Best Composers Datebook episodes

02:00 | Jul 10th, 2020

On today’s date in 1919, the British composer Edward Elgar finished a work he labeled jokingly as his “Opus 1001” – a 50 second “Smoking Cantata,” intended, according to the manuscript score, as "an e...Show More

02:00 | Apr 19th, 2020

Alban Berg's Violin Concerto had its first performance in Barcelona, Spain, on today's date in 1936, at the opening concert of that year's International Society for Contemporary Music Festival. Berg h...Show More

02:00 | Mar 16th, 2020

A new opera by Jules Massenet had its premiere at the Paris Opera on today's date in 1894. It was titled "Thais" and was based on a rather spicy novel of the same name by the popular French author of ...Show More

02:00 | Jan 16th, 2020

Today marks the anniversary of the creation of a famous classical music nickname, “Les Six”—French for “The Six.” That’s what Parisian music critic Henri Collet dubbed six composers on this day in 192...Show More

02:00 | Jul 9th, 2020

On today’s date in 1982, a sci-fi movie titled “Tron” opened in theaters across the country, targeting an audience fascinated by the then still-new craze for computer gaming. In the movie, a programme...Show More

02:00 | Jul 8th, 2020

On today's date in the year 2000, amid the greenery of the Berkshires in Western Massachusetts, violinist Gil Shaham gave the outdoor, open-air premiere of this new concerto at the Tanglewood Festival...Show More

02:00 | Jul 7th, 2020

Unless you're a graduate student in 18th century European history, it's unlikely you know off the top of your head who the winners and losers were in the War of the Spanish Succession. Suffice it to s...Show More

02:00 | Jul 6th, 2020

On today's date in 1971, jazz great Louis Armstrong died in New York City at the age of 69. He was born in New Orleans, and for years, all the standard reference books listed his birthday as the Fourt...Show More