TDCM: September 30th - Gordon Jacob

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Gordon Jacob (1895-1984)

Bio

Gordon Percival Septimus Jacob was born in London. Gordon fought in the Queen's Royal Regiment in World War I, and while a POW studied music and began composing. He used correspondence courses after the War to get into the Royal College of Music and studied under Stanford, Vaughan Williams, and Howells. He settled into teaching at the Royal College and had many notable students including Malcolm Arnold, Joseph Horowitz, and Imogen Holst. He was quite prolific with over 700 original compositions and arrangements of other masters. 

Music

Symphony No. 1

Symphony No. 2 in C major

Concerto for flute and string orchestra

Concerto for Horn and Strings

Concerto No. 1 for Oboe and Strings

Concerto for Trombone and orchestra

Concerto for three hands on one piano

Concerto No. 2 for Viola and String Orchestra

TDCM: Review of the "I" Composers

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

List, Stats, Curiosities of the "I" Composers

1. Jacques Ibert
   
2. Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov
3. John Ireland
4. Charles Ives

Nationalities

English 1
American 1
French 1
Russian 1

Earliest

Composer - Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov (1859-1935)
Composition - Ippolitov-Ivanov's Caucasian Sketches No. 1 (1894)*

*earliest dated composition

Latest
Composer - Jacques Ibert (1890-1962)
Composition - Ibert's Tropismes pour des amoura imaginaires (1957)

Total Compositions Sampled - 25

Ranked "I" Composers

Ranked on a purely subjective personal enjoyment scale

John Ireland (10/10)

English, 1879-1962

Concertino Pastorale for string orchestra

Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov (9/10)

Russian, 1859-1935

 

Caucasian Sketches No. 2 "Iveria"

Charles Ives (7/10)

American, 1874-1954

Symphony No. 2

Jacques Ibert (7/10)

French, 1890-1962

Ouverture de fête

TDCM: September 29th - Charles Ives

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Charles Ives (1874-1954)

Bio

Charles Edward Ives was born in Danbury, Connecticut. His father was a trained musician and tutored Charles and his brother Moss. Ives studied at the Hopkins School and then at Yale where he was a popular figure on campus. He composed while studying and produced a campaign song for William McKinley and his Pulitzer-winning 1st Symphony, though it would not receive the prize for many years. He formed an insurance company with a friend and composed in his spare time. He was before his time but is recognized now as a pioneer and modernist revolutionary. 

Music

Symphony No. 1 in D minor

Symphony No. 2

Symphony No. 3 "The Camp Meeting"

Symphony No. 4

Universe Symphony completed by Johnny Reinhard

TDCM: September 28th - John Ireland

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

John Ireland (1879-1962)

Bio

Ireland was born in Cheshire, England. He studied at the Royal College of Music and took a position at Holy Trinity in London as a sub-organist. He won some composing prizes in his 40s, took a teaching post at the Royal College, and had famous pupils such as Richard Arnell and Benjamin Britten.    

Music

London Pieces

Piano Concerto in E-flat major

Concertino Pastorale for string orchestra

Piano Sonata

Green Ways

Satyricon Overture

A Downland Suite

Fantasy Sonata for Clarinet and Piano

Mai Dun Symphonic Rhapsody

TDCM: September 27th - Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov (1859-1935)

Bio

Mikhail Mikhaylovich Ivanov was born near St. Petersburg. He added his mother's maiden name Ippolitov to distinguish him from another Mikhail Ivanov. He studied under Rimsky-Korsakov in the St. Petersburg Conservatory and then directed the music academy at Tbilisi. He was later the director of the Moscow Conservatory and while a member of the Society of Writers and Composers he is considered to have maintained independence from the Soviets. His most famous pupils include Vasilenko and Glière.    

Music

Caucasian Sketches Suite No. 1

Symphony No. 1 in E minor

Turkish Fragments

Caucasian Sketches Suite No. 2 "Iveria"

TDCM: September 26th - Jacques Ibert

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Jacques Ibert (1890-1962)

Bio

Jacques François Antoine Marie Ibert was born in Paris. He entered the Paris Conservatoire and studied under Pessard, Gedalge, and Vidal. He was a contemporary student with Milhaud and Honegger. He served in the Navy during World War I and then returned and won the Prix de Rome. During World War II his music was banned by the Vichy government and he was exiled but de Gaulle brought him back to run the Paris Opera.  

