (19) is performed for the first time, in Melbourne.

    3 August 1950 The passport of vocalist Paul Robeson is cancelled by the US State Department.  He is ordered to surrender the passport but has refused until he is given a reason.  The US government dislikes Robeson’s political views.

    3 August 1953 Leonard Bernstein (34) submits a sworn affidavit to the FBI that he has “never...knowingly engaged in activities which supported the Communist movement under circumstances which would warrant the conclusion that I engaged in such activities as a result of direction, domination or control exercised over me by the Communist movement.”  He swears he never attended meetings of suspect organizations, that he has reformed himself, and that he has voted only for Republicans or Democrats.  He swears his loyalty to the United States and disavows all leftist organizations with which he has been associated.  This will allow him to receive a passport and work in Hollywood.

    3 August 1956 Die Sänger der Vorwelt for chorus and orchestra by Carl Orff (61) to words of Schiller, is performed for the first time, in Stuttgart.

    3 August 1957 On the day of the first complete run-through of West Side Story, Leonard Bernstein (38) signs a contract as music director of the New York Philharmonic.

    3 August 1958 Symphony no.4 by Robert Ward (40) is performed for the first time, in La Jolla High School, California.

    3 August 1960 The first complete performance of the Four Last Songs by Ralph Vaughan Williams (†1) to words of his wife Ursula Vaughan Williams, is heard over the airwaves of the BBC Home Service.  See 27 November 1959.

    3 August 1961 Atlas eclipticalis for any 86 instruments by John Cage (48) is performed for the first time, at the Théâtre de la Comedie Canadienne, Montreal.  The work, presented by one pianist and 17 instrumentalists, is produced simultaneously with Cage’s Winter Music and conducted by the composer.  Also premiered is Durations 5 for horn, vibraphone, harp, piano, violin, and cello by Morton Feldman (35).  See 6 February 1964.

    3 August 1964 String Sextet op.408 by Darius Milhaud (71) is performed for the first time, at the Library of Congress, Washington.

    3 August 1974 Marc Blitzstein’s (†10) unfinished opera Idiots First, to words of Malamud and himself, is performed for the first time, in a two-piano version completed by Leonard Lehrman, at Cornell University.  See 14 March 1976.

    The Penitentes, an opera by Thomas Pasatieri (28) to words of Bailey, is performed for the first time, in Aspen, Colorado.

    3 August 1977 Der kleine Harlekin no.42 1/2 for clarinet by Karlheinz Stockhausen (48) is performed for the first time, in Aix-en-Provence.

    3 August 1985 Clocks for guitar by Joan Tower (46) is performed for the first time, in Ordway Music Theatre, St. Paul, Minnesota.

    3 August 1987 Montags-Gruß no.55, an excerpt of Montag aus Licht by Karlheinz Stockhausen (58), is performed for the first time, in Siena.  See 7 May 1988.

    3 August 1989 Sonnets from the Portuguese for soprano and piano or chamber ensemble by Libby Larsen (38), to words of EB Browning, is performed for the first time, in Aspen, Colorado.

    3 August 1990 Intermezzo for piano by Henryk Górecki (56) is performed for the first time, in Lerchenborg, Denmark.

    3 August 1998 Alfred Garryevich Schnittke dies a month after suffering a fifth stroke in Hamburg, aged 63 years, eight months, and ten days.

    3 August 2002 Josquiniana for string quartet by Charles Wuorinen (64) is performed for the first time, in Taos, New Mexico.

    3 August 2003 String Quartet no.4 by John Harbison (63) is performed for the first time, in La Jolla, California.

    3 August 2007 The Hotel Casablanca, an opera by Thomas Pasatieri (61) to his own words, is performed for the first time, in Cowell Theatre, San Francisco.

    3 August 2011 It Happens Like This, a cantata for four voices and twelve instruments by Charles Wuorinen (73) to words of Tate is performed for the first time, in Ozawa Hall of Tanglewood in Lenox, Massachusetts.

    3 August 2012 My Candle Burns for high voice and piano by Libby Larsen (61), to words of Millay, is performed for the first time.

    4 August

    4 August 1753 Gottfried Silbermann dies in Dresden, aged 70 years, six months and 21 days.

    4 August 1756 Luigi Boccherini (13) makes his debut, performing a cello concerto of his own composition in Lucca.

    4 August 1764 Luigi Boccherini (21) performs for the first time in his new position of cellist for the town of Lucca.  It is a Vespers service in the Chapel.

    4 August 1779 Ino, a musikalisches Drama by Johann Friedrich Reichardt (26) to words of Brandes, is performed for the first time, in Leipzig.

    4 August 1782 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (26) marries Maria Constanze Caecilia Josepha Johanna Aloisia Weber, daughter of a singer, in St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna.

    4 August 1828 Pursuant to the agreement of 28 July, a magistrate’s court in Vienna awards custody of Achilles Paganini to his father, Nicolò (45).

    4 August 1866 Cantique de Jean Racine for chorus and organ by Gabriel Fauré (21) is performed for the first time, at the blessing of the organ in the Church of St. Sauveur, Rennes.  The premiered is played on harmonium and string quintet.  See 28 January 1906.

    4 August 1873 Victor Hartmann, painter-friend of Modest Musorgsky (34) dies in Kireyev, near Moscow.

    4 August 1877 Charles Gounod (59) is named a Commander of the Legion of Honor.

    4 August 1879 The company presently producing Gilbert and Sullivan’s (37) HMS Pinafore officially becomes known as Mr. D’Oyly Carte’s Opera Company.

    4 August 1886 At the request of Cosima Wagner, Anton Bruckner (61) performs at a Requiem mass in honor of Franz Liszt in Bayreuth.  He improvises themes from Parsifal at the organ.  No music of Liszt is heard.

    4 August 1907 Edvard Grieg (64) accompanies Percy Grainger (25) to the ferry in Bergen for his departure.  The two will never see each other again.

    4 August 1910 William Howard Schuman is born in New York, the second of three children of Samuel Schuman, a veteran of the war against Spain who works at a printing company, and Rachel Heilbrunn, daughter of a butcher and an amateur pianist.  Due to the intense patriotism of his father, the child is named after President William Howard Taft.

    4 August 1913 Anton von Webern (29), once again suffering from anxiety and nervous exhaustion, sees the psychoanalyst Dr. Alfred Adler, in Vienna.  After initial reticence, he gives over to the treatment which lasts three months.

    4 August 1918 Les chats for solo voice and orchestra by Alphons Diepenbrock (55) to words of Beaudelaire, is performed for the first time, in the Kurhaus, Scheveningen.

    4 August 1938 The Shed, an open-air concert venue, is inaugurated at Tanglewood, in Lenox, Massachusetts as the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

    4 August 1940 One of Paul Hindemith’s (44) students at Tanglewood, Charles Naginski, drowns in the Housatonic River.  Officially an accident, the fact that he could not swim and that he went alone suggests design to some.  There is speculation that the rigor of Hindemith’s approach drove him to it.

    Le cortège funèbre for orchestra by Darius Milhaud (47) from his score to the film Espoir is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of the CBS radio network conducted by the composer.

    4 August 1945 200,000 people view the funeral procession in memory of Pietro Mascagni in Rome.  Though only a short distance, it takes three hours to complete.  The honor guard is provided by the French army.  After the service in the Church of San Lorenzo, his earthly remains are laid to rest in the Campo Verano cemetery.

    4 August 1952 Incidental music to the radio production of Archibald MacLeish’s Conquistador by Roberto Gerhard (55) is broadcast for the first time, over the airwaves of BBC Third Programme.

    4 August 1963 These Times for small orchestra and piano concertante by Roy Harris (65) is performed for the first time, in Sherwood Hall Art Center, La Jolla, California the composer conducting.

    4 August 1968 Olga Neuwirth is born in Graz, Republic of Austria, the daughter of a jazz pianist.

    Incidental music to Corneille’s play Cinna by Lou Harrison (51) is performed for the first time, in San Francisco.

    4 August 1969 The Long and the Short for violin solo by Charles Wuorinen (31) is performed for the first time, in Berkeley, California.

    4 August 1972 Concerto for amplified violin and orchestra by Charles Wuorinen (34) is performed for the first time, at Tanglewood, Lenox, Massachusetts.

    4 August 1975 Le pavillon au bord de la rivière, a chamber opera by Betsy Jolas to words of Raoul-Davis after Kuan Han Chin, is performed for the first time, in Avignon on the eve of the composer’s 49th birthday.

    4 August 1976 Symphony no.1 “The Halcyon” by Gian Carlo Menotti (65) is performed for the first time, in Saratoga, New York.

    4 August 1980 Klavierstück Nr.7 by Wolfgang Rihm (28) is performed for the first time, in Darmstadt.

    4 August 1981 Mottetti di Montale for soprano and piano by John Harbison (42) is performed for the first time, in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  See 29 October 2000.

    4 August 1990 For You, Anne-Lill op.58 for flute and piano by Henryk Górecki (56) is performed for the first time, in Lerchenborg.

    MCMXC Tanglewood for orchestra by William Bolcom (52) is performed for the first time, at Tanglewood, Lenox, Massachusetts.

    4 August 1991 Serenade in homage to Mozart for ten winds by Jonathan Harvey (52) is performed for the first time, in Glyndebourne, directed by the composer.

    4 August 1994 Lounge Lizards for two pianos and percussion by Michael Daugherty (40) is performed for the first time, in Symphony Hall, Minneapolis.

    4 August 1995 Rhapsody for cello and piano by Ralph Shapey (74) is performed for the first time, at Wellesley College, Massachusetts.

    4 August 1997 The Red Act Arias for speaker, chorus, orchestra, and electronic sound generators by Roger Reynolds (63) to words of Aeschylus (tr. Lattimore) is performed for the first time, in Royal Albert Hall, London.

    4 August 2001 Song of the Cosmos for soprano, baritone, chorus, and four chamber ensembles by John Tavener (57) is performed for the first time, in Royal Albert Hall, London.

    Joy of the Reunion for oboe, violin, viola, and double bass by Chen Yi (48) is performed for the first time, in Bennington, Vermont.

    4 August 2004 Rosa Mystica for tenor and synthesizer by Karlheinz Stockhausen (75) is performed for the first time, in the Sülztalhalle, Kürten.

    4 August 2006 Azul for cello, hyperaccordion, percussion, and orchestra by Osvaldo Golijov (45) is performed for the first time, at Tanglewood, Lenox, Massachusetts.

    4 August 2008 Miroirs du temps for tape by Pierre Henry (80) is  performed for the first time, in Paris.

    4 August 2011 Fifth Concerto for Orchestra op.109 by Robin Holloway (67) is performed for the first time, in Royal Albert Hall, London.

    4 August 2014 Requiem Fragments for chorus, trombones and string quartet by John Tavener (†0) to words of Roman Catholic and Hindu texts, is performed for the first time, in Royal Albert Hall, London.

    5 August

    5 August 1397 Guillaume Du Fay is born in Beerseil near Brussels.

    5 August 1623 Antonio Cesti is baptized in Arezzo.

    5 August 1694 Leonardo Leo is born in San Vito degli Schiavani (San Vito dei Normanni).

    5 August 1764 Leopold Mozart (44) is taken from London to Chelsea where a house has been rented in the country so he can recuperate from a serious throat condition.  He will fully recover.

    5 August 1775 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (18) dates his Serenade K.204 in Salzburg.

    5 August 1781 O selig bist du! for chorus and strings by Johannes Herbst (46) is performed for the first time.

    5 August 1786 Publication of several works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (30) is announced in the Wiener Zeitung:  Variations on Le Bergère Célimène K.359 and Variations on “Hélas, j’ai perdu mon amant” K.360, both for keyboard and violin, Variations on “Dieu d’amour” K.352 for keyboard and Variations on a Theme of Paisiello (46) K.398 for piano.

    5 August 1804 Elisa, ossia Il monte San Bernardo, a dramma sentimentale per musica by Johann Simon Mayr (41) to words of Rossi, is performed for the first time, in Teatro San Benedetto, Venice.

    5 August 1805 Louis Spohr (21) is appointed Konzertmeister in Gotha, the youngest person to hold that position in Germany.

    An inaugural  concert takes place on the organ of St. Peter’s Church in Salzburg, newly rebuilt by Georg Joseph Vogler (56).  Michael Haydn (67) is moved by the majestic sound.

    5 August 1811 Charles Louis Ambroise Thomas is born in Metz, the son of music teachers.

    5 August 1814 Ludwig van Beethoven’s (43) Elegischer Gesang “Sanft wie du lebtest” is performed for the first time, in the house of Baron Johann von Pasqualati, Vienna.

    5 August 1820 An Overture alla Irlandese by Henry R. Bishop (33) is performed for the first time, in Dublin.

    5 August 1830 Charles Wesley Jr. reports that his brother Samuel (64) is “deranged and strapped down” but is better now, having been bled by doctors.  He says the cause is “drink.”

    5 August 1846 Die Zillerthaler Waltz op.30 by Johann Strauss (20) is performed for the first time, at Tivoli, Vienna.

    5 August 1884 Claude Debussy (21) is awarded the Grand Prix de Rome.

    5 August 1888 Trio for piano and strings in G by Ralph Vaughan Williams (15) is performed for the first time, in Charterhouse, Godalming.

    5 August 1910 About this time, Walter Gropius goes to Toblach to meet with Gustav (50) and Alma Mahler.  Alma decides to stay with her husband.

    5 August 1916 George Butterworth, 31-year-old English composer, is killed in action near Pozières on the Somme.

    5 August 1917 Three dance pieces by Charles T. Griffes (32) are performed for the first time, in Atlantic City:  the Japanese pantomime Sho-jo, the Japanese folk-dance Sakura-sakura and the Assyrian dance A Trip to Syria.

    5 August 1924 String Quartet no.4 by Ernst Krenek (23) is performed for the first time, in Salzburg.

    5 August 1926 Betsy Jolas is born in Paris, the first child of Eugène Jolas, poet and  the founder of a literary magazine, and Maria Jolas, a translator.

    5 August 1938 Conquest for flute or ocarina or recorder, piano, conch shell, and percussion by Lou Harrison (21) is performed for the first time, at Mills College, Oakland.

    5 August 1940 In Paul Hindemith’s (44) composition class at Tanglewood, an air of underlying tension pervades the class.  Harold Shapero will remember, “After about two hours went by, the tension got extreme.  And Hindemith suddenly burst out and said, ‘They say I killed him.’  Nobody could reply to that.  Hindemith wasn’t unsympathetic.  He tried to figure out what he’d done and if it could have been his fault.  He did talk about it.  And then we let it lie, and that was the end of it.”  (Copland/Perlis 2012, 131)

    Incidental music to O’Neill’s play The Emperor Jones by Colin McPhee (40) is performed for the first time, in Westport, Connecticut.

    5 August 1943 Pierre Schaeffer (32) joins the Comité de Libération de la Radio in Paris.  He will set up five transmitters in and around Paris.

    5 August 1950 Pièce pour orgue op.226 by Charles Koechlin (82) is performed for the first time, in Paris.  It is his last known composition.

    5 August 1954 Six Compositions for carillon by Gian Carlo Menotti (43) are performed completely for the first time, in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  Five of the six were performed between 16 October and 8 November 1932.  This is the first time they have been all performed together.  Arabesque is apparently performed for the first time.

    5 August 1956 Symphony no. 2 by Ned Rorem (32) is performed for the first time, in La Jolla, California.

    5 August 1961 Irkanda IV for violin, strings, and percussion by Peter Sculthorpe (32) is performed for the first time, in Nicholas Hall, Melbourne.

    5 August 1966 Chamber Concerto no.2 (Homage to Charles Ives) for flute/piccolo/alto flute, clarinet/bass clarinet, violin/viola, cello, and piano by Thea Musgrave (38) is performed for the first time, in Dartington, Devon.

    5 August 1972 Vintage Alice for amplified soprano, folk group, and chamber orchestra by David Del Tredici (35) is performed for the first time, in Saratoga, California.

    5 August 1978 The White Cliffs in Utah are renamed Mt. Messiaen by vote of the citizens of Parowan, Utah where Oliver Messiaen (69) composed Des Canyon aux etoiles. Unfortunately, the composer is too ill to attend.

    5 August 1988 Collage:  Boogie for orchestra by Libby Larsen (37) is performed for the first time, at the Kennedy Center, Washington.

    5 August 1990 Astor Piazzolla (69) suffers a stroke in his Paris home.  He is taken to Hôpital Ambroise-Paré in Boulogne-Billancourt.  His right side is paralyzed.

    5 August 1998 Apolytikion of the Incarnation for chorus by John Tavener (54) to words from the Orthodox liturgy is performed for the first time, in Truro Cathedral.

    5 August 2010 Jacob’s Room, a chamber opera by Morton Subotnick (77), is performed for the first time, in Bregenz, Austria.

    The Blue Horse Walks on the Horizon for string quartet by Annie Gosfield (49) is performed for the first time, in Katonah, New York.

    5 August 2011 Black and White Scherzo for orchestra by Philip Glass (74) is performed for the first time, in the Civic Auditorium, Santa Cruz, California.

    5 August 2012 Loch Ness-A Postcard from Scotland for orchestra by Thea Musgrave (84) is performed for the first time, at the BBC Proms in Royal Albert Hall, London.

    6 August

    6 August 1548 Georg Rhau dies in Wittenberg at the age of 60.

    6 August 1765 Romolo ed Ersilia, an opera by Johann Adolf Hasse (66) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, in the Imperial Palace, Innsbruck, to celebrate the wedding of Archduke Leopold to the Bourbon Maria Luisa of Spain.  The work does not please.  This opera contains ballet music by Florian Leopold Gassmann (36), presumably the Ballo dell’opera di Romolo.

    6 August 1803 Parisian piano maker Sebastien Erard sells a new grand piano to Ludwig van Beethoven (32).  It will arrive in Vienna sometime in October.  It has a wider range than most instruments currently available in Vienna.

    6 August 1826 At the ruins of Rauhenstein near Baden, 19-year-old Karl van Beethoven, nephew and ward of the composer, shoots twice at his left temple, missing with one shot and inflicting a flesh wound with the other.  He is found by a teamster and, by his own request, is brought to his mother’s house in Vienna.  The young man survives, but his uncle Ludwig (55) is emotionally wounded by the incident.

    6 August 1827 Three songs by Franz Schubert (30) are published by Pennauer as his op.84 (later corrected to op.87):  Der Unglückliche to words of Pichler, the second setting of Hoffnung and the third setting of Der Jüngling am Bache, both to words of Schiller.

    6 August 1843 Herr Gott, dich loben wir for solo voices, double chorus, orchestra and organ by Felix Mendelssohn (34) is performed for the first time, in Berlin Cathedral.  The music helps mark the 1,000th anniversary of the founding of the German Reich.

    6 August 1844 The second section of Les quatre élémens by Franz Liszt (32) to words of Autran is performed for the first time, in Marseille.  See 28 March 1993.

    6 August 1851 Les nations, a cantata by Adolphe Adam (48) to words of Banville, is performed for the first time, at the Paris Opéra.

    6 August 1857 The Haydn Society of Portland, Maine, votes to hire John Knowles Paine (18) as organist.

    6 August 1859 Richard Wagner (46) completes the full score to Tristan und Isolde in Lucerne.

    Hector Berlioz (55) reads the poem to his unperformed opera Les Troyens to an invited audience of 20-25 people in a private house in Baden.  In the evening, music from the opera is heard publicly for the first time when two duets are performed with piano accompaniment in the Salle Beethoven.  On hearing the music, the composer weeps.

    6 August 1873 Bei uns z’Haus op.361, a waltz for male chorus and orchestra by Johann Strauss (47), is performed for the first time, in Schwender’s “Neue Welt”, Vienna

    6 August 1876 Just after midnight, the royal train from Munich stops in an open field outside Bayreuth.  King Ludwig steps out into a waiting carriage containing Richard Wagner (63), who he has not seen for eight years.  The king is to view the dress rehearsals for Der Ring des Nibelungen in their entirety on the nights of 6, 7, 8, and 9 August alone with Wagner and a few others.

    6 August 1921 On the stage of the Casino in Dieppe, Camille Saint-Saëns (85) gives a piano recital.  At its conclusion, he addresses the audience saying, “It is 75 years since I first played in public.  Today I have played for the last time.”

    6 August 1924 String Trio no.1 by Paul Hindemith (28) is performed for the first time, in Salzburg, the composer playing the viola.

    6 August 1925 Leland Clayton Smith is born in Oakland, California.

    6 August 1933 The Bayreuth Festival opens with a new production of Die Meistersinger.  It is the first visit to the festival by Adolf Hitler since he became Chancellor.

    Phantasy for oboe quartet op.2 by Benjamin Britten (19) is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of the BBC National.

    6 August 1944 A suite from the incidental music to Masquerade by Aram Khachaturian (41) is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of Radio Moscow.  See 21 June 1941.

    6 August 1947 Bachianas Brasileiras no.8 for orchestra by Heitor Villa-Lobos (60) is performed for the first time, in Rome the composer conducting.

    6 August 1956 Griffelkin, an opera by Lukas Foss (33) to words of Reid, is performed completely for the first time, at Tanglewood, Lennox, Massachusetts.  See 6 November 1955.

    6 August 1966 The Bassarids, an opera seria by Hans Werner Henze (40) to words of Auden and Kallman after Euripides, is performed for the first time, in Salzburg.  Included is the first performance of Henze’s intermezzo The Judgement of Calliope to words of Auden and Kallman.

    6 August 1967 Walter Piston’s (73) Clarinet Concerto is performed for the first time, at Dartmouth  College, Hanover, New Hampshire.

    6 August 1973 Duo Fantasy for violin and piano by William Bolcom (35) is performed for the first time, in Portland, Oregon, the composer at the keyboard.

    6 August 1976 Amicizia! for seven players by Hans Werner Henze (50) is performed for the first time, in Montepulciano.

    6 August 1977 In Freundschaft no.46 for flute (or various other solo instruments) by Karlheinz Stockhausen (48) is performed for the first time, in Aix-en-Provence.

    6 August 1978 Paul Bunyan Overture by Benjamin Britten (†1) is performed for the first time, in Royal Albert Hall, London, 37 years after it was composed.

    6 August 1982 La Rose des Voix for four reciters, four vocal quartets, four choruses, and eight instruments by Henri Pousseur (53), to words of Butor, is performed for the first time, in Namur, directed by the composer.

    6 August 1987 The Greatest Show for over 100 singers, actors, and carnival performers by R. Murray Schafer (54) to his own words, is performed for the first time, in Peterborough, Ontario.

    6 August 1988 Zorba the Greek, a ballet with music arranged by Mikis Theodorakis (63) from his music for the film, is performed for the first time, in Verona.

    Two for flute and piano by John Cage (75) is performed for the first time, in Gibellina, Sicily.

    Bright Music for flute, two violins, cello and pano by Ned Rorem (64) is performed for the first time, in the Presbyterian Church in Bridgehampton, New York.

    Green Mountain Evening for flute, oboe, clarinet, two cellos, and piano by Otto Luening (88) is performed for the first time, at Bennington College, Vermont.

    Sieben Lehmannlieder, a cycle for voice and piano by Thomas Pasatieri (42) to words of Lotte Lehmann, is performed for the first time, in Santa Barbara, California.

    6 August 1991 Wind Quintet by Isang Yun (73) is performed for the first time, in Altenhof.

    6 August 1993 Elegy (“…Forgive These Wild and Wandering Cries…”) for trombone and string quartet by Joan Tower (54) is performed for the first time, in Norfolk, Connecticut.

    6 August 1994 60 Blätter for string trio by Gottfried Michael Koenig (67) is performed for the first time, in Darmstadt.

    Music for Here for bassoon, viola, and cello by Betsy Jolas (68) is performed for the first time, in Norfolk.

    6 August 1995 Ad Luciam Beatricem for mezzo-soprano and clarinet by John C. Eaton (60) to words of Florentinus is performed for the first time, at the American Academy in Rome.

    6 August 1998 A Little Book of Hours for piano by Peter Sculthorpe (69) is performed for the first time, in Great Britain.

    6 August 2000 Big Sky for violin, cello, and piano by Joan Tower (61) is performed for the first time, in La Jolla, California.

    6 August 2002 Pas de trois for oboe, violin, and piano by Ned Rorem (78) is performed for the first time, in Saratoga Springs, New York.

    6 August 2003 Prelude to “Tristan” for piano by Hans Werner Henze (77) is performed for the first time, in Salzburg.

    The Unquestioned Answer for flute, two violins, cello, and piano by Ned Rorem (79) is performed for the first time, in the Presbyterian Church of Binghamton, New York.

    6 August 2004 Two works by Karlheinz Stockhausen (75) are performed for the first time, in the Sülztalhalle, Kürten:  Vibra-Elufa for vibraphone, and Bassetsu for basset horn.

    6 August 2005 Grand Concerto for percussion and keyboards by Gunther Schuller (79) is performed for the first time, at Tanglewood, Lenox, Massachusetts.

    6 August 2006 String Quartet no.4 by Leon Kirchner (87) is performed for the first time, in La Jolla, California.

    6 August 2010 Sing to Celebrate Summer for solo voice, up to six players, and audience participation by Thea Musgrave (82) is performed for the first time, in Skytop, Pennsylvania.

    6 August 2011 Cabrillo Lullaby for orchestra by John Corigliano (73) is performed for the first time, in Santa Cruz, California.

    Redux Three for solo, duo, quartet, or octet of clarinets with computers and video by Larry Austin (80) is performed for the first time, in Northridge, California.

    7 August

    7 August 1712 Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow dies in Halle, aged 48 years, eight months, and 25 days.

    7 August 1758 Francesco Maria Veracini (68) assumes duties as maestro di cappella for the Theatine Fathers of San Gaetano in the church of San Michele agl’Antinori, Florence, a post he will hold until his death.

    7 August 1796 Il moro, a commedia per musica by Antonio Salieri (45) to words of De Gamerra, is performed for the first time, in the Burgtheater, Vienna.  It is among his least successful operas.

    7 August 1805 Adrien Boieldieu’s (29) opéra comique Abderkan to words of Dégligny is performed for the first time, in the Peterhof Palace, St. Petersburg.

    7 August 1814 During celebrations for the return of the King of Prussia in Berlin, Carl Maria von Weber (27) is thrown by the crush of the crowd under the wheels of an oncoming carriage.  He is saved just in time by his friend Ludwig Tieck.

    7 August 1815 The Holy Governing Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church orders the publication of 3,600 copies of Simple chant for the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom traditionally used at the Imperial Court from the earliest times.  It is a two-part setting of commonly used chants by Dmitry Stepanovich Bortnyansky (64).

    7 August 1829 King Charles X confers the Legion of Honor on Gioachino Rossini (37).

    Felix Mendelssohn (20) and Karl Klingemann reach Oban on the west coast of Scotland.  He looks off shore to the Hebrides Islands and conceives the theme for his overture The Hebrides.

    7 August 1834 Samuel Wesley (68) gives his last public performance, accompanying his own anthem All go unto one place, in Exeter Hall, London.  It is a funeral anthem for his recently departed brother Charles.

    7 August 1855 Oyayaye, ou La reine des îles, an anthropophagie musicale by Jacques Offenbach (36) to words of Moinaux, is performed for the first time, at the Folies-Nouvelles, Paris.

    7 August 1861 At a Tonkünstlerversammlung in Weimar, attended by Franz Liszt (49), Richard Wagner (48), Peter Cornelius (36) and Hans von Bülow, the Allgemeiner Deutscher Musikverein is founded.

    7 August 1868 Granville Bantock is born in London, first of four children born to George Granville Bantock, noted surgeon and gynecologist, and Sophia Elizabeth Ransome, the daughter of a chemist.

    7 August 1905 Incidental music for Shakespeare’s (tr. F.-V. Hugo) play Jules César by Gabriel Fauré (60) is performed for the first time, in the Théâtre antique d’Orange, Paris.

    7 August 1912 The Piano Concerto no.1 op.10 by Sergey Prokofiev (21) is performed for the first time, in Sokolniki Park, Moscow, the composer at the keyboard.

    7 August 1921 Karel Husa is born in Prague, Czechoslovakia the first of two children born to Karel Husa, Sr. and Bozena Dongresová-Husová.

    7 August 1923 The Clarinet Quintet op.30 of Paul Hindemith (27) is performed for the first time, in Salzburg.

    7 August 1930 The first complete performance of Henry Cowell’s (33) opera The Building of Bamba, to words of Varian, takes place in Halcyon, California.  See 18 August 1917.

    7 August 1936 Three dances by Wallingford Riegger (51) to scenarios by Holm are performed for the first time, in Bennington, Vermont:  Four Chromatic Eccentricities, The Cry op.22 and City Nocturne.

    7 August 1941 From this Earth, a ballet by Roy Harris (43) to his own scenario, is performed for the first time, at Colorado College, Colorado Springs.

