This is one of a series of postings of important classical music dates, from the 17th century to the present. Included are the date and location of the birth and death of composers, and the premiere date and location of the first public performance of works. When the premiere date and location is unknown, the date or year of completion of the work is given. Though reasonably comprehensive, this is a subjective list, so the choice of composers and works is mine. If you find any errors, or if you can offer a premiere date and location for a work where only the completion date or year is listed, please post a comment here.
1940 Dmitry Kabalevsky (1904-1987) completed The Comedians, op. 26
June 11 – Divertimento for string orchestra, Sz. 113 BB 118 by Béla Bartók (1881-1945) was first performed in Basel, Switzerland
July 1 – The Sea Hawk, with film score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957), was released
November 9 – Concierto de Aranjuez, for guitar and orchestra, by Joaquín Rodrigo (1901-1999) was first performed in Barcelona, Spain
November 16 – Violin Concerto in D minor by Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978) was first performed in Moscow, Russia
December 3 – Leokadiya Kashperova (1872-1940) died in Moscow, Russia
December 9 – Sextet for Piano and Winds (1939 revision), FP 100 by Francis Poulenc (1899-1963) was first performed in Paris, France
December 26 – Symphony No. 4, “Folk Song Symphony”, by Roy Harris (1898-1979) was first performed in Cleveland, Ohio
1941 January 3 – Symphonic Dances, op. 45 by Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) was first performed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
January 10 – Frank Bridge (1879-1941) died in Eastbourne, England
February 7 – Violin Concerto, op. 14 by Samuel Barber (1910-1981) was first performed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
March 24 – King Lear, with incidental music (op. 58a) by Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975), was first performed in Saint Petersburg, Russia
April 17 – Adolphus Hailstork (1941-) was born in Rochester, New York
June 21 – Masquerade Suite by Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978) was first performed in Moscow, Russia
June 26 – Warsaw Concerto by Richard Addinsell (1904-1977) premiered in the film Dangerous Moonlight
1942 Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) completed Song of the Brave, for tenor and piano, op. 89, no. 2
March 5 – Symphony No. 7, “Leningrad”, by Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) was first performed in Samara, Russia (Kuybyshev at that time)
April 16 – Second Essay for Orchestra, op. 17 by Samuel Barber (1910-1981) was first performed in New York, New York
June 11 – Geoffrey Toye (1889-1942) died in London, England
June 18 – Paul McCartney (1942-) was born in Liverpool, England
December 4 – A Ceremony of Carols, op. 28 by Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) was first performed (in its final form) in London, England
December 9 – Gayane, ballet by Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978) was first performed in Perm, Russia
1943 March 12 – Fanfare for the Common Man by Aaron Copland (1900-1990) was first performed in Cincinnati, Ohio
March 28 – Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) died in Beverly Hills, California
June 24 – Symphony No. 5 in D major by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) was first performed in London, England
November 4 – Symphony No. 8 in C minor, op. 65 by Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) was first performed in Moscow, Russia
1944 Percy Grainger (1882-1961) completed the orchestration of La Vallée des cloches (”Valley of the Bells”) from Miroirs by Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
January 28 – Symphony No. 1, “Jeremiah”, by Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) was first performed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
April 16 – Concierto de estío, for violin and orchestra, by Joaquín Rodrigo (1901-1999) was first performed in Lisbon, Portugal
May 7 – Our Town, music from the film score, by Aaron Copland (1900-1990) was first performed in Boston, Massachusetts
May 8 – Ethel Smyth (1858-1944) died in Woking, England
June 7 – Gran Marcha de los Subsecretarios (“Grand March of the Subsecretaries”), for piano four hands, by Joaquín Rodrigo (1901-1999) was first performed in Madrid, Spain
August – Kaljo Raid (1921-2005) completed Symphony No. 1
October 30 – Appalachian Spring, ballet by Aaron Copland (1900-1990) was first performed in Washington, D.C.
