TDCM: November 30th - John McCabe

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

John McCabe (1939-2015)

Bio

McCabe was born in Huyton, Liverpool. His mother was a violinist and homeschooled him as a child. He composed as a boy and purportedly wrote 13 Symphonies before the age of 11. He studied at Manchester University, the Royal Manchester College of Music, and the Munich Hochschule für Musik. He composed widely and was also a successful pianist and teacher.

Music

Symphony No. 4 "Of Time & the River"

Symphony No. 7 "Labyrinth"

Symphony No. 1 "Elegy"

Symphony No. 2

Symphony No. 5 "Edward II"

Violin Concerto No. 2

TDCM: Review of the "L" Composers

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

List, Stats, Curiosities of the "L" Composers

1. Édouard Lalo
2. Constant Lambert
3. Orlando de Lassus
4. William Lawes
5. Jean-Marie Leclair
6. Kenneth Leighton
7. Ruggero Leoncavallo
8. Anatoly Lyadov
9. György Ligeti
10. Franz Liszt
11. Henry Charles Litolff
12. George Lloyd
13. Matthew Locke
14. Charles Martin Loeffler
15. Jean-Baptiste Lully
16. Witold Lutosławski
17. Elisabeth Lutyens

Nationalities

English 7
French 3
Hungarian 2
American 1
Russian 1
Italian 1
Belgian 1
Polish 1

Earliest

Composer - Orlande de Lassus (1532-1594)
Composition - Leclair's Violin Concertos (c1737)*

*Earliest dated composition

Latest
Composer - György Ligeti (1923-2006)
Composition - Ligeti's Etudes for Piano (1985-2001)

Total Compositions Sampled - 81

Top 5 Ranked "L" Composers

Ranked on a purely subjective personal enjoyment scale

Franz Liszt (10/10)

Hungarian, 1811-1886

Dante-Sinfonia

Édouard Lalo (10/10)

French, 1823-1892

Cello Concerto in D minor

Charles Martin Loeffler (9/10)

American, 1861-1935

A Pagan Poem

Anatoly Lyadov (9/10)

Russian, 1855-1914

Three Late Pieces for Orchestra

Henry Charles Litolff (8/10)

English, 1818-1891

Concerto Symphonique No. 4

TDCM: November 29th - Elisabeth Lutyens

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Elisabeth Lutyens (1906-1983)

Bio

Agnes Elisabeth Lutyens was born in London. Lutyens studied at the École Normale de Musique in Paris with a friend who had trained with Nadia Boulanger. She also studied at the Royal College of Music in London under Harold Darke. She has the distinction as the first British female composer to score a film and was known as the Horror Queen for her soundtracks.

Music

String Trio

And Suddenly It's Evening

Music for Orchestra

TDCM: November 28th - Witold Lutosławski

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Witold Lutosławski (1913-1994)

Bio

Witold Roman Lutosławski was born in Warsaw, the youngest of three brothers. His father was an active political agent for Polish independence and his father was executed by the Bolsheviks. He studied at Warsaw University and then served as a radio operator in World War II. He was captured but escaped. Many of his compositions were lost during the War. He is considered one of the greatest composers in Poland's history. 

Music

Konzert für Orchester

Livre pour Orchestre

Symphony No. 1

Symphony No. 3

Two Studies for Piano

Cello Concerto

Piano Sonata

Piano Concerto

TDCM: November 21st - Jean-Baptiste Lully

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687)

Bio

Born Giovanni Battista Lulli in Florence, Lully was brought to France as a boy by Roger de Lorraine, chevalier de Guise. His compositions drew the notice of Louis XIV and he served as the director of his personal orchestra. Lully directed the Académie Royale de Musique and was a prolific opera composer. Lully died ignominiously when he accidentally injured his own leg and refused to have it operated on so he could dance, eventually succumbing to gangrene. 

Music

Baroque Selections

L'Orchestre Du Roi Soleil

TDCM: November 18th - Charles Martin Loeffler

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Charles Martin Loeffler (1861-1935)

Bio

Charles Martin Tornov Loeffler was born near Berlin. He studied violin in Berlin and Paris before emigrating to the United States to join the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He became an American citizen in his 20s. He was friends with many of the prominent composers of the day including Busoni, Fauré, and Gershwin.  

Music

La Bonne chanson

Deux Rapsodies

A Pagan Poem

La mort de Tintagiles

Four Poèmes

String Quintet in One Movement

Divertissement in A minor for violin and orchestra

TDCM: November 11th - Matthew Locke

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Matthew Locke (c1621-1677)

Bio

Matthew Locke was born in Exeter. He composed for the stage and gain some notoriety. When Charles II took the throne, Locke wrote the processional and served in Charles' court. He is also known for his treatise on music theory Melothesia.   

