Lalo, Victor Antoine Edouard
January 27, 1823

He was a French composer of Spanish heritage. His family had been settled in Flanders and Northern France since the 16th century. He studied both violin and cello at Lille. But his father adamantly opposed his musical interests so he left home.
At age 16, in the Paris Conservatory, he studied violin with Habeneck, piano with Julius Schulhoff and composition with Crevecoeur. For several years he worked as concert violinist and music teacher. He got to know Delacroix and performed in some of Berlioz's concerts. At that time he composed two symphonies which he destroyed.

By the late 1840s he wrote contemporary romances and some violin pieces. As a founding member of the Arminguad Quartet he helped revive interest in chamber music in Paris in the 1850s. The Quartet worked to create interest in the string quartets of Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, Mendelssohn and Schumann. As a Quartet member he played viola and later second violin.

In 1853 he wrote 2 piano trios. Piano trios were almost nonexistent in France at the time. Lalo formed his own string quartet in 1859. His wrote his first opera in 1866 at the age of 43. It was grand opera with a libretto by Charles Beauquier after Schiller's play "Fiesque." Both Paris Opera and Theater de la Monnaie in Brussels showed interest in the opera but it did not win a prize in a contest set up by the Theatre-Lyrique and was never staged. Lalo was resentful and published the opera at his own expense. He valued "Fiesque" so highly that he used it the scherzo of his Symphony in g (1888), two "Aubades" for small orchestra, "Divertissement," "Neron" and other pieces.

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January 2009

Street Date (new releases-Cecilia Picks)

Does classical music have sense of humor?
Stravinsky arrested in Boston!
Dohnányi - a closet rapper?
Schoenberg sent to hell?
Beecham meets Hitler.

January Composers
Biographical Profiles
January 2 Balakirev
January 6 Bruch
January 7 Poulenc
January 9 Paine
January 11 Gliere
January 15 Siegmeister
January 17 Gossec
January 18 Cui
January 18 Chabrier
January 20 Chausson
January 23 Clementi
January 27 Lalo
January 27 Mozart
January 31 Schubert

Street Date (new releases)

Jazz Innovators

Public Radio Research
How it has destroyed public radio
as we knew it.

Film Reviews
Doubt -Gary Chew

The Day the Earth Stood Still- Richard Figge

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas- Richard Figge

Milk- Gary Chew

Qunatum of Solace - Gary Chew

Appaloosa- Richard Figge

What Just Happened? - Gary Chew

W - Richard Figge

W- Gary Chew

Why Cecilia?
"Visions . . . " by Art Historian Judith Anne Testa,PhD.
"Purcell & Cecilia" by Marielle D. Khoury
"Ode to St. Cecilia's Day- Handel" by Anthony Sargent
"Vespers of . . ." - Alessandro Scarlatti by Denis Stevens

Tools
Abbreviations
Cataloguers
Composers Through The Years
Recommended Reading

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus January 27, 1756 He was christened Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus in Salzburg, son of Johann Georg Leopold, court composer and vice Kapellmeister for the Archbishop's orchestra (In that year (1756) Mozart's father, Leopold wrote "Versuch einer gruend-lichen Violinschule" one of the best keys to Enlightenment performance practice). Mozart at 3 years old showed signs of musical talent. He began to compose at age 5. And at that time was offering performance practice tips to members of his father's string quartet. At 6 he played in Munich and Vienna and in 1763 began a long tour with his father and sister. In addition to exploiting the boy Leopold instilled in Wolfgang the highest regard for musical excellence. Mozart was never satisfied with anything less than perfection. They all visited Germany, Belgium, Paris, London and Paris, returning to Salzburg in November 1766. By that time Mozart had composed his first three symphonies and some 30 other works and arranged several sonatas of J.C. Bach (student of C.P.E. Bach, both being sons of J.S). Mozart and J.C. Bach struck up a life-long friendship. In 1768 Mozart wrote his first stage works. Between 1769 &1771 he accompanied his father to Italy where he took lessons from Martini, copied Allegri's Miserere from memory and showed enough savvy of counterpoint to be elected to the Philharmonic Society of Bologna in the summer of 1770. However, "Mozart made mistakes," says Robert Craft in "Current Convictions" Knopf 1977, "and had to recopy the piece after the Padre had corrected it. It was then presented to the jury, and Mozart was 'passed,' though probably only because of his fame: the shrewd Italians took no chances on being ridiculed by history. Leopold misrepresents the incident... [indicating] Mozart was simply bored by the whole episode."

Mozart 1756 - 1791

Mozart age 7

Leopold's efforts to secure his son a court position in Vienna failed and Mozart remained in Salzburg composing prolifically until his abrupt dismissal from the Archbishop's household in 1781. The greatest challenge of his life came in the spring of 1782 according to Robert Craft. Mozart discovered Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier. As Craft says today we are, "accustomed to hearing polyphonic and homophonic*music side by side" as in Handel's Messiah, and although Mozart had set Messiah in 1742 he wasn't prepared for The Well-Tempered Clavier or The Art of the Fugue by Bach. Every Sunday for months Mozart met with musicians in Vienna to study and perform the music. He transcribed some of Clavier music for strings, "no doubt in order to become even more familiar with the music through the additional perspective of string instruments," says Craft. "The struggle to assimilate Bach's fugue [Row Row Your Boat is a simple fugue] lasted for over a year. [His] Fugue in c, K. 426 (December 1783) manifests Mozart's triumph through and over the Bach fugue, every variation and twelve stretti [where the subject and answer overlap one another] being derived from the subject, and from the reversible counterpoint countersubject, with a skill that matches Bach's." For more on Mozart see January Composers

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Gliere, Reinhold January 11, 1875 Glier or Gliere is of Belgian origin. He studied at the Moscow Conservatory and was a pupil of Taneyev, Arensky, Konyus and Ippolitov-Ivanov for theory and composition. Hrimaly was his violin instructor. In 1914 he was appointed Director of the Kiev Conservatory. In 1920 he was appointed Professor at Moscow Conservatory. His compositions include the opera Shah Senem written in Baku in 1934. It incorporates Azerbaijani melodies. See January Composers for more.

