Classical Music Playlist, March 5, 2024
This Women's History Month CapRadio highlights a different woman in music each weekday. Today's classical spotlight is on English composer and suffragette Ethel Smyth.
- British composer Ethel Smyth was born in 1858 and in 1887 enrolled at the Leipzig Academy and during this time she met Brahms, Dvořák, Clara Schumann and Tchaikovsky among others.
- Returning to England in 1890 and gaining recognition with various compositions, from 1893 to 1910 she focused on writing operas.
- A 1903 performance of her second opera Der Wald (The Forest) at the Metropolitan Opera in New York remained for over a century that company's only opera composed by a woman. The New York audience gave her a ten-minute ovation, though reviews were mixed. Positive reviews praised the music on its own merits; negative reviews complained that her music was “un-feminine.”
- From 1911 to 1913 Smyth was active with the English suffragette movement and her composition, The March of Women, became an anthem for the movement.
- Smyth was the first female composer to be awarded a damehood (Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in 1922 and received honorary doctorates from Universities of Oxford and Durham.
- Smyth died in 1944 at the age of 86.
Ethel Smyth wrote her first major orchestral piece at age 32 in 1890, her Serenade in D. It’s today’s Midday Masterpiece.
6:00 a.m.
George Friederich Handel
Keyboard Suite No. 3 in D minor HWV 428
Murray Perahia, piano
6:14 a.m.
Ethel Smyth
String Quintet in E major Opus 1
Mannheim String Quartet
6:42 a.m.
Joe Hisaishi
A Town with an Ocean View (from Kiki's Delivery Service)
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Joe Hisaishi, conductor Bruce Liu, piano
6:47 a.m.
Georg Philipp Telemann
Oboe Concerto in E minor
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields; Iona Brown, conductor Heinz Holliger, oboe
7:00 a.m.
Ignaz Moscheles
Recollections of Ireland Opus 69
Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra; Howard Shelley, conductor Howard Shelley, piano
7:16 a.m.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B minor
American Bach Soloists; Jeffrey Thomas, conductor
7:37 a.m.
Agustin Barrios
La Catedral
Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra; Lionel Bringuier, conductor Raphael Feuillatre, guitar
7:45 a.m.
Gunther Schuller
Suite for Wind Quintet: II. Blues
Reykjavik Wind Quintet
7:47 a.m.
Percy Grainger
The Gum Suckers March
Dallas Wind Symphony; Jerry Junkin, conductor
7:52 a.m.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Piano Concerto No. 20: III. Rondo in D minor K 466
Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra; Jeremy Denk, conductor Jeremy Denk, piano
8:00 a.m.
Alexander Glazunov
The Seasons: Autumn Opus 67
Minnesota Orchestra; Edo de Waart, conductor
8:13 a.m.
Carl Maria Von Weber
Clarinet Concerto No. 2 in Eb major Opus 74
Staatskapelle Dresden; Herbert Blomstedt, conductor Sabine Meyer, clarinet
8:37 a.m.
Ethel Smyth
THE BOATSWAIN'S MATE: Overture
BBC National Orchestra of Wales; Rumon Gamba, conductor
8:44 a.m.
Santiago de Murcia
La Jota
Richard Savino, guitar; Mauro ReFosco, percussion; Yousif Sheronick, percussion
8:47 a.m.
Antonio Vivaldi
Four Seasons: Autumn (L'Autunno) in F major Opus 8/3 RV 293
Tafelmusik; Jeanne Lamon, conductor Jeanne Lamon, violin
9:00 a.m.
Ethel Smyth
Concerto for Violin, Horn and Orchestra
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra; Odaline de la Martinez, conductor Sophie Langdon, violin; Richard Watkins, horn
9:29 a.m.
Joaquin Malats
Spanish Serenade (Serenata Espanola) in F major
Klaus Jackle, guitar
9:35 a.m.
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Suite No. 1 for two pianos "Fantasie" Opus 5
Vladimir Ashkenazy, piano; Andre Previn, piano
10:00 a.m.
Georg Philipp Telemann
Tafelmusik II: Concerto for 3 violins in F major
Musica Antiqua Koln; Reinhardt Goebel, conductor Members of...
10:14 a.m.
Scott Joplin
Bethena: A Concert Waltz
Giovanni DeChiaro, guitar
10:21 a.m.
Felix Mendelssohn
A Midsummer Night's Dream: Overture
London Symphony Orchestra; Claudio Abbado, conductor
10:34 a.m.
Ethel Smyth
Sonata for Violin and Piano in A minor Opus 7
Tasmin Little, violin; John Lenehan, piano
10:59 a.m.
Antonin Dvorak
Symphony No. 6: III. Scherzo (Furiant) in D major Opus 60
Cleveland Orchestra; Christoph Von Dohnanyi, conductor
11:09 a.m.
Jean-Baptiste Lully
ARMIDE: Passacaille
La Petite Bande; Sigiswald Kuijken, conductor
11:12 a.m.
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
Petite Suite de Concert: IV. La tarantelle fretillante Opus 77/4 wriggling
Chicago Sinfonietta; Paul Freeman, conductor
11:16 a.m.
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco
Guitar Concerto No. 1 in D major Opus 99
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields; Neville Marriner, conductor Pepe Romero, guitar
11:38 a.m.
John Williams
STAR WARS - THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK: The Rebel Fleet & End Title
London Symphony Orchestra; John Williams, conductor
11:46 a.m.