    7 August 1944 Doce Preludios Americanos op.12 for piano by Alberto Ginastera (28) is performed for the first time, in Buenos Aires.

    7 August 1946 String Quartet no.1 by Heitor Villa-Lobos (59) is performed in public for the first time, in Rio de Janeiro, 31 years after it was composed.

    7 August 1951 String Quartet no.6 by Ross Lee Finney (44) is performed for the first time, at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

    7 August 1955 Three Sonatas for solo clarinet by George Perle (40) are performed for the first time, in Chicago.

    7 August 1960 Robert Ashley (30), Gordon Mumma (25), Roger Reynolds (26), and George Cacioppo, having driven from Ann Arbor, Michigan, attend a week-long composers’ conference organized by the Canadian League of Composers in Stratford, Ontario.  Among the luminaries present are Luciano Berio (34), Edgar Varèse (76), Roy Harris (62), Ernst Krenek (59), and George Rochberg (42).  The four decide that they could organize a better conference and by the time they arrive home, they have planned the ONCE Festival.

    Turetzky Pieces for flute, clarinet, and double bass by Charles Wuorinen (22) is performed for the first time, in Westbrook, Connecticut.

    7 August 1961 Incidental music to a play by Lawrence and Lee, Turn on the Night, by Roy Harris (63) is performed for the first time, in John B. Kelly Playhouse-in-the-Park, Philadelphia.  The music was recorded from 13-29 July 1961 in San Germán, Puerto Rico.

    7 August 1971 The Fields of Sorrow for two sopranos, winds, vibraphone, and two pianos by Harrison Birtwistle (37) to words of Decimus Ausonius is performed for the first time, in Dartington conducted by the composer.

    7 August 1977 Two works by Howard Hanson (80) are performed for the first time, in National Music Camp, Interlochen, Michigan conducted by the composer:  Symphony no.7 for chorus and orchestra to words of Whitman, and Rhythmic Variations on Two Ancient Hymn Tunes for strings.

    7 August 1981 Piano Quintet by John Harbison (42) is performed for the first time, in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

    7 August 1982 Trio for violin, horn and piano by Györgi Ligeti (59) is performed for the first time, in Hamburg-Bergedorf.

    7 August 1983 Zweiter Doppelgesang for clarinet, cello, and orchestra by Wolfgang Rihm (31) is performed for the first time, in Hitzacker.

    7 August 1984 Un re in ascolto, an azione musicale by Luciano Berio (58) to words of the composer after Calvino, Auden, Einsiedel, and Gotter, is performed for the first time, in the Kleines Festspielhaus, Salzburg.

    7 August 1986 Yan Tan Tethera, a mechanical pastoral by Harrison Birtwistle (52) to words of Harrison, is performed for the first time, in Queen Elizabeth Hall, London.

    7 August 1988 Ikon of St. Seraphim for counter tenor, baritone, chorus, and orchestra by John Tavener (44) to words of Mother Thekla is performed for the first time, in the church of St. Endellion.

    7 August 1991 An Alice Symphony by David Del Tredici (54) is performed for the first time, at Tanglewood, Lenox, Massachusetts.

    7 August 2000 Love After 1950 for mezzo-soprano and piano by Libby Larsen (49), to words of various writers, is performed for the first time, in Chicago.

    7 August 2005 Gathering for two female singers, two trombones, harp, and marimba by Steven Mackey (49) is performed for the first time, in Seiji Ozawa Hall, Tanglewood.

    7 August 2011 Martial Arts Trilogy by Tan Dun (53) is performed for the first time, in Shanghai.  The work consists of three previously performed works (Hero Concerto, Crouching Tiger Concerto, and Banquet Concerto) with added multimedia.

    Quintet for strings and piano by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (72) is performed for the first time, in La Jolla, California.

    7 August 2015 Eleanor for blues singer, drummer, ensemble, and samples by Olga Neuwirth (47) is performed for the first time, in Salzburg.

    8 August

    8 August 1759 Karl Heinrich Graun dies in Berlin, aged approximately 55 years.

    8 August 1774 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (18) dates his Missa brevis K.194 in Salzburg.

    8 August 1829 As Fryderyk Chopin (19) is standing outside the Kärntnertortheater in Vienna, speaking with friends, Count Gallenberg walks up to him and asks if he would play for him three days hence.  Chopin says yes.

    Felix Mendelssohn (20) crosses to the Hebrides island of Staffa, sight of Fingal’s Cave, and the island of Iona.

    8 August 1844 Jacob Offenbach (25) is baptized into the Roman Catholic faith in Notre-Dame-de-Bonne-Nouvelle in Paris.  He does this at the insistence of the parents of his fiancée, Herminie d’Alcain.  He takes the name Jacques.

    8 August 1848 Bedrich Smetana (24) opens a music institute in Prague.

    8 August 1856 Deux vieilles gardes, an opérette bouffe by Léo Delibes (20) to words of Villeneuve and Lemonnier, is performed for the first time, at the Bouffes-Parisiens, Paris.

    8 August 1870 A la frontière, a cantata by Charles Gounod (52) to words of Frey, is performed for the first time, at the Paris Opéra.

    8 August 1892 Six Songs for medium voice and piano op.4 by Max Reger (19) are performed for the first time, in Berlin the composer at the keyboard.

    8 August 1895 Alphons Diepenbrock (32) marries Elisabeth de Jong van Beek en Donk in the Town Hall of Rosmalen, The Netherlands.  Diepenbrock advertises himself as a tutor of classical languages.

    8 August 1922 At a performance in Salzburg, Anton Webern’s (38) Five Movements for String Quartet causes fisticuffs and a general melee to break out.  Police are called in.  The work is interrupted and will be repeated tomorrow night to an invited audience.

    8 August 1924 An orchestral suite from the opera Fête galante by Ethel Smyth (66) is performed for the first time, at Winter Gardens, Bournemouth, conducted by the composer.  See 4 June 1923.

    8 August 1927 Gustav Holst (52) arrives in Dorchester, having walked from the Bristol home of Thomas Hardy.  They have a most pleasant visit and Hardy gratefully accepts the dedication of Egdon Heath.  He says he knows little of music but is familiar with The Planets because he borrowed a recording from TE Lawrence who is stationed with the Royal Tank Corps nearby.

    8 August 1937 Time Suite for orchestra by Roy Harris (39) is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of WABC, New York.

    8 August 1941 Sergey Prokofiev (50) and his mistress Mira Mendelson board a special train along with other “artistic laborers” to be evacuated from Moscow to Nalchik in the Caucasus.  They will remain there for three months.

    8 August 1942 Les animaux modèles, a ballet by Francis Poulenc (43) to a scenario by de LaFontaine, is publicly staged for the first time, at the Paris Opéra.  The composer is already a member of the Resistance group the Front national des musiciens and has worked some covert anti-German references into the work.  See 7 March 1943.

    Two works by Roy Harris (44) are performed for the first time, at Colorado College, Colorado Springs:  Namesake (A Theatre Dance) for violin and piano, and What So Proudly We Hail, a ballet for chorus, strings, and piano.

    8 August 1943 Prelude and Allegro for organ and strings by Walter Piston (49) is performed for the first time over the airwaves of CBS Radio.

    8 August 1950 Ernst Krenek (49) marries his third wife Gladys Nordenstrom, a former student at Hamline University, in Los Angeles City Hall.

    8 August 1952 Shortly after his divorce from his first wife, Györgi Ligeti (29) marries Veronika Spitz, a psychologist, in Budapest.  They marry solely to prevent her deportation (her family is considered bourgeois) and with an understanding of a rapid divorce.  They will divorce in 1954 after the death of Stalin, but will remarry in January 1957.

    8 August 1954 Romantic Suite, a ballet by Toru Takemitsu (23) after Tchaikovsky (†60), is performed for the first time, in Osaka Sankei Hall.

    8 August 1955 Lugi Nono (31) marries Nuria Schoenberg, the daughter of Arnold Schoenberg (†3), in Venice.

    8 August 1956 Concerto for oboe and chamber orchestra by Bohuslav Martinu (65) is performed for the first time, in Sydney.

    8 August 1957 Alma Redemptoris Mater for flute, oboe, two clarinets, horn, and bassoon by Peter Maxwell Davies (22) is performed for the first time, in The Great Hall, Dartington, Devon.  Also premiered is Davies’ Sextet for flute, clarinet in A, bass clarinet, violin, cello, and piano.

    8 August 1965 Trio in Nine Short Movements for violin, cello, and piano by Henry Cowell (68) is performed for the first time, in Maverick Concert Hall, Woodstock, New York.

    8 August 1971 William Schuman (61) is presented with the MacDowell medal in Peterborough, New Hampshire.  The presentation address is given by Aaron Copland (70).

    8 August 1972 Giardino Religioso for chamber orchestra by Bruno Maderna (52) is performed for the first time, at Tanglewood, Lenox, Massachusetts.  Also premiered is Tre Invenzione for five groups of instruments by Gunther Schuller (46) conducted by the composer.

    Rose for chorus by Ben Johnston (46) to words of Sibyl Johnston is performed for the first time, at the University of Illinois.

    8 August 1974 Domination of Black, a symphonic poem by Robin Holloway (30), is performed for the first time, in the Royal Albert Hall, London.

    Voyage for voice and orchestra by Elliott Carter (65) to words of Crane is performed for the first time, in Aspen, Colorado.  See 16 March 1947.

    John Cage (61) reads the fourth lecture of his Empty Words at the Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado accompanied by projections of drawings by Henry David Thoreau.  After about 20 minutes, audience members begin throwing objects and coming on stage to disrupt the proceedings with various sounds of their own choosing.  Cage is protected from the crowd by a group including Allen Ginsberg.  A debate between Cage and the audience then ensues.

    8 August 1976 Illustrated Alice, nos. 1, 4, and 5 from An Alice Symphony for amplified soprano and orchestra by David Del Tredici (39) to words of Carroll, is performed for the first time, in San Francisco.

    8 August 1977 Sirius no.43 for soprano, bass, trumpet, bass clarinet, and electronics by Karlheinz Stockhausen (48) is performed completely for the first time, in Aix-en-Provence.

    8 August 1978 Romanza for violin and small orchestra by Robin Holloway (34) is performed for the first time, in the Royal Albert Hall.

    8 August 1979 Chariots for orchestra by Ulysses Kay (62) is performed for the first time, in Saratoga Springs, New York the composer conducting.

    8 August 1988 The original version of Ballata and Ballabile by Charles Villiers Stanford (†65) is performed for the first time, in Belfast 72 years after it was composed.  See 3 May 1919.

    The Big Bang and Beyond for orchestra by Steven Mackey (32) is performed for the first time, in Royce Hall, Los Angeles.

    8 August 1990 Trio for piano, violin, and cello op.32 by Lowell Liebermann (29) is performed for the first time, on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

    8 August 1991 Chantefleurs et Chantefables, a cycle for soprano and orchestra by Witold Lutoslawski (78) to words of Desnos, is performed for the first time, in Royal Albert Hall, London conducted by the composer.

    8 August 1995 Three works are performed for the first time, in Gstaad, Switzerland:  Darf ich... for violin, chime, and strings by Arvo Pärt (59), Duet for two violins and string ensemble by Steve Reich (58), and Song of the Angel for violin, soprano and strings by John Tavener (51).

    8 August 1998 Duettino for oboe and violin by Richard Wernick (64) is performed for the first time, in Aspen, Colorado.

    8 August 2005 Zwei Sprüche for voice and piano by Wolfgang Rihm (53) to words of Schiller is performed for the first time, in Bad Reichenhall, Germany.

    8 August 2009 Chaconne for violin and strings by Peter Sculthorpe (80) is performed for the first time, in Llewellyn Hall of the Canberra School of Music.

    8 August 2014 Peter Sculthorpe dies in Wolper Jewish Hospital in Woollahra, Sydney after a long illness, aged 85 years, three months and ten days.

    Circus Overture for orchestra by William Bolcom (76) is performed for the first time, at Tanglewood, Lenox, Massachusetts.

    9 August

    9 August 1772 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (16) is granted a salary of 150 florins for the post of second Konzertmeister in Salzburg.

    9 August 1786 Athalie, a tragedy by Georg Joseph Vogler (37) to words of Racine, is performed for the first time, in Stockholm.

    The Trio for piano, clarinet and viola K.498 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (30) is performed for the first time, in Vienna, at the home of Professor Nikolaus von Jacquin.

    9 August 1830 Friedrich Wieck answers a letter of Johanna Schumann by telling her that her son Robert (20) could in three years be made into “one of the foremost living pianists,” although he seriously doubts his steadfastness.

    9 August 1845 After Gaetano Donizetti (47) falls on the street outside his Paris hotel and is brought unconscious to his room, a meeting of three doctors prescribes a change of scene and no composing.  His disease is not in doubt.

    9 August 1857 At the Wesendonck villa outside Zürich, Richard Wagner abruptly stops the composition of Siegfried.

    9 August 1860 Stephen Foster (34) sells all rights to songs published under his previous contract to his publisher, Firth, Pond & Co for $1,600.  After paying off his advances, he has $203.36 left.

    9 August 1862 Béatrice et Bénédict, an opera comique by Hector Berlioz (58) to his own words after Shakespeare, is performed for the first time, in the New Theatre, Baden-Baden.  Berlioz conducts in such pain that he can hardly stand.

    9 August 1869 In response to a request that Giuseppe Verdi (55) compose something for the opening of the Cairo Opera House and the Suez Canal, Verdi writes that he is too busy and, in any case, he does not compose occasional pieces.

    9 August 1876 After viewing the dress rehearsal for Götterdämmerung in Bayreuth, King Ludwig II of Bavaria leaves secretly by train.

    9 August 1886 Horatio Parker (22) marries Anna Ploessl, a piano student, in Munich.

    9 August 1902 The coronation ceremonies of King Edward VII of Great Britain, in Westminster Abbey, include the first performance of the hymn O Mightiest of the Mighty by Edward Elgar (45) to words of Clarke, the Marche du couronnement op.117 for orchestra by Camille Saint-Saëns (66), and the anthem I was glad by Hubert Parry (54) to words of the Psalms.  See 23 June 1911.

    9 August 1906 The Victor Talking Machine Company announces a new design for a phonograph, with the horn inside the cabinet.  They call it a Victrola.

    9 August 1919 11:30  Ruggero Leoncavallo dies of nephritis in Villino Giannini, a home he is renting on Via Stella in Montecatini, Kingdom of Italy, aged 62 years, five months, and one day.

    9 August 1928 At the intermission of a concert in Hollywood Bowl, Percy Grainger (46) conducts the first performance of his To a Nordic Princess and Australian Up-Country Song.  He then marries the Swedish poet and painter Ella Viola Ström before the 22,000 onlookers.

    9 August 1938 String Quartet no.3 by Roy Harris (40) is performed for the first time, at the Juilliard School, New York.

    9 August 1939 Max Henry Neuhaus is born in Beaumont, Texas, USA the son of Max Werner Neuhaus, a chemical engineer and Harriet Rachel Ocker, an amateur pianist.  His mother so hated their own town of Port Arthur, that she demanded that her husband take her to Beaumont to have the child.  Her reasoning is that Beaumont means “beautiful mountain” in English.

    9 August 1942 The Symphony no.7 “Leningrad” by Dmitri Shostakovich (35) is performed for the first time in the besieged city for which it was named.  The score was sent by a transport plane bringing medical supplies.  The number of musicians living in the city is too small to perform the work so musicians serving on the Leningrad front are released for the performance and retired musicians are pressed into service.  They are given extra rations to ensure their strength.  The hall is filled and the concert is broadcast on speakers throughout the city.  Just before the performance, Soviet commanders bombard the Germans to ensure their silence, and speakers are set up so that the enemy troops can hear the music.

    9 August 1949 Carl Orff’s (54) musical play Antigonae to words of Hölderlin after Sophocles is performed for the first time, in the Felsenreitschule, Salzburg.

    9 August 1952 The first movement of Uninterrupted Rest for piano by Toru Takemitsu (21) is performed for the first time, at Ichigaya Women’s College, Tokyo.

    The Stronger, an opera by Hugo Weisgall (39) to words of Hart after Strindberg, is performed for the first time, with piano accompaniment, in Westport, Connecticut.

    9 August 1956 The first three movements of Illiac Suite by Lejaren Hiller (32) and Leonard Isaacson are performed for the first time, at the University of Illinois, Urbana.  It is a string quartet composed with the Illiac computer at the University of Illinois.

    9 August 1958 Three Pieces for string quartet by Charles Wuorinen (20) is performed for the first time, in Bennington, Vermont.

    9 August 1962 Phonologie symphonique for orchestra by Toshiro Mayuzumi (33) is performed for the first time, in West Berlin.

    9 August 1964 A Chamber Concerto for flute and ten instruments by Charles Wuorinen (26) is performed for the first time, at Tanglewood, Lennox, Massachusetts.

    9 August 1967 Soli no.4 for trumpet, horn, and trombone by Carlos Chávez (68) is performed for the first time, at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire.

    Concert Piece for synket and orchestra by John C. Eaton (32) is performed for the first time, at Tanglewood, Lenox, Massachusetts.  The synket is an electronic instrument invented by Paul Ketoff.

    9 August 1968 Fan Music, a sound work by Max Neuhaus, is inaugurated on the roof of 137-141 Bowery, New York on the composer’s 29th birthday.  It exists for three days.

    9 August 1973 Concerto for trumpet and winds by Karel Husa (52) is performed for the first time, at the University of Connecticut, Storrs.

    Summer Divertimento for orchestra by William Bolcom (35) is performed for the first time, in Portland, Oregon.

    9 August 1974 John Cage meets with Chogyam Trungpa at the Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado.  Trungpa asks Cage to join the faculty.

    9 August 1975 18:30  Dmitry Dmitryevich Shostakovich dies in the Kremlin Hospital, Moscow of lung cancer, aged 68 years, ten months, and 15 days.  Although his heart ailment was well known, Shostakovich had kept his cancer secret.

    9 August 1979 Nymph and Satyr, a ballet by Howard Hanson (82), is performed for the first time, in Chautauqua, Tennessee.

    9 August 1980 There is only one lie for chorus by Cornelius Cardew (44) is performed for the first time, in Hampstead Town Hall, London.

    9 August 1983 Cello Concerto no.2 by Ernst Krenek (82) is performed for the first time, in Salzburg.

    9 August 1987 Leonard Bernstein (68) is presented with the Edward MacDowell Medal in Peterborough, New Hampshire.  The speech is delivered by Ned Rorem (63).

    9 August 1989 Island Prelude for oboe and wind quartet by Joan Tower (50) is performed for the first time, at Arizona State University, Scottsdale.  See 23 August 1989.

    9 August 1990 A revised version of The English Cat, an opera by Hans Werner Henze (64) to words of Bond after Balzac, is performed for the first time, in Montepulciano.  See 2 June 1983.

    9 August 1994 Symphony no.5 by Peter Maxwell Davies (59) is performed for the first time, in Royal Albert Hall, London the composer conducting.

    9 August 1996 Hunem-Iduhey for violin and cello by Iannis Xenakis (74) is performed for the first time, in Avery Fisher Hall, New York.

    9 August 1998 Scenes from the Poems II for chorus by Toshi Ichiyanagi (65) is performed for the first time, in Tokyo.

    9 August 1999 Violinist Jean Le Boulaire (Lanier), who played the famous premiere of Olivier Messiaen’s (†7) Quatour pour la fin du temps, dies at the age of 86.  He was the last surviving member of the quartet.  See 15 January 1941.

    9 August 2002 May Sky for chorus by Libby Larsen (51), to words of various writers, is performed for the first time, in Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis.

    9 August 2003 Les Froissements des Ailes de Gabrielle for guitar and chamber ensemble by Brian Ferneyhough (60) is performed for the first time, in Brisbane.

    9 August 2004 Triplo concerto barocco for chamber orchestra by Hans Werner Henze (78) is performed for the first time, in the Konzerthaus, Berlin.

    9 August 2006 Lied for cello and piano by Harrison Birtwistle (72) is performed for the first time, in the Historische Stadthalle, Mendelssohn-Saal, Wuppertal.

    Nocturne no.9 op.97 for piano by Lowell Liebermann (45) is performed for the first time, in Husum, Germany.

    9 August 2007 Petit Mausolée Ambulant for cello and piano by Henri Pousseur (78) is performed for the first time, in Stavelot, Belgium.

    9 August 2009 Poems of Louis Zukofsky for clarinet and soprano by Elliott Carter (100) is performed for the first time, at Tanglewood, Lenox, Massachusetts.

    9 August 2012 Symphony no.10 by Philip Glass (75) is performed for the first time, in Grand Theatre de Provence in Aix.

    10 August

    10 August 1560 Hieronymus Praetorius is born in Hamburg.

    10 August 1787 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (31) dates his Serenade K.525 Eine kleine Nachtmusik.

    10 August 1788 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (32) dates the score to his Symphony no.41”Jupiter” K.551 in Vienna.

    10 August 1793 An ostentatious Festival of Unity and Indivisibility takes place in Paris to celebrate the first anniversary of the overthrow of the monarchy.  François-Joseph Gossec (59) has composed five cantatas for the event.

    La révolution du 10 août 1792, ou Le tocsin allégorique, a patriotic hymn by Ignace Pleyel (36) is performed for the first time, in Strasbourg Cathedral.  According to an undocumented story, Pleyel composed the hymn under armed guard in order to prove his loyalty to the revolution.

    10 August 1804 Simon Mayr’s (41) dramma per musica Zamori, ossia L’eroe dell’Indie to words of Prividali is performed for the first time, for the inauguration of the Nuovo Teatro Communale, Piacenza.

    10 August 1806 Johann Michael Haydn dies in Salzburg, Austria of consumption, aged 68 years, ten months and 27 days.  His earthly remains will be laid to rest in St. Peter’s Church, Salzburg.

    10 August 1819 Kantate zum Geburtstag des Sängers Johann Michael Vogl D.666 for mixed voices and piano by Franz Schubert (22) to words of Stadler is performed for the first time, at the house of Josef von Koller, in Steyr.

    10 August 1844 Albert Lortzing (42) begins his conducting career with a production of Mozart’s (†52) Don Giovanni in Leipzig.  He is the new Kapellmeister of the Leipziger Stadttheater.

    10 August 1850 Samuel Sebastian Wesley (39) becomes professor of organ at the Royal Academy of Music.

    10 August 1852 Hommage à Lesueur, a cantata by Ambroise Thomas (41) to words of Praron, is performed for the first time, in Abbeville.

    10 August 1858 Fürst Bariatinsky-Marsch op.212 by Johann Strauss (32) is performed for the first time, in Pavlovsk.

    10 August 1865 Alyeksandr Konstantinovich Glazunov is born in St. Petersburg, the son of Konstantin Ilyich Glazunov, a book publisher and amateur violinist, and Yelena Pavlovna Gromova, a pianist.

    10 August 1879 The Kyrie, Gloria, and Credo of the Morning, Communion and Evening Services op.10 for chorus and organ by Charles Villiers Stanford (26) are performed for the first time, at Communion in Trinity College Chapel, Cambridge.

    10 August 1906 String Quartet no.4, op.44 by Carl Nielsen (41) is performed for the first time, at Fuglsang, Lolland.  The composer plays violin.

    10 August 1932 Peter Alexander Goehr is born in Berlin, son of conductor Walter Goehr and Laelia Goehr, a classically trained pianist.

    The mystery play Maria egiziaca by Ottorino Respighi (53) to words of Guastalla after Cavalca is staged for the first time, in Venice.  See 16 March 1932.

    10 August 1934 James Carl Tenney is born in Silver City, New Mexico.

    A Song for Occupations for chorus by Roy Harris (36) to words of Whitman is performed for the first time, in Middlebury, Vermont.

    10 August 1941 First Concerto for Flute and Percussion by Lou Harrison (24) is performed for the first time, at Bennington College, Vermont by Otto Luening (41), Henry Cowell (44), and Frank Wigglesworth.

    10 August 1942 The second of the radio dramas An American in England, entitled “London to Dover”, with music by Benjamin Britten (28), is broadcast for the first time, over the CBS radio network originating in New York.

    10 August 1949 String Quartet no.14, String Quartet no.15, and String Octet by Darius Milhaud (56) are performed for the first time, at Mills College, Oakland.

    10 August 1950 Tone Roads no.1 for orchestra by Charles Ives (75) is performed for the first time, in San Francisco.

    10 August 1961 A Neighborhood:  The Dream, a film with music by Mikis Theodorakis (36), is shown for the first time, in Athens.  Police raid the theatre, stop the projection, and force everyone to leave.

    10 August 1965 Philharmonic Fanfare by William Schuman (55) is performed for the first time, in Central Park, New York.

    10 August 1966 Eleven Echoes of Autumn (Echoes I) for violin, alto flute, clarinet, and piano by George Crumb (35) is performed for the first time, at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine.

    10 August 1967 Gita for chorus, brass, and tape by R. Murray Schafer (34) is performed for the first time, at Tanglewood, Lenox, Massachusetts.

    10 August 1970 Bernd Alois Zimmermann kills himself in his house in Grosskönigsdorf (Pulheim), near Cologne, aged 52 years, four months, and 21 days.

    Buxtehude:  Also hat Gott die Welt geliebet for soprano, flute, keyboard, violin, and cello by Peter Maxwell Davies (35) is performed for the first time, in Dartington, Devon conducted by the composer.

    10 August 1973 The Grande Sonate op.33 of Valentin Alkan (†85) is performed completely for probably the first time, at York University, England.

    10 August 1977 Violin Sonata by Hans Werner Henze (51) is performed for the first time, in Montepulciano.

    10 August 1978 Les Consolations for chorus, orchestra, and tape by Helmut Lachenmann (42), to words of Andersen, is performed for the first time, in Darmstadt.

    Ancestors for chamber orchestra by Charles Wuorinen (40) is performed for the first time, at Reed College in Portland, Oregon the composer conducting.

    10 August 1979 Prologue, Visions, and Finale from Paradise Lost for six solo voices, chorus, and orchestra by Krzysztof Penderecki (45) is performed for the first time, in Salzburg.  See 29 November 1978.

    10 August 1987 Ode of Ronsard for voice and piano by Arthur Berger (75) is performed for the first time, at Tanglewood, Lenox, Massachusetts.

    10 August 1988 Astor Piazzolla (67) undergoes a quadruple bypass heart operation in Buenos Aires.  It is a success but recovery will be slow.

    Remembrance for orchestra by Elliott Carter (79) is performed for the first time, at Tanglewood, Lenox, Massachusetts.  See 5 October 1989.

    10 August 1990 Flora for prerecorded soprano and computer-generated sound by Tod Machover (36) is performed for the first time, in a prerecorded format, in Boston.

    10 August 1994 The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind for Klezmer clarinet and string quartet by Osvaldo Golijov (33) is performed for the first time, at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival.

    10 August 1996 Vlepondas for soprano, baritone, and cello by John Tavener (52) is performed for the first time, in Delphi.

    10 August 1997 Samuel Conlon Nancarrow dies in Mexico City, aged 84 years, nine months, and 14 days.

    10 August 1998 Thousands attend the funeral of Alfred Schnittke in Moscow.

    Hommage à Klaus Nomi, a cycle for countertenor and chamber ensemble by Olga Neuwirth (30) to words of various authors, is performed for the first time, in Salzburg.  See 7 March 2008.

    10 August 2002 Sonnet 64 (In memoriam 9/11/01), a motet for chorus by Dominick Argento (64) to words of Shakespeare, is performed for the first time, in Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis.

    10 August 2003 Ainadamar, an opera by Osvaldo Golijov (42) to words of Hwang, is performed for the first time, at Tanglewood, Lenox, Massachusetts.

    11 August

    11 August 1760 Der Herr behüte dich, a cantata by Georg Philipp Telemann (79), is performed for the first time, for the installation of Berthold Nicolaus Krohn as priest in St. Maria Magdalena, Hamburg.

    11 August 1765 Xindo riconosciuto, an opera seria by Georg Benda (43) to words of Galletti, is performed for the first time, in Gotha for the birthday of Duchess Luise Dorothea.  It is the first opera performed at Gotha, productions having been banned through the opposition of the clergy.  Within a month, regular stagings will commence.

    11 August 1808 As part of the “prize day” ceremonies at the Liceo Musicale, Bologna, Gioachino Rossini’s (16) cantata Il pianto d’Armonia sulla morte d’Orfeo to words of Ruggia is performed for the first time.  Rossini is medalist in counterpoint.

    11 August 1811 As Carl Maria von Weber (24) travels to Switzerland from Munich, he passes through the Kingdom of Württemberg from which he was banished in 1810.  He is discovered at the border and arrested.

    11 August 1827 Ständchen D.920 for alto, female chorus and piano by Franz Schubert (30) to words of Grillparzer is performed for the first time, at the home of Louise Gosmar in Döbling.  Schubert was invited to attend but has forgotten about it.

