2010: September - October

Dear WWUH Listener

On we go into the Fall....WWUH continues to be there for you with music and public affairs 24/7.  We hope you continue to enjoy our varied and eclectic programming. There have been a few changes as noted below with our programming and hosts which is really a wonderful thing to hear. Stay tuned for more information on our Fall Fund Raiser, coming to your airwaves in mid October. You will be able to pledge over the phone or online. Feedback is always welcome at wwuh@hartford.edu

A few other links that you may want to bookmark are:
WWUH History and Our On Line Playlist.

Blue Monday

9 PM to midnight
hosted by Bart Bozzi

Tune in to Blue Monday during September and October 2010 for the following features:

Featured Artist

September 6                          James Cotton

September 13                        Studebaker John

September  27                       David Maxwell

October  11                            Tab Benoit                  

October  18                            Popa Chubby       

October 25                             Cathy Jean

Back to the Roots

September 6                          Delta Blues

September 13                        Kansas City  Blues

September 27                        New Orleans Blues

October  11                            Women Singers

October  18                            British Blues

October 25                            Alabama Blues

Tune in as we also go back in my blues history, featuring a cut I aired 20 and 10 years ago on my weekly blues shows previously aired on Overnight Blues and Blue Monday.

Join me as we explore the diverse and interesting world of "the blues" every Monday night at 9 PM on WWUH's long running blues show, "Blue Monday."

Changes to our Lineup

We have had a few show host changes over the last month or so...Change is good so please welcome our new hosts and note the veteran hosts who have changed show times. We are excited about the changes and additions to our programming.

Additions:
Monday Morning Jazz, 9am-noon
Harvey

Harvey returns to his regular Monday timeslot (the one he was hosting thru most of the 1990's), with another decade full of experience on the jazz scene.

Recently heard on Harvey's show: Milt Jackson, Mal Waldron, Abbey Lincoln

Monday Synthesis, 1-4pm
(Watch this Space)
Susan Forbes Hansen

Susan Forbes Hansen has been an announcer on the local airwaves and a presence on the local folk scene for decades, always keeping a ear out for the next great singer, songwriter or performer.  Watch this Space is her first regular weekly show for UH Radio, after filling in on FM on Toast many a morning and organizing and recording our folkphone announcements.

Recently heard on Susan's show: Cheryl Wheeler, Eliza Gilkyson, Natalie Merchant

Tuesday Accent on Jazz, 9pm-midnight
Stuart Feldman

Stuart Feldman returns to a weekly show after decades off, but never lost touch with our local jazz scene.  He brings his love and commitment to the music every Tuesday night!

Recently heard on Stuart's show: Gil Scott Heron, Regina Carter, John Scofield

Wednesday Synthesis, 1-4pm
Fender Lee Decker

FLD has been a go-to fill-in guy on Rock and Free Form shows for years at UH Radio, and is finally able to do a regular show!  Listen for the loud, the noisy, the strange, the sublime and the ridiculous every Wednesday afternoon!

Recently heard on FLD's show: The Brothers Johnson, Flaming Lips, Thom Yorke

Wednesday Gothic Blimp Works, WedPM/ ThuAM - Midnight-3am
Planet Earth
Greg Banks

Every week, Greg Banks welcomes you to Planet Earth, a place with musical worlds yet unexplored.  Listen for pop, jazz, rock, reggae, afro-beat, samba, calypso and more!

Recently heard on Greg's show: Mighty Sparrow, David Byrne, Playatown All Stars

Thursday Synthesis, 1-4pm
Call It Thing
Moondog

Moondog (aka Kevin O'Toole) moves to the daylight (after a brief stint on Monday Synthesis) with the Call It Thing show, "your weekly load of guff."  Every week, Moondog ravages WWUH's big fat library to bring you a show of random delights!

Recently heard on Moondog's show: Sleigh Bells, Galactic, Amos Milburn

Thursday Gothic Blimp Works ThuPM/ FriAM- Midnight to 3am
Rock Ministry Radio
Jimmy Donuts

Every week, Jimmy Donuts brings you a baker's dozen or three of thrashmetalpunkingROCK!  Caution: May break leases and eardrums!

Heard recently on Jimmy's show: AFI, We Came as Romans, Since October

Friday Gothic Blimp Works, FriPM/ SatAM- Midnight to 3am
Underground Radio
John Scott

"Captain" John Scott moves to his new slot after more than two decades on Sunday Gothic Blimp Works.  John is an experienced performer, musician and announcer, who, along with his long radio experience, has hosted many an open mic.  Also, unique among announcers at UH: He wrote his own theme song, which he performs live at the beginning of each show every week!

Heard recently on John Scott's show: Roy Buchanan, Loggins and Messina, Iron Butterfly

Notable departures:

As mentioned in a previous program guide, we sadly lost a wonderful friend, a great musician and a very dedicated volunteer when Dean Hildebrandt, longtime host of Monday Morning Jazz passed away in the spring.  He is still missed.

Eugene Hazanov, longtime host of Wednesday Synthesis, with his Ear Stretcher program, retired from his weekly show this past spring as well, also mentioned in a previous guide article.  His show is missed by fans of progressive rock and outré sounds.

Abe has moved on from his A-to-Z show this spring as well, where he rocked the airwaves on Wednesday nights.

