TDCM: May 31st - Sir Edward Elgar

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Sir Edward Elgar (1857-1934)

Bio

Elgar was born outside Worcester and his father worked as a piano tuner and church organist. His training was primarily practical as he earned his living arranging and performing the violin in England. He eventually visited Paris and Leipzig and encountered the greats, Schumann, Brahms, Rubinstein, and Wagner. Elgar rose to prominence and received a litany of recognitions including a knighthood, being named into the Order of Merit, a Cross of Commander of the Belgian Order of the Crown, the Master of the King's Musick post, the Gold Medal of the Royal Philharmonic Society, a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order, honorary degrees from at least nine prestigious institutions, and was installed as a Baronet.  

Music

Symphony No. 1 in A-flat major

Symphony No. 2 in E-flat major

Violin Concerto in B minor

Cello Concerto in E minor

Enigma Variations

Nimrod

Nursery Suite for Orchestra

TDCM: May 26th-27th - Antonin Dvořák

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Antonin Dvořák (1841-1904)

Bio

Dvořák will be getting two days of listening in this project. He was one of the first Czech composers to gain worldwide notoriety. He is the pinnacle of the national-symphonic composer, weaving rhythms and folk traditions of the Czech people into his grandiose Symphonic works. His father was a professional zither player, he had 13 siblings, and was a practicing Catholic. He studied in Prague and was a concert violist. After some local recognition, he entered a contest judged by Hanslick, Herbeck, and Johannes Brahms. His submission, which included his 3rd and 4th Symphonies, won Brahms over and he vaulted into the national spotlight. He traveled around Europe and then eventually to the United States where he was the director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York. He wrote that his favorite composers were Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert but was also noticeably influenced by Smetana, Wagner, and Brahms. 

Music

Symphony No. 1 in C minor "The Bells of Zlonice"

Symphony No. 2 in B-flat major

Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major

Symphony No. 4 in D minor

Symphony No. 5 in F major

Symphony No. 6 in D major

Symphony No. 7 in D minor

Symphony No. 8 in G major

Symphony No. 9 in E minor "From the New World"

String Quartet No. 12 in F major "American"

String Quartet No. 11 in C major

String Quartet No. 13 in G major

Piano Trio No. 4 in E minor "Dumky"

String Quintet No. 2 in G major

String Quintet No. 3 in E-flat major "American"

Piano Quintet No. 2 in A major

The Water Goblin

A Hero's Song

The Golden Spinning Wheel

Slavic Dances

TDCM: May 25th - Maurice Duruflé

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986)

Bio

Duruflé was born in Louviers and studied piano and organ as a child. He was a standout student at the Conservatoire de Paris, earning first prize in organ, harmony, fugue, piano accompaniment, and composition. His teachers included Gigout, Caussade, Tournemire, and Dukas. He was the organist at St-Étienne-du-Mont and taught harmony at the Conservatoire. 

Music

Requiem

Suite, Op. 5 orch. Pieter-Jelle de Boer

Prélude, Récitatif et Variations

Trois Danses

Andante et Scherzo

Prelude and Fugue Op. 7

TDCM: May 24th - Marcel Dupré

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Marcel Dupré (1886-1971)

Bio

Marcel Jean-Jules Dupré was a prodigy organist born in Rouen, France. He studied at the Conservatoire and took the professor of organ performance position after graduating. He traveled the world giving organ recitals and succeeded Charles-Marie Widor as the organist at St. Sulpice in Paris. He was briefly the director of the Conservatoire and influenced a generation of French composers, most famously Olivier Messiaen.

Music

Symphonie-Passion

Symphony in G minor

Corètge et Litanie

Prelude and Fugue in G minor

Collected Organ Music

TDCM: May 23rd - Henri Duparc

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Henri Duparc (1848-1933)

Bio

Marie Eugène Henri Fouques Duparc was born in Paris and studied with piano Franck. He served in the Franco-Prussian War and then formed the Société Nationale de Musique with his friends Bussine and Saint-Saëns. He was also close friends with Chausson and rubbed shoulders with several other giants of the period including Liszt and Wagner. After a diagnosis of neurasthenia, he retired to Switzerland eventually going blind.

Music

Lenore

Five Melodies with Orchestra

Aux étoiles

TDCM: May 20th - Paul Dukas

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Paul Dukas (1865-1935)

Bio

Dukas was born in Paris and studied at the Conservatoire. He was a contemporary and a close friend of Debussy. He was a music critic, harshest on himself, and destroyed many of his own manuscripts. His composing is well respected and he has enjoyed popular notoriety years after his death.

Music

Symphony in C

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Piano Sonata in B-flat minor

La Péri

Ariane et Barbe-bleue Suite

Two Piano Pieces

TDCM: May 19th - Guillaume Du Fay

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Guillaume Du Fay (c1397-1474)

Bio

Du Fay (sometimes Dufay) was probably born outside of what is Brussels today. He held several prominent court and church music posts throughout France and Italy as he rose to prominence. He was considered the leading European composer for much of his life and is associated with the Burgundian School and the Franco-Flemish School.

Music

Journey in Italy

Missa Ave regina caelorum

Missa L'Homme Armé

Chansons

TDCM: May 18th - John Dowland

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

John Dowland (1563-1626)

Bio

Dowland is either from Westminster or Dublin with very scant evidence of either. He was awarded a degree in music from Christ Church, Oxford. He unsuccessfully applied to work in Elizabeth I's court and claimed his Catholic faith was the reason. He did serve under Christian IV of Denmark and then James I back in England. 