    11 August 1829 Fryderyk Chopin (19) plays his first concert in Vienna, to enthusiastic reviews.  Among other things, the young Pole gives the first performance of his Variations Brillantes on a Theme by Mozart (La ci darem la mano).  He later remembers, “I was overwhelmed by bravos.”

    11 August 1832 King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia grants Giacomo Meyerbeer (40) the title of court conductor (Hofkapellmeister).

    11 August 1840 Since Friedrich Wieck has failed to appeal the decision of the Leipzig court of 1 August, Robert Schumann (30) declares this his “happiest of days.”  He and Clara Wieck (20) are now free to marry.

    Clara Wieck (20) performs at the Grand Ducal Court in Weimar.  Among the guests are the Empress of Russia and several foreign dignitaries.  Unfortunately, the royals talk through the entire program, and allow their dogs to bark at will.

    11 August 1845 Today begins three days of celebrations surrounding the unveiling of the Beethoven (†18) monument in Bonn.  Attenders include King Friedrich Wilhelm IV and Queen Elisabeth of Prussia, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.  Famous musicians include Louis Spohr (61), Giacomo Meyerbeer (53), Hector Berlioz (41), Franz Liszt (33) and Jenny Lind.  This evening, during dinner, a small concert is given, directed by Meyerbeer and featuring Jenny Lind.

    Le diable à quatre, a ballet by Adolphe Adam (42) to a scenario by Leuven and Mazillier, is performed for the first time, at the Paris Opéra.

    11 August 1872 Evening.  Lowell Mason dies at his home, Silver Spring Estate, in Orange, New Jersey, USA, aged 80 years, seven months, and three days.

    11 August 1873 Richard Wagner (60) writes to King Ludwig II of Bavaria telling him that the German aristocracy is investing all its money in “Jewish and Jesuit” concerns and not him and his Festspielhaus.  He asks for a loan of 100,000 taler.  He will not receive a reply.

    11 August 1875 Vincent d’Indy (24) marries his cousin, Isabelle de Pampelonne, in the parish church of Boffres.  She is the daughter of an ex-naval officer.  The church is so small a harmonium is used for the service.  Played by a fellow student, d’Indy criticizes him for modulating to the subdominant during his improvisation on the Offertory.

    11 August 1883 During the visit of about 40 leading French artists and scientists to Budapest, Jules Massenet (41) conducts his Scènes pittoresques and portions of Hérodiade. As he arrives at the podium for the latter, he finds instead a copy of Coppélia and has to conduct Hérodiade from memory.  Later, when Léo Delibes (47) conducts Coppélia, he finds a copy of Hérodiade.

    11 August 1900 Alyeksandr Vasilyevich Mosolov is born in Kiev, Russian Empire, the son of a lawyer and a professional vocalist.

    11 August 1904 Writing from Pourville, near Dieppe, Claude Debussy (41) tells his wife Lily that he is leaving her.  He does not mention his mistress, Emma Bardac, who is presently with him.

    11 August 1905 The Sacred Congregation of the Rites of the Vatican approves the Vatican edition of Gregorian Chant.

    11 August 1915 The Peace Pipe, a cantata for baritone solo, chorus and orchestra by Frederick S. Converse (44) is performed for the first time, in New York state.

    11 August 1918 Symphonie de chambre no.1 for chamber ensemble by Darius Milhaud (25) is performed for the first time, in Rio de Janeiro.

    11 August 1919 A funeral ceremony takes place in Montecatini in memory of Ruggero Leoncavallo.  Among the mourners are Giacomo Puccini (60) and Pietro Mascagni (55).

    11 August 1921 Le petit peloton from the cycle for voice and piano Historietas by Heitor Villa-Lobos (34), is performed for the first time.

    11 August 1922 After the Salzburg Festival of Contemporary Music, it is decided to create an organization to be called the International Society for New Music centered in London.

    11 August 1927 Study in Sonority op.7 by Wallingford Riegger (42) for ten violins is performed for the first time, at Ithaca Conservatory, New York.

    11 August 1936 Although not divorced from his wife (not possible under Brazilian law), Heitor Villa-Lobos (49) and Arminda Neves de Almeida are “married before God.”  She is a music teacher, 20 years his junior.

    11 August 1939 At the Lucerne International Music Festival, Sergey Rakhmaninov (66) performs in Europe for the last time.

    11 August 1943 Concerto for horn and orchestra no.2 by Richard Strauss (79) is performed for the first time, in Salzburg.

    11 August 1946 Henry Cowell’s (49) Festival Overture for two orchestras is performed for the first time, in Interlochen, Michigan.

    11 August 1954 String Quartet no.14 by Heitor Villa-Lobos (67) is performed for the first time.

    11 August 1955 A symphonic suite from the music to the film On the Waterfront by Leonard Bernstein (36) is performed for the first time, at Tanglewood in Lenox, Massachusetts.

    11 August 1957 Paul Hindemith’s (61) opera Die Harmonie der Welt, to his own words, is performed for the first time, in the Prinzregententheater, Munich conducted by the composer.

    11 August 1958 George Perle (43) marries his second wife, Barbara Phillips.

    11 August 1968 Chamber Symphony by Andrew Imbrie (47) is performed for the first time, at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire.

    Musique pour Nouvelle Orléans for orchestra by Darius Milhaud (75) is performed for the first time, in Aspen, Colorado.  The work was commissioned for the 250th anniversary of New Orleans in 1966 but rejected by the anniversary committee.  Also premiered is Milhaud’s Promenade Concert op.424 for orchestra.

    11 August 1972 Voices and Instruments for chorus and nine players by Morton Feldman (46) is performed for the first time, in Dartington.

    La Koro Sutro (The Heart Sutra) for chorus, organ, harp, and gamelan by Lou Harrison (55) is performed for the first time, at San Francisco State University.

    11 August 1984 Nachtlied for soprano, piano, and tape by Jonathan Harvey (45), to words of Goethe and Steiner, is performed for the first time, in Harrogate, Yorkshire.

    Act I of Monna Yanna, an opera by Sergey Rakhmaninov (†41) to words of Slonov, after Maeterlinck, is performed for the first time, in a concert setting in the Saratoga, New York Performing Arts Center 77 years after it was composed.  The work exists only in piano score and was orchestrated by I. Buketov.

    11 August 1985 Praise We Great Men for solo voices, chorus, and orchestra by Benjamin Britten (†8) to words of Edith Sitwell, is performed for the first time, at Snape Maltings.  The unfinished work was edited and orchestrated by Colin Matthews.

    Septet:  Scenes from Childhood for string quartet, oboe, horn, and piano by Ned Rorem (61) is performed for the first time, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the composer at the keyboard.

    11 August 1987 Nostalghia:  In Memory of Andrei Tarkowskij for violin and string orchestra by Toru Takemitsu (56) is performed for the first time, in Edinburgh.

    11 August 1990 President Carlos Menem authorizes Aerolíneas Argentinas to rearrange the seating on a 747 so that the paralyzed Astor Piazzolla (69) can return to Argentina from Paris.

    Astra for orchestra by Charles Wuorinen (52) is performed for the first time, in Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen.

    11 August 1992 About 18:00  Merce Cunningham returns home to his New York apartment to find John Cage (79) unconscious on the floor from a cerebral hemorrhage.  An ambulance is summoned which transports him to St. Vincent’s Hospital.  He will never regain consciousness.

    11 August 1996 Cabbages and Kings for soprano, clarinet, four violins, chorus, and orchestra by David Del Tredici (59), to words of Carroll, is performed for the first time, in Avery Fisher Hall, New York.

    11 August 1997 Feria for orchestra by Magnus Lindberg (39) is performed for the first time, in Royal Albert Hall, London.

    11 August 2003 Levant-Gesänge, a cycle for voice and piano by Wolfgang Rihm (51) to words of Levant, is performed for the first time, in the Kleines Festspielhaus, Salzburg.

    11 August 2004 3 Hölderlin-Gedichte for voice and piano by Wolfgang Rihm (52) is performed for the first time, in Bad Reichenhall.

    11 August 2005 Song Without Words for flute and piano by George Perle (90) is performed for the first time, in San Diego.

    11 August 2008 Then and Now and Forever by Morton Subotnick (75) is performed for the first time, in Oak Bluffs, Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.

    12 August

    12 August 1626 Giovanni Legrenzi is baptized in Clusone, near Bergamo.

    12 August 1633 Jacopo Peri dies in Florence, aged 71 years, eleven months, and 23 days.

    12 August 1644 Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber is baptized in Wartenberg (Straz pod Ralskem), near Richesberg (Liberec), Bohemia.

    12 August 1696 Maurice Greene is born in London.

    12 August 1767 A Missa a cappella in C by Antonio Salieri (16) is performed for the first time, in Vienna.

    Johann Christian Bach (43) and Carl Friedrich Abel (43) perform at the English court for the birthday of the Prince of Wales.

    12 August 1813 Carl Maria von Weber (26) begins rehearsals for the first production in Prague with his reconstituted company:  Gaspare Spontini’s (38) Fernand Cortez.  It is the first of 62 operas Weber will produce in Prague.

    12 August 1823 Hector Berlioz’ (19) first essay appears in Le Corsaire.

    12 August 1825 The second setting of Suleika, a song by Franz Schubert (28) to words of Goethe, is published by Pennauer as his op.31.

    12 August 1826 Marie, an opéra comique by Ferdinand Hérold (35) to words of Planard, is performed for the first time, in the Théâtre Feydeau, Paris.

    12 August 1830 Johanna Schumann grudgingly approves a plan of Freidrich Wieck to allow her son Robert (20) to study piano and theory and assess his progress after a six month period.

    12 August 1835 The Royal Bavarian Court Music Director approves the application of Josephine Lang (20) to become a singer in the Royal Hofkapelle.

    12 August 1838 Scherzo for piano op.10 by Clara Wieck (18) is performed for the first time, by the composer in Leipzig.

    12 August 1844 Gruss seiner Treuen an Friedrich August den Geliebten WWV 71 for male chorus and wind band composed for the King of Saxony by Richard Wagner (31) is performed for the first time, on a riverboat at Pillnitz, near Dresden with 300 singers and 120 players.

    12 August 1845 After a performance of the Missa Solemnis in the cathedral, directed by Louis Spohr (61), the Beethoven (†18) Monument is unveiled in Bonn before royal and musical guests and a multitude of onlookers.

    Giuseppe Verdi’s (31) tragedia lirica Alzira to words of Cammarano after Voltaire, is performed for the first time, in Teatro San Carlo, Naples and enjoys a moderate success.

    12 August 1846 Felix Mendelssohn (37) finally gives his blessing to Fanny’s decision to publish.  He congratulates her with his “professional blessing on becoming a member of the craft.”

    12 August 1858 Champagner-Polka op.211 by Johann Strauss (32) is performed for the first time, in Pavlovsk.

    12 August 1859 Anton Bruckner (34) passes a course in elementary counterpoint with his Vienna instructor Simon Sechter.  The instruction was carried on largely by correspondence.

    12 August 1860 Richard Wagner (47) crosses into Germany for the first time in eleven years, on his way from Paris to Baden-Baden.

    12 August 1861 Franz Liszt (49) closes the Altenburg and seals its doors.  It has been his home during his entire residence in Weimar, some 13 years.  He moves to the Hotel Erbprinz.

    12 August 1864 Emperor Napoléon III names Hector Berlioz (60) an Officer in the Legion of Honor.

    12 August 1881 The Prague National Theatre, opened two months ago, burns to the ground.

    12 August 1884 Two works by Alphons Diepenbrock (21), written for the wedding of his friend, Jan Sterck, are performed for the first time, privately, in Amsterdam:  Joyfully Stood the Sun for alto, chorus, and piano-four hands and Fifteenth Century Wedding Song.  See 5 September 1884.

    12 August 1917 Anton von Webern (33) arrives in Prague to take up a position at the Deutsches Landestheater.

    12 August 1919 The mortal remains of Ruggero Leoncavallo are transported from Montecatini to Florence for burial at Cimitero Monumentale delle Porte Sante.

    12 August 1922 Claude Champagne (31) marries Jeanne Marchal, a Belgian woman he met on the ship coming over to France last year.

    12 August 1928 Kamila Stösslová, Leos Janácek’s (74) long time confidant, sends a telegram to his wife, Zdenka, in Brno:  “Maestro seriously ill, come immediately, sanatorium Dr. Klein.”

    10:00  Leos Janácek dies at the sanatorium of Dr. Leopold Klein in Moravská Ostrava of pneumonia, aged 74 years, one month, and nine days.

    Zdenka receives another telegram with the news of his death.  She persuades the singer Stanislav Tauber to accompany her to Moravská Ostrava.  On the trip she recounts to him all the sordid details of their marriage.

    12 August 1937 The first concert at Tanglewood takes place, the new summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Lenox, Massachusetts.  5,000 people see Serge Koussevitzky conduct an all-Wagner program under a circus tent.  A torrential downpour causes leaks in the tent.

    12 August 1938 Overture no.1 for orchestra by David Diamond (23) is performed for the first time, in New York.

    12 August 1940 After travelling through occupied France, Spain, and Portugal, Virgil Thomson (43) boards a ship in Lisbon, bound for the United States.

    12 August 1943 Flemish Farm, a film with music by Ralph Vaughan Williams (70), is shown for the first time, in the Leicester Square Theatre, London.  See 31 July 1945.

    12 August 1950 String Quartet in Four Parts by John Cage (37) is performed for the first time, at Black Mountain College, North Carolina.

    12 August 1960 Solo for Voice 2 by John Cage (47) is performed for the first time, at Tanglewood, Lenox, Massachusetts, simultaneously with a performance of Concert for Piano and Orchestra.

    12 August 1962 Don Perlimplin, a radio opera by Bruno Maderna (42) to his own words after García Lorca, is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of RAI.

    12 August 1964 I Hear an Army for soprano and string quartet by David Del Tredici (27) to words of Joyce, is performed for the first time, in Lenox, Massachusetts.

    12 August 1967 Horizon Circled for orchestra by Ernst Krenek (66) is performed for the first time, at Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan.

    12 August 1968 In alium for soprano, orchestra, and tape by John Tavener (24) to words of Péguy and the Vulgate is performed for the first time, in Royal Albert Hall, London.  The evening’s conductor, Norman Del Mar, refused to rehearse or conduct the piece and David Atherton is substituted.

    Six Proverbs for voice and piano by Otto Luening (68) is performed for the first time, in Lincoln Center, New York.

    12 August 1970 Opera by Luciano Berio (45) to words of Ottolenghi and the composer after Eco, Colombo, Striggio, and Yankowitz, is performed for the first time, in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

    12 August 1971 Yerma, an opera by Heitor Villa-Lobos (†11) after Garcia Lorca, is performed for the first time, in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

    12 August 1973 Incidental music to Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice by John Harbison (34) is performed for the first time, in Francestown, New Hampshire.

    12 August 1980 East of the Beach for orchestra by Robert Erickson (63) is performed for the first time.

    12 August 1983 Sinfonia concertante for wind quintet and chamber orchestra by Peter Maxwell Davies (48) is performed for the first time, in Royal Albert Hall, London.

    12 August 1992 14:40  John Milton Cage, Jr. dies at Saint Vincent’s Hospital in New York City after a stroke, aged 79 years, eleven months, and seven days.

    12 August 1999 Goddess Variations for piano by Anthony Davis (48) is performed for the first time, in Lincoln Center, New York by the composer.

    12 August 2000 The Lion, the Tiger for chorus, flute, and two cellos from The Bad Child’s Book of Beasts by Donald Martino (69) is performed for the first time, at the Warebrook Festival, Vermont.

    12 August 2003 L’Upupa und der Triumph der Sohnesliebe, an opera by Hans Werner Henze (77) to his own words, is performed for the first time, in Salzburg.

    13 August

    13 August 1759 Les amours de Flore et Zéphire, a ballet by Christoph Willibald Gluck (45) to a choreography by Angiolini, is performed for the first time, in the Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna.

    13 August 1768 After three years in Russia, Baldassare Galuppi (61) crosses the border out of the country on his return to Venice.  Accompanying him is his pupil, Dmitry Stepanovich Bortnyansky (17).

    13 August 1771 Nitteti, a dramma per musica by Pasquale Anfossi (44) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, in Teatro San Carlo, Naples.  Also premiered is Anfossi’s cantata I dioscuri to words of Mattei.

    13 August 1775 Antigono, a dramma per musica by Gaetano Latilla (64) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, in Teatro San Carlo, Naples.

    13 August 1782 L’eroe cinese, a dramma per musica by Domenico Cimarosa (32) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, in Teatro San Carlo, Naples.

    13 August 1783 Oreste, a dramma per musica by Domenico Cimarosa (33) to words of Serio, is performed for the first time, in Teatro San Carlo, Naples.

    13 August 1787 For the dedication of the new Moravian church in Lititz, Pennsylvania, Johannes Herbst (52) conducts his dedication anthem Lobet den Herrn alle Seine Heerschaaren A.333.

    13 August 1793 Gehe hin mit Frieden for chorus and strings by Johannes Herbst (58) is performed for the first time.

    13 August 1795 Antonio Salieri’s (44) commedia per musica Eraclito e Democrito to words of De Gamerra is performed for the first time, in the Burgtheater, Vienna.

    13 August 1828 After a triumphant 14 concerts in Vienna, Nicolò Paganini (45) departs the city on a tour of 30 cities over the next 29 months.  He will travel as far east as Warsaw and as far west as Strassbourg.

    Vier Refrainlieder by Franz Schubert (31) to words of Seidl are published by Weigl as op.95.

    13 August 1837 Robert Schumann (27) writes to Clara Wieck (17) asking her to give her father a letter asking him to bless their union.

    13 August 1845 Festkantate zur Enthüllung des Beethovens-Denkmals in Bonn by Franz Liszt (33) to words of Wolff is performed for the first time, in Bonn.  This evening, during dinner, a small concert is given, directed by Meyerbeer (53) and featuring Jenny Lind and Franz Liszt.

    13 August 1859 Dinorah-Quadrille op.224 by Johann Strauss (33) is performed for the first time, in Pavlovsk.  Also premiered is Strauss’ Der kobold op.226, a polka mazur.

    13 August 1867 Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov (23) writes to Mily Balakirev (30) describing a scale he has used in his current tone poem, Sadko.  It is the first reference to an octatonic scale in Russian music.

    13 August 1868 Le papillon et la fleur op.1/1, a song by Gabriel Fauré (23) to words of Hugo, is performed for the first time, at the Casino de Saint-Malo, the composer at the keyboard.

    13 August 1876 A glittering array of political leaders and artists, including Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany and Emperor Pedro II of Brazil, gathers in Bayreuth for the opening of the Festspielhaus.  Attending musicians include Franz Liszt (64), Anton Bruckner (51), Camille Saint-Saëns (40), Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (36), Edvard Grieg (33) and Arthur Foote (23).  Friedrich Nietzsche is also there.  The first production of the complete Der Ring des Nibelungen, Bühnenfestspiel für drei Tage und einen Vorabend, by Richard Wagner (63) to his own words opens in the Bayreuth Festspielhaus with a production of Das Rheingold.

    13 August 1879 John Nicholson Ireland is born at Inglewood, St. Margaret’s Road in Bowdon, Cheshire, United Kingdom, the last of five children born to Alexander Ireland, a newspaper publisher, and Anne Elizabeth Nicholson, daughter of a professor of oriental languages at Oxford.

    13 August 1904 Ernest Bloch (24) marries Margarethe Augusta Schneider, a pianist, in Geneva.

    13 August 1912 04:00  Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet dies at a hospital in the rue de la Chaise near Sèvres-Babylone, Paris, Republic of France, aged 70 years, three months, and one day.  Since he abhorred the idea of dying in a hospital, the body is immediately removed to his home at 48 rue de Vaugirard, arriving there at 06:00 in an ambulance, complete with his nurse pretending to administer oxygen.  At 14:00 his death is registered as having occurred at his home in the Sixth Arrondissement.

    13 August 1917 Paul Hindemith (21) receives his army record card after his induction into the German army.  He is stationed at Frankfurt-am-Main.  Later sent to France, he will never see action, always having musical duties.  “I play the big drum,” he reports home.

    13 August 1926 1922.  Suite for piano op.26 by Paul Hindemith (30) is performed for the first time, in Hannover.

    13 August 1929 Cirandas, a piano cycle by Heitor Villa-Lobos (42), is performed for the first time, in Teatro Lírico, Rio de Janeiro.

    La joie païenne op.46/5 for orchestra by Charles Koechlin (61), the last part of Études antiques, is performed for the first time, in Hollywood Bowl.

    13 August 1936 With my Red Fires op.20, a dance by Wallingford Riegger (51) to a scenario by Humphrey, is performed for the first time, in Bennington, Vermont.

    13 August 1937 The California Parole Board sets Henry Cowell’s (40) sentence at the maximum 15 years.

    Two dances by Wallingford Riegger (52) to scenarios by Holm are performed for the first time, in Bennington, Vermont:  Festive Rhythm and Trend op.25.

    13 August 1939 The first four of the Six Orchestral Songs from Das Marienleben by Paul Hindemith (43) are performed for the first time, in Scheveningen, Switzerland.  See 21 September 1959.

    13 August 1943 Piano Sonata no.3 op.22 by Vincent Persichetti (28) is performed for the first time, in Colorado Springs, by the composer.

    13 August 1947 Morning Song for piano and orchestra by Arnold Bax (63) is performed publicly for the first time, in Royal Albert Hall, London.  See 7 February 1947.

    13 August 1948 Wilderness Stair:  Diversion of Angels, a ballet by Norman Dello Joio (35), is performed for the first time, at Connecticut College, New London.  See 20 October 1949.

    13 August 1950 Sinfonietta La Jolla for piano and chamber orchestra by Bohuslav Martinu (59) is performed for the first time, in the high school auditorium in La Jolla, California.

    13 August 1955 Carl Ruggles (79) is stricken with acute appendicitis at his home in Arlington, Vermont.  His wife and neighbors manage to get him to a nearby doctor’s office.  The doctor diagnoses the situation and sends him immediately to the hospital in Bennington for emergency surgery.  He will survive.

    13 August 1960 Two works by Peter Sculthorpe (31) are performed for the first time, in Attingham Hall, Shropshire:  Sun for voice and piano to words of Lawrence, and Sonata for viola and percussion.

    13 August 1964 Deryck Cooke’s arrangement of the Symphony no.10 of Gustav Mahler (†53) is performed for the first time, in London.

    Concerto for wind quintet by Donald Martino (33) is performed for the first time, at Tanglewood, Lenox, Massachusetts conducted by Gunther Schuller (38).

    13 August 1967 String Quartet no.5 by George Perle (52) is performed for the first time, at Tanglewood, Lenox, Massachusetts.

    13 August 1973 Viola Concerto by Thea Musgrave (45) is performed for the first time, in Royal Albert Hall, London, the composer conducting.

    13 August 1980 Symphonic Interlude no.3 for orchestra by Otto Luening (80) is performed for the first time, at Tanglewood in Lenox, Massachusetts conducted by Gunther Schuller.

    13 August 1985 Requies for chamber orchestra by Luciano Berio (59) is performed completely for the first time, in Lausanne.  See 26 March 1984.

    13 August 1989 Music for Art Kites for soprano and flute by Toshi Ichiyanagi (56), to words of Ooka is performed for the first time, in Shizuoka.

    13 August 1993 Quartet for clarinet and strings by Krzysztof Penderecki (59) is performed for the first time, in Lübeck.

    13 August 2000 Lobesgesang op.76 for chorus and glockenspiel by Henryk Górecki (66) to his own words is performed for the first time, in the Johanneskirche, Mainz.

    13 August 2004 At the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games in Athens, the Olympic flag enters to an excerpt from the ballet Zorba by Mikis Theodorakis (79).

    13 August 2009 Concerto for cello and orchestra by Unsuk Chin (48) is performed for the first time, in Royal Albert Hall, London.

    14 August

    14 August 1760 Le soldat magicién, an opéra comique by François André Danican-Philidor (33) to words of Anseaume, is performed for the first time, at the Théâtre de la Foire St. Lauent, Paris.  It is very successful.

    14 August 1763 Giovanni Battista Somis dies in Turin, aged 76 years, seven months and 20 days.

    Michael Haydn (25) officially enters upon duties as Konzertmeister and court composer to the Archbishop of Salzburg.

    14 August 1771 Niccolò Jommelli (56) suffers a major paralytic stroke in Naples.  He survives, and will gradually regain his speech and use of his right arm.

    14 August 1810 Samuel Sebastian Wesley is born at No.1 Great Woodstock Street in London, first of seven illegitimate children born to Samuel Wesley (44), musician and composer, and his housekeeper, Sarah Suter.  Wesley also has three legitimate children by Charlotte Louisa Martin from whom he is now estranged.

    14 August 1814 Il turco in Italia, a dramma buffo by Gioachino Rossini (22) to words of Romani after Mazzolà, is performed for the first time, in Teatro alla Scala, Milan.

    14 August 1825 Gaetano Donizetti’s (27) Cantata for the King’s Birthday is performed for the first time, in Palermo.

    14 August 1830 After being closed for two weeks following the July Revolution, the Paris Opéra reopens with the revolutionary opera La Muette de Portici by Daniel-François-Esprit Auber (48) and Eugène Scribe.

    14 August 1834 Harriet Smithson Berlioz gives birth to a son, Louis-Clément-Thomas, at their home in Montmartre.

    14 August 1837 Clara Wieck (17) writes to Robert Schumann (27), responding affirmatively to his request of 13 August.  They consider themselves engaged.  It is St. Eusebius Day.

    14 August 1838 A final music program is given by students at the Hawes Grammar School in South Boston.  The experiment of music in the public schools by Lowell Mason (46) is judged a success.

    14 August 1844 Jacques Offenbach (25) marries Herminie d’Alcain in the Church of Saint-Roch, Paris.  She is the stepdaughter of Michael George Mitchel, an English acquaintance of the composer.

    14 August 1852 Wiener Jubel-Gruß-Marsch op.115 by Johann Strauss (26) is performed for the first time, in the Stepahnsplatz, Vienna.

    14 August 1856 The polka L’Inconnue op.182 and the waltz Krönungslieder op.184 by Johann Strauss (30), are performed for the first time, in Pavlosvsk.

    14 August 1871 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (31) signs the preface to his Guide to the Practical Study of Harmony.

    14 August 1876 The first complete production of Der Ring des Nibelungen continues with a production of Die Walküre at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus.

    14 August 1886 Victor Herbert (27) marries the singer Therese Förster in Vienna.  They have been hired by Frank Damrosch for the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York.  Damrosch recruited Förster but she asked that her fiancé Herbert be hired as a cellist so that they might marry.

    14 August 1910 Pierre Schaeffer is born in Nancy, the son of a violinist and a singing teacher.

    14 August 1912 Ballade to the Picture “Last Chords of Chopin by Krzec for piano by Bohuslav Martinu (21) is performed for the first time, in Policka by the composer.

    14 August 1913 Julián Carrillo (38) becomes director of the Conservatorio Nacional de Música in Mexico City.

    14 August 1914 Julián Carrillo (39) ends his one-year term as director of the Conservatorio Nacional de Música in Mexico City.

    14 August 1927 An Evening Falls, a song for voice and piano by Samuel Barber (17) to words of Stephens, is performed for the first time, in Wilson’s Cottage, Rogers Rock, Lake George, New York.  The composer is vocal soloist.

    14 August 1931 Commotio op.58 for organ by Carl Nielsen (66) is performed publicly for the first time, in the Aarhus Domkirke.

    14 August 1932 Invocazione alla Madonna for solo voices, female chorus, and organ or piano by Pietro Mascagni (68) to words of Targioni-Tozzetti is performed for the first time, in Livorno.

    14 August 1948 John Cage (35) produces a performance of Erik Satie’s (†23) The Ruse of Medusa at Black Mountain College in North Carolina.  Buckminster Fuller plays Medusa, while Merce Cunningham plays a mechanical monkey.  The set is created by Willem de Kooning while his daughter plays Medusa’s daughter.  The director is Arthur Penn.  Cage plays the music.

    14 August 1949 Aaron Copland (48) is driving in Richmond, Massachusetts, near Tanglewood, with Irving Fine (34) and his wife.  In another car are Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Berger (37).  Copland accidentally runs into and kills a cow, destroying his car in the process.  All survive in tact (except for the cow), but when the police arrive they arrest Copland and hold him until he is bailed out of jail at 02:00 by Fine.  Copland will be charged with “operating to endanger” and fined $35 for the cow.

    14 August 1951 Le voyage en Amérique, a film with music by Francis Poulenc (52), is shown for the first time, in the Cinéma des Étoiles, Cannes.

    14 August 1952 Die Liebe der Danae, an opera by Richard Strauss (†2) to words of Gregor after Hofmannsthal, is performed for the first time, in the Salzburg Festspielhaus.  See 16 August 1944.