Johannes Brahms
Tragic Overture Opus 81
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra; Riccardo Chailly, conductor
11:59 a.m.
Ethel Smyth
Piano Trio in D minor
Neave Trio
12:32 p.m.
Juventino Rosas
Over the Waves (Sobre las olas)
Vienna State Opera Orchestra; Franz Bauer-Theussl, conductor
12:39 p.m.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Turkish Rondo (from Sonata No. 11 "Turkish March") in A major K 331
Canadian Brass
12:44 p.m.
Bela Bartok
Allegro Barbaro for piano SZ 49
Zoltan Kocsis, piano
12:46 p.m.
Gentil Montana
Suite Colombiana No. 2: III. Bambuco
Jose Antonio Escobar, guitar
12:50 p.m.
Alexander Glazunov
Symphony No. 5: IV. Allegro maestoso in Bb major Opus 55
BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra; Tadaaki Otaka, conductor
12:59 p.m.
Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges
Symphony in G Major in G major
Tafelmusik; Jeanne Lamon, conductor
1:14 p.m.
Ethel Smyth
Four Songs, for mezzo and chamber ensemble
Berkeley Ensemble; Odaline de la Martinez, conductor Lucy Stevens, contralto
1:37 p.m.
Ludwig Van Beethoven
Piano Sonata No. 8 "Pathetique": II. Adagio cantabile in C minor Opus 13
John O'Conor, piano
1:43 p.m.
Philip Glass
Piano Quintet No. 1 "Annunciation" (Part 1)
La Pieta; Angele Dubeau, conductor
1:55 p.m.
Johann Sebastian Bach
MASS IN B MINOR: Cum Sancto Spiritu in B minor BWV 232
English Baroque Soloists; Monteverdi Choir; John Eliot Gardiner, conductor
2:00 p.m.
Ethel Smyth
Serenade in D in D major
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra; Odaline de la Martinez, conductor Tasmin Little, violin; John Lenehan, piano
2:36 p.m.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Partita No. 3 for Solo Violin: Gavotte en Rondeau in E major BWV 1006
Raphael Feuillatre, guitar
2:43 p.m.
Sergei Prokofiev
Romeo & Juliet: Dance of the Knights Opus 64
Toronto Symphony Orchestra; Jukka-Pekka Saraste, conductor
2:49 p.m.
Felix Mendelssohn
String Symphony No. 6 in Eb major
Heidelberg Symphony; Thomas Fey, conductor
3:01 p.m.
Arcangelo Corelli
Concerto Grosso No. 7 in D major Opus 6
Tafelmusik; Jeanne Lamon, conductor
3:11 p.m.
Steve Howe
Aire para un Dia (Mood for a Day)
Los Angeles Guitar Quartet
3:17 p.m.
Hamilton Harty
John Field Suite
Ulster Orchestra; Bryden Thomson, conductor
3:38 p.m.
John Field
Piano Concerto No. 3: III. Rondo - Tempo di Polacca in Eb major
London Mozart Players; Matthias Bamert, conductor Miceal O'Rourke, piano
3:51 p.m.
Johann Strauss, Jr.
Blue Danube Waltz Opus 314
Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Fritz Reiner, conductor
4:00 p.m.
Ethel Smyth
THE WRECKERS: Overture
Scottish National Orchestra; Alexander Gibson, conductor
4:11 p.m.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major BWV 1068
La Petite Bande; Sigiswald Kuijken, conductor
4:33 p.m.
Bear McCreary
Battlestar Galactica: Dreilide Thrace Sonata No. 1
Bear McCreary, piano
4:38 p.m.
Paul Hindemith
Symphonic Metamorphosis: IV. March
San Francisco Symphony; Herbert Blomstedt, conductor Randall Goosby, violin
4:44 p.m.
Earl Wild
Grand Fantasie on Porgy and Bess: Summertime (After G. Gershwin)
San Francisco Symphony; Herbert Blomstedt, conductor Isata Kanneh-Mason, piano
4:49 p.m.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Clarinet Concerto - third movement in A major K 622
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields; Neville Marriner, conductor Karl Leister, clarinet
4:59 p.m.
Franz Liszt
Piano Concerto No. 1 in Eb major
Boston Symphony Orchestra; Seiji Ozawa, conductor Krystian Zimerman, piano
5:19 p.m.
John Williams
E.T. The Extra Terrestial: Flying Theme
London Symphony Orchestra; John Williams, conductor
5:24 p.m.
Franz Joseph Haydn
Symphony No. 101 "Clock" in D major
Orchestra of St. Luke's; Charles Mackerras, conductor
5:52 p.m.
Alexander Zhuk
Ukrainian Rhapsody
Anna Shelest, piano
6:00 p.m.
Ethel Smyth
String Quartet in E minor
Mannheim String Quartet
6:43 p.m.
Gerardo Matos Rodriguez
La Cumparsita (Tango)
Xuefei Yang, guitar
6:46 p.m.
George Friederich Handel
Solomon: Arrival of the Queen of Sheba
Los Angeles Guitar Quartet
6:51 p.m.
Lou Harrison
Suite for Violin with American Gamelan: II. Estampie
Boston Modern Orchestra Project; Gil Rose, conductor Gabriela Diaz, violin
6:56 p.m.
William Grant Still
Suite for Violin and Piano: III. Gamin
Randall Goosby, violin; Zhu Wang, piano