Music

Symphonie Marine

Escales

Flute Concerto

Histoires

Petite Suite en quinze images

Ouverture de fȇte

Tropismes pour des amours imaginaires

TDCM: Review of the "H" Composers

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

List, Stats, Curiosities of the "H" Composers

1. Reynaldo Hahn
2. Fromental Halévy
3. Iain Hamilton
4. George Friderich Handel
5. Howard Hanson
6. Roy Harris
7. Herbert Hamilton Harty
8. Franz Joseph Haydn
9. Johann Michael Haydn
10. Hans Werner Henze
11. Alun Hoddinott
12. Anthony Holborne
13. Joseph Holbrooke
14. Robin Holloway
15. Vagn Holmboe
16. Gustav Holst
17. Arthur Honegger
18. Francis Hopkinson
19. Herbert Norman Howells
20. Johann Hummel
21. Engelbert Humperdinck

Nationalities

English 5
American 3
German 3
Austrian 3
French 2
Irish 1
Danish 1
Scottish 1
Swiss 1
Welsh 1

Earliest
Composer - Anthony Holborne (c1545-1602)
Composition - Holborne's Pavans and Galliards (1599)*

*earliest dated composition

Latest
Composer - Robin Holloway (b. 1943)
Composition - Holloway's Concerto No. 4 for Orchestra (2004-05)

Total Compositions Sampled - 113

Top 10 Ranked "H" Composers

Ranked on a purely subjective personal enjoyment scale

Gustav Holst (10/10)

English, 1874-1934

The Planets

Howard Hanson (10/10)

American, 1896-1981

Symphony No. 7

Vagn Holmboe (9/10)

Danish, 1909-1996

Symphony No. 8 "Sinfonia boreale"

Herbert Hamilton Harty (9/10)

Irish, 1879-1941

An Irish Symphony

Franz Joseph Haydn (8/10)

Austrian, 1732-1809

Symphony No. 100 in G major "Military"

George Friderich Handel (8/10)

German, 1685-1759

Water Music & Music for the Royal Fireworks

Johann Michael Haydn (8/10)

Austrian, 1737-1806

Symphony No. 18 in C major

Engelbert Humperdinck (8/10)

German, 1854-1921

Maurische Rhapsodie

Johann Hummel (8/10)

Austrian, 1778-1837

Piano Concerto in A minor

Herbert Howells (8/10)

English, 1892-1983

Suite for orchestra "The B's"

TDCM: September 23rd - Engelbert Humperdinck

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Engelbert Humperdinck (1854-1921)

Bio

Not to be confused with the English pop singer by the same name, the composer Engelbert Humperdinck was born in Siegburg, Germany. He was a prodigy composer and studied at Cologne under Hiller & Seiss. He taught in Barcelona and at the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt. His most famous composition is the opera Hänsel und Gretel. 

Music

Dornröschen, orchestral suite from the opera

Maurische Rhapsodie

Hänsel und Gretel

TDCM: September 22nd - Johann Hummel

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Johann Hummel (1778-1837)

Bio

Johann Nepomuk Hummel was born in Pressburg, Hungary which is now Bratislava, Slovakia. His father was the director of the Imperial School of Military Music in Vienna and Johann was a prodigy. He was tutored by Mozart as a boy, met and studied with Muzio Clementi and Joseph Haydn in England, and was a co-student with Beethoven. He served in the court of Nikolaus II, Prince Esterházy as Haydn's assistant. He was internationally renowned but lived to see Beethoven and others overshadow his career. 

Music

Piano Concerto in A minor

Trumpet Concerto in E-flat

Grande Serenade in C major

Piano Concerto No. 5

Piano Concerto No. 4

Piano Concerto (Posthumus)

Septet in C major "The Military"

Septet in D minor

TDCM: September 21st - Herbert Howells

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Herbert Howells (1892-1983)

Bio

Howells was born in Gloucestershire and showed early musical talent. He had an opportunity to meet Vaughan Williams at the premiere of the composer's Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis and was influenced enormously. He studied at the Royal College of Music and was contemporary with Arthur Bliss and Arthur Benjamin. He later taught at the Royal College while composing mostly for the Church. He was appointed CBE and Companion in Honour, received an honorary doctorate from Cambridge, and the Herbert Howell's Society exists today commemorating his work.  

Music

String Quartet No. 3 "In Gloucestershire"

Suite for orchestra "The B's"

Suite for string orchestra

Concerto for string orchestra

Piano Quartet in A minor

Music for a Prince

TDCM: September 20th - Francis Hopkinson

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Francis Hopkinson (1737-1791)

Bio

Hopkinson was born in Philadelphia and was a signer of the Delcaration of Independence. He served as a district judge in Pennsylvania, was a member of the Second Continental Congress, and designed both early versions of the US Flag and US currency. He composed a few songs and viewed himself as the "first Native of the United States who has produced a musical composition."  