    14 August 1959 Music for Merce Cunningham by Christian Wolff (25) is performed for the first time, to a dance by the dedicatee, at Connecticut College for Women, New London.

    14 August 1960 Music is broadcast for the first time via artificial Earth satellite when a recording of America the Beautiful is bounced off Echo I from New Jersey to California.

    14 August 1961 A Scherzo for alto saxophone and piano by Henry Cowell (64) is performed for the first time, in Weston, Vermont.  See 10 January 1962.

    14 August 1964 Five Etudes and a Fancy for woodwind quintet by TJ Anderson (35) is performed for the first time, in Aspen, Colorado.

    14 August 1967 Intérieur I for percussion by Helmut Lachenmann (31) is performed for the first time, in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

    14 August 1974 Als Jakob erwachte for orchestra and twelve ocarinas by Krzysztof Penderecki (40) is performed for the first time, in Monte Carlo for the 25th anniversary of the accession of Prince Ranier III.

    14 August 1975 The body of Dmitri Shostakovich lies in state in the Bolshoy Hall of Moscow Conservatory as thousands file past.  After an official service, his mortal remains are buried in Novodevichy Cemetery.

    14 August 1976 Bomba for percussion by Lou Harrison (59) is performed for the first time, in Aptos, California, 37 years after it was composed.

    14 August 1982 Toumei na kisetsu, a crime drama with music by Toshi Ichiyanagi (49), is shown over the airwaves of Japanese television.

    14 August 1983 Szenario, Un Chien Andalou, a film with music by Mauricio Kagel (51), is shown for the first time, over the airwaves of Schweizer Fernsehen.

    14 August 1987 Vincent Ludwig Persichetti dies at his home Hillhouse on Wise Mill Road in Philadelphia, USA, of lung cancer, aged 72 years, two months, and eight days.  He has bequeathed his body to the use of science.

    The Clays’ Quintet for trumpet, horn, mandolin, harp, and percussion by Lou Harrison (70) is performed for the first time, in New York.

    Five Fold Five for woodwind quintet and piano by William Bolcom (49) is performed for the first time, in Saratoga Springs, New York.

    14 August 1992 Symphony no.5 by Krzysztof Penderecki (58) is performed for the first time, in Seoul.

    For J.C.—in memoriam John Cage for two performers and electronics by Olga Neuwirth (24) is performed for the first time, in Dartington.

    14 August 1993 Chinesische Bilder for recorder by Isang Yun (75) is performed for the first time, in Stavanger.

    14 August 1994 The Apocalypse for a large number of singers and players by John Tavener (50) to words of Mother Thekla after the Bible is performed for the first time, in Royal Albert Hall, London.

    A Haunted Labyrinth for piano by William Bolcom (56) is performed for the first time, in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

    14 August 1997 Il Rozzo Martello for chorus by Peter Maxwell Davies (62) to words of Dante and Michelangelo is performed for the first time, in Queen Elizabeth Hall, London.

    14 August 1998 Eight Pieces op.59 for bass flute, alto flute, C flute or piccolo solo by Lowell Liebermann (37) is performed for the first time, in Phoenix, Arizona.

    14 August 2000 Concerto sans Orchestre for piano and tape by Pierre Henry (72) is performed for the first time.

    14 August 2004 Trio for flute, cello, and piano no.2 op.87 by Lowell Liebermann (43) is performed for the first time, in Opryland Hotel, Nashville, Tennessee.

    14 August 2005 Steve Reich (68) receives the MacDowell Medal at a ceremony in Peterborough, New Hampshire.

    15 August

    15 August 1506 Alexander Agricola dies in Valladolid, aged approximately 60 years.

    15 August 1763 Mea dilecta coronato Urbano, a cantata by Johann Georg Albrechtsberger (27) to words of Teufel, is performed for the first time, in Melk.

    15 August 1768 Il tre vecchi innamorati, a pasticcio with music by Niccolò Jommelli (53) to words of Martinelli, is performed for the first time, in the Hunting Palace, Grawenech.

    15 August 1786 A Te Deum by François-André Danican-Philidor (59) is performed for the first time, in Paris.

    15 August 1795 Joseph Haydn (63) departs England for the last time, carrying with him the libretto to an oratorio called The Creation.

    15 August 1808 A Mass in D by Giovanni Paisiello (68) is performed for the first time, in Paris.

    15 August 1809 A Mass in G by Giovanni Paisiello (69) is performed for the first time, in Paris.

    15 August 1811 Instructions from the Württemberg capital Stuttgart are that Carl Maria von Weber (24) is to be deported, placed on a boat for Constanz.  This was his original plan.

    A Mass in G by Giovanni Paisiello (71) is performed for the first time, in Paris.  This is a different setting than the one premiered on this date two years ago.

    15 August 1812 A Mass in C by Giovanni Paisiello (72) is performed for the first time, in Paris.

    15 August 1835 Samuel Sebastian Wesley (25) is appointed organist at Exeter Cathedral.

    15 August 1848 Brünner-Nationalgarde-Marsch op.58 by Johann Strauss (22) is performed for the first time, in Brünn (Brno).

    15 August 1852 A setting of the Mass for male chorus and organ by Franz Liszt (40) is performed for the first time, in Weimar, conducted by the composer.

    A setting of the Magnificat for soloists, chorus, orchestra and organ by Anton Bruckner (27) is performed for the first time, at St. Florian, on the first anniversary of his close friend, Franz Sailer.

    15 August 1865 Die Legende von der heiligen Elisabeth, an oratorio by Franz Liszt (53) to words of Roquette, is performed for the first time, in Pest, directed by the composer in the habit of a Franciscan monk.  This is to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Pest Conservatory of Music.  Anton Bruckner (40) has traveled from Linz for the premiere.

    15 August 1867 Paix et Liberté, a cantata by Jules Massenet (25), is performed for the first time, at the Théâtre-Lyrique for the birthday of Napoléon I.

    15 August 1868 Camille Saint-Saëns (32) is awarded the Legion of Honor.

    15 August 1872 After a funeral service in Orange Valley Congregational Church, the earthly remains of Lowell Mason are laid to rest in Rosedale Cemetery, Orange, New Jersey.

    15 August 1878 Hymn to the Most Holy Trinity for voice and organ by Antonin Dvorák (36) is performed for the first time, in Sychrov.

    15 August 1882 Classes begin at the new Brno Organ School.  Its first president is Leos Janácek (28).

    15 August 1887 Johann Strauss (61) marries his third wife, Adèle Deutsch Strauss (no relation) (21) in the royal chapel of Coburg.  She is the daughter of a banker, a widow with one child.  He has left the Catholic Church and she has renounced Judaism in order to attain the marriage.

    15 August 1888 Isaac Albéniz (28) plays the first eleven of the Douze Pièces caractéristiques pour piano op.92, possibly for the first time, in Barcelona.

    15 August 1912 Two Nocturnes for string quartet by Bohuslav Martinu (21) is performed for the first time, in Policka.  The composer plays violin.

    15 August 1914 Sospiri op.70 for strings, harps, and organ by Edward Elgar (57) is performed for the first time, in Queen’s Hall, London.

    15 August 1915 An amateur piano teacher, Sofia Shostakovich, aware of the prodigious talent of her son Dmitri (8), takes him to audition for the famous teacher Ignaty Glyasser in Petrograd.  Dmitri begins an introductory course given by Glyasser’s wife Olga Fyodorovna.  He will finish the one-year course in six months.

    15 August 1918 The fourth act of Izaht, an opera by Heitor Villa-Lobos (31) to words of Junior and Villalba Filho (pseud. Villa-Lobos), is performed for the first time, in the Teatro Municipal, Rio de Janeiro.  Also on the program are premieres of two orchestral works by Villa-Lobos:  the symphonic poem Myremis and Tédio de alvorada.  An artistic triumph, the concert is a financial disaster.  See 16 November 1921 and 13 November 1958.

    15 August 1922 Lukas Fuchs (Foss) is born in Berlin, one of two children born to Martin Fuchs, a lawyer, and Hilda Schindler, a painter.  The family name will be changed when they emigrate to the United States in 1937.

    15 August 1928 A funeral for Leos Janácek is held in the Augustinian Church in Staré Brno attended by large crowds and important people.  After the religious service, the coffin is brought to the theatre where the body lies in state in the lobby.  The final scene from The Cunning Little Vixen is performed along with part of the Requiem by Antonín Dvorák (†24).  The final remains are interred at the Brno Central Cemetery where there is a short religious service followed by the national anthem.

    15 August 1939 In an office in Butyrka Prison, Moscow, Lev Sergeyevich Termen (Leon Theremin) (42) is sentenced to eight years in a labor camp.  He will be sent to Kolyma, in the far northeast of the country.  See 20 March 1939.

    15 August 1945 The music of Kurt Weill (45) is heard in Germany for the first time in twelve years when Die Dreigroschenoper is performed in the Hebbel-Theater, Berlin.

    15 August 1948 The Strangler, a ballet by Bohuslav Martinu (57) to a story by Fitzgerald, is performed for the first time, in New London, Connecticut.

    15 August 1951 Three Nocturnes for oboe and piano by Otto Luening (51) are performed for the first time, in Bennington, Vermont, the composer at the piano.

    15 August 1956 Sonatina for woodwind quartet by Charles Wuorinen (18) is performed for the first time, in Bennington, Vermont.

    15 August 1965 Harry Partch (64) signs a lease for a former laundromat in Venice, California.  Here he will create a studio.

    15 August 1966 Blind Men for 24 voices, brass, percussion, piano, and tape by Roger Reynolds (32) to words of Melville is performed for the first time, at Tanglewood, Lenox, Massachusetts.

    15 August 1973 Grimethorpe Aria for brass by Harrison Birtwistle (39) is performed for the first time, in Royal Hall, Harrogate the composer conducting.

    15 August 1984 Music for... for instrumental ensemble by John Cage (71) is performed for the first time, in New Milford, Connecticut.

    15 August 1986 Die schwarze Maske, an opera by Krzysztof Penderecki (52) to words of Kupfer and the composer after Hauptmann, is performed for the first time, in Salzburg.

    15 August 1990 Orchestral Theatre I:  Xun for ceramic xun and orchestra (the orchestra members also making vocal sounds) by Tan Dun (32) is performed for the first time, in Edinburgh.

    15 August 1991 Begin Again Again... for hypercello by Tod Machover (38) is performed for the first time, at Tanglewood, Lenox, Massachusetts by the commissioner, Yo-Yo Ma.  It will constitute Part I of Hyperstring Trilogy. See 25 July 1996.

    15 August 2001 Pauline Oliveros (69) is appointed Distinguished Research Professor of Music at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York.

    Nunc dimittis for chorus by Arvo Pärt (65) is performed for the first time, in St. Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh.

    15 August 2003 Fento Songs II, a cycle for voice, violin, cello, and two guitars by Charles Wuorinen (65), is performed for the first time, in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  Also premiered is Morton Subotnick’s (70) Release for clarinet, violin, cello, piano, and computer generated sounds.

    15 August 2006 Grund-Riss for contrabass clarinet, contrabass trombone, and contrabass saxophone by Wolfgang Rihm (54) is performed for the first time, in the Orangerie Darmstadt.

    Concerto in One Movement for cello and orchestra by Wolfgang Rihm (54) is performed for the first time, in the Felsenreitschule, Salzburg.

    15 August 2007 Goethe-Lieder, a cycle for voice and piano by Wolfgang Rihm (55), is performed for the first time, in Bad Reichenhall, Germany.

    15 August 2009 Looking Back for flute and piano by Joseph Schwantner (66) is performed for the first time, in New York.

    15 August 2010 Ursa for tuba and wind ensemble or piano by Libby Larsen (59) is performed for the first time, in Twin Lake, Michigan.

    15 August 2014 Millennium, a concerto-fantasia for orchestra by William Bolcom (76) is performed for the first time, in Chicago.

    15 August 2015 Housemusic for flute and piano by William Bolcom (77) is performed for the first time, in Washington.

    16 August

    16 August 1783 The Committee for the Direction of Imperial Theatres, St. Petersburg names Giovanni Paisiello (43) as inspector of opera.

    16 August 1794 Das Gespenst mit der Trommel, a singspiel by Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf (54) to his own words after Goldoni, is performed for the first time, at the Herzogliches Hoftheater, Oels.

    16 August 1795 Heinrich August Marschner is born at Büttnergasse 532 (Theaterstraße 49) in Zittau, Electorate of Saxony, the son of (Johann) Franz Anton Marschner, a horn and ivory craftsman, and Christiane Gottliebe Cassel, daughter of a harness maker.

    16 August 1821 The Paris Opéra moves into new quarters in the Rue Le Peletièr.  The old theatre in the Rue de Richelieu was demolished after the Duc de Berry was killed there on 13 February 1820.

    16 August 1826 On his 31st birthday, Heinrich August Marschner begins a leave of absence from his post as Musikdirektor in Dresden.  This is part of his resignation, which takes effect at the end of the month.

    16 August 1828 Publication of Aneiferung zur musikalischen Bildung der Jugend...als unmittelbare Fortsetzung jeder Clavierschuleop.163 by Carl Czerny (37) is announced in the Wiener Zeitung.

    16 August 1846 Ten months after the death of his wife, Isabella Colbran, Gioachino Rossini (54) marries Olympe Pélissier, his mistress of 15 years, in the Paris Church of San Giovanni, Bologna.

    16 August 1857 Aroldo, an opera by Giuseppe Verdi (43) to words of Piave, is performed for the first time, in the Teatro Nuovo Comunale, Rimini.  It enjoys a warm reception from the audience.

    16 August 1865 Alger, a cantata by Léo Delibes (29) to words of Méry, is performed for the first time, at the Paris Opéra.

    16 August 1870 Gabriel Fauré (25) enlists in the First Light Infantry regiment of the Imperial Guard.

    16 August 1876 Siegfried, a music-drama by Richard Wagner (63) to his own words, is performed for the first time, on the third night of the first complete production of Der Ring des Nibelungen in the Bayreuth Festpielhaus.

    16 August 1899 Several works by Manuel de Falla (22) are performed for the first time, in Salón Quirell, Cádiz, the composer at the keyboard:  Nocturno for piano, Melodía for cello and piano, Cuarteto en sol for piano quartet, and Serenata andaluza for violin and piano. It is the first public performance of any of Falla’s music.

    16 August 1913 Incidental music for Kanno’s play Music for Creation Dawn for piano by Henry Cowell (16) is performed for the first time, by the composer, in Carmel, California.

    16 August 1914 Percy Grainger (32) makes his last important appearance in London when he conducts his Shepherd’s Hey at Queen’s Hall.

    16 August 1915 Alban Berg (30) reports for military service in Vienna.

    16 August 1916 Puisque l’aube grandit for solo voice and orchestra by Alphons Diepenbrock (53) to words of Verlaine, is performed for the first time, in the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam.

    16 August 1932 The first concert entirely devoted to the music of George Gershwin (33) takes place, in the presence of the composer, at Lewisohn Stadium, New York.  The performance includes the premiere of Rumba, later known as Cuban Overture.  It is also the first time the New York Philharmonic devotes an entire concert to a living composer.

    16 August 1938 Paul Hindemith (42) and his wife abandon their Berlin residence.  They will soon reside in Switzerland.

    16 August 1944 Die Liebe der Danae, an opera by Richard Strauss (80) to words of Gregor after Hofmannsthal, is performed for the first time, in an open dress rehearsal in the Salzburg Festspielhaus.  The premiere will be cancelled in the aftermath of the bomb plot on Hitler.  See 14 August 1952.

    16 August 1945 String Quartet no.2 op.24 by Vincent Persichetti (30) is performed for the first time, in Colorado Springs.

    16 August 1952 At Black Mountain College in North Carolina, what may be the first “happening” takes place.  Francine du Plessix Gray notes in her diary, “At eight thirty tonight John Cage mounted a stepladder and until 10:30 he talked about the relation of music to Zen Buddhism while a movie was shown, dogs ran across the stage barking, 12 persons danced without any previous rehearsal, a prepared piano was played, whistles blew, babies screamed, Edith Piaf records were played double-speed on a turn-of-the-century machine.”  (Larson, 252-253)  David Tudor played the prepared piano.  Rauschenberg was in charge of the Piaf records.  His “White Paintings” hang above the stage.  Merce Cunningham danced while being chased by a dog.  This will later be called Theatre Piece #1 (probable date)

    16 August 1953 The Buenos Aires Symphony by Astor Piazzolla (32) at the Buenos Aires University Law School Auditorium.  Supporters and detractors of the music trade loud opinions, some devolving into fisticuffs.

    16 August 1954 Of Identity, a ballet with music by Otto Luening (54) and Vladimir Ussachevsky (42), is performed for the first time, privately in Westport, Connecticut.  See 9 February 1955.

    16 August 1961 Symphony in C by Zoltán Kodály (78) is performed for the first time, in Lucerne.

    16 August 1962 What I Expected Was... for chorus, brass, and percussion by John Corigliano (24) to words of Spender is performed for the first time, at Tanglewood, Lenox, Massachusetts.

    16 August 1963 Duke Ellington’s (64) My People is performed for the first time, in the McCormick Place center in Chicago.

    16 August 1965 Two Romanian Folksongs for female chorus by Béla Bartók (†19) are performed for the first time, in Györ, Hungary 50 years after they were composed.

    16 August 1968 Birdland for two-channel tape by Robert Erickson (51) is performed for the first time, in Theatre Five, San Diego, California.

    16 August 1969 Time’s Encomium for synthesized and processed synthesized sound by Charles Wuorinen (31) is performed completely for the first time, at Tanglewood, Lenox, Massachusetts.  See 8 May 1970.

    16 August 1974 An orchestral suite from Leonard Bernstein’s (55) ballet Dybbuk is performed for the first time, in Auckland, New Zealand under the baton of the composer.  See 16 May 1974.

    16 August 1976 Échos—Mémoire for viola and piano with violin and cello ad.lib. by Tristan Murail (29) is performed for the first time.

    16 August 1977 Port Essington for string trio and string orchestra by Peter Sculthorpe (48) is performed for the first time, in Mayne Hall, University of Queensland, Brisbane.

    16 August 1980 A Short Symphony by George Perle (65) is performed for the first time, at Tanglewood, Lenox, Massachusetts.

    16 August 1982 Sea Eagle for horn by Peter Maxwell Davies (47) is performed for the first time, in Dartington, Devon.

    16 August 1990 Mein Tod.  Requiem in memoriam Jane S. for soprano and orchestra by Wolfgang Rihm (38) to words of Wolf Wondratschek is performed for the first time, in Salzburg.

    16 August 1992 Come Round for six instruments by Jacob Druckman (64) is performed for the first time, in Sante Fe, New Mexico, conducted by the composer.

    16 August 1995 Requiem der Versöhung for vocal soloists, chorus and orchestra is performed for the first time, in Stuttgart.  Among the 13 composers contributing to the work are Luciano Berio (69), György Kurtág (69), Krzysztof Penderecki (61), Alfred Schnittke (60), John Harbison (56), and Wolfgang Rihm (43).

    16 August 1998 String Quartet no.2 op.60 by Lowell Liebermann (37) is performed for the first time, in the Congress Hotel, Chicago.

    16 August 2001 Concerto for violin and orchestra op.74 by Lowell Liebermann (40) is performed for the first time, in Saratoga Performing Arts Center.

    16 August 2003 Englische Balladen und Sonette for piano and cello by Hans Werner Henze (77) is performed for the first time, in the Wiener Saal, Salzburg.

    16 August 2004 Mano a mano for guitar by Magnus Lindberg (46) is performed for the first time, in Turku, Finland.

    16 August 2009 Night Music op.109 for flute, clarinet, and piano by Lowell Liebermann (48) is performed for the first time, in New York, the composer at the keyboard.

    16 August 2010 Gegenstück for contrabass saxophone, percussion, and piano by Wolfgang Rihm (58) is performed for the first time, in Johannisberg, Germany.

    16 August 2013 Bullycide for piano, string quartet, and double bass by David Del Tredici (76), is performed for the first time, in La Jolla, California.  Also premiered is Crossroads in a version for soprano, oboe, two violins, viola, cello and double bass by John Harbison (74) to words of Glück.  See 19 September 2013.

    17 August

    17 August 1686 Nicola Porpora is born in Naples.

    17 August 1768 Johann Michael Haydn (30) marries Maria Magdalena Lipp, singer in the Hofkapelle and daughter of the local Cathedral organist, in Salvator- oder Corpus-Christi Kirche, Salzburg.  The wedding feast in the Great hall of the “Tanzmeisterhaus” is attended by Archbishop Sigismund and the court musicians.

    17 August 1772 Der Krieg, a comische Oper by Johann Adam Hiller (43) to words of Weisse and Ramler after Goldoni, is performed for the first time, in the Behrenstrassetheater, Berlin.

    17 August 1784 Luigi Boccherini (41) renews his contract with Infante Don Luis of Spain, with an additional 12,000 reals.

    17 August 1786 King Friedrich II “the Great” of Prussia, flutist and composer, dies at his Palace “Sans souci” in Potsdam.  He is succeeded by his nephew, Friedrich Wilhelm II.  All Prussian theatres are closed until October.

    Because of the death of King Friedrich II of Prussia, Johann Friedrich Reichardt (33) is forced to return to Berlin from Paris before his opera Tamerlan can be produced.  See 16 October 1800.

    17 August 1790 Il genio poetico appagato, a cantata by Giovanni Paisiello (50) to words of Pagliuca is performed for the first time, in San Ferdinando, Naples.

    17 August 1807 Carl Maria von Weber (20) is appointed “Geheimer Sekretär” to Duke Ludwig Friedrich Alexander in Württemberg, the brother of King Friedrich.  He is responsible to administer the Duke’s affairs and instruct his children in music.

    Nè l’un, nè l’altro, a dramma giocoso by Simon Mayr (44) to words of Anelli, is performed for the first time, at Teatro alla Scala, Milan.

    17 August 1854 Haute-volée-Polka op.155 by Johann Strauss (28) is performed for the first time, in the Volksgarten, Vienna.

    17 August 1858 Pursuant to the end of his relationship with the Wesendoncks (see 7 April 1858), Richard Wagner (45) leaves Asyl, the cottage near Zürich provided for him by Otto Wesendonck.  He heads for Venice where he will continue the composition of Tristan und Isolde.

    17 August 1875 The Rákóczy March for orchestra by Franz Liszt (63) is performed for the first time, in Pest.

    17 August 1876 The first complete production of Der Ring des Nibelungen by Richard Wagner (63) concludes with the premiere of Götterdämmerung, a music-drama to the composer’s own words, in the Bayreuth Festspielhaus.

    17 August 1895 Antonín Dvorák (53) resigns his post as head of the National Conservatory of New York.

    17 August 1902 Incidental music to Dieulafoy’s play Parysatis, by Camille Saint-Saëns (66) is performed for the first time, at Béziers.

    17 August 1910 Comedy Overture on Negro Themes by Henry F. Gilbert (41) is performed for the first time, in Central Park, New York.

    17 August 1912 A funeral in memory of Jules Massenet takes place in the little church of Saint-Martin, Egreville, Seine-et-Marne.  His mortal remains are laid to rest in a little cemetery there.  Only a small group is present, mostly family, and no music, as was his wish.

    17 August 1922 Arthur Lourié (31) emigrates from Petrograd on the steamship Haken.  He plans to attend a conference of microtonal composers in Berlin.  He will never see Russia again.  (It is unclear why Lourié emigrated but he mentioned the death of Alyeksandr Blok as a pivotal moment.)

    17 August 1928 The mortal remains of Leos Jánacek are disinterred from the Brno cemetery and moved to the family tomb, at the insistence of his wife.

    Thomas Jefferson Anderson is born in Coatesville, Pennsylvania.

    17 August 1934 Francis Poulenc (35) accompanies Pierre Bernac in some songs by Claude Debussy (†16) in Salzburg.  Although they shared a stage once before, this is the real beginning of their collaboration.  See 2 May 1926.

    17 August 1936 Elliott Carter’s (27) ballet legend Pochahontas for piano is performed for the first time, at Keene State College, New Hampshire.  See 24 May 1939.

    17 August 1939 The fifth movement of Les Illuminations op.18 for voice and strings by Benjamin Britten (25) to words of Rimbaud is performed for the first time, in Queen’s Hall, London.  See 30 January 1940.

    17 August 1940 Part I of Ancient Desert Drone for orchestra by Henry Cowell (43) is performed for the first time, in Saugerties, New York.  See 12 January 1941.

    17 August 1942 The third of the radio dramas An American in England, entitled “Ration island”, with music by Benjamin Britten (28), is broadcast for the first time, over the CBS radio network originating in New York.

    17 August 1946 Arthur Honegger’s (54) Symphony no.3 “Symphonie liturgique” is performed for the first time, in the Zürich Tonhalle.

    17 August 1947 Wedding Song for baritone, string trio, and organ by Roy Harris (49) to words of Gibran is performed for the first time, in Shore Chapel, Colorado College, Colorado Springs.

    17 August 1949 Sacred Service for solo voice, speaker, chorus, and organ by Darius Milhaud (56) is performed for the first time, in Temple Emanu-El, San Francisco.

    17 August 1955 Irische Legende, an opera by Werner Egk (54) to his own words after Yeats, is performed for the first time, in the Kleines Festspielhaus, Salzburg.

    17 August 1958 Florent Schmitt dies of cancer in the American hospital at Neuilly-sur-Seine, Paris, aged 87 years, ten months, and 20 days.

    Ixion for three flutes, clarinet, horn, trumpet, trombone, piano, 3-7 cellos, and 2-4 double basses by Morton Feldman (32) is performed for the first time, at Connecticut College, New London.

    17 August 1961 Scottish Dance Suite for band by Thea Musgrave (33) is performed for the first time, in Glasgow.

    17 August 1965 During an all-Copland concert at the Tanglewood Music Festival, conductor Erich Leinsdorf announces the retirement of Aaron Copland (64) from the Berkshire Music Center, to be replaced by Gunther Schuller (39).

    17 August 1968 Three works by Lou Harrison (51) are performed for the first time, in Aptos, California:  France 1917-Spain 1937 (About the Spanish War) for string quartet and percussion (31 years after it was composed), Peace Piece 3:  Little Song on the Atom Bomb for voice, two violins, viola, and harp to his own words, and Nova Odo for chorus and orchestra to his own words (first complete).

    17 August 1973 North/White for orchestra and snowmobile by R. Murray Schafer (40) is performed for the first time, in Vancouver.

    17 August 1974 Magnificat for bass, boys choir, and orchestra by Krzysztof Penderecki (40) is performed for the first time, in Salzburg Cathedral.

    Four works for orchestra by Charles Ives (†20), realized by Singleton, are performed for the first time, in West Redding, Connecticut:  March:  The Circus Band, Skit for Danbury Fair, Take-Off no.7:  Mike Donlin-Johnny Evers, and Take-Off no.8:  Willy Keeler at Bat.  It is the centennial year of his birth.

    17 August 1979 Two works by Pauline Oliveros (47) are performed for the first time, in the Lenox Art Center, Lenox, Massachusetts:  Double X for quartet or octet of instruments, and Rock Piece for any number of performers.

    17 August 1980 Fratres for violin and piano by Arvo Pärt (44) is performed for the first time, in the Festspielhaus, Salzburg.

    17 August 1982 Fremde Szene I for violin, cello, and piano by Wolfgang Rihm (30) is performed for the first time, in Salzburg.

    17 August 1986 Faust for electronics by Magnus Lindberg (28) is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of Finnish Radio.

    17 August 1988 Triptych for violin and cello by Leon Kirchner (69) is performed for the first time, at Tanglewood, Lenox, Massachusetts.

    17 August 1996 Circe for three flutes by Thea Musgrave (68) is performed for the first time, in New York.

    17 August 2001 Marc Blitzstein’s (†37) unfinished opera Sacco and Vanzetti is performed for the first time, in the White Barn Theatre in Norfolk, Connecticut.  It was completed by Leonard Lehrman.

    17 August 2002 German citizen Sofia Gubaidulina (70) is awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in Kiel.

    Symphony no.10 by Hans Werner Henze (76) is performed for the first time, in Lucerne.

    17 August 2004 Three Brendel Settings for voice and orchestra by Harrison Birtwistle (70) is performed completely for the first time, in Royal Albert Hall, London.

    17 August 2006 Take for soprano and piano by Libby Larsen (55), to words of Atwood, is performed for the first time, in Chautauqua, New York.

    17 August 2012 Falling Leaves for piano by Morton Subotnick (79) is performed for the first time, in St. Francis Auditorium, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

    17 August 2015 Seven Impromptus for two pianos by Alexander Goehr (83) is performed for the first time, in Lensic Performing Arts Center, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

    18 August

    18 August 1750 Antonio Salieri is born in Legnano.

    18 August 1763 The Mozart family gives their first public concert in Frankfurt.  It is attended by a 15-year-old named Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.  Goethe will remember the event to the end of his life.

