Composers Datebook™ is a daily two-minute program designed to inform, engage, and entertain listeners with timely information about composers of the past and present. Each program notes significant or intriguing musical events involving composers of the past and present, with appropriate and accessible music related to each.
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Sep 29, 2026 · 2:00
Synopsis On today’s date in 2000, a new cello concerto received its premiere performance at the Barbican Center in London. Billed as the Crouching Tiger Concerto , this score was…
Sep 28, 2026 · 2:00
Synopsis On today’s date in 1951, the classic sci-fi film The Day the Earth Stood Still was playing in theaters across America. The film’s opening sequence depicted a UFO…
Sep 27, 2026 · 2:00
Synopsis In September 2001, American composer Elliott Carter was just a few months shy of his 93rd birthday, but still busy composing new works both large and small. On today’s…
Sep 26, 2026 · 2:00
Synopsis Today’s date in 1899 marks the birthday of famous African-American composer, choir director and teacher, William L. Dawson, in Anniston, Alabama. After musical studies…
Sep 25, 2026 · 2:00
Synopsis “Spaghetti western” is a nickname given to a genre of Italian films from the 1960s, most famously directed by Sergio Leone, and often starring Clint Eastwood as the…
Sep 24, 2026 · 2:00
Synopsis On today’s date in 1875, one of the greatest musical match-makers of all time died in Spartanburg, South Carolina. His name was William Walker, an American Baptist…
Sep 23, 2026 · 2:00
Synopsis On today’s date in 2011, the Saint Louis Symphony under David Robertson premiered a new piano concerto by American composer Steven Mackey. The soloist was Orli Shaham,…
Sep 22, 2026 · 2:00
Synopsis In the 1970s, the Afro-American Music Opportunities Association collaborated with Columbia Records to create an audio anthology of works by underrepresented…
Sep 21, 2026 · 2:00
Synopsis On today’s date in 1962, Russian-born composer Igor Stravinsky returned to his homeland for the first time in nearly half a century. When he left in 1914, Czar Nicholas…
Sep 20, 2026 · 2:00
Synopsis On today’s date in 1975, the Kansas City Lyric Theater opened its 18th season with the world premiere of a new opera by Jack Beeson, Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines .…
Sep 19, 2026 · 2:00
Synopsis On today’s date in 1958, just nine days after his death, a funeral service was held for British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams at Westminster Abbey, where his ashes…
Sep 18, 2026 · 2:00
Synopsis On today’s date in 1930, in Kingsway Hall in London, British composer Edward Elgar conducted the first performance of his Pomp and Circumstance March No. 5, the last in…
Sep 17, 2026 · 2:00
Synopsis The Milwaukee Symphony was one of the first American orchestras to offer recordings of their live performances as digital downloads — and along with Beethoven, Brahms…
Sep 16, 2026 · 2:00
Synopsis On today’s date in 1925, Vincent Youman’s musical No, No Nanette opened on Broadway after a trial run in Detroit and additional preview stagings in Chicago and London.…
Sep 15, 2026 · 2:00
Synopsis Today’s date in 1912 marked the birthday of Cuban composer, choral director, and educator Gisela Hernández. She began her musical studies at the Santa Cecilia School in…
Sep 14, 2026 · 2:00
Synopsis On this date in 1973, Eugene Ormandy conducted the Philadelphia Orchestra in music by Mozart, Brahms and American composer, Roy Harris. The program was nothing out of…
Sep 13, 2026 · 2:00
Synopsis On today’s date in 1967, Aaron Copland’s final orchestra work, Inscape, was premiered by Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic at the University of Michigan in…
Sep 12, 2026 · 2:00
Synopsis For decades many of the 20th century’s greatest composers routinely visited Venice’s famous canals and churches during a biennial music festival that showcased brand-new…
Sep 11, 2026 · 2:00
Synopsis In 1886, a Czech patron of the arts, Josef Hlavka, had a chapel built at his summer residence at Lužany in Bohemia and asked his composer friend Antonín Dvořák to write…
Sep 10, 2026 · 2:00
Synopsis American composer Henry Cowell lived from 1897 to 1965 and wrote thousands of musical works in a wide variety of styles. As a young boy, he lived near San Francisco’s…
Sep 9, 2026 · 2:00
Synopsis On today’s date in 1949, British composer Gerald Finzi conducted the premiere performance of his Clarinet Concerto at the Three Choirs Festival in Hereford. During his…
Sep 8, 2026 · 2:00
Synopsis Today's date in 1934 marked the birthday of British composer Peter Maxwell Davies. His name is spelled D-A-V-I-E-S, so most Americans tend to pronounce it “Day-VEES,”…
Sep 7, 2026 · 2:00
Synopsis On today’s date in 1573, Queen Elizabeth the First celebrated her 40th birthday. According to some musicologists, the music-loving monarch received as a birthday gift a…
Sep 6, 2026 · 2:00
Synopsis Consider, if you will, the poor timpanist. At most symphony concerts, they sit quietly — waiting for the moment when a dramatic exclamation point is required from the…
Sep 5, 2026 · 1:59
Synopsis In 1941, as the German army was overrunning Russia, the Soviet government evacuated important artists to remote places of safety. Composer Sergei Prokofiev, for example,…
Sep 4, 2026 · 1:59
Synopsis For ballet lovers, the opening of Tchaikovsky’s ballet Swan Lake conjures up tutus, but for old-time movie buffs, this same music triggers memories of many…
Sep 3, 2026 · 2:00
Synopsis On today’s date in 1806, Ludwig van Beethoven offered his publisher Breitkopf and Härtel three new string quartets — works we know today as the three Razumovsky Quartets…
Sep 2, 2026 · 2:00
Synopsis On today’s date in 1948, at a Proms concert at the Royal Albert Hall, the London Symphony gave the premiere performance of the Serenade in G Major by British composer…
Sep 1, 2026 · 2:00
Synopsis On today’s date in 1785, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart dedicated six of his string quartets to his friend and older colleague, Joseph Haydn. Earlier that year, Haydn heard…
Aug 30, 2026 · 2:00
Synopsis On today’s date in 1933, the Philadelphia Orchestra was performing at its summer home at Robin Hood Dell. Conductor Alexander Smallens led the world premiere performance…
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