Mike Marti commenced his retirement from Monday Synthesis, with his Marti Party, on his July 5th show.  Fans will miss his mix of pop musics from the late 40's thru the mid-60's, as well as his quizzes about pop music history.  He promises to stay active as a volunteer here at UH.

Jazzy Jayne retired from Tuesday Accent on Jazz in July, taking with her a unique passion for jazz and its' best up-and-coming musicians... as well as her theme song, "My Romance", in many unique iterations.  She still stays active behind our scenes.

Kevin Lamkins left his Thursday Synthesis slot in August, where he held court with Riot Radio every Thursday afternoon.  Kevin Lamkins continues to co-produce Radio Active, heard every Wednesday at noon here on UH Radio.

Notes from Celtic Airs

      Tommy Sands, and the rest of the musical Sands family are from Rostrevor, County Down, in Northern Ireland. The entire family is extremely talented, but it is Tommy who has achieved legendary status in his own lifetime. The magical, musical genes of the Sands family have now emerged in another generation; Tommy's very talented son Fionan and daughter Moya are his touring companions. The three of them will appear at the University of Hartford's Wilde Auditorium on Friday October 15th at 7:30 PM.

      Tommy is a singer, songwriter and social activist who has performed for enraptured crowds from New York's Carnegie Hall to Moscow's Olympic Stadium. His songwriting has been widely acclaimed. Noted Irish poet laureate Seamus Heaney said "with Tommy Sands, you know you can trust the singer AND the song!" Pete Seeger, America's father of folk music, opined "Tommy Sands achieves that difficult but wonderful balance between knowing and loving the traditions of his home place while showing concern for the future of the whole word." The well-respected U.S. magazine Sing Out proclaimed "Tommy Sands is one of the most important songwriters in Ireland if not the rest of the world."

        Tommy's best known song, "There Were Roses", is certainly one of the best ever written about the "Irish Troubles." The Belfast Telegram called it "a gentle song by a gentle man that rings out above the tumult and shouting that too often draw our attention." In the same spirit of social, political and religious harmony, Tommy recorded an album of songs written with Protestant and Catholic children, telling of their experiences in the towns and villages of Northern Ireland where they live. 

       The songs of Tommy Sands are special in that they deal with serious subjects, but come across as inspiring songs rather than brow-beating sermons. He's certainly not averse to injecting some wry humor as well. His songs have been translated into many languages and performed by other well known artists. Yet he knows a good song when he hears one and has recorded some fine versions of the works of other writers. John Stewart, a member of The Kingston Trio, says the version of their "Where Have All the Flowers Gone" recoded by Tommy Sands and Dolores Keane is "the best version ever recorded. It's absolutely chilling."

       "Tommy Sands is a richly talented performer" to quote The Boston Globe. Earl Hitchener of The Irish  Echo  and The Wall Street Journal said "A Tommy Sands concert is at once stirring and spellbinding." Don't miss your chance to see a living legend, when Tommy, Fionan and Moya Sands perform a benefit concert for WWUH Radio Friday, October 15th at 7:30 PM in the Wilde Auditorium.

        Tickets for the WWUH /Celtic Airs concert series are only available from the University of Hartford Box Office, open 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM Monday through Friday. Call 1-800-274-8587 or 860-768-4228. You can purchase on line at any time by going to www.hartford.edu/hartt.

         Celtic Airs, now in it's 18th year, is heard exclusively on WWUH 91.3FM every Tuesday morning from 6:00 to 9:00 AM. I do my best to mix the latest Celtic releases with plenty of your favorites from the past. You'll also hear about our upcoming concerts and sample music from the featured performers. Thank you for supporting WWUH, Celtic Airs and the Celtic Airs concert series. Your comments and requests are always welcome!

                                                            Steve Dieterich, Producer/Host of Celtic Airs

Sunday Afternoon at the Opera

Your Lyric Theater Program
With Keith Brown
Programming Selections for
September and October 2010

Sunday September 5th:Taylor,Peter Ibbestson Joseph Deems Taylor (1885 - 1966). Ever heard of him? As composer and music critic he loomed large on the American classical music scene in the first half of the twentieth century. (He made his home in Stamford, Connecticut.) It was Deems Taylor who narrated Walt Disney's Fantasia. The Met had long been eager to produce new operas by American composers. In 1912 the Metropolitan Opera began to sponsor a competition, but the entries of various big names like Victor Herbert and Yale's Hortorio Parkers all fizzled out. Deems Taylor was offered a commission from the Met that resulted in The King's Henchmen (1927), with a libretto by Edna St. Vincent Millay. Building on its critical success, Taylor composed Peter Ibbetson (1931), based on a novel by the Victorian British author George du Maurier. Peter Ibbetson pleased the public enormously. The box office take from revivals up to 1936 helped keep the Met in business during the hard times of the Great Depression. The opera had been rather poorly recorded from a 1934 broadcast. A CD transfer of it is available from the Immortal Performances label, so Naxos Records cannot rightly claim that its 2009 compact disc release of Peter Ibbetson is a world premiere recording. That recording was made in 1999 with Gerard Schwarz conducting the Seattle Symphony and Symphony Chorus. On this Sunday of the Labor Day holiday weekend, you listeners have a golden opportunity to become acquainted with a melodic and beautifully crafted American operatic classic.