    18 August 1784 Publication of the Two-Piano Concerto K.365 and the Piano Variations K.460 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (28) is advertised in the Wiener Zeitung.

    18 August 1787 La fille-garçon, an opéra comique by Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges (41) to words of Desmaillot, is performed for the first time, at the Comédie-Italienne, Paris.

    18 August 1801 Le due giornate, a dramma eroicomico per musica by Simon Mayr (38) to words of Foppa after Bouilly, is performed for the first time, in Teatro alla Scala, Milan.

    18 August 1806 Kantate zur Geburtstagfeier von Liebmann Meyer Wulff by Meyer Beer (Giacomo Meyerbeer) (14) is performed for the first time.

    18 August 1818 Incidental music for Klinger’s play Die Zwillinge, by Carl Maria von Weber (31) is performed for the first time, in the Dresden Hoftheater.

    18 August 1829 Due to the success of his 11 August concert, Fryderyk Chopin (19) plays a second successful concert in Vienna, premiering his Rondo á la Krakowiak.

    18 August 1833 Robert Schumann (23) presents his teacher, Friedrich Wieck, with Impromptus sur un thème de Clara Wieck op.5 on Wieck’s birthday.

    18 August 1839 Robert Schumann (29) meets Clara Wieck (19) for the first time in over a year, in Altenburg, near Leipzig.  It is also the first time they have met since asking her father’s consent to marry.  They will spend a few days together and go to Leipzig separately.  When Clara arrives, she finds that she is no longer welcome in her father’s house.

    18 August 1843 Over the night of August 18-19, the Berlin Opera House is destroyed by fire.

    18 August 1845 Patrioten-Marsch op.8 by Johann Strauss (19) is performed for the first time, in Vienna.  Also premiered is his waltz Berglieder op.18.

    18 August 1850 Bonvivant-Quadrille op.86 by Johann Strauss (24) is performed for the first time, in the Volksgarten, Vienna.

    18 August 1857 Cosima Liszt, second child of Franz Liszt (45), marries the conductor Hans von Bülow in a Roman Catholic ceremony in the Hedwigskirche, Berlin.

    18 August 1861 Edvard Grieg (18) gives his first public concert, in Karlskrona, Sweden as he travels from Bergen to Leipzig.

    18 August 1863 Invitation à la Polka Mazur op.277 by Johann Strauss (37) is performed for the first time, in Pavlovsk.

    18 August 1888 The first Gymnopédie by Erik Satie (22) is published in his father’s La Musique des familles.

    18 August 1893 Ernest Alexander Campbell MacMillan is born in Mimico, Ontario, Dominion of Canada, the first of four children born to Alexander MacMillan, a Presbyterian minister and musician, and Wilhelmina Catherine Ross, the daughter of a Presbyterian minister.

    18 August 1912 Der ferne Klang, an opera by Franz Schreker (34) to his own words, is performed for the first time, in Frankfurt-am-Main.  The work immediately establishes his reputation.

    18 August 1917 Henry Cowell’s (20) opera The Building of Bamba, to words of Varian, is performed for the first time, in an incomplete state, in Halcyon, California.  See 7 August 1930.

    18 August 1923 Prélude et étude for piano by Ferruccio Busoni (57) is performed for the first time, in the Deutsches Nationaltheater, Weimar.  Also premiered are the first three of Busoni’s Five short pieces for the cultivation of part-playing on the pianoforte.

    18 August 1929 Prelude for piano by Bohuslav Martinu (38) is performed for the first time, in Policka by the composer.

    18 August 1930 Lev Sergeyevich Termen (Leon Theremin) (33) forms the Theremin Television Corporation.

    18 August 1931 The first worldwide opera broadcast takes place when Tristan und Isolde is transmitted from the Bayreuth Festspielhaus.

    18 August 1938 Piano Concerto op.13 by Benjamin Britten (24) is performed for the first time, in Queen’s Hall, London the composer at the keyboard.  The audience is pleased (he is mobbed as he leaves the theatre), but the critics are not.  See 2 July 1946.

    18 August 1941 George Rochberg (23) marries Gene Rosenfeld in Minneapolis.

    18 August 1944 Pierre Schaeffer (34), under authority of the Resistance, goes to the Studio d’Essai in Paris to “take possession of the premises, personnel and means of the ex-Radiodiffusion nationale and the ex-Radio-Paris.”

    Ex ore innocentium, a motet for female chorus and piano or organ by John Ireland (65) is performed for the first time, in Durham Cathedral.

    Piano Concerto no.1 (performed as Fantasy for two pianos) by Roy Harris (46) is performed for the first time, at Colorado College, Colorado Springs.  See 19 September 1944.  Also on the program is the premiere of Harris’ Lamentation for wordless soprano, viola, and piano.

    18 August 1945 Walt Whitman Suite for chorus, string quartet, and piano by Roy Harris (47) is performed for the first time, at Colorado College, Colorado Springs.  This is the premiere of this work as a ballet.  The first performance in concert was in 1944.

    The first two movements of the Duo for two violins op.258 by Darius Milhaud (52) are performed for the first time, privately at Alma, the home of Yehudi Menuhin in Los Gatos, California.  See 27 August 1945.

    18 August 1953 Voyage for piano by William Schuman (43) is performed for the first time, in Chicago.  See 17 May 1953.

    18 August 1955 Pete Seeger, folk singer and stepson of Ruth Crawford Seeger (†1), is called to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee in New York.  Asked if he is or ever was a communist, he invokes his rights under the Fifth Amendment.

    18 August 1956 On the Nature of Things for solo woodwinds, strings, and glockenspiel by Henry Brant (42) is performed for the first time, in Bennington, Vermont.  Also premiered is Concertpiece for piano and strings by Charles Wuorinen (18).

    18 August 1957 Tan Dun is born in Simao, Hunan Province, China.

    18 August 1962 Incidental music to Cocteau’s play Renaud et Armide by Francis Poulenc (63) is performed for the first time, in Baalbeck.

    18 August 1963 Folk Suite for Band by William Grant Still (68) is performed for the first time, in MacArthur Park, Los Angeles.

    18 August 1965 Contra mortem et tempus for flute, clarinet, violin, and piano by George Rochberg (47) is performed for the first time, at Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine.  The work is inspired by the death of the composer’s son last November.

    18 August 1966 Markings for orchestra by Ulysses Kay (49) is performed for the first time, at Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan.

    18 August 1977 Our Father Whiche in Heaven Art for flute, clarinet, celesta, marimba, violin, and cello by Peter Maxwell Davies (42) is performed for the first time, in Dartington, Devon, the composer conducting.

    18 August 1980 A Child’s Diary, six pieces for children, for piano by Tan Dun is performed for the first time, in Beijing on the composer’s 23rd birthday.

    Hiroto Yokoyama’s film Jun, with music by Toshi Ichiyanagi (47), is released in New York.

    18 August 1983 Two arrangements for brass quintet by Peter Maxwell Davies (48) are performed for the first time, in Dartington, Devon:  Gesualdo:  Two motets and March:  The Pole Star.

    18 August 1985 The cantata The Peat Cutters for children’s choir, youth choir, and brass band by Peter Maxwell Davies (50) to his own words is performed for the first time, in Usher Hall, Edinburgh.

    18 August 1989 Piccolo Play for piccolo and piano by Thea Musgrave (61) is performed for the first time, in New Orleans.

    18 August 1994 Vestiunt Silve for soprano, flute, two violas, and harp by Lou Harrison (77) to a Goliard song, is performed for the first time, in Dartington Hall, Totnes, Devon.

    Couperin, Les barricades mystérieuses for clarinet, bass clarinet, viola, cello, and double bass by Thomas Adès (23), is performed for the first time, in Dartington.

    18 August 1996 Concerto for piccolo and orchestra op.50 by Lowell Liebermann (35) is performed for the first time.

    18 August 1998 Lucerne Fanfare for eight trumpets and percussion by Krzysztof Penderecki (64) is performed for the first time, in Lucerne.

    18 August 2000 The High and the Mighty for piccolo and piano by Michael Daugherty (46) is performed for the first time, in Columbus, Ohio.

    18 August 2003 Cello Counterpoint for solo cello by Steve Reich (66) is performed for the first time, in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois.

    18 August 2007 Trio La Jolla for violin, cello, and piano by Joan Tower (68) is performed for the first time, in La Jolla, California.

    18 August 2012 Symphonic Poem on Four Notes for organ and orchestra by Tan Dun is performed for the first time, in Hamburg, conducted by the composer on his 55th birthday.

    19 August

    19 August 1570 Salamone Rossi is born in Mantua.

    19 August 1756 Le diable à quatre, a pastiche with some music by François-André Danican-Philidor (29) to words of Sedaine, is performed for the first time, in Théâtre de la Foire St. Laurent, Paris.

    19 August 1786 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (30) dates the score to his String Quartet K.499 in Vienna.

    19 August 1791 Adagio in c minor and Rondo in C major for glass harmonica, flute, oboe, viola and cello K.617 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (35) is performed for the first time, in the Kärntnertortheater, Vienna.  It is his last completed work of chamber music.

    19 August 1816 Carl Maria von Weber (29) accepts the terms of Count Heinrich Vitzthum von Eckstädt and will be appointed Kapellmeister in Dresden.  His primary duties will be to direct the German opera but will also include church music at court and the Italian opera.

    19 August 1820 Die Zauberharfe D.644, a melodrama by Franz Schubert (23) to words of von Hofmann, is performed for the first time, in the Theater-an-der-Wien, Vienna.  The overture is from the composer’s music for Rosamunde.

    19 August 1827 Il borgomastro di Saardam, a melodramma giocoso by Gaetano Donizetti (29) to words of Gilardoni after Mélesville, Merle and Boirie, is performed for the first time, in Teatro Nuovo, Naples.  The audience is enthusiastic.

    19 August 1830 By a vote of 6-2, the Prix de Rome jury awards the grand prize to Hector Berlioz (26).

    19 August 1843 Andante and Variations for two pianos by Robert Schumann (33) is performed for the first time, in Leipzig by Clara Schumann (23) and Felix Mendelssohn (34).  The concert is interrupted by a fire alarm.

    19 August 1847 Hector Berlioz (43) declines the position of Director of Singing at the Paris Opéra.  On the same day he signs a contract to be music director of a newly re-founded opera company at the Drury Lane Theatre, London.

    19 August 1880 Gustav Mahler (20) departs his first professional appointment, at Bad Hall in Upper Austria.  He returns to Vienna.

    19 August 1882 Hungary’s God for baritone, male chorus, winds and percussion by Franz Liszt (70) to words of Petöfi translated by Neugebauer, is performed for the first time, for the National Choral Festival, Debrecen.

    19 August 1889 Tempo di valse (Lulu Waltz) for cello and piano by Jean Sibelius (23) is performed for the first time, in Lovisa.

    19 August 1905 Bohuslav Martinu (14) makes his professional debut as a solo violinist in an inn in Borová, Bohemia.

    19 August 1922 Felip (Felipe) Pedrell dies in Barcelona aged 81 years and six months.

    Concerto Grosso no.1 by Ernst Krenek (21) is performed for the first time, in the Weimarer Staatskapelle.

    19 August 1936 Escorted by two fascists, Manuel de Falla (59) goes to the government offices in Granada to plead for the release of Federico García Lorca.  He learns that Lorca was shot this morning.

    19 August 1942 A British judge rules that Benjamin Britten (28) not be required to do non-combatant war work, overturning the ruling of 28 May.  He is registered as a conscientious objector unconditionally.

    19 August 1949 Cantata for a Youth Festival for solo voices, chorus, and orchestra by Györgi Ligeti (26) is performed for the first time, at the Budapest Opera.

    19 August 1952 Estancia, a ballet by Alberto Ginastera (36), is performed for the first time, in the Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires.  See 12 May 1943.

    19 August 1953 Youth of Heiji Senigata, a film with music by Toshiro Mayuzumi (24), is released in Japan.

    Aaron Copland (52) submits an affidavit to the FBI, denying any past or present membership in the Communist Party.

    19 August 1954 Gunther Schuller’s (28) dance music The Traitor is performed for the first time, in New London, Connecticut.

    19 August 1957 West Side Story, a musical by Leonard Bernstein (38) to words of Sondheim and the composer after Laurents after Shakespeare, is given its out-of-town opening in the National Theatre, Washington.  See 26 September 1957.

    Aspen Serenade for chamber orchestra by Darius Milhaud (64) is performed for the first time, in Aspen, Colorado.

    19 August 1958 Conglagration, a film with music by Toshiro Mayuzumi (29), is released in Japan.

    19 August 1960 Crises, a dance by Merce Cunningham on the first six player piano studies of Conlon Nancarrow (47), is performed for the first time, in New London, Connecticut.

    19 August 1961 Aaron Copland (60) is awarded the MacDowell Medal in Peterborough, New Hampshire.  He receives a congratulatory telegram from President John Kennedy.

    Evolution transcripts for chamber orchestra by Charles Wuorinen (23) is performed for the first time, in the Carriage Barn, Bennington College, Bennington, Vermont.

    19 August 1968 Computer Music for percussion and tape by Lejaren Hiller (44) and G. Allan O’Connor is performed for the first time, in New York.

    19 August 1970 Synchromisms no.6 for piano and electronic sound by Mario Davidovsky (36) is performed for the first time, at Tanglewood, Lenox, Massachusetts.  See 3 May 1971.

    19 August 1976 Kinloche His Fantassie for flute, clarinet, harpsichord, glockenspiel, violin, and cello by Peter Maxwell Davies (41) is performed for the first time, in Dartington, Devon.

    Symphonic Tribute to Duke Ellington (†2) for drums, bass, and orchestra by Gunter Schuller (50) is performed for the first time, at Tanglewood, Lenox, Massachusetts conducted by the composer.

    19 August 1983 Between Two Worlds:  Five Images for Flute and Piano by George Rochberg (65) is performed for the first time, in Philadelphia.

    19 August 1985 ...a musical offering (J.S.B. 1985) op.46 for 14 players by Alexander Goehr (52) is performed for the first time, in Edinburgh.

    Segmente 92-98 for violin and cello by Gottfried Michael Koenig (58) is performed for the first time, in Vancouver.

    19 August 1988 Concerto for piano and orchestra by Witold Lutoslawski (75) is performed for the first time, in the Kleines Festspielhaus, Salzburg conducted by the composer.

    East Wind for flute by Shulamit Ran (38) is performed for the first time, by six semifinalists at the National Flute Association convention in San Diego.

    19 August 1989 Fragende Ode for double chorus, winds, and percussion by Mauricio Kagel (57) is performed for the first time, in the Alte Oper, Frankfurt.

    19 August 1992 Worddust of Minraud for 16 voices by Olga Neuwirth (24), to words of Burroughs, is performed for the first time, in Dartington.

    19 August 1993 Lament for string sextet by Peter Sculthorpe (64) is performed for the first time, in Dartington, Great Britain.

    19 August 1995 Pierre Schaeffer dies at his home in Les Milles, near Aix-en-Provence, aged 85 years and five days.

    19 August 2000 Voices for a flautist and orchestra by Shulamit Ran (50) is performed for the first time, in Columbus, Ohio.

    19 August 2007 In Nacht und Eis for bassoon and accordion by Olga Neuwirth (39) is performed for the first time, in the Konzerthaus, Großer Saal, Vienna.

    19 August 2008 Speakings for orchestra and electronics by Jonathan Harvey (69) is performed for the first time, in Royal Albert Hall, London.

    19 August 2012 Berceuse op.119 for clarinet and piano by Lowell Liebermann (51) is performed for the first time, in Chatham, Massachusetts.

    19 August 2014 Concerto for horn and orchestra by Wolfgang Rihm (62) is performed for the first time, in Lucerne.

    20 August

    20 August 1561 Jacopo Peri is born in Rome or Florence.

    20 August 1611 Tomás Luis de Victoria dies in Madrid at the age of 63.

    20 August 1768 André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry’s (27) opéra comique Le huron to words of Marmontel after Voltaire is performed for the first time, at the Comédie-Italienne, Paris.  It is a success, due largely to the music.

    20 August 1775 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (18) dates his March K. 214 in Salzburg.

    20 August 1803 Simon Mayr’s (40) melodramma giocoso Le finte rivali to words of Romanelli is performed for the first time, in Milan.

    20 August 1820 A setting of Spiritus meus by Antonio Salieri (70) is performed for the first time, in Vienna.

    20 August 1828 Le Comte Ory, an opera by Gioachino Rossini (36) to words of Scribe and Delestre-Poirson, is performed for the first time, at the Paris Opéra.

    20 August 1839 Richard Wagner (26) meets Giacomo Meyerbeer (47) as the latter takes the cure at Boulogne-sur-Mer.  Wagner asks Meyerbeer for assistance and the elder composer freely gives it, both financially and with recommendations.  These were eventually withdrawn after Meyerbeer learns that Wagner is speaking ill of him behind his back.

    20 August 1857 Having stopped the composition of Siegfried two weeks ago at the Wesendonck villa outside Zürich, Richard Wagner (44) begins writing Tristan und Isolde.  Otto and Mathilde Wesendonck will move into the new house in two days.

    20 August 1871 A setting of the Ave Maria for male chorus and organ by Gabriel Fauré (26) is performed for the first time, at the Chapel of the Hospice of Saint-Bernard, Switzerland.

    20 August 1876 After experiencing the premiere of Der Ring des Nibelungen, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (36) writes to his brother Modest, “Nibelungen may perhaps be a very great work, but there has certainly never been anything as long-winded and boring as this interminable piece.  The accumulation of the most complex and arcane harmonies, the colorlessness of the vocal lines, the endlessly long dialogues, the absence of anything of the slightest interest or poetic quality in the subject matter--all this stretches the nerves almost beyond endurance.”

    20 August 1882 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s (42) festival overture The Year 1812, composed to celebrate the consecration of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, is performed for the first time, in Moscow.

    20 August 1914 On the day that Anton von Webern (30) is to begin duties in Stettin, the theatre is closed due to the war.

    20 August 1920 The first commercial radio broadcast featuring music is heard over Detroit station 8MK (WWJ).  It is also the first station to broadcast regular news reports.

    20 August 1924 The Dream Girl, a musical play by Victor Herbert (†0) to words of Atteridge and Young, is performed for the first time in New York, at the Ambassador Theatre.  See 22 April 1924.

    20 August 1927 There is a willow grows aslant a brook for orchestra by Frank Bridge (48) is performed for the first time, in Queen’s Hall, London, the composer conducting.

    20 August 1931 Nursery Suite for orchestra by Edward Elgar (74) is performed publicly for the first time, in Queen’s Hall, London the composer conducting.  See 23 May 1931.

    20 August 1937 The Spanish Earth, a film with music arranged by Virgil Thomson (40) and Marc Blitzstein (32), is officially premiered at the 55th Street Playhouse, New York.  See 11 July 1937.

    20 August 1942 The First of the Few, a film with music by William Walton (40), is shown for the first time, in the Leicester Square Theatre, London.

    Banners:  A Choreographic Chorale in Two Scenes by Henry Cowell (45) to words of Whitman is performed for the first time, in Lee, Massachusetts.

    20 August 1944 Fantasia for piano and band by Roy Harris (46) is performed for the first time, at Colorado College, Colorado Springs.

    20 August 1948 Three works for piano by John Cage (35) are performed for the first time, at Black Mountain College, North Carolina:  In a Landscape for a dance by Louise Lippold, and Orestes and Suite for Toy Piano, both to dances by Merce Cunningham.

    20 August 1949 Ulysses Kay (32) marries Barbara Harrison, a schoolteacher from Chicago, in Columbus, Ohio.

    20 August 1952 The piano score to Sergey Prokofiev’s (61) Symphony no.7 is played before the Union of Soviet Composers in Moscow.  The composer, unable to attend due to illness, receives unstinting praise, an indication of his restoration to favor.

    20 August 1953 Percy Grainger (71) undergoes surgery in Aarhus, Denmark.  It is only partially successful.  He is found to have extensive cancer of the prostate.

    20 August 1958 Maria Golovin, an opera by Gian-Carlo Menotti (47) to his own words, is performed for the first time, in the United States Pavilion at the Brussels World’s Fair.

    20 August 1961 Duo for flute and piano by John Harbison (22) is performed for the first time, at the Brooklyn Museum, New York.

    20 August 1962 The Phoenix and the Turtle for chorus and orchestra by Thea Musgrave (34) to words of Shakespeare is performed for the first time, in Royal Albert Hall, London.

    Flowers in the Valley for chorus by Ulysses Kay (45) to anonymous words is performed for the first time, in Chicago.

    Supplication:  Processional for organ, two trumpets, two trombones, and unison chorus by Henry Cowell (65) is performed for the first time, in the Drake Hotel, Chicago.

    20 August 1965 New works are performed for the first time, in Wardour Castle:  Ecce manus tradentis for vocal soloists, chorus, seven winds, handbells, and harp by Peter Maxwell Davies (30) conducted by the composer, Tragoedia for wind quintet, string quartet, and harp with claves by Harrison Birtwistle (31) and four movements of Davies’ Seven in Nomine for ten players.  See 3 December 1965.

    The Women, a chamber opera by Thomas Pasatieri (19) to his own words, is performed for the first time, in Aspen, Colorado.

    20 August 1966 After performing at the Sundance Festival in Pennsylvania, LaMonte Young (30) disbands his performance group The Theatre of Eternal Music, which includes himself, his wife Marian Zazeela, and Terry Riley (31).

    Songs of Walt Whitman for chorus and orchestra by Norman Dello Joio (53) is performed for the first time, in Interlochen, Michigan.

    20 August 1969 Peter Sculthorpe (40) takes part in an illegal production of the anti-war America Hurrah by Jean-Claude van Itallie, in Sydney.  After the production, workers take down the set to prevent police from using it as evidence.

    20 August 1972 “Goldstaub” from Aus den sieben Tagen by Karlheinz Stockhausen (43) is performed for the first time, in Kürten.

    20 August 1973 De temporum fine comeodia, a Bühnenspiel by Carl Orff (78) to his own words, is performed for the first time, in Salzburg.  See 15 May 1994.

    20 August 1975 My Lady Lothian’s Lilte for mezzo-soprano and six players by Peter Maxwell Davies (40) is performed for the first time, in Dartington, Devon the composer conducting.

    20 August 1979 Winter’s Tale, an opera by John Harbison (40) to his own words after Shakespeare, is performed for the first time, in San Francisco.

    20 August 1980 Cornelius Cardew (44) is sentenced to six weeks in prison by a London magistrate for his part in an anti-fascist demonstration last June.

    20 August 1981 Akhmatova:  Requiem for soprano, bass, and orchestra by John Tavener (37) is performed for the first time, in Usher Hall, Edinburgh.

    20 August 1983 Piano Concerto by Peter Sculthorpe (54) is performed for the first time, in Canberra.

    20 August 1988 Passacaglia for orchestra by Krzysztof Penderecki (54) is performed for the first time, in Lucerne.  The composer will make it part of the Symphony no.3.  See 8 December 1995.

    20 August 1993 Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman no.5 for four trumpets by Joan Tower (54) is performed for the first time, in Aspen, Colorado.

    20 August 1996 The Passacaglia movement from the Serenade for string orchestra by Krzysztof Penderecki (62) is performed for the first time, in Lucerne.  See 31 August 1997.

    20 August 2000 Be Not Afraid:  the Isle is Full of Noises for brass quintet by Samuel Adler (72) is performed for the first time, in Aspen, Colorado.

    20 August 2003 Firebrand for flute/piccolo, violin, cello, and piano by Libby Larsen (52) is performed for the first time, in Angel Fire, New Mexico.

    20 August 2004 Naxos Quartet no.4:  Children’s Games for string quartet by Peter Maxwell Davies (69) is performed for the first time, in the Chapel of the Royal Palace, Oslo.

    Hero, a film with music by Tan Dun (47), is released in the United States.

    20 August 2005 Penthisilea-Monolog for female voice and orchestra by Wolfgang Rihm (53) to words of von Kleist is performed for the first time, in Weimar.

    20 August 2006 …miramondo multiplo… for trumpet and orchestra by Olga Neuwirth (38) is performed for the first time, in the Großes Festspielhaus, Salzburg, directed by Pierre Boulez (81).

    20 August 2012 Symphony “Nähe fern” by Wolfgang Rihm (60) is performed for the first time, in Lucerne.  The work includes Dämmrung senkte sich von oben for baritone and orchestra to words of Goethe.

    20 August 2014 Angel Fire Duo for violin and viola by Bright Sheng (58) is performed for the first time, at the Angel Fire Community Center, New Mexico.

    21 August

    21 August 1627 Jacques Mauduit dies in Paris, aged 69 years, eleven months, and five days.

    21 August 1698 Bartolomeo Giuseppe Guarneri is born in Cremona.

    21 August 1779 Il talismano, a dramma giocosa by Antonio Salieri (29) to words of Goldoni, is performed for the first time, at the opening of the Teatro Cannobiana, Milan.  Only Act I is performed today.  Acts II and III, with music by G. Rust and words by da Ponte, will be first performed on 10 September 1788.

    21 August 1790 The Wiener Zeitung announces Artaria’s publication of Joseph Haydn’s (58) Arianna a Naxos XXVIb:  2, and the publication of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s (34) String Quintet K.516.

    21 August 1821 The Freedom of the City is conferred upon Henry R. Bishop (34) by the City of Dublin.

    21 August 1822 Hector Berlioz (18) witnesses a performance of Gluck’s (†34) Iphigénie en Tauride at the Paris Opéra.  By the end, he has decided that he will give up his medical studies and become a composer.

    21 August 1830 Trois jours en une heure, an opera by Adolphe Adam (27) to words of Gabriel (pseud. of Lurieu) and Masson, is performed for the first time, in the Opéra-Comique, Paris.

    21 August 1836 Betly, ossia La capanna svizzera, a dramma giocosa by Gaetano Donizetti (38) to his own words after Scribe and Mélesville, is performed for the first time, in Teatro Nuovo, Naples.

    21 August 1837 Richard Wagner (24) arrives in Riga to take up his position as musical director of the theatre there.

    21 August 1842 I was glad when they said unto me, an anthem by Lowell Mason (50) to words of the Psalms, is performed for the first time, in the Bowdoin Street Church, Boston, directed by the composer.

    21 August 1844 Works for piano by Frédéric Chopin (34) are published in Paris:  Nocturnes op.55 and Mazurkas op.56.

    21 August 1849 Samuel Sebastian Wesley (39) is appointed organist at Winchester Cathedral.

    21 August 1866 Tändelei, op.310, a polka mazur by Johann Strauss (40), is performed for the first time, in the Volksgarten, Vienna.

    21 August 1883 Gustav Mahler (23) enters upon duties as assistant conductor in Kassel.

    21 August 1884 A Prelude in C for organ by Anton Bruckner (59) is performed for the first time, in Kremsmünster.

    21 August 1893 Marie-Juliette Olga (Lili) Boulanger is born at 30 rue La Bruyère, Paris, the third of four children born to Ernest-Henri-Alexandre Boulanger, composer and professor of violin at the Paris Conservatoire, and Princess Raisa Ivanovna Myschetsky Shuvalov, daughter of Russian nobility.

    21 August 1918 Sergey Prokofiev (27) arrives in San Francisco from Japan by way of Hawaii.  He is detained on Angel Island while US officials satisfy themselves that he is not carrying the Bolshevik contagion.

    21 August 1943 After serving two months of a three-month sentence for refusing to perform national service in lieu of military duty, Michael Tippett (38) is released from Wormwood Scrubs.  See 21 June 1943.

    21 August 1946 Elegy for string quartet by Elliott Carter (37) is performed for the first time, in Eliot, Maine.  See 1 March 1953.

    21 August 1949 Leslie Bassett (26) marries Anita Elizabeth Denniston in Los Angeles.

    New York Profiles for orchestra by Norman Dello Joio (36) is performed for the first time, in La Jolla, California.

    21 August 1950 Secret Mission, a film with music by Aram Khachaturian (47), is released.

    21 August 1951 Dickinson Song Cycle for voice and piano by Otto Luening (51) is performed for the first time, privately, in Bennington, Vermont.  See 11 December 1951.

    21 August 1953 A Suite o’Bairnsangs for voice and piano by Thea Musgrave (25) to words of Lindsay, is performed for the first time, in Braemar, Aberdeenshire.

    21 August 1954 Klavierstücke I-IV no.2 by Karlheinz Stockhausen are performed for the first time, in Darmstadt, one day before the composer’s 26th birthday.  The audience reaction is loudly and  overwhelmingly negative so the pianist, Marcelle Mercenier, plays Klavierstück V as an encore.  The same response ensues.  See 1 June 1955.