Reinhold Gliere 1875 - 1956

Schubert, Franz Peter shoo - behrt
January 31, 1797

He was born in Lichtental near Vienna and learned violin from his father and piano from his brother Ignaz and organ, piano and counterpoint from Michael Holzer.

In 1808 he was admitted as chorister of the Imperial Chapel and a pupil of the Imperial Seminary (Konvikt). His first (lied) song, "Hagar's Lament" was composed at age 14, three string quartets at 15, his first symphony and quartets 4 through 6 at 16.

In 1814 he composed his first opera, a Mass, 2 more quartets and many (lieder) songs including "Gretchen am Spinnrade". In 1815 he wrote 4 Singspiele, 2 symphonies, his first piano sonata and 145 songs including "Heidenroesliein" and "Der Erlkoenig." we
He taught in his father's school from 1814 to 1816 and was piano teacher in the household of Count Johann Esterhazy. From 1819 he lived and composed in Vienna, making very bad bargains with publishers. Often he was short of money.

Continued at January Composers

 Poulenc, Francis
January 7 1899 poo lank*, frahn ceese *not "lohnk"

He was born in Paris and studied under Ricardo Vines and Charles Koechlin.. He was a follower of Satie. The importance of Satie weighed on Poulenc's consciousness, and he often wondered, even after Satie's death in 1925, what Satie would have thought of certain music he had written. He was a friend of Cocteau and a member of the group of composers known as "Les Six."

His music is opposite of Romantic and looks to popular dance tunes, the circus and the bar for much of its inspiration. (Some of this musical influence can be heard in the music the great French Romantic composer Saint-Saens as well.) This approach was misunderstood by critics many of whom didn't regard his music as serious. Today he ranks with Messiaen, Stravinsky and Faure in religious music and with Milhaud, Honegger and Satie in other musical contributions. His music combines classical clarity with an irrepressible talent for satire and caricature.

However that's just part of the picture. In a single composition you might find all the above plus the jolt of human tragedy: Concert Champetre for Harpsichord and Orchestra, and the ballets Aubade and Les biches come to mind. His uncle introduced him to the music of the Paris musical theater while his mother started his piano lessons at age 5. He was steeped in the Western European recital and concert tradition. He had memorized some of Mallarme's poetry at 10 and at 14 he heard Stravinsky's La Sacre du printemps (Rite of Spring). It overwhelmed him as it did Paris. His lessons with Vines started two years later. (Vines was a friend and interpreter of Debussy and Ravel and introduced some of their works. He was considered as fine a pianist as Walter Gieseking.)

Paul Crossley has a CBS recording of the complete piano music of Poulenc, "Poulenc, perhaps more than any other composer, had the most extraordinary ability to express a unique personality and sensibility through a multiplicity of allusions, pastiches, found objects and musical modes of all ages. That brings him very close to us, making him seem very modern (very post modern?)." Poulenc sought out Vidal and Ravel for lessons in composition to no avail. He finally found in Koechlin a sympathetic instructor. Koechlin worked with him on counterpoint stopping after the Bach chorales. They both agreed that was enough. His reputation began to grow first with amateur pianists with his "Trois mouvements perpetuel" and then outside of Paris with Diaghilev's very successful production of Poulenc's "Les biches" in 1924.

More at January Composers

Chabrier, Alexis Emmanuel (chah bree ay)
January 18, 1841

This French composer was born in Ambert, Puy-de-Dome and was largely self-taught. However at the age of six he had his first piano lessons from Manuel Zaporta and developed rapidly and remarkably, showing such great skill at improvisation he was considered a prodigy.

He came to Paris at 15 and entered the Civil Service, at the same time coming to know many of the Symbolist poets, Impressionist painters and musician followers of Cesar Franck. He was known to them as a brilliant pianist.

In 1881 he wrote Dix pieces pittoresque and Franck wrote, "they link their own time with that of Couperin and Rameau... [and Ravel & Poulenc] "they are as important for French music as the preludes of... Debussy."

A visit to Spain put him touch with Andalusian dances and songs. He had a strong interest in the folk and popular songs and rhythms of his own Auvergne region and returned to France determined to capture the feeling of Spain in his music. He made his reputation with the orchestral rhapsody Espana in 1883 being the first of a long line of French composers contributing "Spanish" music. He had two operettas performed before Espana. So he was finally able to resign from government work to devote his time to music.

More of Chabrier at January Composers

Chabrier with artist Van Dyck. (1881)

A detail of a caricature of Chabrier.

Two of Schubert's favorite Vienna haunts. Bogner's Cafe, later named Cafe Bogner on the corner of Singerstrausse & Blutgassel And the Anchor Tavern (Gasthaus 'Zum Anker') on Gruenangergasse.

He was 27 years younger than Beethoven and intimidated by him: afraid to approach him as they both sat in Bogner Coffee House in Vienna. Schubert carried a torch at the high ceremonial of Beethoven's funeral and the next year was buried beside him. 

There's more of Schubert's biography at January Composers