 

Sunday September 12th:Gluck, Iphigenie auf Tauris. More properly titled in French, Iphigenie en Tauride (1779), this is the last of Christoph Willibald Gluck's reform operas. In it he perfected all the elements of his concept of the neoclassical operatic tragedy: no secco recitative at all, well integrated scenes with no set-piece da capo arias to impede the dramatic action, a high-minded treatment of human emotion and a noble subject drawn from Greco-Roman lore - all that packaged, as it were, in a chaste, truly "classical" musical idiom. We know this opera lately through recordings made in the style of historically informed performance practice. Back on Sunday, April 29, 2001 I broadcast one such from Telarc employing the crack period instrument ensemble Boston Baroque, under the direction of Martin Pearlman. Before that, on Sunday, February 23, 1992 came the PHILIPS CD set that captured the 1985 staged revival at Lyon. John Eliot Gardiner, the renowned English specialist in eighteenth century repertoire, leads his own Monteverdi Choir and the Orchestre de l'Opera de Lyon. So is there any compelling reason to listen to old and stylistically outmoded interpretations of Gluck's masterpieces? Yes, absolutely, for the wonderful singing of historic voices captured on tape. From the archives of West German Radio of Cologne comes a newly released Capriccio CD set of a 1956 monaural airtape from the Funkhous studio Hall. Joseph Keilberth conducted the Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. Our Iphigenia is soprano Hilde Zadek, her brother Orestes, is baritone Hermann Prey, and Pilades is a very young rising star tenor Nicolai Gedda. Sung in German language translation.

 

Sunday September 19th:Donizetti, Maria Stuarda. It was only a few months ago on Sunday, May 16th that I presented this opera in a new Naxos CD set of a live-in-performance recording from the 2007 Sferisterio Opera Festival in Macerata, Italy, starring soprano Maria Pia Piscitelli in the title role. In my published notes for that broadcast I mentioned that following the 1958 revival of Maria Stuadra (1834) after almost a century of neglect the diva Joan Sutherland made the title role her own and helped to reintroduce the works of Donizetti and the bel canto period into the international operatic repertoire. I then realized that our WWUH classical music record library has Sutherland's 1976 Decca/London LP recording of  Maria Stuarda which I had never previously broadcast. This Sunday you get to hear Sutherland's incomparable voice and her take on the character, and so you will understand why all succeeding sopranos in the revived bel canto style are to be measured against her. Sutherland's husband Richard Bonynge conducts the orchestra and chorus of the Teatro Communale, Bologna. Maria Pia Piscitelli may indeed have competently handled the role of Mary Queen of Scots and its taxing bel canto vocal acrobatics, but she is but a pale reflection of Sutherland's glory. And as if her voice isn't enough, she is paired with the late, great superstar tenor Luciano Pavarotti as Leichester.

 

Sunday September 26th:Rossini, Guglielmo Tell. Recordings of historic interest are always included in the mix of lyric theater programming. One particularly interesting three LP boxed set in the Turnabout/Vox Historical Series has been in our station's classical music record library since it's year  of reissue, 1977. This is a 1951 monaural recordingof Rossini's last opera Guglielmo Tell (1829). Some of the most renowned names an Italian opera in the immediate post WWII period took part in the Radio Italiana tapings: baritone Giuseppe Taddei as the Swiss patriot William Tell, mezzosoprano Miti Truccato-Pace as his wife Hedwig, soprano Graziella Sciutti as Tell's son Jemmy, and basso Giorgio Tozzi as the hero's Comrade Walter Fuerst. Mario Rossi conducts the orchestra and chorus of Italian Radio of Turin. The original libretto of "William Tell" was in French and it premiered in Paris. For this recording the opera was sung in Italian language translation. These vinyl discs last got an outing on this program on Sunday, October 18, 1992.

 

Sunday October 3rdGounod, Romeo et Juliette. Charles Gounod's Romeo et Juliette (1867) comes at the apex of the composer's career. It was an enormously popular success, but was preceded by two operatic failures. The score exists in several versions. Modern productions of this work usually combine the best elements of the Opera Comique and Grand Opera versions. This French lyric adaptation of Shakespeare ignores one important point in the original play: the Capulets and Montagues are left hanging without reconciliation after the death of the two lovers. Two years ago at this season I broadcast a classic 1968 recording ofRomeo et Juliette, released on EMI/Angel stereo LPs, with Alain Lombard leading the chorus and orchestra of the Paris Opera. (The opera was taken up into the Paris Opera's repertoire in 1888, with revisions.) Tenor Franco Corelli was heard as Romeo, opposite soprano Mirella Freni as Juliette. Today I offer up another EMI/Angel release from a decade later. In this 1978 recording Michel Plasson directs the Orchestra du Capitole de Toulouse. Our Romeo this time is Alfredo Kraus, our Juliette, Catherine Malfitano. The supporting cast is distinguished: bass José van Dam as Friar Lawrence, bass Gabriel Bacquier as Juliette's father, baritone Gino Quilico as Romeo's friend Mercutio, and mezzo Jocelyne Taillon as Juliette's nurse. I last broadcast these three vinyl discs way back on Sunday, May 12, 1985.