    The Lamentation of Saul, a dramatic cantata for baritone, flute, oboe, clarinet, viola, cello, and piano by Norman Dello Joio (41), is performed for the first time, in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, the composer at the keyboard.

    21 August 1958 Le Son Calligraphie I for four violins, two violas, and two cellos by Toru Takemitsu (27) is performed for the first time in Karuizawa.

    21 August 1965 Edgard Varèse (81) receives the medal of the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire.  The presentation address is given by Milton Babbitt (49).

    Nun’s Priest’s Tale after Chaucer for folk singer, electric guitar, and small orchestra by Ross Lee Finney (58) is performed for the first time, at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire.

    21 August 1967 Mikis Theodorakis (42) is arrested in Khaïdari, a suburb of Athens, and brought to Security Police headquarters on Bouboulinas Street in Athens.

    21 August 1968 The Greek Security Police transfer Mikis Theodorakis (43) and his wife to the village of Zatouna in the mountains of Arcadia.

    21 August 1970 Seasons for two to four percussionists and tape by Toru Takemitsu (39) is performed for the first time, in the Sound Space Theatre in the Steel Pavilion at Expo ‘70 World Fair, Osaka.

    21 August 1972 Ecloga VIII for six male voices by Krzysztof Penderecki (38) to words of Virgil, is performed for the first time, in Edinburgh.

    21 August 1974 Von vorn herien for chamber orchestra by Ernst Krenek (73) is performed for the first time, in Salzburg.

    21 August 1976 Fanfare for the National, composed by William Walton (74) for the opening of the National Theatre, is performed publicly for the first time, over the airwaves of London Weekend Television.

    21 August 1980 Concerto for violin, viola, cello, and orchestra by Michael Tippett (75) is performed for the first time, in Royal Albert Hall, London.

    21 August 1982 Paganini Personal for marimba and piano by Toshi Ichiyanagi (49) is performed for the first time, in Nagano.  See 2 July 1983.

    21 August 1984 AMDG for chorus by Benjamin Britten (†7) to words of Gerard Manley Hopkins is performed completely for the first time, in the Purcell Room, London 55 years after it was composed.

    21 August 1987 Kassandra:  Oresteia II for amplified baritone, a 20-string psaltery and percussion by Iannis Xenakis (65) to words of Aeschylus is performed for the first time, in Gibellina, Italy.

    21 August 1988 Suite in Old Style for chamber orchestra by Alfred Schnittke (53) is performed for the first time, in Kiel.  See 27 March 1974.

    21 August 1990 16 days after suffering a stroke in Paris, Astor Piazzolla (69) comes out of a coma in Sanatorio Mater Dei, Buenos Aires.

    21 August 1992 A Brief History of Time, a film by Errol Morris with music by Philip Glass (55), is released in the United States.

    21 August 2004 Harrison Birtwistle (70) takes up duties as composer in residence at the Lucerne Festival.

    Night’s Black Bird for orchestra by Harrison Birtwistle (70) is performed for the first time in the Kultur- und Kongresszentrum, Lucerne.

    21 August 2005 Robert Arthur Moog dies in Asheville, North Carolina aged 71 years, two months and 29 days.  His mortal remains will be laid to rest in Lou Pollock Memorial Park.

    21 August 2007 Doctor Atomic Symphony by John Adams (60) is performed for the first time, in Royal Albert Hall, London, conducted by the composer.

    22 August

    22 August 1599 Luca Marenzio dies in Rome, aged approximately 46 years.

    22 August 1615 Christopher Gibbons is born in Westminster, London.

    22 August 1760 Johann Christian Bach (24) passes an audition “with distinction” to become organist of Milan Cathedral.

    22 August 1761 Le maréchal ferrant, an opéra comique by François-André Danican-Philidor (34) to words of Quétant, is performed for the first time, at the Théâtre de la Foire St. Laurent, Paris, to enormous success.

    22 August 1775 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (18) dates his Piano Sonata K.284 in Salzburg.

    22 August 1804 Georg August Griesinger writes to the publishers Artaria that “Haydn (72) has stopped all work because of his health, and a quartet of which he has finished two movements is the offspring to which he now devotes, albeit with difficulty, an occasional quarter of an hour.”

    22 August 1847 Wilde Rosen op.42, a waltz by Johann Strauss (21), is performed for the first time, in Gasthaus Kwiatkowsky.

    22 August 1848 Austrian soldier Johann Strauss, Jr. (22), while standing guard for the government on the Karmeliterplatz, is warned that workers in the Leopoldstadt might march on his position.  Unable to bring himself to fire upon those whose cause he espouses, he goes home to his mother, eats supper and does some composing until all is quiet again.  He will never be prosecuted.

    22 August 1851 Viribus unitis op.96, a march by Johann Strauss (25), is performed for the first time, in the Volksgarten, Vienna for the 21st birthday of the Kaiser.

    22 August 1861 Alyeksandr Borodin (27), in Baden-Baden, becomes engaged to Yekaterina Sergeyevna Protopopova whom he met on 27 May in Heidelberg.

    22 August 1862 04:30  Achille-Claude Debussy is born at 38 rue au Pain in St. Germain-en-Laye, first of five children born to Manuel-Achille Debussy, proprietor of a china shop and Victorine Joséphine Sophie Manoury, daughter of a wheelwright.

    22 August 1865 Kinderspiele op.304, a polka française by Johann Strauss (39), is performed for the first time, in Pavlovsk.

    22 August 1870 Humoreske (In the Mountains) op.19/1 for piano by Edvard Grieg (27) is performed for the first time, in Christiania (Oslo).  Also premiered is Grieg’s The Odalisque EG 131 for voice and piano to words of Bruun.

    22 August 1903 Cecil Sharp (43) meets John England in Hambridge, Somerset.  From England, Sharp will note down his first folk song.  Within a short time in Somerset, Sharp will collect 40 songs from several singers.

    22 August 1914 Riders to the Sea:  Symphonic Prologue for orchestra by Henry F. Gilbert (45) is performed for the first time, in Peterborough, New Hampshire, conducted by the composer.  This is a revision of a prologue written for Synge’s play.  See 13 December 1904.

    22 August 1915 Nearer, my God, to Thee, for winds by Carl Nielsen (50), is performed for the first time, the composer conducting.  The work honors the memory of those lost on the Titanic.

    22 August 1918 Willem Pijper (23) marries Annette Wilhelmina Maria Werker.

    22 August 1924 Symphonic Song on Old Black Joe op.67 for orchestra and audience by Arthur Farwell (52) is performed for the first time, in Hollywood Bowl.

    22 August 1925 Intrada op.111/1 for organ by Jean Sibelius (59) is performed for the first time, at a church service during a state visit to Helsinki by King Gustaf V of Sweden.

    22 August 1927 Ballet Music for orchestra by Zoltán Kodály (44) is performed for the first time, in Saxon Hall, Budapest.

    22 August 1928 03:00  Karlheinz Stockhausen is born in Mödrath, near Cologne, eldest of three children born to Simon Stockhausen, an elementary school teacher, and Gertrud Stupp, daughter of well-to-do farmers.

    22 August 1934 John Chowning is born in Salem, New Jersey.

    22 August 1936 A month after the beginning of the Civil War, and three days after the murder of his friend, Federico García Lorca, Manuel de Falla (59) is diagnosed with “grave malnutrition.”

    Reeling from the sudden violent death of his friend and collaborator Pierre-Octave Ferroud in an automobile accident, and already in the midst of a religious awakening, Francis Poulenc (37) visits the shrine of the Black Virgin of Rocamadour.  Here he solidifies his return to Roman Catholicism.  Today, he begins composing Litanies à la Vierge noire.

    22 August 1944 Pierre Schaeffer (34) broadcasts the call to arms to the Resistance.

    Four Walls for piano and voice by John Cage (31) is performed for the first time, in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

    22 August 1947 During the night and again this morning, Arthur Honegger (55) suffers heart seizures at Tanglewood.  He is hospitalized and appears grave.

    22 August 1948 Louisiana Story, a film with music by Virgil Thomson (51), is shown for the first time, in the Cally Picture House, Edinburgh, Scotland.  See 2 May 1949.

    22 August 1951 Incidental music to Shakespeare’s play Much Ado About Nothing by Peter Sculthorpe (22) is performed for the first time, in Launceston, Tasmania.

    String Quartet no.18 by Darius Milhaud (58) is performed for the first time, in Aspen, Colorado.

    22 August 1953 Soleriana for orchestra by Joaquín Rodrigo (51) is performed for the first time, in Berlin.

    22 August 1954 Concerto for flute and orchestra by Bruno Maderna (34) is performed for the first time, in Darmstadt.

    22 August 1956 The Bonfire of Immortality, a film with music by Aram Khachaturian (53), is released.

    Into the Organ Pipes and Steeples for eleven players by Charles Wuorinen (18) is performed for the first time, in Bennington, Vermont.

    22 August 1959 The New York Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Leonard Bernstein (40), begins a tour of the Soviet Union with a concert at Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Moscow.

    22 August 1962 Canti di vita d’amore:  sul ponte di Hiroshima for soprano, tenor, and orchestra by Luigi Nono (38) to words of Anders, Pacheco, and Pavese, is performed for the first time, in Edinburgh.

    22 August 1965 Serenade to Await the Moon for chamber orchestra by William Bergsma (44) is performed for the first time, in Sherwood Hall, La Jolla, California.

    22 August 1968 Proprium Missae per a le festa de la nativitat de la mare de Deu (8 de setembre) for chorus, instruments, and organ by Ernst Krenek is performed for the first time, in Abadia, Montserrat, on the eve of the composer’s 68th birthday.

    22 August 1969 Songs of Abelard for baritone and band by Norman Dello Joio (56) is performed for the first time.

    22 August 1970 Music for T’ai Chi for accordion, two cellos, and three voices by Pauline Oliveros (38) is performed for the first time, in Rancho Santa Fe, California.

    22 August 1972 The Concierto de Nácar for tango nonet and orchestra by Astor Piazzolla (51) is performed for the first time, in Teatro Coliseo, Buenos Aires.

    22 August 1980 “Mission und Himmelfahrt” for trumpet and basset horn from Donnerstag aus Licht by Karlheinz Stockhausen is performed for the first time, in Schloss Georghausen, near Kürten, on the composer’s 52nd birthday.

    22 August 1982 Dance/4 Orchestras by John Cage (69) is performed for the first time, at the Cabrillo Music Festival, California.

    Image, Reflection, Shadow for flute/piccolo/alto flute, clarinet/bass clarinet, cimbalom, piano, violin, and cello by Peter Maxwell Davies (47) is performed for the first time, in the Municipal Theatre, Lucerne.

    22 August 1985 Gong-Hu for harp and strings by Isang Yun (67) is performed for the first time, in Lucerne.

    22 August 1986 Earth Cry for orchestra by Peter Sculthorpe (57) is performed for the first time, in the Festival Theatre, Adelaide, South Australia.

    22 August 1987 String Quartet no.3 by Sofia Gubaidulina (55) is performed for the first time, in Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh.

    Many Years for baritone and chorus by John Tavener (43) to words of the Orthodox liturgy is performed for the first time, in Frinton-on-Sea, Essex.

    Two works by Charles Koechlin (†36) are performed for the first time, in Adam’s Mark Hotel, St. Louis:  Pastorale op.75bis for flute, clarinet and piano, 66 years after it was composed and Pièce de flûte op.218, 39 years after it was composed.

    22 August 1992 Quingelquingelquis Weg durchs Orchester for children’s orchestra by Olga Neuwirth (24) is performed for the first time, in Salzburg.

    22 August 1999 Altra Voce for mezzo-soprano, alto flute, and electronic sound generators by Luciano Berio (73) to words of Talia Pecker Berio is performed for the first time, in Salzburg.

    22 August 2001 Trio for violin, cello, and piano by Libby Larsen (50) is performed for the first time, in Angel Fire, New Mexico.

    22 August 2004 Quartet for oboe and strings by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (65) is performed for the first time, at Saratoga, New York.

    22 August 2005 Robert Moog dies at his home in Asheville, North Carolina at the age of 71.

    Four Initiums in homage to Jacob Obrecht for viola and cello by György Kurtág (79) is performed for the first time, in Anvers, Belgium.  Also premiered is Kurtág’s Hommage à Jacob Obrecht for string quartet.

    22 August 2006 Violin Concerto by Magnus Lindberg (48) is performed for the first time, in Avery Fisher Hall, New York.

    22 August 2009 Violin Concerto no.2 “Fiddler on the Shore” by Peter Maxwell Davies (74) is performed for the first time, in the Leipzig Gewandhaus, conducted by the composer.

    22 August 2011 Piano Concerto no.3 by Kevin Volans (62) is performed for the first time, in Royal Albert Hall, in Royal Albert Hall, London.

    22 August 2013 Saxophone Concerto by John Adams (66) is performed for the first time, in Sydney, Australia, conducted by the composer.

    22 August 2015 A Sea of Cold Flame for baritone, cello, and string quartet by Peter Maxwell Davies (80) to words of George Mackay Brown, is performed for the first time, in St. Martin-on-the-Hill, Scarborough.

    23 August

    23 August 1757 A setting of the Dies Irae by Johann Christian Bach (21) is performed for the first time, in Milan directed by the composer.

    23 August 1775 Mass in C by Luigi Cherubini (14) is performed for the first time, in Florence.

    23 August 1784 Il re Teodoro in Venezia, a dramma eroicomico by Giovanni Paisiello (44) to words of Casti, is performed for the first time, in the Vienna Burgtheater.  The work, commissioned by Emperor Joseph II, is very successful.  In the audience is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (28), returning Paisiello’s courtesy of 13 June.  The opera, especially the libretto, strikes Mozart “like a bolt of lightning.” (Kneppler, 110)

    23 August 1790 After ten years of service, Johann Friedrich Peter (44) and his wife depart the Moravian community of Salem, North Carolina for Graceham, Maryland.

    23 August 1794 André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry’s (53) opéra Denys le tyran, maître d’école à Corinthe, to words of Maréchal, is performed for the first time, at the Paris Opéra.

    23 August 1814 Pélage, ou Le roi et la paix, an opéra by Gaspare Spontini (39) to words of Jouy, is performed for the first time, at the Paris Opéra.

    23 August 1821 Three songs by Franz Schubert (24) are published by Cappi and Diabelli, Vienna as his op.6:  Memnon and Antigone und Oedip to words of Mayrhofer, and Am Grabe Anselmos to words of Claudius.

    23 August 1837 La double échelle, an opéra comique by Ambroise Thomas (26) to words of Planard, is performed for the first time, at the Théâtre de Nouveautés, Paris.  It is the first work of Thomas to be staged.

    23 August 1842 Oratorio serioso disharmonico W.13 for vocal trio and piano by Peter Cornelius (17) to his own words is performed for the first time, for his mother’s birthday, in Wiesbaden.

    23 August 1846 Felix Mendelssohn (37), soloists, orchestra, and press all board a train from London to Birmingham for the premiere of Elijah.

    23 August 1890 Sunset op.4/1, a song for voice and piano by Carl Nielsen (25) to words of Jacobsen, is performed for the first time,  in Odense.

    23 August 1900 Ernst Krenek is born at Argauergasse 3 in Vienna, Austro-Hungarian Empire, the only child of Ernst Josef Krenek, an officer in the Quartermaster Corps, and Emanuela Josefa Auguste Cizek, the daughter of an army officer.

    23 August 1906 Norfolk Rhapsody no.1, an orchestral work by Ralph Vaughan Williams (33), is performed for the first time, in Queen’s Hall, London.

    23 August 1915 The Princess Pat, an operetta by Victor Herbert (56) to words of Blossom, is performed for the first time, in Atlantic City, New Jersey.  See 29 September 1915.

    23 August 1921 Incidental music to Stayton’s play Threads by Frank Bridge (42) is performed for the first time, in St. James’ Theatre, London.

    23 August 1935 El día que me quieras, a film directed by John Reinhardt and starring Carlos Gardel, is released in the United States.  Playing a newsboy is Astor Piazzolla (14).

    23 August 1937 16:00  Albert Charles Paul Marie Roussel dies of a heart attack in Royan, aged 68 years, four months, and 18 days.

    23 August 1939 On the day the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact is signed, Sergey Rakhmaninov (66) boards ship at Cherbourg for America.  He will never see Europe again.

    23 August 1942 Music for Sayers’ play The Princes of this World by Benjamin Britten (28) is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of the BBC.

    23 August 1944 Nikolay Andreyevich Roslavets dies of a heart attack in Moscow, aged 63 years, seven months, and 19 days.  His mortal remains will be buried in Vagankovsky Cemetery.

    23 August 1951 Intermezzo for piano and orchestra by Vladimir Ussachevsky (39) is performed for the first time, at Bennington College, Vermont conducted by Otto Luening (51).

    23 August 1954 String Quartet in C by Claude Champagne (63) is performed for the first time, in Hermitage Hall, Montreal.

    23 August 1962 Early morning.  Irving Gifford Fine dies of a heart attack at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, aged 47 years, eight months, and 20 days.

    23 August 1964 Abraham and Isaac, a sacred ballad for baritone and chamber orchestra by Igor Stravinsky (82) to words from the Bible, is performed for the first time, in Jerusalem.  The work was commissioned by the State of Israel to celebrate the composer’s 80th birthday.

    Ariosi for soprano, violin, and orchestra by Hans Werner Henze (38) to words of Tasso, is performed for the first time, in Edinburgh.

    The Burning House, a chamber opera by Alan Hovhaness (53) to his own words, is performed for the first time, at Union College in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

    23 August 1965 Symphony on G for orchestra by Lou Harrison (48) is performed for the first time, at Cabrillo College, Aptos, California.

    23 August 1967 A revised version of Mixtur no.16 1/2 for chamber ensemble, sine-wave generator, and ring modulator by Karlheinz Stockhausen (39), is performed for the first time, in Frankfurt.

    23 August 1968 Nomos for orchestra by Harrison Birtwistle (34) is performed for the first time, in Royal Albert Hall, London.

    23 August 1972 Patria II:  Requiems for the Party-Girl for mezzo-soprano, chorus, actors, dancers, chamber orchestra, and tape by R. Murray Schafer (39) is performed for the first time, in Stratford, Ontario.

    23 August 1978 Four Lessons for two keyboards by Peter Maxwell Davies (43) is performed for the first time, in Dartington, Devon.

    23 August 1981 Cherubino for piano by Hans Werner Henze (55) is performed for the first time, in Berlin.

    23 August 1986 Divertimento for string orchestra by Ernst Krenek is performed for the first time, in Ossiach, Austria on the 86th anniversary of the composer's birth.  The work was completed in 1956.

    Three Early Pieces for flute and piano by Lukas Foss (64), arranged by the composer for violin and piano, is performed for the first time, in New York.  See 13 November 1944.

    23 August 1987 Streichtrio in zwölf Stationen by Ernst Krenek is performed for the first time, in Ossiach, Austria, on the composer’s 87th birthday.

    23 August 1989 Island Prelude for oboe and string quintet by Joan Tower (50) is performed for the first time, in Teton Village, Wyoming.  See 9 August 1989.

    23 August 1995 Two works for orchestra by Frederick Delius (†61) are performed for the first time, in Great Hall of Leeds University:  La Quadroone, composed in 1889, and Scherzo, composed in 1890.

    23 August 2005 Exploration of the House for orchestra and digital tape delay system by Alvin Lucier (74) is performed for the first time, in Ostrava, Czech Republic.

    23 August 2014 Le Silence des Sirènes for soprano and orchestra by Unsuk Chin (53), to words of Joyce, is performed for the first time, in the Konzertsaal, Lucerne.

    23 August 2015 Re-Structures for two pianos and live electronics by Tod Machover (61) is performed for the first time, in the KKL, Luzerner Saal, Lucerne.  Also premiered is Gruß-Moment for orchestra by Wolfgang Rihm (63).

    24 August

    24 August 1767 On an outing in St.-Germain-en-Laye near Paris, Johann Schobert (32), his wife, child and four others pick mushrooms intending to make a meal of them.  One of the group, a physician, insists that the fungi are edible, but two cabarets refuse to prepare them, claiming they are poisonous.  Frustrated, the group retires to Schobert’s house where they cook and eat the mushrooms.  By 23:00, all of the group are convulsed with pain and unable to summon assistance.

    24 August 1769 La feste d’Apollo, an opéra by Christoph Willibald Gluck (55) to words of Frugoni, Calzabigi, Pagnini and Pezzana, is performed for the first time, at the court in Parma.  A good part of it is taken from earlier compositions by Gluck.

    24 August 1782 Figura:  Canticum in tono peregrino, an oratorio by Michael Haydn (44) is performed for the first time.

    24 August 1785 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (29) is informed that his petition of 15 March for acceptance into the Vienna Tonkunstler-Societät has been deferred until he can produce a baptismal certificate.  He will never be accepted.

    24 August 1796 William Crotch (21) contributes the first of 104 entries into the manuscript collection of the Harmonic Society of Oxford.  The group is formed this month by several eminent English musical figures.  The society will never actually meet nor give official concerts, but the manuscripts will be circulated among the members for their use.

    24 August 1810 Two works for wind band by Ludwig van Beethoven (39) are performed for the first time, in Vienna:  Marsch für böhmische Landwehr and Marsch für Erzherzog Anton.

    24 August 1815 Two numbers for a farce called Der traverstirte Aeneas by Carl Maria von Weber (28), Mein Weib ist capores J.183 and Frau Lieserl, juhe! J.184, are performed for the first time, in Prague.

    24 August 1824 Le roi René, ou La Provence au XVe siècle, an opéra comique by Ferdinand Hérold (33) to words of Belle and Sewrin, is performed for the first time, in the Théâtre Feydeau, Paris.

    24 August 1825 Die Wiener in Berlin, a liederspiel by Heinrich August Marschner (30) to words of von Holtei, is performed for the first time, in Dresden.

    24 August 1834 The Sociedade Filarmonica is established in Rio de Janeiro.

    24 August 1837 A committee appointed by Mayor Samuel A. Eliot and led by attorney T. Kemper Davis, presents its report that music should be part of the curriculum of the Boston Public Schools.

    24 August 1843 The second part of Simon Mayr’s (80) History of the Oratorio and the Mysteries is read to the Ateneo, Bergamo by its secretary, Abate Salvioni.  Mayr is too blind to read it himself.

    24 August 1850 Two works by Franz Liszt (38) are performed for the first time, conducted by the composer in Weimar:  Chöre zu Herders Entfeisselten Prometheus and the overture Prometheus.  Prometheus will be revised into a symphonic poem.  See 18 October 1855.

    24 August 1878 At a promenade concert at Covent Garden, Arthur Sullivan (36) conducts a compilation of music from HMS Pinafore by Hamilton Clarke.  The music is extremely popular with the public and the press and will ensure the success of the operetta currently in production.

    24 August 1879 The Benedictus, Magnificat, and Nunc Dimittis from the Morning, Communion and Evening Services op.10 for chorus and organ by Charles Villiers Stanford (26) are performed for the first time, in Trinity College Chapel.

    24 August 1899 The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra votes on a conductor, as it does every year at this time.  Gustav Mahler (39) receives 61 votes, 19 are for Josef Hellmesberger, one for Felix Mottl and three are invalid.  Mahler declines to lead an orchestra so divided.

    24 August 1905 With No Dirges for chorus by Jean Sibelius (39) to words of Runeberg is performed for the first time, at the funeral of the composer’s friend, the painter Albert Edelfelt, in Helsinki.

    24 August 1907 Pomp and Circumstance March no.4, op.39/4 by Edward Elgar (50) is performed for the first time, in Queen’s Hall, London.

    24 August 1908 Algeria, a musical play by Victor Herbert (49) to words of MacDonough, is performed for the first time, at the Apollo Theatre, Atlantic City.  See 31 August 1908.

    24 August 1910 The Domain of Hurakan op.15 for orchestra by Arthur Farwell (38) is performed for the first time, in Central Park, New York.

    24 August 1918 After three days of detention and interrogation, Sergey Prokofiev (27) is allowed to enter the United States in San Francisco.

    24 August 1923 Puritan Passions, a film with music supplied by Frederick S. Converse (52), is performed for the first time, in Manchester, Massachusetts the composer at the piano.  See 14 October 1923.

    24 August 1924 Carlos Chávez (25) publishes the first of a series of articles denouncing Julián Carrillo (49) and his microtonal system as simply derivative of techniques already explored in Europe.  See 29 November 1924.

    24 August 1925 Arnold Dolmetsch inaugurates his first Festival of Old Music in his home town of Haslemere.

    A performance at the Salzburg Festival is broadcast for the first time.  It is Don Giovanni.

    24 August 1941 Lou Harrison’s (24) dance score Green Mansions is performed for the first time, in Stern Grove, San Francisco.

    24 August 1942 Music for MacDougall’s play Lumberjacks of America by Benjamin Britten (28) is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of the BBC, conducted by the composer.

    The fourth of the radio dramas An American in England, entitled “Women of Britain”, with music by Benjamin Britten (28), is broadcast for the first time, over the CBS radio network, originating in New York.

    24 August 1943 Leonard Bernstein’s cycle for voice and piano I Hate Music to his own words, is performed for the first time, by Jennie Tourel and Bernstein, in the public library of Lenox, Massachusetts, one day before the composer’s 25th birthday.

    24 August 1946 Evocation for piano by Peter Sculthorpe (17) is performed for the first time, over the local Tasmanian airwaves of the Australian Broadcasting Commission by the composer.

    24 August 1951 Burleska, a musical pantomime by Karlheinz Stockhausen (23), is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of WDR, the composer at the piano.

    The Modern Jazz Quartet is founded in New York.

    The Glyph, a multi-media presentation with music by Lou Harrison (34), is performed for the first time, at Black Mountain College, North Carolina.

    24 August 1957 Piano Concerto no.3 by Heitor Villa-Lobos (70) is performed for the first time, in Teatro Municipal, Rio de Janeiro.

    24 August 1961 Hecuba’s Lament for orchestra by Alexander Goehr (29) is performed for the first time, in Royal Albert Hall, London.

    24 August 1962 A funeral service in memory of Irving Fine takes place at the Leah and Mendel Berlin Memorial Chapel of Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts.  Among those attending are Aaron Copland (61), Arthur Berger (50), Leonard Bernstein (43), Leon Kirchner (43), and Richard Wernick (28).  His mortal remains are then laid to rest in Sharon Memorial Park, Sharon, Massachusetts.

    24 August 1969 Discovery for orchestra by Carlos Chávez (70) is performed for the first time, in the Cabrillo College Theatre, Aptos, California.

    24 August 1971 Aroura for twelve string instruments by Iannis Xenakis (49) is performed for the first time, in Lucerne.

    24 August 1974 Concierto de Aranjuez, transcribed for harp and orchestra by Joaquín Rodrigo (72), is performed for the first time, in Teatro Victoria Eugenia, San Sebastián.

    24 August 1979 Robert Ashley (49) marries Mimi Johnson, director of Performing Artservices, an artist management firm.

    24 August 1980 Double Concerto for oboe, harp and chamber orchestra by Witold Lutoslawski (67) is performed for the first time, in Lucerne.

    Samuel Barber (70) is awarded the MacDowell Medal by the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire.  Barber is too ill to attend.

    24 August 1984 Quintet for clarinet and strings no.1 by Isang Yun (66) is performed for the first time, in Kusatsu, Japan.

    24 August 1990 Thrinos for cello by John Tavener (46) is performed for the first time, in Edinburgh.

    24 August 1995 Violin Concerto by Jonathan Lloyd (46) is performed for the first time, in Aldeburgh.

    24 August 1997 Fancy on a Bach Air for cello by John Corigliano (59) is performed for the first time, in Jordan Hall, Boston.

    24 August 2001 Music for Euripides’ play Medea by Mikis Theodorakis (76) is performed for the first time, at the ancient theatre of Epidavros.

    24 August 2006 James Carl Tenney dies in Valencia, California, aged 72 years and 14 days.

    25 August

    25 August 1774 After a second stroke, Niccolò Jommelli dies in Naples, Kingdom of Sicily, aged 59 years, eleven months and 15 days.  His mortal remains will be buried next to those of his wife in the Chapel of San Tommaso da Villanova in the Church of San Agostino della Zecca.

    25 August 1784 Publication of the Piano Sonatas K.330-332 and the Variations on “Les Hommes Pieusement” K.455 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (28) is advertised in the Wiener Zeitung.

    25 August 1807 Nicolò Paganini’s (24) Napoleon Sonata, composed in honor of the birthday of the Emperor of the French and King of Italy (which is actually 15 August), is performed for the first time, by the composer, in Lucca.

    25 August 1809 A Sinfonia in E flat by Gioachino Rossini (17) is performed for the first time, in the Liceo Musicale, Bologna.

    25 August 1815 Choeur et couplets pour la St. Louis and Vive le roi! for solo voice and piano to words of Desaugiers by Luigi Cherubini (54) are performed for the first time, in Paris in honor of King Louis XVIII on his birthday.