Music

Lachrimae or Seaven Teares

Lute Songs

TDCM: May 16th - Gaetano Donizetti

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848)

Bio

Donizetti is, along with Rossini and Bellini, a leading figure in the bel canto Opera movement. Born just outside of Bergamo, Donizetti showed musical talent as a choirboy in his local church and eventually worked his way from one commission to another into notoriety. He eventually composed almost 70 Operas along with a small selection of other works.

Music

Symphony in D minor "for the Death of Capuzzi"

Concertino in D minor for Violin & Cello

Concertino for Flute and Orchestra in C minor

Concertino for Clarinet in B-flat

English Horn Concertino

Six String Quartets

TDCM: May 13th - Ernst von Dohnányi

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Ernst von Dohnányi (1877-1960)

Bio

Dohnányi was born in the city of Pozsony in then Hungary, what is now Bratislava, Slovakia. He studied at the Royal National Hungarian Academy of Music in Budapest under István Thomán, a famed student of Franz Liszt. He was a polished pianist and toured Europe and the US. He was heavily influenced by Brahms and d'Albert. He taught at the Berlin Hochschule, the Budapest Academy, and eventually was the Music Director of the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra. 

Music

Symphony No. 1 in D minor

Symphony No. 2 in E major

Suite en valse for orchestra

Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor

Ruralia hungarica for orchestra

Konzerstück in D major for Cello and orchestra

Six Pieces for Piano

TDCM: May 12th - Stephen Dodgson

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Stephen Dodgson (1924-2013)

Bio

Stephen Dodgson was born in London and served in the Royal Navy in World War II. He studied at the Royal College of Music and won awards for composition. He taught at several universities before settling into the professor of composition and music theory role at the Royal College where he taught until 1982. 

Music

Watersmeet

Concerto for Flute & Strings, "Last of the Leaves", Duo Concerto

TDCM: May 11th - Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf (1739-1799)

Bio

Dittersdorf was born in Austria to a military tailor in Charles VI's army. He was a violinist and was selected as a court musician for Prince Joseph's orchestra. He held several posts in the Imperial court of Austria and Hungary. He was given a noble title and took students later in life. He also played in a "supergroup" string quartet with Wanhal, Haydn, and Mozart. 

Music

Symphony in C major "La Prise de la Bastille"

Symphony No. 1 in C major "Les Quatre Ages Du Monde"

Symphony No. 2 in D major "La Chȗte De Phaéton"

Symphony No. 3 in G major "Actéon Changé en Cerf"

Symphony No. 4 in F major "Metamorphoses"

Symphony No. 5 in A major "Les paysans changés en grenouilles"

Symphony No. 6 in D major

Harp Concerto in A major

Violin Concerto in G major

Oboe Concertos

TDCM: May 10th - Vincent d'Indy

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Vincent d'Indy (1851-1931)

Bio

Paul Marie Théodore Vincent d'Indy was born in Paris and decided to be a composer after reading Berlioz's treatise on orchestration. He served in the Franco-Prussian War and then focused on music. He co-founded the Conatorum de Paris and also taught at the Paris Conservatoire. He influenced a generation of composers including Magnard, Roussel, Honegger, Milhaud, Satie, and Cole Porter. 

Music

Symphony on a French Mountain Air

Symphony No. 2 in B-flat major

Piano Quintet in G minor

Poème des rivages for orchestra

Symphony No. 1 in A major "Italienne"

Diptyque méditerranéen for orchestra

Tableau de voyage for orchestra

TDCM: May 9th - Peter Dickinson

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Peter Dickinson (b. 1934)

Bio

Dickinson was born in Lancashire. He attended Queen's College and then enrolled at Juilliard. He was influenced by Cowell, Cage, and other experimental composers. He taught at Keele University, and Goldsmith College, and is currently a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a board member of Trinity College of Music, and a member of the Royal Society of Musicians.  

Music

Three Piano Concertos (playlist)

Bach in Blue

Satie Transformations

Monologue for Strings

Metamorphosis & Air

TDCM: May 4th - David Diamond

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

David Diamond (1915-2005)

Bio

David Diamond was born in Rochester, New York. He studied with Bernard Rogers at the Eastman School of Music and Nadia Boulanger in Paris. He taught at Juilliard for many years and was the honorary composer-in-residence for the Seattle Symphony. His students include Kenneth Fuchs, Anthony Glinsky, Phillip Lasser, and Eric Whitacre among many others. 

Music

Symphony No. 1 Mitropoulos

Symphony No. 3

Symphony No. 6

Symphony No. 7

Rounds

Quintet for Clarinet, two Violas and two Cellos

String Quartet No. 2

Symphony No. 2

Symphony No. 4

Symphony No. 10

Violin Concerto No. 2

TDCM: May 3rd - Frederick Delius

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Frederick Delius (1862-1934)

Bio

Delius was born in Bradford, England but spent most of his life in France. He briefly managed an orange plantation in Florida and his compositions were influenced by the African-American music he encountered there. His compositions were largely ignored until late in his life and are still controversial.

Music

North Country Sketches

Florida Suite

In a Summer Garden

A Mass of Life

Three Small Tone Poems for Orchestra

Orchestral Works

Piano Concerto in C minor

TDCM: May 2nd - Léo Delibes

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Léo Delibes (1836-1891)

Bio

Born in Saint-Germain-du-Val, Delibes entered the Paris Conservatoire at just 12 years of age. He studied with Adolphe Adam and was a standout singer and organist. He primarily composed for the stage and was made a Chavalier de la Legion d'honneur. 

Music

Sylvia

Coppelia

Lakmé