October 31 – Sebastian, ballet by Gian Carlo Menotti (1911-2007) was first performed in New York, New York
December 1 – Concerto for Orchestra, Sz. 116, BB 123 by Béla Bartók (1881-1945) was first performed in Boston, Massachusetts
December 27 – Amy Beach (1867-1944) died in New York, New York
December 30 – Piano Sonata No. 8 in B♭ major, op. 84 by Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) was first performed in Moscow, Russia
1945 Suite from Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss (1864-1949) was arranged by Artur Rodziński (1892-1958)
January 13 – Symphony No. 5 in B♭ major, op. 100 by Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) was first performed in Moscow, Russia
April 9 – Girl No. 217, with film score by Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978), was released
August 2 – Emil von Reznicek (1860-1945) died in Berlin, Germany
September 15 – Anton Webern (1883-1945) died in Mittersill, Austria
September 24 – John Rutter (1945-) was born in London, England
September 26 – Béla Bartók (1881-1945) died in New York, New York
October 12 – Symphony No. 3, H. 299 by Bohuslav Martinů (1890-1959) was first performed in Boston, Massachusetts
November 3 – Symphony No. 9 in E♭ major, op. 70 by Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) was first performed in Saint Petersburg, Russia
November 21 – Cinderella, ballet, op. 87 by Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) was first performed in Moscow, Russia
November 30 – Symphony No. 4, H. 305 by Bohuslav Martinů (1890-1959) was first performed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
December 17 – À l’ombre de Torre Bermeja (“In the Shadow of the Crimson Tower”) by Joaquín Rodrigo (1901-1999) was first performed in Madrid, Spain
December 17 – A Stopwatch and an Ordnance Map, for male chorus, brass, and drums, op. 15 by Samuel Barber (1910-1981) was first performed in New York, New York
1946 Twenty-Four Preludes, op. 38 by Dmitry Kabalevsky (1904-1987) was first performed in Moscow, Russia
February 8 – Piano Concerto No. 3 in E major, Sz. 119, BB 127 by Béla Bartók (1881-1945) was first performed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
May 11 – The Unanswered Question (A Cosmic Landscape), for Trumpet, Flute Quartet, and String Orchestra, by Charles Ives (1874-1954) was first performed in New York, New York
October 16 – Granville Bantock (1868-1946) died in London, England
October 18 – Symphony No. 3 by Aaron Copland (1900-1990) was first performed in Boston, Massachusetts
October 23 – Violin Sonata No. 1 in F minor, op. 80 by Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) was first performed in Moscow, Russia
November 14 – Manuel de Falla (1876-1946) died in Alta Gracia, Argentina
November 27 – Cinco piezas infantiles (“Five children’s pieces”), for orchestra, by Joaquín Rodrigo (1901-1999) was first performed in Madrid, Spain
December 6 – Maximilian Steinberg (1883-1946) died in Saint Petersburg, Russia
1947 January 8 – Piano Concerto, op. 44 by Richard Arnell (1917-2009) was first performed in New York, New York
February 15 – Violin Concerto in D major, op. 35 by Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957) was first performed in St. Louis, Missouri
February 15 – John Adams (1947-) was born in Worcester, Massachusetts
March 5 – Alfredo Casella (1883-1947) died in Rome, Italy
June 14 – Michael Mauldin (1947-) was born in Port Arthur, Texas
August 20 – Concerto for Bassoon and Strings with Percussion by Gordon Jacob (1895-1984) was first performed in London, England
October 23 – Starlight Roof Waltz by George Melachrino (1909-1965) was first performed in London, England
November 12 – Flourish, Mighty Land, cantata for chorus and orchestra, op. 114 by Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) was first performed in Moscow, Russia
November 29 – The Legend of Ohrid, ballet by Stevan Hristić (1885-1958) was first performed in Belgrade, Serbia
1948 William Grant Still (1895-1978) completed Miniatures, for flute, oboe, and piano
January 21 – Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari (1876-1948) died in Venice, Italy
February 10 – Symphony No. 6 “after Delacroix” by George Antheil (1900-1959) was first performed in San Francisco, California
April 21 – Symphony No. 6 in E minor by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) was first performed in London, England
May 4 – Sleigh Ride by Leroy Anderson (1908-1975) was first performed in Boston, Massachusetts
June 27 – George Templeton Strong (1856-1948) died in Geneva, Switzerland
October 29 – Violin Concerto in C major, op. 48 by Dmitry Kabalevsky (1904-1987) was first performed in Moscow, Russia
October 30 – The Red Pony, suite from the film score, by Aaron Copland (1900-1990) was first performed in Houston, Texas
When our Sun formed 4.6 billion years ago, it almost certainly was a member of an open star cluster. Over several hundred million years, most of the stars in this cluster would have dissipated. Is there any hope, then, of finding some of our solar siblings?
I ran a query against the Gaia DR3 database to find stars with radial velocities and proper motions that are zero, within the measurement uncertainties. In other words, their space motions appear to be similar to that of the Sun. Could some of these stars be our long lost solar siblings?
First, some caveats.