Music

Suite 1 & 2

The Tempest

The Consort of Fower Parts

TDCM: November 10th - George Lloyd

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

George Lloyd (1913-1998)

Bio

George Walter Selwyn Lloyd was born in Cornwall. His father wrote a biography of Bellini and both of his parents were musically trained. He was prodigious and studied music at Trinity College in London. He composed operas with his father prior to the war. He served in WWII but experienced tragedy and suffered from shell shock. He composed 12 Symphonies, a collection of chamber and concertante pieces, and 3 operas with his father.  

Music

Symphony No. 5 in B-flat

Symphony No. 4 in B minor "Arctic"

Symphony No. 2

Symphony No. 3 in F

Symphony No. 7

Twelfth Symphony

Piano Concerto No. 1

TDCM: November 9th - Henry Charles Litolff

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Henry Charles Litolff (1818-1891)

Bio

Litolff was born in London. He showed early promise on the piano and traveled Europe with his skills. He composed a decently sized repertoire but very little is performed today. 

Music

Concerto Symphonique No. 4

Concerto Symphonique No. 3 in E-flat major

Concerto Symphonique No. 2 in B minor

Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor

TDCM: November 7th - Franz Liszt

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Franz Liszt (1811-1886)

Bio

Franz Liszt was born in Hungary. His father was a musician in the Esterházy court. Young Franz was exposed to Haydn, Hummel, and Beethoven through his father. He was prodigious and begun studying with Czerny, Paer, and Salieri before his teen years. He gained some notoriety when Salieri debuted his music in Vienna and he met Beethoven and Schubert there. He moved to Paris and taught piano and became friends with Berlioz and Chopin. He traveled Europe composing and performing for nearly sixty years before dying in Germany. 

Music

Dante-Sinfonie

Ce qu'on entend sur la montagne

Symphonic Poems

TDCM: November 4th - György Ligeti

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

György Ligeti (1923-2006)

Bio

Ligeti was born in Transylvania, Romania into a Hungarian-Jewish family. The area where he lived was transferred to Hungary as part of the Second Vienna Award. He studied at the conservatory in Kolozsvár and with Kadosa in Budapest. Members of his immediate family were sent to Mauthausen-Gusen and Auschwitz. He worked in a forced-labor brigade and survived the war. He then studied in Budapest at the Franz Liszt (the next composer) Academy of Music under Kadosa and Kodály. He had to flee to Vienna and then Cologne and was introduced to the avant-garde. He embraced the 12-tone technique, electronic music, and contemporary styling. His music has been used by Hollywood for some significant films.

Music

String Quartet No. 2

2001: A Space Odyssey

Violin Concerto

Études for Piano

Musica Ricercata

Piano Concerto

TDCM: November 3rd - Anatoly Lyadov

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Anatoly Lyadov (1855-1914)

Bio

Anatoly Konstantinovich Lyadov was born in St. Petersburg and entered the local Conservatory to study piano and violin. He was a contemporary of The Five and studied composition under Rimsky-Korsakov. He taught at St. Petersburg and had several significant pupils including Prokofiev, Gnesin, and Saminsky. He instituted the Glinka Prize, was a founding member of the Belyayev Circle with Rimsky-Korsakov and Glazunov, and was a dear friend of Tchaikovsky.  

Music

Eight Russian Folk Songs

Three Late Pieces for Orchestra

Complete Piano Works

TDCM: November 2nd - Ruggero Leoncavallo

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Ruggero Leoncavallo (1857-1919)

Bio

Leoncavallo was born in Naples, Italy. He studied literature at the University of Bologna. He was a proficient pianist and briefly tutored the Khedive of Cairo. Unrest in Egypt drove him to France and eventually back to Italy where he began composing Operas. He spent much of his career competing with Puccini for the limelight, falling short more often than not.  

Music

Pagliacci

Complete Piano Works

TDCM: November 1st - Kenneth Leighton

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Kenneth Leighton (1929-1988)

Bio

Kenneth Leighton was born in Yorkshire. He excelled in his studies and double-majored in the Classics and Music at Queen's College, Oxford. He was assisted along the way by Gerald Finzi and Ralph Vaughan Williams. He held several teaching posts around England, concluding his career as the Reid Professor of Music in Edinburgh. He was prolific and successful as both a composer and educator.

Music

Symphony No. 1

Symphony No. 2 "Sinfonia Mistica"

Concerto for String Orchestra

Metamorphoses for Violin & Piano

Six Studies "Study Variations"

Symphony No. 3 "Laudes musicae"

Works for Cello and Piano