 

Sunday october 10th:Mozart, Idomeneo. This is Mozart's first mature masterwork of opera, first staged at Munich in 1781. You listeners got to hear it in its musically complete form with concluding ballet sequence, performed in historically informed style, on Sunday, October 16, 1994. John Eliot Gardiner directed his own period instrumental group the English Baroque Soloists and the Monteverdi Choir for a 1991 DG Archiv issue on three compact discs. Thinking of that 1956 recording of Gluck's Iphigenie auf Tauris which you heard last month, I had also previously broadcast a vintage old-style recorded performance of Idomeneo from the 1964 Glyndebourne Festival (Sunday, February 28, 1993). It featured the voices of soprano Gundula Janowitz in the title role and the young superstar tenor Luciano Pavarotti as Idamante. The recording venue was given as the Royal Albert Hall, London. I cautioned listeners in these notes about hissy pre-dolby sound quality. Verona Records gave us that earlier CD transfer of the Glyndebourne Idomeneo, the one of a BBC airtape of a live performance. Now, however, a different recording in better digital transfer of the '64 Glyndebourne production has just been offered to the public through the famous opera festival's own record label. The performers are exactly the same as in the Albert Hall taping. John Pritchard directed the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Glyndebourne Chorus. This live-in-performance recording was made on August 14, '64 in the hall John Chirsite built for the opera festivals on his Sussex estate. We can thank the late audio engineer John Barnes for the high quality of the original sound ofIdomeneo and that of so many other Glyndebourne performances he carefully preserved over the course of decades. Beethoven'sFidelio as you heard it on this program on Sunday, November 15, 2009 was his last recording, from the 2006 festival. The new Glyndebourne house label has brought forth some audio treasures on silver disc. I look forward to more releases from Glyndebournes' archive.

 

Sunday october 17th:Bellini, Il Pirata. Vincenzo Bellini's third opera, written at the relatively slender age of 25, was Il Pirata (1827). It was his first major success upon the stage and laid the foundation of his career as Italy's foremost composer of the bel canto era. The premiere production at La Scala furthermore established his reputation internationally as the great Rossini's successor. As a lyric theater work Il Pirata contains so many of the requisite elements of the gothic novel genre so popular across Europe in that period. It was first revived in the modern times in 1935 upon the centenary of Bellini's death. That revival in Rome was followed by a  production at Catania in Sicily, the composer's birthplace, in 1951. But it really took off in the general revival of the bel canto style in the twentieth century when Maria Callas and Franco Corelli sang it in 1958 at La Scala. Callas sang it again at Carnegie Hall in concert version. Then it was the Spanish diva Montserrat Caballe's turn in the role of Imogene, also in a New York production, in 1966. Caballe seized upon the role and took part in the first complete recording of Il Pirata for EMI/Angel (1971). She sang opposite her fellow Spaniard tenor Bernabé Marti as Gualtiero. Gianandrea Gavazzeni lead the chorus and orchestra of Radiotelevisione Italiana, Rome, for the studio tapings. On Sunday, October 15, 1995 I broadcast a then brand-new Berlin Classics CD release of Il Pirata with soprano Lucia Aliberti as Imogene. This Sunday we return to Madame Caballé and the three disc Angel LP set I aired on October 8, 1994.

 

Sunday october 24th:Monteverdi, L'Incoronazione di Poppea. Recent musicological research into opera in the earlier baroque period has altered everything we thought we knew about this particular work. Over time Monteverdi's name became attached to it because he was so famous and so revered, but he probably didn't write it, or wrote only a few bits of its score, and perhaps had a hand in its first staging in Venice in 1643. The score almost certainly is a composite of musical numbers composed by Monteverdi students and younger colleagues, notably Francesco Cavalli (1602 - 76) and Francesco Scarati (1605 - 50). Even the true title of the opera was different. The infamous Roman Emperor Nero, or Nerone, took precedence over his wife Poppea, whose name appears in its subtitle. Any recorded interpretation of an opera from the dawn of the baroque is necessarily a reconstruction. Early opera composers never wrote out the music in full scoring. Usually it was just the vocal and continuo bass lines with no specific instrumentation. Claudio Cavina and the singers and players of La Venexiana made a decision to work from one of only two surviving scores ofNerone, the one found in Naples in the 1920s. (Cavalli left to posterity his own copy of Nerone, which differs at many points from the 1653 Naples bound manuscript.) Women's voices are substituted for the male castrati singing parts, but the proper baroque tessitura of all the voices, male or female, is otherwise respected. The instrumental ensemble is small: one-to-a-part baroque bowed strings, theorbos guitar, and harpsichord taking up the continuo, plus a small positive organ sparingly employed. Venexiana have inserted several brief sinfonias between scenes, one of which is indeed a reworking of a Monteverdi piece. The Spanish Glossa label released Nerone/Poppea earlier this year in a three-CD set. This will be the fourth time I have broadcast "The Coronation of Poppea" over a quarter of a century. Its libretto is derived from the Latin writer Tacitus dealing with one of the sleaziest chapters in Roman history. Nero's mistress Poppea was the worst sort of conniver. Only old Seneca, the playwright, comes off as a truly noble Roman, and he gets done away with!

