Wednesday 1 January 2014

A Happy New Year...

A Happy and Prosperous New Year 
To All Readers of 
The Land of Lost Content

Significant Composer Anniversaries for 2014
Thomas Attwood Walmisley (1814-1856) Bi-Centenary of Birth
Eugene d’Albert (1864-1932) 150 year Anniversary of Birth
Wilfred Mellors (1914-2008) Centenary of Birth
Frank Chacksfield (1914-1995) Centenary of Birth
William Lloyd Webber (1914-1982) Centenary of Birth
Andrej Panufnik (1914-1991) Centenary of Birth
Arnold Richardson (1914-1973) Centenary of Birth

Some Important British Works that are Celebrating Significant Anniversaries (Composed, First Performed or Published) include:-
100 years ago:-
Charles Villiers Stanford: Irish Rhapsody No 4 
Edward Elgar: Sospiri; Carillon: Recitation with orchestra
Fred. Delius: North Country Sketches, for orchestra 
Gustav Holst: The Planets, Suite for orchestra (1914-16)
Roger Quilter: A Children's Overture
Frank Bridge: Summer, Tone Poem 
Arnold Bax: Piano Quintet in G Minor (1914-15)
Egon Wellesz: Suite for Orchestra 


75 years ago
William Alwyn: Violin Concerto, Rhapsody; for piano quartet; Sonata-Impromptu, for violin and viola 
Richard Arnell: String Quartet No 1 
Arnold Bax: Symphony No 7 in Ab 
Lennox Berkeley: Serenade for string orchestra Five Songs (1939-40)
Lord Berners: Cupid and Psyche, ballet 
Benjamin Britten: Violin Concerto in D minor (revised 1958); Canadian Carnival, for orchestra (1939-40); Ballad of Heroes, for voices and orchestra; Les Illuminations, song cycle 
Geoffrey Bush: Sonata for two pianos 
Benjamin Frankel: Elegie Juive, for cello and piano 
harp 
Josef Holbrooke: Tamerlaine, concerto for clarinet/saxophone, bassoon and orchestra 
Herbert Howells: Concerto for strings 
John Ireland: Concertino Pastorale, for strings 
Elisabeth Lutyens: Three Pieces for orchestra; String Trio 
Alan Rawsthorne: String Quartet No 1; Theme and Variations 
Edmund Rubbra: Symphony No 3 
Cyril Scott: Symphony No 3, The Muses 
Michael Tippett: Fantasia on a Theme by Handel, for piano and orchestra (1939- 41); A Child of Our Time, oratorio (1939-41)
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus
William Walton: Violin Concerto 
Information from Eric Gilder’s The Dictionary of Composers and their Music, with thanks.

2014 also features the following significant birthdays:-
Judith Weir 60  
John Casken 65
John McCabe 75
Peter Maxwell Davies 80
Andre Previn 85

The 50th Anniversary Compositions will feature in a subsequent post.


2 comments:

Mathias Richter said...

There is no reason why we shouldn't celebrate Jonathan Harvey's birthday but unfortunately he will not be able to celebrate with us: he died 4 December 2012.

John France said...

I am sorry to hear this! I must admit I did check up on all the composers who I understood were still alive. Jonathan Harvey must have slipped my net...
I will remove him from this list...