Music

The Toast

Beneath a Weeping Willow's Shade

My Days Have Been So Wondrous Free

TDCM: September 19th - Arthur Honegger

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Arthur Honegger (1892-1955)

Bio

Oscar-Arthur Honegger was born in Le Havre to Swiss parents. He studied at the Zurich Conservatory and then the Paris Conservatoire under Widor and d'Indy. He was a prolific composer, particularly for the stage. He was a member of Les Six and although he lived in Paris most of his life he remained a Swiss citizen till his death. 

Music

Pacific 231

Symphony No. 3 "Symphonie Liturgique"

Symphony No. 5 "Di Tre Re"

Symphony No. 1 in C major

Symphony No. 4 "Deliciae Basilienses"

Symphony No. 2

TDCM: September 16th - Gustav Holst

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Gustav Holst (1874-1934)

Bio

Gustavus Theodore von Holst was born in Gloucestershire. He came from a long line of musicians and learned piano and violin at a young age. He began composing as a teenager and applied for a scholarship to the Royal College of Music but was beaten out by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. He played Trombone professionally to pay his way through college. He met Ralph Vaughn Williams and the two of them became life-long friends and each other's fiercest critics. He named Wagner and Strauss his early influences and was named by Britten, Vaughn Williams, and others as an influence on their style.

Music

The Planets

I Vow to Thee My Country

Hammersmith

Symphony in F major "The Cotswolds"

The Cloud Messenger

A Moorside Suite for String Orchestra

Second Suite in F for Military Band

TDCM: September 15th - Vagn Holmboe

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Vagn Holmboe (1909-1996)

Bio

Vagn (pronounced like the English name Vaughn) Holmboe was born in Jutland to a very musical family. He studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Music before traveling to Germany and studying under Ernst Toch. He married the pianist-artist Meta May Graf and they settled in Copenhagen. He had a distinguished teaching career and was influenced by Stravinsky, Shostakovich, Nielsen, and Bartók.

Music

Symphony No. 5

Symphony No. 8 "Sinfonia Boreale"

Symphony No. 7

Symphony No. 10

Symphony No. 3 "Sinfonia Rustica"

Chamber Concerto No. 2

Concerto for Viola and Orchestra

String Quartet No. 1

TDCM: September 14th - Robin Holloway

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Robin Holloway ( b.1943 )

Bio

Robin Holloway was born in Leamington Spa. He studied at King's College School, King's College, Cambridge, and eventually took a teaching position at Cambridge. He retired in 2011 but is still composing and his catalog is maintained here: https://www.robinholloway.info/.

Music

Concerto No. 4 for Orchestra

Seascape and Harvest

"En blanc et en noir" by Debussy, Orchestrated by Holloway

Symphony

Clarissa Sequence

TDCM: September 13th - Joseph Holbrooke

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Joseph Holbrooke (1878-1958)

Bio

Joseph Charles Holbrooke was born in Surrey. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music and won several prizes for his compositions. He worked for Granville Bantock at the Midland Institute School of Music and then met Thomas Scott-Ellis, 8th Baron Howard de Walden who served as his patron for the remainder of his life. He wrote in the late-Romantic style and named Brahms, Dvořák, and Tchaikovsky his chief influences.

Music

The Raven

Symphony No. 3 in E minor "Ships"

Violin Concerto in F major "The Grasshopper"

The Bells

Ulalume

Piano Concerto No. 1

TDCM: September 12th - Anthony Holborne

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Anthony Holborne (c1545-1602)

Bio

Holborne possibly trained at Pembroke though little is known of him outside of his compositions. He served Queen Elizabeth I as a composer for lute, cittern, and instrumental consort.  

Music

Pavans and Galliards

Lute Works

TDCM: September 9th - Alan Hoddinott

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Alun Hoddinott (1929-2008)

Bio

Hoddinott was born in Bargoed, Wales. He attended University College, Cardiff, and studied with Arthur Benjamin. He is one of the first Welsh composers to gain international notoriety, had a distinguished teaching career at University College, and was appointed CBE in 1983. He was commissioned for a number of prestigious events including the newly crowned King Charles III's wedding to Queen Consort Camilla. 

Music

Symphony No. 4

Quodlibet on Welsh Nursery Tunes for Orchestra

Triple Concerto

Clarinet Concerto No. 2

Dragon Fire

Nocturnes and Cadenzas for Cello and Orchestra

TDCM: September 8th - Hans Werner Henze

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Hans Werner Henze (1926-2012)

Bio

Henze was born in Westphalia. He was enrolled in the Hitler Youth and conscripted as a Radio Operator for the Germans in World War II. He spent most of his time in the war in a British POW camp. After the war, he studied at Heidelberg University and began composing. He was known for his use of serialism and twelve-tone composing and found most of his success on the stage in ballet and opera. 