 

Sunday october 31st:Boughton, The Immortal Hour. Rutland Boughton's The Immortal Hour (1914) ran for a thousand performances between 1922 and '25: that's the longest run of any "serrous" opera in operatic history! The opera was revived again and again until 1932. Then it disappeared for half a century. The composer, who also wrote a pentology of operas on the legend of King Arthur, died in obscurity in 1960. Perhaps it's fairy magic that explains the extraordinary popularity (for a while) of what should be regarded as a classic of the English lyric stage.The Immortal Hour is steeped in pagan Irish mythology and partakes of that "Celtic Twilight" that the poet W.B. Yeats envisioned. Those interested in Wiccan lore are sure to like it. For that reason I have once again programmed this enchantingly beautiful fairy opera at Halloween, the ancient Celtic holiday known in Gaelic asSamhain. On that enchanted evening the Sidhe or Fairy Folk hold their hostings. Twice before I have broadcast the 1983 world premiere recording ofThe Immortal Hour for the UK label Hyperion, first in LP format way back on Sunday, October 28, 1984 and then again in CD reissue on the same date in 1990. Alan Melville conducts the English Chamber Orchestra and Geoffrey Mitchell Choir.

For the Labor Day Sunday broadcast I borrowed the Naxos recording of Deems Taylor's Peter Ibbetson from Rob Meehan, former classics deejay at WWUH. So many times over the years he has loaned me items from his huge collection of mostly twentieth century "alternative" classical music. I thank him once again as always for his contribution to this two month period of programming. Rutland Boughton's The Immortal Hour comes out of my own collection. Thanks also to Vickie Hadge of Virtually Done by Vickie for the preparation of these notes for publication.

Thursday Evening Classics

Composer Capsules for
September and October 2010
Presented by Steve Petke

September 30
Johan Svendsen

Birth: September 30, 1840 in Christiania, Norway

Death: June 14, 1911 in Copenhagen, Denmark

Johan Svendsen was the first great Norwegian symphonic composer, as well as one of the leading conductors of his day. Next to Edvard Grieg, he was the most prominent figure in Norwegian music life at the end of the 1800s.  Svendsen's father played in a regimental band, and gave Johan his first music lessons. Svendsen's principle instrument was the violin, but he also played the flute and the clarinet. He was only 11 years old when he wrote his first violin compositions. At the age of fifteen, he was drafted into the army, where he started as a soldier, but soon transferred to the military band. As a youth, he played in dance bands and the Christiania Theatre orchestra. Exposure to Beethoven's symphonies ignited further interest in composing. In December 1863 he began to study at the music conservatory in Leipzig. He made rapid progress, and by the time he left the conservatory in 1867, he had already written some of his finest compositions. However, critics in Leipzig were not very receptive to new his musical ideas. Svendsen returned to Norway where a concert of his own music drew praise in a review by Grieg. Local response, however, was less enthusiastic and Svendsen traveled back to Leipzig and then Paris, where performances of his works were frequent. Svendsen returned to Norway in 1872 to share directorship of the Christiana Music Society concerts with Grieg. Despite some government support, Svendsen accepted a lucrative and influential position as kapellmeister at the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen. He traveled widely, meeting and working with Pasdeloup, Saint-Saëns, Sarasate, and even cultivating a friendship with Wagner. His international reputation continued until illness forced him to cease performing in 1908.

Sir Charles Villiers Stanford

Birth: September 30, 1852 in Dublin, Ireland

Death: March 29, 1924 in London, England

Above and beyond his own compositions, Charles Villiers Stanford had the most profound effect on several generations of British composers. His pupils read as a veritable "who's who" of 20th century British composers - Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Gustav Holst, Ralph Vaughan Williams, John Ireland, Frank Bridge, Arthur Bliss, Charles Wood and Herbert Howells. Stanford was the only son of John Stanford, examiner in the Court of Chancery (Dublin) and clerk of the Crown, County Meath. Both parents were accomplished amateur musicians; his father sang bass and his mother was a pianist. Charles received a thorough musical and academic education, studying at Henry Tilney Bassett's school in Dublin and taking private lessons in piano, organ and composition. In 1870 he won a scholarship to Queens' College, Cambridge. In 1874 he earned a B.A. in music, having already been appointed both organist at Trinity College and conductor of a number of University choral societies. After graduating from Queen's College, Stanford traveled to the continent for further studies, working with Carl Reinecke in Leipzig for almost two years and later with Joachim's associate Friedrich Kiel in Berlin. By the time of Stanford's return to London in the late 1870s his reputation as one of the leading British composers of the day was secure, and a number of his large compositions were premiered during the following 10 years. Stanford was appointed to the faculty of the new Royal College of Music in 1882, and further honored when he was made a professor at Cambridge University in 1887. He was conductor of the Leeds Philharmonic Society from 1897 to 1909, and of the Leeds Festival from 1901 to 1910. He was knighted in 1902, and remained a prominent figure in Great Britain until his death in 1924. He is regarded as the greatest British composer of sacred music since Henry Purcell. His instrumental works include seven symphonies, six Irish Rhapsodies for orchestra, several works for organ, concertos for violin, cello, clarinet, and piano, and many chamber compositions, including eight string quartets. He also composed songs, part-songs, madrigals, operas and incidental music.