4.6 billion years is a lot of time, and dynamical evolution may lead to solar siblings no longer having comparable space motions to the Sun.
Error bars for the radial velocities, proper motions, and distances of many of these stars are large enough that subsequent more precise measurements may show that they are not co-moving with the Sun.
Though radial velocities are not affected by increasing star distance, proper motions are; therefore, proper motion in right ascension and declination will approach zero with increasing stellar distance
Some co-moving stars will be coincidental, especially if they are at large distances
I found 230 candidate stars in Gaia DR3 that appear to be co-moving with the Sun. They are listed in the table below.
Gaia DR3 Zero Space Motion
wdt_ID
wdt_created_by
wdt_created_at
wdt_last_edited_by
wdt_last_edited_at
Gaia DR3 SOURCE_ID
Other Catalog
RA (2016)
Dec (2016)
G Mag
Distance (ly)
1
do18559252
30/04/2024 09:51 AM
do18559252
30/04/2024 09:51 AM
5534600793005666944
TYC 7663-2637-1
08 05 30
- 40 05 11
10.63
2,100
2
do18559252
30/04/2024 09:51 AM
do18559252
30/04/2024 09:51 AM
4044381556633823232
HD 321719
18 25 18
- 34 39 16
10.91
3,776
3
do18559252
30/04/2024 09:51 AM
do18559252
30/04/2024 09:51 AM
5933186123279263872
TYC 8323-81-1
16 15 34
- 52 29 35
11.30
2,930
4
do18559252
30/04/2024 09:51 AM
do18559252
30/04/2024 09:51 AM
4069457877771166464
18 00 01
- 22 47 10
11.33
5,673
5
do18559252
30/04/2024 09:51 AM
do18559252
30/04/2024 09:51 AM
5926323972473953792
TYC 8349-1491-1
17 19 13
- 50 14 57
11.85
999,999
6
do18559252
30/04/2024 09:51 AM
do18559252
30/04/2024 09:51 AM
1816548038377615872
TYC 1639-1018-1
20 22 27
+ 20 06 07
11.86
1,208
7
do18559252
30/04/2024 09:51 AM
do18559252
30/04/2024 09:51 AM
3403073120299336960
UCAC4 557-018920
05 44 22
+ 21 14 45
12.00
1,720
8
do18559252
30/04/2024 09:51 AM
do18559252
30/04/2024 09:51 AM
5316984970605614208
08 46 50
- 54 57 33
12.08
1,192
9
do18559252
30/04/2024 09:51 AM
do18559252
30/04/2024 09:51 AM
2224937958644193920
V898 Cep
22 38 02
+ 67 27 58
12.19
1,998
10
do18559252
30/04/2024 09:51 AM
do18559252
30/04/2024 09:51 AM
4103489613769523712
18 42 09
- 14 55 00
12.21
2,988
Gaia DR3 SOURCE_ID
Other Catalog
RA (2016)
Dec (2016)
G Mag
Distance (ly)
Please note that a distance of 999,999 ly (light years) indicates a Gaia parallax that is negative, meaning that the star is so far away that a reliable parallax cannot be measured. In other words, it is zero. Also, the farther away the star is, the more uncertainty there is in the distance.
19 of these 230 stars are bright enough, important enough, or lucky enough to have entries in the SIMBAD database. The nearest of these is TYC 8312-3134-1 which is 518 ly away in the constellation Norma.
We can do a simple BOTEC to determine how fast TYC 8312-3134-1 would have to be moving relative to the Sun to travel 518 ly in 4.6 Gyr. The answer is just 0.03 km/s = 30 meters/second. This is much less than the typical space motion of stars in the solar neighborhood relative to the Sun, which is on the order of many kilometers per second. It is therefore completely plausible that solar siblings could now be at a distance of at least 500 ly and even many times further than that.