    25 August 1825 Guy Mannering, an opéra-comique by Louise Bertin (20) to her own words after Scott, is performed for the first time, in the orangerie of her parents’ chateau Les Roches, near Bièvres.

    25 August 1827 During the performance of Hector Berlioz’ (23) Prix de Rome cantata entry on The Death of Orpheus, the accompanist, Rifaud, breaks down and the music has to be abandoned.  The jury decides that the work is unplayable and the matter is closed.  In the awarding of prizes, it is not even mentioned.

    25 August 1830 A performance of Auber’s (48) La Muette de Portici takes place in the Théâtre de la  Monnaie, Brussels as part of celebrations surrounding the 15th anniversary of King Willem I on the  Dutch throne.  The Belgians see the opera as revolutionary in nature and attend spoiling for a fight.  A large crowd of mostly young armed men gathers outside.  At one point in the music, the already agitated audience is moved to frenzy and storms out into the streets, joining the assembled mob.  They stream through the city attacking any and all symbols of Dutch control.

    25 August 1838 A Rondo-finale to Saverio Mercadantes opera I Briganti for soprano and orchestra by Otto Nicolai (28) is performed for the first time.

    25 August 1849 Licht, mehr Licht for chorus by Franz Liszt (37) to words of Schober is performed for the first time, in Weimar, directed by the composer.

    25 August 1850 Franz Liszt’s (38) Festchor zur Enthüllung des Herder-Denkmalls in Weimar to words of Schöll is performed for the first time, in Weimar.

    Sechs Gedichte for voice and piano by Robert Schumann (40) to words of Lenau are performed for the first time, in Dresden before a small group of friends gathering to wish farewell to the Schumanns as they leave for Düsseldorf.  The composer believed that the poet is dead so he added a Requiem at the end to a Latin poem attributed to Heloise.  This day, however, news reaches Schumann of the death of Lenau three days ago.

    25 August 1870 Richard Wagner (57) marries Cosima Liszt von Bülow in the Protestant Hofkirche, near Lucerne, on the birthday of King Ludwig II of Bavaria.

    25 August 1882 Trio for piano and strings no.2 op.87 and String Quintet no.1 op.88 by Johannes Brahms (49) are performed for the first time, in a semi-private performance at the villa of Prof. Ladislaus Wagner at Altaussee, up the Traun from Ischl facing a mountain called Schönberg.  See 29 December 1882.

    Two works by Pietro Mascagni (18) are performed for the first time, at the Istituto Musicale Luigi Cherubini, Livorno:  Coro nuziale for chorus and La tua stella for voice and piano to words of Fiorentino.

    25 August 1902 Stefan Wolpe is born in Berlin to David Wolpe, a Russian immigrant who owns a leather manufacturing business, and Hermine Strasser, an Austrian and amateur pianist.

    25 August 1903 Charles T. Griffes (18) arrives in Berlin where he will enroll at the Stern’sches Konservatorium der Musik.

    25 August 1918 Around 13:00  Louis (Leonard) Bernstein is born at Lawrenceville General Hospital in Lawrence, Massachusetts, first of three children born to Samuel Joseph (Schmuel Josef) Bernstein, a beauty supply dealer and Jennie (Charna) Resnick, daughter of a wool dyer, both immigrants from Ukraine.  Although they live in Mattapan, Mrs. Bernstein is at her mother’s home in Lawrence, fleeing a difficult marital situation.  The boy’s name is officially Louis but he will always be called Leonard or Lenny at home.  He will legally change his name to Leonard at age 16.

    25 August 1920 After considerable negotiation and compromise, Ernst Bloch (40) signs a document to become the first director of the Cleveland Institute of Music.

    25 August 1925 Ernst Krenek (25) arrives in Kassel to take up his position as assistant conductor of the State Opera.

    25 August 1937 Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge (58) op.10 for strings by Benjamin Britten (23) is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of Radio Hilversum in the Netherlands.  See 27 August 1937.

    25 August 1938 Alyeksandr Vasilyevich Mosolov (38) is released from a Soviet labor camp after serving eight months of an eight year sentence.

    25 August 1939 Dos canciones for voice and piano by Alberto Ginastera (23) to words of Silva Valdés are performed for the first time, in Buenos Aires.

    25 August 1943 Leonard Bernstein meets the new music director of the New York Philharmonic, Artur Rodzinski, at his summer home in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.  Rodzinski tells Bernstein that last year he saw Bernstein conduct the Tanglewood student orchestra.  He was so impressed, he now offers Bernstein the post of assistant conductor in New York.  It is Bernstein’s 25th birthday.

    25 August 1945 Leonard Bernstein is offered the directorship of the New York City Symphony on his 27th birthday.  He accepts.

    25 August 1948 Hans Werner Henze (22) begins his first love affair, with the ballet dancer Heinz Poll.  “I suddenly knew which my true home was, knew where I belonged, in whose society I would feel at ease and in whose I would not.  I had become a human being, become a man.  For the first time in my life I was truly happy.”  (Copley, 300)  Homosexuality is presently a crime in Germany.  Henze’s First Symphony is performed completely for the first time, in Bad Pyrmont.  See 9 April 1964.

    25 August 1949 Archaic Ritual for orchestra by William Grant Still (54) is performed for the first time, in the Hollywood Bowl.

    25 August 1952 On his 50th birthday, Stefan Wolpe is asked to stay on and become music director of Black Mountain College in North Carolina.  Without other prospects, he accepts.

    25 August 1954 La victoire de Guernica, an oratorio for chorus and orchestra by Luigi Nono (30), to words of Eluard, is performed for the first time, in Darmstadt.

    25 August 1956 Simplefolk, a film with music by Dmitri Shostakovich (49), is shown for the first time.  The film was banned in 1946 because it depicts child labor.

    25 August 1959 Zyklus no.9 for solo percussionist by Karlheinz Stockhausen (31) is performed for the first time, in Darmstadt.

    25 August 1962 Alpbach Quintet for wind quintet and percussion by Ernst Krenek (62) is performed for the first time, in Alpbach, Austria, the composer conducting.

    25 August 1970 Signals for clarinet and tape by Harrison Birtwistle (36) is performed for the first time, in the Richard Demarco Gallery, Edinburgh.

    25 August 1972 Tenebrae super Gesualdo for mezzo-soprano, guitar, and instrumental ensemble by Peter Maxwell Davies (37) is performed for the first time, in Queen Elizabeth Hall, London the composer conducting.

    25 August 1976 Concerto for violin and orchestra by Gunther Schuller (50) is performed for the first time, in Lucerne, the composer conducting.

    25 August 1978 Sunday Morning for orchestra by Ned Rorem (54) is performed for the first time, in the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, New York.

    25 August 1979 Concerto for trumpet and chamber orchestra by Gunther Schuller (53) is performed for the first time, in Jefferson, New Hampshire conducted by the composer.

    25 August 1984 Vorgefühle for orchestra by Wolfgang Rihm (32) is performed for the first time, in Hamburg.

    25 August 1985 Leaping Dance and Kneeling Dance, both for two pianos by Kevin Volans (36), are performed for the first time, at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London.

    25 August 1988 The Thin Blue Line, a film by Errol Morris with music by Philip Glass (51) is released in the United States.

    25 August 1993 New York Mayor David Dinkins names the corner of 65th Street and Broadway “Leonard Bernstein (†2) Place” on the 75th anniversary of the composer’s birth.

    25 August 1994 Variants for violin and digital effects by Jean-Claude Risset (56) is performed for the first time, in Helsinki.

    Introduktion, Thema, und Variationen for cello, harp, and strings by Hans Werner Henze (68) is performed for the first time, in Salzburg.

    25 August 1995 Present Laughter for chorus, two trumpets, french horn, trombone, and piano by Ned Rorem (71) to words of Shakespeare, Donne, King, and Blake is performed for the first time, at the Kennedy Center, Washington.

    25 August 1998 For Justine for cello by Peter Sculthorpe (69) is performed for the first time, in Dartington, Great Britain.

    25 August 2000 Concerto, a dithyramb for string quartet and orchestra by Wolfgang Rihm (48), is performed for the first time, in Amsterdam.

    25 August 2005 Concertini for large ensemble by Helmut Lachenmann (69) is performed for the first time, in Lucerne.

    25 August 2007 Seht die Sonne for orchestra by Magnus Lindberg (49) is performed for the first time, is performed for the first time, in the Philarmonie, Berlin.

    25 August 2010 Quartet for piano and strings op.114 by Lowell Liebermann (49) is performed for the first time, in the Community Center, Angel Fire, New Mexico.

    25 August 2011 MARKed MUSIC for contrabass and electronics by Roger Reynolds (77) is performed for the first time, at The Stone, New York City.

    25 August 2012 Big Time for percussion and string quartet by Nico Muhly is performed for the first time, in Chandler Music Hall in his native town, Randolph, Vermont, on the eve of his 31st birthday.

    25 August 2014 Piano Concerto no.2 by Wolfgang Rihm (62) is performed for the first time, in the Grosses Festspielhaus, Salzburg.

    26 August

    26 August 1756 Two works by Georg Philipp Telemann (75) are performed for the first time, in Hamburg:  the oratorio Wohl dem Volk, das Jauchzen kann and the serenata Rast, Lärminde Trommeln.

    26 August 1784 Il trionfo dell’Arno, a cantata by Luigi Cherubini (23), is performed for the first time, in Volterra.

    26 August 1794 Le astuzie femminili, a commedia per musica by Domenico Cimarosa (44) to words of Palomba, is performed for the first time, in Teatro dei Fiorentini, Naples.

    26 August 1815 The Clarinet Quintet J.182 by Carl Maria von Weber (28) is performed for the first time, in Munich.

    26 August 1829 Stopping in Milan on his way from Paris to Bologna, Gioacchino Rossini (37) seeks out Vincenzo Bellini (27) at his home and the two meet for the first time.  They have nothing but compliments for each other.  Rossini goes on to spread his praise for Bellini throughout the city.

    26 August 1832 Messe in D-Dur for soloists, chorus, and orchestra by Otto Nicolai (22) is performed for the first time, in Berlin.

    26 August 1840 Stanislaw Moniuszko (21) marries Aleksandra Müller in the Church of Jesus Our Lord in Wilno (Vilnius).

    26 August 1846 Elijah, an oratorio by Felix Mendelssohn (37) to words of Schubring after the Bible, is performed for the first time, in Birmingham, directed by the composer.  The Times of London reports that the audience reaction was a “volley of plaudits, vociferous and deafening.”

    26 August 1850 19:30  The open dress rehearsal in Weimar for Lohengrin is just about to begin when Eduard Genast announces to the audience that a fire has broken out in the nearby penitentiary.  The theatre is evacuated.

    26 August 1885 Mors et Vita, an oratorio by Charles Gounod (67) to his own words, is performed for the first time, in Birmingham.  The work proves a great success but the composer is unable to attend.  Should he set foot in England, he would be arrested for debts he owes Georgina Weldon.  She won a judgment against Gounod of over £11,000 for secretarial work, room and board and damages for libels he spoke since their breakup.

    26 August 1900 As the premiere of Prométhée by Gabriel Fauré (55) is about to begin in Béziers, the set, in the form of a Greek outdoor amphitheater, is virtually destroyed by a thunderstorm.  A lightning bolt strikes the spot where Prometheus is to steal the fire.  Fauré, the musicians, actors, dancers, and 9,000 patrons are drenched.  After a round-the-clock effort, the premiere will proceed successfully tomorrow.

    26 August 1910 Upset about his relationship with his wife (who has begun a liaison with Walter Gropius) and after cancelling three previous appointments, Gustav Mahler (50) sees Sigmund Freud on approximately this date in Leyden, the Netherlands.  They meet at a hotel and then perambulate through the town for four hours.  Immediately afterwards, Freud returns to his vacation and Mahler returns to the Tyrol.

    26 August 1911 Incidental music to Gozzi’s play (translated by Vollmoeller) Turandot by Ferruccio Busoni (45) is performed for the first time, in the Deutchestheater, Berlin.

    26 August 1915 The overture to Ethel Smyth’s (57) unperformed opera The Boatswain’s Mate is performed for the first time, in Queen’s Hall, London.  See 28 January 1916.

    26 August 1929 George Gershwin (30) makes his conducting debut, directing members of the New York Philharmonic in An American in Paris, at Lewisohn Stadium, New York.

    Two works by Heitor Villa-Lobos (42) are performed for the first time, in Teatro Lirico, Rio de Janeiro:  Epigramas irônicos e sentimentais for voice and orchestra to words of de Carvalho, and Suíte sugestiva for voice and piano to words of Andrade, Chalupt, and Bandeira.  See 3 April 1930.

    26 August 1934 On approximately this date, Bessie Bobtail op.2/3, a song for voice and piano by Samuel Barber (24) to words of Stephens, is performed for the first time, in Camden, Maine, entirely by the composer.

    26 August 1950 Composizione no.2 for orchestra by Bruno Maderna (30) is performed for the first time, in Darmstadt.

    26 August 1956 The Frescoes of Piero della Francesca for orchestra by Bohuslav Martinu (65) is performed for the first time, in Salzburg.

    26 August 1958 Ralph Vaughan Williams dies at his home in London, aged 85 years, ten months, and 14 days.

    26 August 1960 Wireless Fantasy for tape by Vladimir Ussachevsky (48) is performed for the first time, in New York.

    26 August 1961 Ring for flute, lute, and terz guitar by Toru Takemitsu (30) is performed for the first time, in Osaka.

    26 August 1965 Capriccio for oboe and eleven strings by Krzysztof Penderecki (31) is performed for the first time, in Lucerne.

    26 August 1970 Atem for one wind player and tape by Mauricio Kagel (38) is performed for the first time, in the Stadthalle, Darmstadt.

    Three Sisters, a film with music by William Walton (68), is shown for the first time, in Sala Volpi, Venice.

    26 August 1971 Persepolis for eight-track tape by Iannis Xenakis (49) is performed for the first time, at the Ruins of Persepolis, Iran.

    Tempus destruendi/Tempus aedificandi for chorus by Luigi Dallapiccola (67) is performed completely for the first time, in Palazzo Pubblico, Siena.  See 4 January 1971.

    26 August 1972 Ekecheiria for tape by Krzysztof Penderecki (38) to words of Pindar is performed for the first time, at the opening ceremonies.

    Music for a Silent Film for two pianos and percussion by Peter Maxwell Davies (37), Simon Bainbridge, and Oliver Knussen is performed for the first time, in Queen Elizabeth Hall, London.

    26 August 1976 Routine Investigations for oboe, trumpet, piano, viola, cello, and double bass by Morton Feldman (50) is performed for the first time, in Teatro La Fenice, Venice.

    26 August 1977 Songs of Remembrance for baritone and orchestra by Norman Dello Joio (64) to words of Wheelock is performed for the first time, in Saratoga, New York.

    26 August 1981 Nicolas Asher (Nico) Muhly is born at Gifford Hospital in Randolph, Vermont, USA, the son of Frank Muhly and Bunny Harvey.

    26 August 1982 Grave, metamorphoses for cello and orchestra by Witold Lutoslawski (69) is performed for the first time, in Paris.  See 22 April 1981.

    Two works are performed for the first time, in Aptos, California:  Elegy, to the Memory of Calvin Simmons for eleven instruments by Lou Harrison (65), and Piece for Small Orchestra no.1 by Conlon Nancarrow (69), 42 years after it was composed.

    26 August 1988 Three Chinese Love Songs for voice, viola, and piano by Bright Sheng (32) is performed for the first time, at Tanglewood, Lenox, Massachusetts in celebration of the 70th birthday of Leonard Bernstein.  Also premiered is Lenny B. a song for voice, violin, and piano by David Del Tredici (51) to words of Conarroe.  The composer plays piano.

    26 August 1993 Serenade for Strings op.73 by Robin Holloway (49) is performed for the first time, in Worcester Cathedral.

    26 August 1995 Notturno for string orchestra by Luciano Berio (69) is performed for the first time, in Lucerne.  See 31 January 1994.

    26 August 1999 Music for pipa and string quartet by Tan Dun (42) is performed for the first time, in Suntory Hall, Tokyo.

    26 August 2000 Which was the son of for chorus by Arvo Pärt (64) is performed for the first time, in Hallgrimskirkja Cathedral, Reykjavik.

    26 August 2003 Cucaraccia and Fugue for four violas by John Harbison (64) is performed for the first time, in Madison, Wisconsin.  The composer plays one part.  Also premiered is Harbison’s The Violist’s Notebook, Book II for solo viola.

    26 August 2011 Etude (for Chords and Dynamic Balance) for piano by Charles Wuorinen (73) is performed for the first time, in Bolzano, Italy.

    26 August 2012 Long Waves and Random Pulses for violin and electronics by Annie Gosfield (51) is performed for the first time, in Utrecht.

    Koussevitzky Said for chorus and orchestra by John Harbison (73), to sayings of the maestro, is performed for the first time, at Tanglewood, Lenox, Massachusetts.

    26 August 2015 Variations for Blanca for piano by Thomas Adès (45) is performed for the first time, in Théâtre de Vevey, Switzerland.

    27 August

    27 August 1521 Josquin des Prez dies in Condé-sur-l'Escaut, approximately 70 years of age.

    27 August 1746 Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer dies in Rastatt, aged 90 years and ten days.

    27 August 1761 Freuet euch des Herrn, an oratorio by Georg Philipp Telemann (80), is performed for the first time, in Hamburg.

    27 August 1830 Hector Berlioz (26) is presented to Abraham Mendelssohn (father of Felix (21)) in Paris.  Mendelssohn finds the newly famous composer “agreeable and interesting and a great deal more sensible than his music.”

    27 August 1832 The Sedan Chair, an operetta by Henry R. Bishop (45) to words of Fitzball, is performed for the first time, in Vauxhall Gardens, London.

    27 August 1849 Bedrich Smetana (25) marries his childhood sweetheart, Katerina Kolárová, daughter of a tax commissioner, at the Church of St. Stephen, Prague.

    27 August 1851 Frauenkäferln op.99, a waltz by Johann Strauss (25), is performed for the first time, in Ungers Casino, Vienna.

    27 August 1857 Joseph Joachim writes from Göttingen to Franz Liszt (45) in Weimar.  It is his formal break with Liszt and his music.  “Your music is entirely antagonistic to me; it contradicts everything with which the spirits of our great ones have nourished my mind from my earliest youth.”

    27 August 1861 Secunden-Polka op.258 by Johann Strauss (35) is performed for the first time, in Pavlovsk.

    27 August 1862 08:00  Johann Strauss (36) marries Henriette Carolina Josepha Chalupetzky (Jetty Treffz), a singer and mistress to Baron Moritz Tedesco (and mother of the Baron’s two daughters), in St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna.  The ceremony is witnessed only by the groom’s mother and his publisher, Carl Haslinger.

    27 August 1866 Monte Christo, a ballet by Stanislaw Moniuszko (47) to a story after Dumas, is performed for the first time, in Warsaw.

    27 August 1873 The Light of the World, an oratorio by Arthur Sullivan (31) to words of the Bible selected by the composer, is performed for the first time, in Birmingham, conducted by the composer.  The audience, which includes the Duke of Edinburgh, is very appreciative.

    27 August 1877 While walking to the breakfast table in his home on 5 Gwynne Street in Yorkville, Ontario (Park Road, Toronto), James Paton Clarke dies of a heart attack, aged approximately 70 years.  His earthly remains will be buried in St. James’ Cemetery, Toronto.

    27 August 1890 Konzerstuck op.31a for piano and orchestra by Ferruccio Busoni (24) is performed for the first time, at St. Petersburg Conservatory, the composer at the keyboard.

    27 August 1892 The Metropolitan Opera House in New York is virtually destroyed by fire.

    27 August 1896 Lev Sergeyevich Termen (Leon Theremin) is born in St. Petersburg, the first of two children born to Sergey Emilyevich Termen, a lawyer, and Yevgenia Antonova Orzhinskaya, of noble birth.

    27 August 1897 Today ends a five-day formal nuptial service joining Alyeksandr Nikolayevich Skryabin (25) and Vera Ivanovna Issakovich, a pianist and conservatory gold medalist.

    27 August 1900 The tragédie lyrique Prométhée op.82, with words by Lorrain and Hérold and music by Gabriel Fauré (55), is performed for the first time, at Arènes de Béziers.  The performance is less than perfect but the audience is very appreciative.

    27 August 1928 Lev Sergeyevich Termen (Leon Theremin) (32) and three of his students perform upon four of the new electronic musical instruments with the New York Philharmonic in Lewisohn Stadium.  Among the works on the program are the Vocalise of Sergey Rakhmaninov (55) and Hungarian Rhapsody no.1 by Franz Liszt (†42).

    27 August 1937 The mortal remains of Albert Roussel are laid to rest in Varengeville, overlooking the sea.

    Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge (58) for strings by Benjamin Britten (23) is performed live for the first time, in Salzburg.  It causes a positive sensation.  See 25 August 1937.

    In order to establish an immigrant status (so they can apply for United States citizenship), Kurt Weill (37) and Lotte Lenya go to Canada and re-enter the country on an immigration visa.

    Aaron Copland’s (36) tone poem El Salón México is performed for the first time, in the Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City Carlos Chávez (38) conducting in the presence of the composer.

    27 August 1939 Young Apollo op.16 for piano, string quartet, and string orchestra by Benjamin Britten (25) is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of the CBC originating in Toronto the composer at the keyboard.

    27 August 1940 Serenata from Serestas, a cycle for voice and piano by Heitor Villa-Lobos (53), is performed for the first time.

    27 August 1943 Kurt Weill (43) takes the oath to become a citizen of the United States, in New York.

    Henry Cowell’s (46) dance music Chinese Partisan Fighter, to a scenario by Chen, is performed for the first time, in Redlands, California.

    27 August 1945 The third movement of the Duo for two violins op.258 by Darius Milhaud (52) is performed for the first time, privately at the home of the composer in Oakland.  See 18 August 1945.

    27 August 1950 Variazioni canoniche sull serè dell’op.41 di A. Schoenberg for chamber orchestra by Luigi Nono (26) is performed for the first time, in Darmstadt.  The majority of the audience responds with whistles and other expressions of displeasure, although a few bravos are heard.

    27 August 1960 Madrigale Spirituale Supra Salmo Secundo for male chorus, two oboes, two violins, cello, and piano by Charles Wuorinen (22) to words from the Bible is performed for the first time, in Bennington, Vermont.

    27 August 1969 Paraphrase on the dramatic madrigal Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda by Monteverdi op.28 for clarinet by Alexander Goehr (37) is performed for the first time, in Edinburgh.

    27 August 1972 Automotive for car horns by Laurie Anderson (25) is performed for the first time, on the green of Rochester, Vermont.

    Prometheus Bound, a cantata for soprano, speakers, chorus, and orchestra by Carlos Chávez (73) to words of Trevelyan after Aeschylus is performed for the first time, in Aptos, California.

    27 August 1976 Alone for violin by Peter Sculthorpe (47) is performed for the first time, in Nuku’alofa, Tonga.

    27 August 1977 Quartets I-VIII for 41 instruments by John Cage (64) is performed for the first time, in Aptos, California.  Also, Studies for Player Piano no.20, 25, 41 by Conlon Nancarrow (64) is performed publicly for the first time.

    27 August 1978 Threnody for Carlos Chávez (†0) for viola and Sundanese gam degung by Lou Harrison (61) is performed for the first time, in Santa Cruz, California.

    27 August 1979 On the eve of the twentieth anniversary of his death, the earthly remains of Bohuslav Martinu are reinterred in St. Michael’s Cemetery in the town of his birth, Policka, Czechoslovakia, next to those of his wife.  Her remains were placed there on 8 December 1978, according to her wishes.  A large crowd attends the ceremony.  The graves are within sight of the tower of St. James’ Church, where he was born.

    Piccola serenata, a vocalise for voice and piano by Leonard Bernstein (61), is performed for the first time, in Salzburg.

    27 August 1981 Monkey for children’s ensemble by Pauline Oliveros (49) is performed for the first time, in Aptos, California.

    27 August 1986 Flute Quartet by Isang Yun (68) is performed for the first time, in Berlin.

    Ode an eine Aolsharfe for guitar and fifteen instruments by Hans Werner Henze (60) is performed for the first time, in Lucerne.

    Madonna of Winter and Spring for orchestra and electronics by Jonathan Harvey (47) is performed for the first time, in Royal Albert Hall, London.

    27 August 1989 Geheimer Block for vocal soloists, chorus, organ, and orchestra by Wolfgang Rihm (37) is performed for the first time, in Frankfurt-am-Main.

    27 August 1991 Aus dem Stundenbuch for cello and orchestra, male chorus, and female speaker by Sofia Gubaidulina (59) to words of Rilke is performed for the first time, in Helsinki.

    27 August 1995 Incidental music to Gooch’s play Persephone by Philip Glass (58) is performed for the first time, in the Ancient Stadium of Delphi in Greece.

    27 August 1999 The World for soprano and strings by John Tavener (55) to words of Raine is performed for the first time, in Belfast.

    27 August 2003 Unbenannt IV for organ and orchestra by Wolfgang Rihm (51) is performed for the first time, in Lucerne.

    27 August 2007 Matribute for piano by Elliott Carter (98) is performed for the first time, in the Konzertsaal, Kultur-und Kongreßzentrum, Lucerne.

    27 August 2010 Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott for chorus, brass, percussion, and strings by Krzysztof Penderecki (76) is performed for the first time, in Jesus Church, Cieszyn, Poland.

    Symphony: Daar Kom die Alibama for chamber orchestra by Kevin Volans (61) is performed for the first time, in Usher Hall, Edinburgh.

    27 August 2013 Festival City for orchestra and electronics by Tod Machover (59) is performed for the first time, in Usher Hall, Edinburgh.

    27 August 2014 Drei Hirtenkinder aus Fátima for chorus by Arvo Pärt (78) to words of the Bible is performed for the first time, in Basel.

    The Last Violin for violin and piano by David del Tredici (77) is performed for the first time, at Fulton Ferry Landing, New York City, the composer at the piano.

    27 August 2015 So Many Things for mezzo-soprano and string quartet by Nico Muhly (34), to words of Cavafy (tr.Mendelsohn) and Oates, is performed for the first time, in Stillwater, Minnesota.

    28 August

    28 August 1676 Joan Cererols dies in Montserrat, aged 57 years, eleven months and 19 days.

    28 August 1755 Two works by Georg Philipp Telemann (74) to words of Schelhaffer and Richey are performed for the first time, in Hamburg:  the oratorio Danket dem Herrn and the serenata Ihr rüstigen Wächter.

    28 August 1761 Luigi Boccherini (18) petitions the town of Lucca for a position as cello player.  They will not decide for two-and-a-half years.

    28 August 1767 Johann Schobert dies in Paris as a result of mushroom poisoning on 24 August, aged approximately 32 years.

    28 August 1777 Four weeks after their latest petition to travel was written, Leopold (57) and Wolfgang Amadeus (21) Mozart are informed by Archbishop Colloredo that they are dismissed.

    28 August 1784 A Mass in E flat by Johann Georg Albrechtsberger (48) to celebrate St. Augustine’s Day, is performed for the first time, in Vienna.  Owing to Emperor Joseph’s decree of 25 February 1783, the orchestral accompaniment is replaced with organ.

    28 August 1800 Gli Elisi delusi, a melodramma buffo by Gaspare Spontini (25) to words of Monti, is performed for the first time, in the Teatro Santa Cecilia, Palermo.

    28 August 1814 Johanna Rosine (Pätz) Wagner, a widow with nine children, marries Ludwig Heinrich Christian Geyer, a portrait painter, actor and poet, in Dresden.  Geyer will be Richard Wagner’s (1) mentor and de facto father.

    28 August 1816 Despondent over the death of a child and unable to work, Samuel Wesley (50) writes to his brother and sister pleading for a loan, secured against his inheritance.

    28 August 1827 While Franz Liszt (15) and his father are in Boulogne for the sea baths, the elder man dies suddenly of typhoid fever.  Liszt agrees to pay all his debts and begins life on his own.

    28 August 1838 Largely through the efforts of Lowell Mason (46), the Boston School Committee orders that music become a regular part of the curriculum.  This decision will come to be known as the “Magna Carta of Music Education in the United States.”  Mason is hired to teach and is authorized to hire whatever assistants and buy whatever materials he needs.

    28 August 1846 The Lord God Almighty for tenor and instruments by Felix Mendelssohn (37) is performed for the first time, in Birmingham.

    28 August 1848 Frédéric Chopin (38) is the principal performer at the Gentlemen’s Concert Hall, Manchester.  The critics, as Chopin predicted, are disappointed.  His music and style are lost in the large hall.  As a featured work, Chopin plays his Sonata in B flat minor.  He will later write, “I had played the allegro and the scherzo successfully, and I was going to attack the march when, suddenly, I saw the cursed creatures that one lugubrious night appeared to me at the monastery rising from the case of the piano.  I had to go out for a moment to collect myself, after which I resumed playing without saying a word to anyone...”