October 14
Alexander von Zemlinsky

Birth: October 14, 1871 in Vienna, Austria

Death: March 15, 1942 in Larchmont, NY

Although he was a highly gifted composer, Alexander Zemlinsky is today better remembered as the man who taught both Arnold Schoenberg and Erich Wolfgang Korngold than for his own works. Alexander studied the piano from a young age. He played the organ in his synagogue on holidays, and was later admitted to the Vienna Conservatory. He joined the Vienna Composer's Society in 1893. Zemlinsky also met Arnold Schoenberg when the latter joined Polyhymnia, an orchestra in which he played cello and helped found in 1895. The two became close friends - and later mutual admirers and brothers in law when Schoenberg married his sister, Mathilde. Zemlinsky gave Schoenberg lessons in counterpoint, thus becoming the only formal music teacher Schoenberg would have. Zemlinsky's Piano Trio had already received the approval of Johannes Brahms, who recommended the work to Simrock for publication, and his Viennese reputation was furthered by the successful premiere of his Symphony No. 2 and by Mahler's presentation of his opera Es war einmal in 1900. Zemlinsky served as Kapellmeister at the Carltheater in Vienna from 1899 until his appointment as Kapellmeister at the Volksoper in 1906. From 1911 until 1927 he worked in Prague as opera conductor of the Deutsches Landestheater, where he gave the premiere of Schoenberg's Erwartung in 1924. Zemlinsky then moved to Berlin, where he taught and worked under Otto Klemperer as a conductor at the Kroll Opera. With the rise of the Nazi Party, he fled to Vienna in 1933, where he held no official post, instead concentrating on composing and making occasional appearances as guest conductor. In 1938 he moved to the United States and settled in New York City. While fellow émigré Schoenberg was celebrated and feted in the Los Angeles of the 1930s and 40s, Zemlinsky was neglected and virtually unknown in his adopted country. While his early music bears the influence of Brahms, by the turn of the century Zemlinsky had adopted a more progressive Wagnerian chromaticism. As the Schoenberg circle's innovations during the early decades of the 20th century grew more and more daring, however, Zemlinsky responded with an increased belief in the value of tonality.

October 21
Sir Malcolm Arnold

Birth: October 21, 1921 in Northampton, England

Death: September 23, 2006 in Norwich, England

Sir Malcolm Arnold was perhaps the most versatile and prolific of the British composers of the second half of the 20th century. He trained as a composer and trumpeter at the Royal College of Music from 1938-1941, after which he earned a trumpet position with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. After promotion to principal trumpet in 1942, Arnold's career was interrupted by two years of military service. Arnold returned to the London Philharmonic in 1946, but soon found that composition was increasingly capturing his musical attention. Upon receiving the Mendelssohn scholarship in 1948, Arnold resigned from the orchestra to devote himself to composition on a full-time basis. Arnold's output over the next 50 years was prodigious: nine symphonies, seven ballets, two operas, one musical, over twenty concertos, two string quartets, music for brass-band and wind-band, and a seemingly inexhaustible supply of smaller pieces for all kinds of ensembles. He also wrote over 100 film scores, among these are some of the finest works ever composed for the medium, including the Oscar-winningBridge on the River Kwai, Inn of the Sixth Happiness, Hobson's Choice, and Whistle Down the Wind. Named Commander of the British Empire in 1970, he was further honored in 1993 as Knight of the British Empire. His music defies identification with the various "schools" of composition of the 20th century. Arnold cited Berlioz and Sibelius as his primary musical influences. His most popular works have a global audience and his finest works, the nine symphonies, are available in numerous recordings including complete cycles on the Chandos, Decca and Naxos labels. Malcolm Arnold's music continues to be performed and recorded extensively by leading orchestras both nationally and internationally. His work in musical education has been impressive and consistent, too. He helped establish and support, through the writing of works and fundraising, the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain.

October 28
Howard Hanson

Birth: October 28, 1896 in Wahoo, NE

Death: February 26, 1981 in Rochester, NY

After boyhood lessons on the piano, Howard Hanson attended the Luther Academy and College, then studied at the Institute of Musical Arts (later the Juilliard School) and at Northwestern University. In 1916 Hanson became an instructor at the College of the Pacific. His teaching and administrative talents soon became evident, and in 1919 he was made dean of the College of Music at the age of 23. Hanson won an American Prix de Rome in 1921 and spent the next two years in Rome studying with Ottorino Respighi. His most important compositions from this period were the Symphony #1 "Nordic" and Lament for Beowulf for chorus and orchestra. Throughout his career, Hanson's compositions reflected the strong influence of Jean Sibelius, and to a lesser extent, Palestrina and Bach. Upon his return to the United States, Hanson was appointed head of the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester at the age of 28. Under the composer's guidance over the course of more than four decades, Eastman became one of the world's preeminent educational institutions. During his tenure there Hanson composed prolifically. He also embarked on a career as a conductor, proving himself one of the great champions of American music. Hanson also commercially recorded a number of modern works in a series for the Mercury label in the 1950s, drawing much attention to otherwise neglected repertoire. Hanson's most characteristic works are undoubtedly his seven symphonies. The Symphony #2 "Romantic", remains Hanson's best-known work, a characteristic realization of the lush, Romantic aesthetic with which he is closely associated. Among Hanson's other significant compositions are the opera, Merry Mount, commissioned in 1934 by the Metropolitan Opera. Other works include a Piano Concerto, Three Songs from Drum Taps, The Song of Democracy, Concerto for Organ, Strings, and Harp, and New Land, New Covenant, commissioned for the 1976 Bicentennial. He was one of the founders, and later the president, of the National Association of Schools of Music, whose main purpose was to raise the standards of university and conservatory musical training. He also served as president of the Music Teachers' National Association, as a director of the Music Educators' National Conference, and as musical consultant to the U.S. State Department. One of Hanson's most significant achievements was the 1925 founding of the annual Festival of American Music, which featured the works of many American composers of all styles.