Music

Symphony No. 10

Labyrinth

Ondine

Symphony No. 5 for Large Orchestra

Sinfonia 7

Violin Concerto No. 2

Symphony No. 8

TDCM: September 7th - Michael Haydn

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Michael Haydn (1737-1806)

Bio

Johann Michael Haydn was the younger brother of Joseph Haydn. He followed in his brother's footsteps to Vienna and was trained musically while singing at St. Stephen's Cathedral. The two composing brothers were close, and Joseph argued his brother was the more talented composer. He was not nearly as prolific as Joseph but still composed 41 Symphonies, scores of cantatas and oratorios, and chamber compositions. He was good enough that his 25th Symphony was mistakenly considered one of Mozart's. 

Music

Symphony No. 28 in C major

Symphony No. 18 in C major

Symphony No. 29 in D minor

Symphony No. 30 in D major

Flute Concerto No. 2 in D major

Organ Concerto in C

Requiem in B-flat major

TDCM: September 6th - Joseph Haydn

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)

Bio

Franz Joseph Haydn was born in Rohrau, Austria. His father was a politician, wheelwright, and folk musician. Haydn was trained as a singer and may have sung at Vivaldi's funeral as a 9-year-old. While freelancing as a composer he studied CPE Bach and named him a key influence in his development. Eventually, he gained enough notoriety to attract aristocratic patrons including Count Morzin, Prince Paul Anton, and Prince Nikolaus I - the latter two heads of the Esterházy court. Haydn and Mozart became friends in Vienna, he succeeded JC Bach in London as the premier composer, and then he met Beethoven in Bonn and tutored the young composer. He is known as the "Father of the Symphony" and the "Father of the String Quartet" and did as much to establish the concept of Classical music as any man before or since.

Music

Symphony No. 100 in G major "Military"

Cello Concerto No. 2 in D major

Symphony No. 83 "La Poule"

Cello Concerto No. 1 in C major

Symphony No. 94 in G major "Surprise"

Symphony No. 1 in D major

Symphony No. 20 in C major

Symphony No. 45 in F-sharp minor "Farewell"

The London Symphonies

TDCM: September 5th - Sir Hamilton Harty

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Sir Hamilton Harty (1879-1941)

Bio

Sir Herbert Hamilton Harty was born in Hillsborough, Ireland. Harty's father was a church musician and raised him on the viola and piano. He took a few church positions before studying with Michele Esposito who was teaching at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. He moved to London and gained notoriety as an accompanist and conductor. He led several different Orchestras and premiered some of the great pieces of his time including Mahler's 9th, Shostakovich's 1st, and Mahler's 4th. He was knighted in 1925.

Music

An Irish Symphony

A John Field Suite for Orchestra

Concerto in B minor for Piano and Orchestra

The Children of Lir

Concerto in D minor for Violin and Orchestra

With the Wild Geese

Variations on a Dublin Air for Violin and Orchestra

TDCM: September 2nd - Roy Harris

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Roy Harris (1898-1979)

Bio

Roy Harris was born in Oklahoma and went West to study music at Cal-Berkeley. He learned from Arthur Bliss and Arthur Farwell and leveraged a relationship with Aaron Copland into an introduction to Nadia Boulanger. He and Howard Hanson worked together at the Eastman School of Music while Harris' compositions were championed by Serge Koussevitsky with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He taught at several of the premier American musical institutions including Juilliard.

Music

Symphony No. 1

Symphony No. 6 "Gettysburg Address"

Symphony No. 4 "Folk Song Symphony"

Symphony No. 3

Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra

Trio for Violin, Piano, and Cello

TDCM: September 1st - Howard Hanson

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Howard Hanson (1896-1981)

Bio

Howard Hanson was born in Wahoo, Nebraska. He attended Luther College in his hometown before moving to New York to attend the Institute of Musical Art which is known today as Juilliard School. He completed his studies at Northwestern and taught there briefly. He became the Dean of the Conservatory of Fine Arts at Pacific and then was selected by George Eastman to direct the Eastman School of Music. 

Music

Symphony No. 1 in E minor "Nordic"

Symphony No. 2 in D-flat major "Romantic"

Symphony No. 3

Symphony No. 4 "Requiem"

Symphony No. 5 "Sinfonia Sacra"