    28 August 1849 Tasso:  lamento e trionfo, a symphonic poem by Franz Liszt (37), is performed for the first time, in Weimar, directed by the composer along with the Festmarsch zur Goethejubiläumsfeier.  It is all part of celebrations surrounding the centennial of Goethe’s birth, during which he also conducts Beethoven’s (†22) Symphony no.9 and parts of Robert Schumann’s (39) Faust.

    28 August 1850 On the 100th anniversary of the birth of Goethe, Lohengrin, a romantische Oper by Richard Wagner (37) to his own words, is performed for the first time, at the Weimar Hoftheater directed by Franz Liszt (38).  The theatre is full of artistic luminaries including Robert Franz (35), Joseph Joachim and Hans von Bülow.  The composer is not present as he is a wanted man in Germany.

    28 August 1853 Joseph Joachim shows up on the doorstep of Robert Schumann (43) in Düsseldorf, precipitating 48 hours of chamber music.

    28 August 1854 Nachtfalter op.157, a waltz by Johann Strauss (28), is performed for the first time, in Ungers Casino, Vienna.

    28 August 1867 Umberto Menotti Maria Giordano is born in Foggia, the son of a chemist.

    28 August 1879 Two sacred works by Anton Bruckner (54) are performed for the first time, at St. Florian:  Inveni David for unison chorus and organ, and Os justi for chorus.

    La lyre et la harpe, for solo voices and orchestra by Camille Saint-Saëns (43) to words of Hugo, is performed for the first time, in Birmingham.

    28 August 1885 The Three Holy Children op.22, an oratorio for solo voices, chorus and orchestra by Charles Villiers Stanford (32) to words of the Bible, is performed for the first time, in Birmingham.

    28 August 1895 Suite of Ancient Dances op.58 for orchestra by Charles Villiers Stanford (42) is performed for the first time, in London.

    28 August 1898 Incidental music to Gallet’s play Déjanire by Camille Saint-Saëns (62) is performed for the first time, in Béziers.  It is very enthusiastically received.

    28 August 1904 Three Choruses for Women’s Voices for female chorus and piano by George Whitefield Chadwick (49) to words of Meleager (tr. Perry), are performed for the first time, in New York.

    28 August 1917 Percy Grainger (35) begins making recordings for the Columbia Graphophone Company in New York.

    28 August 1922 George White’s Scandals of 1922, with a book by Fields, Rice, and White, lyrics by DeSylva, Goetz, and Ira Gershwin, and seven new songs by George Gershwin (23), is performed for the first time in New York, in the Globe Theatre.  Part of the Scandals was an opera “ala Afro-American” called Blue Monday which is removed after the first performance and will be performed separately as 135th Street.

    28 August 1923 Shortly after a divorce from his first wife Márta, Béla Bartók (42) marries Ditta Pásztory, a young student of his from the Budapest Academy of Music.

    I won’t say I will but I won’t say I won’t, a song by George Gershwin (24) to words of DeSylva and Ira Gershwin, is performed for the first time, as part of the play with music Little Miss Bluebeard at the Lyceum Theatre, New York.

    28 August 1924 Arnold Schoenberg (49) marries his second wife, Gertrud Kolisch in the Mödling Lutheran Parish Church.

    28 August 1925 Arnold Schoenberg (50) signs a contract to teach a master class in composition at the Berlin Academy of Arts.

    28 August 1947 Peter Mennin (24) marries Georganne Bairson, a student at the Eastman School of Music.

    28 August 1954 Symphony for Strings op.61 by Vincent Persichetti (39) is performed for the first time, in Louisville, Kentucky.

    28 August 1959 19:30  Bohuslav Martinu dies of stomach cancer in Liestal, Switzerland, aged 68 years, eight months, and 20 days.

    Transición II for piano, percussion, and two tapes by Mauricio Kagel (27) is performed for the first time, in Darmstadt.

    28 August 1962 Cantate de l’initiation op.388 by Darius Milhaud (69) is performed for the first time, in Jerusalem.

    28 August 1963 Concerto for orchestra by Michael Tippett (58) is performed for the first time, in Usher Hall, Edinburgh.

    28 August 1965 A summer composer’s workshop culminates in a concert at the Moog (31) factory in Trumansburg, New York.

    28 August 1966 Adagio und Fuge (movements four and five of the String Quartet no.6 arranged for string orchestra) by Ernst Krenek (66) is performed for the first time, in Lucerne.

    28 August 1969 Legend for piano by Arnold Bax (†15) is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of BBC Radio 3, 34 years after it was composed.

    Worldes Blis for orchestra by Peter Maxwell Davies (34) is performed for the first time, in Royal Albert Hall, London the composer conducting.

    28 August 1971 Two operas by Gian Francesco Malipiero (89) to his own words are performed for the first time, in Teatro dei Rinnuovati, Siena:  Uno dei dieci and L’Iscariota.

    28 August 1981 Resurrection for chorus and organ by Jonathan Harvey (42) is performed for the first time, in Worcester Cathedral.

    28 August 1985 Yami o Irodoru Mono for two violins and piano by Toshi Ichiyanagi (52) is performed for the first time, in Kusatsu, the composer at the keyboard.

    28 August 1987 Hamburger Hill, a film with music by Philip Glass (50), is released in the United States.

    28 August 1988 A Bernstein Birthday Bouquet:  Eight Variations on a Theme by Leonard Bernstein for orchestra, variations on New York, New York for the 70th birthday of Leonard Bernstein, is performed for the first time, at Tanglewood.  The variations are by Luciano Berio (62), Leon Kirchner (69), Jacob Druckman (60), Lukas Foss (66), John Corigliano (50), John Williams, Toru Takemitsu (57), and William Schuman (78).

    28 August 1992 A Village Wedding for counter tenor, two tenors, and bass by John Tavener (48) to words of Sikelianos is performed for the first time, in St. Augustine’s Church, Penarth.

    28 August 1994 Chorale for eight cellos by Peter Sculthorpe (65) is performed for the first time, at the Vale of Glamorgan Festival, Great Britain.

    28 August 1998 Les sept péchés capitaux and La Xe remix for tape by Pierre Henry (70) are performed for the first time, in Montreux.

    28 August 1999 Symphony no.5 for five soloists, chorus, and orchestra by Philip Glass (62) is performed for the first time, in Salzburg.

    28 August 2000 In the Penal Colony, an opera by Philip Glass (63) to words of Wurlitzer, is performed for the first time, in Seattle.

    28 August 2004 Hymn to Artemis Locheia for clarinet and string quartet by Peter Maxwell Davies (69) is performed for the first time, in the Schweizerhof Hotel, Lucerne.

    28 August 2008 Kloing! for electronics and piano by Olga Neuwirth (40) is performed for the first time, in Weimar.

    28 August 2009 Su for sheng and orchestra by Unsuk Chin (48) is performed for the first time, in Suntory Hall, Tokyo.

    28 August 2012 Piano Concerto no.5 “Finland” for orchestra by Toshi Ichiyanagi (79) is performed for the first time, in Suntory Hall, Tokyo.  See 3 December 2011.

    28 August 2013 Dynamic Duo for violin and bass trombone by David Del Tredici (76) is performed for the first time, in New York.

    29 August

    29 August 1661 Louis Couperin dies in Paris, aged approximately 35 years.

    29 August 1754 Two works by Georg Philipp Telemann (73) with words possibly by Bueck, are performed for the first time, in Hamburg:  the oratorio Sing Ehre! and the serenata Wirbelt, ihr Trommeln.

    29 August 1755 Johann Stamitz (38) receives a royal privilege from King Louis XV to publish his instrumental music in France.

    29 August 1756 Le nozze d’Arianna, a festa teatrale by Ignaz Holzbauer (44) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, at Schwetzingen.

    29 August 1770 Du hast dich meiner Seele for chorus and strings by Johannes Herbst (35) is performed for the first time.

    29 August 1771 So ihr bleiben for soprano and strings by Johannes Herbst (36) is performed for the first time.

    29 August 1774 Halt an dem Vorbilde for chorus and strings by Johannes Herbst (39) is performed for the first time.

    29 August 1775 Joseph Haydn’s (43) dramma giocoso L’incontro improvviso to words of Friberth after Dancourt is performed for the first time, at Esterháza Palace for a state visit by Archduke Ferdinand and his consort Beatrice d’Este.

    Gott der Herr ist meine Stärke for chorus and strings by Johannes Herbst (40) is performed for the first time.

    29 August 1776 Lobsinget dem Herrn for chorus by Johannes Herbst (41) is performed for the first time.

    29 August 1777 Dis ist ein Tag for female voices and strings by Johannes Herbst (42) is performed for the first time.

    29 August 1779 Höret alle die ihr--Deine Missethat for soprano, chorus and strings by Johannes Herbst (44) is performed for the first time.

    29 August 1780 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (24) completes his Symphony K.338 in Salzburg.

    29 August 1814 A cantata in honor of King Louis XVIII by Luigi Cherubini (53) to words of de Millevois is performed for the first time, in Paris.

    29 August 1833 Hector Berlioz (29) writes to Harriet Smithson telling her that he will call on her in two days and that they will go to be married.  If she refuses, he will leave within the week for Berlin.

    29 August 1842 Incidental music to Schmidt’s play Uranias Festmorgen by Albert Lortzing (40) is performed for the first time, in Berlin.  The work celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Urania amateur theatrical company.  Lortzing’s parents were founding members.

    29 August 1847 Fest-Marsch op.49 by Johann Strauss (21) is performed for the first time, in Gasthaus Kwiatkowsky.

    29 August 1849 On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Goethe’s birth, the final section of Robert Schumann’s (39) Scenes from Goethe’s Faust is performed publicly for the first time, simultaneously in Dresden, Weimar and Leipzig.  The composer conducts in Dresden.

    29 August 1858 Richard Wagner (45) arrives in Venice and sees the city that will be such a large part of his life, for the first time.  He is accompanied by his young friend Karl Ritter.

    29 August 1859 In a private ceremony in the village of Collonges-sous-Salève in Savoy, near Piedmont’s border with Switzerland, Giuseppe Verdi (45) marries his long-time mistress, Giuseppina Strepponi, an opera singer.  The only witnesses are the church bell ringer and the cabbie who drove the couple there from Geneva.

    29 August 1861 Die Verschworenen, a singspiel by Franz Schubert (†32) to words of Castelli after Aristophanes, is staged for the first time, in Frankfurt-am-Main.  See 1 March 1861.

    29 August 1863 Bauern-Polka op.276 by Johann Strauss (37) is performed for the first time, in Pavlovsk.

    29 August 1877 Incidental music to Shakespeare’s play Henry VIII by Arthur Sullivan (35) is performed for the first time, in the Theatre Royal, Manchester.

    29 August 1888 Judith, an oratorio by Hubert Parry (40) is performed for the first time, in Birmingham.  It is a smashing success which secures Parry’s already growing reputation with the public.  Also premiered is In Autumn op.11, a concert overture by Edvard Grieg (45), 22 years after he wrote it.

    29 August 1898 The Charlatan, an operetta by John Philip Sousa (43) to words of Klein, is performed for the first time, at the Academy of Music, Montreal.

    29 August 1908 Edward Elgar (51) resigns as Peyton Professor of Music at the University of Birmingham.

    29 August 1927 Strike Up the Band, an operetta with book by Kaufman, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, and music by George Gershwin (28), is performed for the first time, at the Broadway Theatre, Long Branch, New Jersey.  The play never reaches New York.  One of the new songs is The Man I Love.  See 14 January 1930.

    29 August 1929 Incidental music to Pirandello’s play Six Characters in Search of an Author by Bohuslav Martinu (38) is performed for the first time, in Policka.

    A Cantata for the Centenary of the Polytechnic College for reciter, chorus, and orchestra by Carl Nielsen (64) to words of Pedersen, is performed for the first time, in the Forum, Copenhagen.

    29 August 1936 In the United States, the National Bureau of Standards begins broadcasting a 440 cps signal for tuning purposes.  It will continue until 13 September.

    29 August 1942 Marc Blitzstein (37) enlists in the United States Army at Bolling Field in Washington, DC.  He will be assigned to the Eighth Air Force in London.

    29 August 1943 Three-Score Set for piano by William Schuman (33) is performed for the first time, in New York.

    Concerto  for organ, strings, and harp op.22/3 by Howard Hanson (46) is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of the CBS radio network.

    29 August 1945 The first congress of the new Polish Composers’ Union opens.  During the four-day meeting, Witold Lutoslawski’s (32) Wind Trio is first performed.

    Passacaglia from Peter Grimes for orchestra by Benjamin Britten (31) is performed for the first time, in London.

    29 August 1949 Hommage à Chopin for piano by Heitor Villa-Lobos (62) is performed for the first time.  The work was commissioned by UNESCO to mark the centennial of the death of Chopin.

    29 August 1950 Toccata for piano by Roy Harris (52) is performed in a concert for the first time, at the Drake Hotel, Chicago.  It was first performed in a radio broadcast last Autumn.

    29 August 1952 4’ 33” for any instrument or instruments by John Cage (39) is performed for the first time, in Maverick Concert Hall, Woodstock, New York.  At a question period after the lengthy concert, this work receives heated disapproval from the audience, one artist exclaiming, “Good people of Woodstock, let’s drive these people out of town.”

    Symphony no.2 by Charles Koechlin (†1) is performed for the first time, in Mexico City.

    29 August 1953 Fantasia concertante on a Theme of Corelli for strings by Michael Tippett (48) is performed for the first time, in Usher Hall, Edinburgh, the composer conducting.

    29 August 1959 Concertante IV for violin, piano and chamber orchestra by Charles Wuorinen (21) is performed for the first time, in Bennington, Vermont.

    29 August 1963 Lullaby for string quartet by George Gershwin (†26) is performed publicly for the first time, in Edinburgh, in a setting for harmonica and string quartet by Larry Adler.  See 19 October 1967.

    29 August 1964 Plants from the Dunes, a film with music by Toshiro Mayuzumi (35), is released in Japan.

    29 August 1965 Two of the six songs from The Poet’s Echo op.76 for voice and piano by Benjamin Britten (51) to words of Pushkin, are performed for the first time, in Philharmonic Concert Hall, Yerevan.  See 2 December 1965.

    29 August 1967 Ensemble for twelve instruments and electronics by Karlheinz Stockhausen (39) is performed for the first time, in Darmstadt.

    29 August 1979 Jonah for chorus, actors, children, flute, clarinet, organ, and percussion by R. Murray Schafer (46) is performed for the first time, in Maynooth, Ontario.

    29 August 1982 Third Symphony for orchestra by Lou Harrison (65) is performed for the first time, in Aptos, California.

    29 August 1986 Konzertstück for violin and small orchestra by Hans Werner Henze (60) is performed for the first time, in Frankfurt-am-Main.

    29 August 1987 Splitter, an orchestral sketch after Oedipus by Wolfgang Rihm (35), is performed for the first time, in Berlin.

    29 August 1995 Willibrord’s Arrival for carillon by Louis Andriessen (56) is performed for the first time, in the Cathedral Tower, Utrecht.

    Songs of Despair and Sorrow op.18 for chorus and chamber ensemble by György Kurtág (69), to words of six Russian poets, is performed for the first time, in Amsterdam.

    29 August 2000 Deus Passus for solo voices, chorus, and orchestra by Wolfgang Rihm (48) to words of the Bible and others is performed for the first time, in Stuttgart.

    29 August 2004 The first complete performance of 26 Orpheus Elegies for counter-tenor, oboe, and harp by Harrison Birtwistle (70) to words of Rilke takes place in the Lukaskirche, Lucerne.

    29 August 2009 Kadisz for soprano, tenor, speaker, male chorus, and orchestra by Krzysztof Penderecki (75) is performed for the first time, in Teatr Wielk, Lodz to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the liquidation of the Lodz Ghetto.

    29 August 2010 Missa Brevis for eight cellos by Arvo Pärt (75) is performed for the first time, in Estonia.

    30 August

    30 August 1585 Andrea Gabrieli dies in Venice, aged approximately 52 years.

    30 August 1753 La clemenza di Tito, an opera seria by Niccolò Jommelli (38) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, in the Ducal Theatre, Stuttgart, under the direction of the composer, for the birthday of Duchess Frederike of Württemberg.

    Two works by Georg Philipp Telemann (72) to words of Dreyer are performed for the first time, in Hamburg:  the oratorio Fürchtet den Herrn und dienet ihm treulich, and the serenade Die Zeiten, die so schnell verfliessen.

    30 August 1754 Catone in Utica, an opera seria by Niccolò Jommelli (39) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, in the Ducal Theatre, Stuttgart.

    30 August 1755 Niccolò Jommelli’s (40) opera seria Enea nel Lazio, to words of Verazi, is performed for the first time, in the Ducal Theatre, Stuttgart.

    30 August 1756 The second version of Artaserse, an opera seria by Niccolò Jommelli (41) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, in the Ducal Theatre, Stuttgart.

    30 August 1759 Two works by Georg Philipp Telemann (78) are performed for the first time, in Hamburg:  the oratorio Herr, unser Gott!, and the serenata Wir dienen der Freiheit.

    30 August 1764 Two works by Georg Philipp Telemann (83) to words of Paulli are performed for the first time, in Hamburg:  the oratorio Der Herr, Zebaoth ist mit uns and the serenata Trompeten und Hörner erschallet.

    30 August 1804 Angelina, a musical farce with music by Henry R. Bishop (17) to words of Goldsmith, is performed for the first time, in the Theatre Royal, Margate.

    30 August 1821 Franz Schubert’s (24) female chorus Der 23. Psalm D.706, (tr. Moses Mendelssohn), is performed for the first time, in the Gundelhof, Vienna.

    30 August 1835 Felix Mendelssohn (26) arrives in Leipzig to take up directorship of the Gewandhaus Orchestra.

    30 August 1849 Dr. Jean Cruveilher, France’s foremost authority on tuberculosis, calls in two other specialists and all three forbid Frédéric Chopin’s (39) planned trip to Nice.

    30 August 1852 Volkssänger op.119, a waltz by Johann Strauss (26), is performed for the first time, in Ungers Casino, Vienna.

    30 August 1875 The President and Fellows of Harvard University appoint John Knowles Paine (36) Professor of Music.  It is the first music professorship at an American college.

    30 August 1882 La rédemption, a sacred trilogy for solo voices, chorus, and orchestra by Charles Gounod (64) to his own words, is performed for the first time, by 500 musicians at the Birmingham Festival, conducted by the composer.

    Serenade for orchestra by Charles Villiers Stanford (29) is performed for the first time, in Birmingham.

    30 August 1886 Fritz (Frederick) Delius (24) is accepted as a student at Leipzig Conservatory.

    30 August 1905 Miss Dolly Dollars, a musical comedy by Victor Herbert (46) to words of Smith, is performed for the first time, in the Lyceum Theatre, Rochester, New York.  See 4 September 1905.

    30 August 1910 In the Faery Hills for orchestra by Arnold Bax (26) is performed for the first time, in Queen’s Hall, London.

    30 August 1920 The Symphony no. 1 “O Imprevisto” of Heitor Villa-Lobos (33) is given its first complete performance in the Teatro Municipal, Rio de Janeiro, under the baton of the composer.  See 29 September 1919.

    30 August 1932 Colorines for 14 instruments by Silvestre Revueltas (32) is performed for the first time, at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música, Mexico City the composer conducting.

    30 August 1933 Samuel Barber’s (23) overture The School for Scandal op.5 is performed for the first time, in Robin Hood Dell, Philadelphia.

    30 August 1954 Rudá, a ballet by Heitor Villa-Lobos (67), is performed for the first time, in the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Paris, the composer conducting.

    30 August 1959 Pierre Boulez (34) delivers the lecture “Kommentar zur 3. Klaviersonate” at Darmstadt including his own performance of the work.

    30 August 1964 Robot Opera by Nam June Paik (32) is performed for the first time, in New York.

    30 August 1981 Tashi Gomang for orchestra by Pauline Oliveros (49) is performed for the first time, in Aptos, California.

    30 August 1985 Piano Trio in d minor by Ethel Smyth (†41) is performed publicly for the first time, at Grinnell College, Iowa, 105 years after it was composed.

    30 August 1986 Romanza for oboe and strings by Robin Holloway (42) is performed for the first time, in Peterborough, Great Britain.

    30 August 1992 “Low” Symphony for orchestra by Philip Glass (55) is performed for the first time, in Munich.

    30 August 1994 Carolísima for chamber orchestra by Peter Maxwell Davies (59) is performed for the first time, privately at Prestonfield House, Edinburgh for the 50th birthday of Carol Høgel conducted by the composer.  See 5 May 1995.

    30 August 1998 An extended version of Sur Incises for piano solo, two pianos, three harps, vibraphone, and marimba by Pierre Boulez (73) is performed for the first time, in Edinburgh.  See 27 April 1996.

    30 August 2006 Mixtur 2003 for orchestra by Karlheinz Stockhausen (78) is performed for the first time, in Salzburg.

    30 August 2010 80 Breaths for Tokyo for orchestra by Jonathan Harvey (71) is performed for the first time, in Suntory Hall, Tokyo.

    30 August 2011 Labyrinth for twelve cellos by Sofia Gubaidulina (79) is performed for the first time, in Lucerne.

    30 August 2015 The Vicarage Garden for harpsichord by William Bolcom (77) is performed for the first time, in Charlemont, Massachusetts.

    31 August

    31 August 1776 Wo euer Schatz ist for female voices and strings by Johannes Herbst (41) is performed for the first time.

    31 August 1782 Ihr werdet mit Freuden for chorus and strings by Johannes Herbst (47) is performed for the first time.

    31 August 1783 Der Herr hat Zion erwehlet for chorus and strings by Johannes Herbst (48) is performed for the first time.

    31 August 1784 The Frankfurt Staats-Ristretto announces the authentic edition by Bossler of three new piano sonatas by Joseph Haydn (52) XVI:  40-42.

    31 August 1791 The Wiener Zeitung announces Artaria’s publication of Joseph Haydn’s (59) Piano Sonata XVI: 4a.

    31 August 1792 Jan Ladislav Dussek (32) marries Giustina Sophia Corri, singer, pianist and harpist, the daughter of Domenico Corri, an Italian voice teacher, in St. Anne’s Church, London.

    31 August 1795 François-André Danican-Philidor dies at his home at 10 Little Ryder Street, London, aged 68 years, eleven months and 24 days.  An obituary for this composer of over 25 operas will begin, “On Monday last, Mr. Philidor, the celebrated chess player, made his last move, into the other world.”

    31 August 1819 Variations on “Non più mesta accanto al fuoco” by Nicolò Paganini (36) is performed, probably for the first time, in Teatro dei Fiorentini, Naples.

    31 August 1835 Felix Mendelssohn (26) attends a rehearsal of the Gewandhaus orchestra for the first time since becoming its director.  At this rehearsal he is introduced to Robert Schumann (25).

    31 August 1837 La preghiera di un popolo, a hymn by Gaetano Donizetti (39) for solo voices, chorus and orchestra is performed for the first time, in Teatro San Carlo, Naples.

    31 August 1851 Franz Liszt (39), Carolyne Sayn-Wittgenstein, and her daughter Marie arrive in Düsseldorf and meet with Robert (41) and Clara (31) Schumann.  They will meet each of the next three days.  Clara tells her diary,  “He played, as always, with truly diabolical bravura--he masters the piano like a demon (I can’t put it any other way...)--but, oh, his compositions, they were simply too dreadful!  When a youngster writes that sort of stuff he can be forgiven because of his youth, but what can one say when a grown man is still so blind...It is really depressing and made us both feel quite sad.  Liszt himself seemed taken aback when we said nothing, but one cannot say anything when one feels so profoundly indignant.”  (Williams, 276)

    31 August 1855 Le violoneux, a légende bretonne by Jacques Offenbach (36) to words of Mestépès and Chevalet, is performed for the first time, by the Bouffes-Parisiens at the Salle Marigny, Paris.

    31 August 1856 Franz Liszt’s (44) Missa solemnis zur Einweihung der Basilika in Gran for solo voices, chorus and orchestra is performed for the first time, in Gran (Esztergom), 40 km northwest of Pest.  4,000 people, including Emperor Franz Joseph II and many dignitaries of state and church, are present for the consecration.

    31 August 1861 Orchestral excerpts from Richard Wagner’s (48) Tristan und Isolde are heard for the first time (save the prelude) in an outdoor performance in the Vienna Volksgarten, conducted by Johann Strauss (35).

    31 August 1870 Overture di ballo by Arthur Sullivan (28) is performed for the first time, in Birmingham, conducted by the composer.

    31 August 1876 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (34) writes an astonishing letter to his brother Modest from Verbovka informing him that he has decided to get married.

    31 August 1882 Symphony no.1 by Hubert Parry (34) is performed for the first time, in Birmingham.  It is warmly received.

    31 August 1908 Algeria , a musical play by Victor Herbert (49) to words of MacDonough, is performed for the first time in New York, at the Broadway Theatre.  See 24 August 1908.

    31 August 1916 Arturo Toscanini conducts a military band on the top of Monte Santo after it was captured by Italian troops.  He will be awarded a medal for courage under fire.

    31 August 1920 Hanns Eisler (22) marries Charlotte Demant, a singer, pianist, and teacher.

    Waiting for the Sun to Come Out, a song by George Gershwin (21) to words of Ira Gershwin, is performed for the first time as part of the musical comedy The Sweetheart Shop in the Knickerbocker Theatre, New York.

    31 August 1928 The play with music Die Dreigroschenoper by Kurt Weill (28) to words of Brecht (after Gay), is performed for the first time, in the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm, Berlin.  To the astonishment of everyone involved with the production, it is a smash.

    31 August 1929 Due to failing health and struggles with faculty and administration, Karol Szymanowski (46) suspends his duties as director of the Warsaw Conservatory.

    31 August 1942 The fifth of the radio dramas An American in England, entitled “The Yanks are Here”, with music by Benjamin Britten (28), is broadcast for the first time, over the CBS radio network,originating in New York.

    31 August 1945 Works for piano by Peter Sculthorpe (16) are performed for the first time, over the local Tasmanian airwaves of the Australian Broadcasting Commission, by the composer:  Nocturne, Short Piece for Pianoforte no.1, and Prelude to a Puppet Show.

    Cuatro Nocturnos for soprano, alto, and orchestra by Carlos Chávez (46) to words of Villaurrutia, are performed for the first time, in the Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City.

    31 August 1963 Concerto for piano trio and strings no.1 by Bohuslav Martinu (†4) is performed for the first time, in Lucerne, 30 years after it was composed.

    31 August 1967 Study in Textures for band by Gunther Schuller (41) is performed for the first time, in Landreth Auditorium of Texas Christian University, Fort Worth.

    31 August 1972 Pianos and Voices for five pianos and five female voices by Morton Feldman (46) is performed for the first time, in Munich, commissioned for the Olympic Games.  Among the performers are Cornelius Cardew (36), Christian Wolff (38) and the composer.

    31 August 1975 Euntes Ibant et Flebant op.32 for chorus by Henryk Górecki (41) to words of the Psalms is performed for the first time, in Wroclaw.

    31 August 1981 Moans, Groans, Cries, and Sighs, a madrigal for six-part chorus by Gian Carlo Menotti (70) is performed for the first time, in Usher Hall, Edinburgh.

    31 August 1997 Im Freundschaft for trumpet by Karlheinz Stockhausen (69) is performed for the first time, in Körten.

    The Larghetto movement from the Serenade for string orchestra by Krzysztof Penderecki (63) is performed for the first time, in Lucerne.  See 20 August 1996.

    31 August 2001 High on the Slopes of Terror for orchestra by Peter Maxwell Davies (66) is performed for the first time, in Central Hall, Edinburgh.

    31 August 2002 Fetzen 3 for accordion and string quartet by Wolfgang Rihm (50) is performed for the first time, in Agathenburg.

    Verfremdung/Entfremdung for flute and piano by Olga Neuwirth (34) is performed for the first time, in the Luzernersaal, Lucerne.

    31 August 2006 A revised version of …amaris et dulcibus aquis for chorus and electronics by Tristan Murail (59) is performed for the first time, in Copenhagen.  See 9 May 1997.

    31 August 2007 Verborgene Reime for voices and piano by Mauricio Kagel (75) is performed for the first time, in Bonn.

    Two’s Company, a concerto for oboe, percussion, and orchestra by Thea Musgrave (79) is performed for the first time, in Royal Albert Hall, London.

    31 August 2008 Angels (String Quartet no.4) by Joan Tower (69) is performed for the first time, at Angel Fire, New Mexico.

    ©2004-2016 Paul Scharfenberger

    8 July 2016

    Last Updated (Friday, 08 July 2016 04:42)

     

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