WWUH Classical Programming

September

Wed

1

Wagenseil: Concerto in A Major; Mozart: Violin Concerto # 4; Fibich: Symphony #1; Lambert: Lecons Tenebres; Albinoni: Oboe Concerto

Thu

2

Steve’s Favorites.  An annual indulgence in which your host shares some favorite recordings.Beethoven: Overtures; Telemann: Concerto for Flute, Oboe d'amore & Viola d'amore in E; Mozart: Divertimenti for Strings K. 136-138; Elgar: Chanson de Nuit, Chanson de Matin; Schubert: Fantasia in f D940; Couperin: Lecons de Ténèbres;

Classical Happy Hour -Dvorak: Slavonic Dances Op. 46; Sibelius: Karelia Suite Op.11.

Fri

3

Music of Harry Partch

Sun

5

Deems Taylor: Peter Ibbetson

Mon

6

"Labor Day" - Carpenter: Adventures in a Perambulator; Porter: Anything Goes; Moore: The Pageant of P. T. Barnum;

Drake's Village Brass Band - Summertime Band Concert #5 "The Grand Finale"

Tue

7

Brahms: Symphony #3 in F major, op.90 and Symphony #4 in E minor, op. 98 as well as a classical film score and newly received classical releases

Wed

8

De Wert: Missa Domincalis; Shostakovich: Chamber Symphony; Del Aguila: Salon Buenos Aires; Grieg: Symphonic Dances; Kennis: Sonata # 1

Thu

9

Music by composers born on September 9 - Cererols, Frescobaldi, Pezel, Tull, Donizetti: String Quartet #17

Fri

10

Music for the Jewish High Holy Days

Sun

12

Gluck: Iphigenie auf Tauris

Mon

13

Foote: Francesca da Rimini, 4 Character Pieces after the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam; Herbert: Serenade for Strings; Chadwick: Symphonic Sketches; Gloria Cheng: Piano Dances a 20th Century Portrait;

Drake's Village Brass Band  - Canadian Brass - Echoes of Gabrielli

Tue

14

Coleridge-Taylor: Clarinet Quintet; Hindemith: Symphonic Metamorphoses; Elgar: Violin Concerto;
Penderecki: Credo

Wed

15

Cimarosa: Overtures; Moulu: Missa Alma Redemptoris: Scriabin: Piano Sonata #1;

Corigliano: Troubadors; Gregorio: Coplanar 5

Thu

16

Bernstein: Suite from “On the Waterfront”; Korngold: String Sextet; Mendelssohn: Choruses from Elijah; Wagner: America Centennial March and Rule Britannia; Faure: Pavane and Pelleas & Melisande; Bizet: Jeux d’Enfants; Bolcom: Ghost Rag and others; Berlioz: Overtures and Nuits d’Ete; Puccini: Messa di Gloria; Parry: Lady Radnor’s Suite; Bridge: Suite for String Orchestra.

Fri

17

Host’s choice – guest host tonight

Sun

19

Donizetti: Maria Stuarda

Mon

20

City Life - Mckinley: Boston Overture; Duke: Hommage to Boston; Ibert: Bostiana; Copland: Music for a Great City; Daugherty: Brooklyn Bridge; Reich: City Life

Drake's Village Brass Band  Sparke: A Pittsburgh Symphony; Harbison: Three City Blocks; Schuman: George Washington Bridge

Tue

21

Music by composers born in 1810: Robert Schumann, Frédéric Chopin, and Norbert Burgmüller

Wed

22

Beethoven:Symphony # 3; J. P. E. Hartmann: Corregio; Brahms: Hungarian Dances; De la Rue: Requiem

Thu

23

Bononcini: Sinfonias; Clemens non Papa: Motets; Miaskovsky: Symphony #8 in A Op. 26; Cazden: Sonata, Op. 53 #3; Arutunian: Trumpet Concerto in A Flat; Helps: Image

Fri

24

What’s that you’re playing?Music written for instruments not typically found in your symphony orchestra

Sun

26

Rossini: Guglielmo Tell

Mon

27

City Noir - Dello Joio: New York Profiles; Daugherty: Philadelphia Stories; Einem: Philadelphia  Symphony; Adams: City Noir; Part: Symphony #4 "Los Angeles"

Drake's Village Brass Band  - Penderecki: A Pittsburgh Overture; Husa:  Music for Prague

Tue

28

Music by composers born in 1810: Robert Schumann, Frédéric Chopin, and Norbert Burgmüller (continued)

Wed

29

Rubenstein:Akrostychen # 2; Von Wartensee: Symphony # 3; Schumann: Nachstucke; Willan: Missa Brevis # 4

Thu

30

Svendsen: Norwegian Artists' Carnival, Violin Concerto; Miaskovsky: Symphony #9 in e Op 26; Stanford: Clarinet Concerto, Three Motets; Cassado: Suite for Solo Cello; Silvestrov: Elegie

 

October

Fri

1

Music of Paul Dukas

Sun

3

Gounod: Romeo et Juliette

Mon

4

London Town - Bax: London Pageant; Gershwin: A Damsel in Distress; Coates: London Suite; Elgar: Cockaigne Overture (In London Town); Vaughan Williams: Symphony #2 "A London Symphony"; Coates: London Again Suite;

Drake's Village Brass Band  Sparke: A London Overture; Langford: London Miniatures; Parker: A Londoner in New York

Tue

5

Host's Choice

Wed

6

Dvorak: String Quartet in E Flat Major; Ramirez: Missa Criolla: Bax: Violin Sonata #3; Brun: Symphony # 3; Kuhnau: Sonata # 6

Thu

7

Bond: Concertos in D, A; Billings: Hymns; Molique: String Quartet #2; Manchicourt: Magnificat; Draeseke: Piano Concerto in E Flat Op 36;

Classical Happy Hour- Rossini: Piano Music; Myslivecek Symphonies in B Flat, D; Telemann: 3-Horns Concerto

Fri

8

Classical music goes ambient

Sun

10

Mozart: Idomeneo

Mon

11

Strauss: Symphonia Domestica; Mahler: Symphony #3

Tue

12

Enesco: Rumanian Rhapsody #1; Granados: Goyescas; Wieniawski: Violin Concerto #2; Rossini: Petite Messe Solennelle

Wed

13

Pleyel: String Quartet; Farrenc: Trio for Clarinet, Cello, and Piano; Grieg: Violin Sonata #1; Jacob: Missa Dei Filii; Haydn:  Symphony #87

Thu

14

Francaix: Les Malheurs de Sophie; Zemlinsky: Symphony #2 in B Flat; Iannaccone: Woodwind Quintet #2; Saariaho: Nuits Adieux; Bermel: Quartet; Vranicky: Symphony in C

Fri

15

Benjamin Britten’s Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra and Serenade for tenor, horn, and strings

Sun

17

Bellini: Il Pirata

Mon

18

Bolcom: Caberet Songs with Orchestra; Satie: Songs with Orchestra; Gould: American Symphonette #2 & 3, Interplay for Piano and Orchestra

Drake's Village Brass Band - Hovhaness: Symphonies # 7 & 14

Tue

19

Stamitz: Viola Concerto; Guridi: Sinfonia Pirenaica;
Meyer: Concerto for Cello & Double Bass; Rachmaninov: All-Night Vigil

Wed

20

Mozart: Piano Sonata in D; Mahler: Songs to Poems by Friedrich Ruckert: Guilmant:  Sonata #7; Thomas: String Quartet in E Minor; Tchaikovsky:Violin Concerto

Thu

21

Michael: Parthia #1; Canteloube: Triptyque; Ferguson: Violin Sonata #1 Op.2; Arnold: The Bridge on The River Kwai Suite, Three Shanties for Wind Quintet, The Padstow Lifeboat March; English Dances Op. 27; Shulamit Ran: Concerto da Camera II; Auerbach: Lonely Suite Op. 70

Fri

22

Pablo Casals performs and conducts

Sun

24

Monteverdi: L’incoronazione di Poppea

Mon

25

Monday Night at the Movies - Jaubert: Port of Shadows; Kosma: The Gates of Night, The Children of Paradies; North: Spartacus; Morely: Captain Nemo and the Underwater City

Drake's Village Brass Band -  Hanaford Street Silver Band - Heavy Metal

Tue

26

Music by composers born in 1710: Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Thomas Augustine Arne, and Wilhelm Friedemann Bach

Wed 27 Glinka: Trio in D Minor; Massenet: Piano Concerto; Anonymous: A Mass for the End of Time; Diabelli: Serenata Concertante; Schubert: Piano Sonata in D
Thu 28 Von Beecke: String Quartet in G; Hanson: Piano Concerto in C Op. 36; Carl Davis: Philharmonic Fanfare; Blake: Walking in the Air, A Month in the Country; Sandroff: Tephillah for Clarinet and Electronics
Fri 29 Halloween music - Philip Glass: Dracula and more
Sun 31 Rutland Boughton: The Immortal Hour

WWUH Scholarship Fund

In 2003 WWUH alums Steve Berian, Charles Horwitz and Clark Smidt helped create the WWUH Scholarship Fund to provide an annual grant to a UH student who is either on the station's volunteer Executive Committee or who is in a similar leadership position at the station. The grant amount each year will be one half of the revenue of the preceeding year.     

   To make a tax deductable donation either send a check to:

WWUH Scholarship Fund
c/o John Ramsey
Univ. of Hartford
200 Bloomfield Ave.
W. Hartford, CT 06117

Or call John at 860-768-4703 to arrange for a one-time or on-going donation via charge card.
  If you would like more information please contact us at wwuh@hartford.edu.