Reference
SELECT TOP 2000 gaia_source.source_id,gaia_source.ra,gaia_source.dec,gaia_source.parallax,gaia_source.pmra,gaia_source.pmdec,gaia_source.ruwe,gaia_source.phot_g_mean_mag,gaia_source.bp_rp,gaia_source.radial_velocity,gaia_source.radial_velocity_error,gaia_source.phot_variable_flag,gaia_source.non_single_star,gaia_source.has_xp_continuous,gaia_source.has_xp_sampled,gaia_source.has_rvs,gaia_source.has_epoch_photometry,gaia_source.has_epoch_rv,gaia_source.has_mcmc_gspphot,gaia_source.has_mcmc_msc,gaia_source.teff_gspphot,gaia_source.logg_gspphot,gaia_source.mh_gspphot,gaia_source.distance_gspphot,gaia_source.azero_gspphot,gaia_source.ag_gspphot,gaia_source.ebpminrp_gspphot
FROM gaiadr3.gaia_source
WHERE (gaiadr3.gaia_source.radial_velocity-gaiadr3.gaia_source.radial_velocity_error <= 0)
and (gaiadr3.gaia_source.radial_velocity+gaiadr3.gaia_source.radial_velocity_error >= 0)
and (gaiadr3.gaia_source.pmra-gaiadr3.gaia_source.pmra_error <= 0)
and (gaiadr3.gaia_source.pmra+gaiadr3.gaia_source.pmra_error >= 0)
and (gaiadr3.gaia_source.pmdec-gaiadr3.gaia_source.pmdec_error <= 0)
and (gaiadr3.gaia_source.pmdec+gaiadr3.gaia_source.pmdec_error >= 0);
When I was boy, age 8-11, I remember being enthralled by a television show called Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. I even remember playing with a classic Bic pen, pretending it was the submarine Seaview.
Now, 60 years later, I decided to watch the whole series again. Despite all its flaws (some of which I list below), some of the episodes are pretty good.
What are the flaws? First and foremost, it is clear that Irwin Allen—the show’s creator—and many of his writers did not have a good understanding of basic science. Once you get past that, and the Seaview “popping wheelies“, the Seaview “rock-and-roll” incidents (camera is rocked as the cast rushes from side to side on the set, simulating the submarine being tossed around), the frequent on-board pyrotechnic fires, a circuitry room that begs for a more secure door and an armed guard, and the all-too-frequent “monster of the week” and “mind control” episodes, you’ll always find an excellent cast of regulars (led by Richard Basehart and David Hedison), talented guest stars, and some imaginative stories.
So here goes…
Before you watch the television series episodes, I recommend you watch two submarine-themed movies.
The Enemy Below (1957) This is a great movie, and includes David Hedison (credited as Al Hedison as Lt. Ware of the USS Haynes) who would go on to play Captain Lee Crane in the Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea television series.
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961) This is the Irwin Allen film that later launched the television series. Once you get past the scientific inaccuracies (the Van Allen Belts on fire??), there is an excellent cast featuring such luminaries as Walter Pidgeon, Joan Fontaine, the ever beautiful and alluring Barbara Eden (before I Dream of Jeannie), Peter Lorre, Robert Sterling, Michael Ansara (before his role as the Klingon Kang in Star Trek and who was married to Barbara Eden at the time!), Frankie Avalon, and Del Monroe as Seaman Kowski who would go on the play Seaman Kowalski in the television series.
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964-1968) The television series ran for four seasons. Here are my picks for the best episodes.
Season 1 (1964-1965)
Season 1, Episode 2: “The City Beneath the Sea”
Season 1, Episode 3: “The Fear-Makers”
Season 1, Episode 6: “The Sky Is Falling”
Season 1, Episode 7: “Turn Back the Clock”
Season 1, Episode 9: “Hot Line” Directed by John Brahm of Twilight Zone fame, and guests include James Doohan and Michael Ansara before Star Trek.
Season 1, Episode 10: “Submarine Sunk Here”
Season 1, Episode 11: “The Magnus Beam” Guests include Malachi Throne before his appearance on Star Trek.
Season 1, Episode 15: “Long Live the King”
Season 1, Episode 16: “Hail to the Chief”
Season 1, Episode 17: “The Last Battle”
Season 1, Episode 18: “Mutiny”
Season 1, Episode 19: “Doomsday”
Season 1, Episode 20: “The Invaders”
Season 1, Episode 23: “The Human Computer”
Season 1, Episode 28: “The Creature”
Season 2 (1965-1966)
Season 2, Episode 3: “…And Five of Us Are Left”
Season 2, Episode 10: “The Silent Saboteurs” Guests includes George Takei before Star Trek.
Season 2, Episode 15: “Killers of the Deep” Guests includes Michael Ansara before Star Trek.
Season 2, Episode 17: “The Phantom Strikes”
Season 2, Episode 22: “The Death Ship”
Season 2, Episode 26: “The Return of the Phantom”
Season 3 (1966-1967)
Season 3, Episode 5: “The Terrible Toys”
Season 3, Episode 13: “The Lost Bomb”
Season 3, Episode 19: “The Mermaid”
Season 3, Episode 23: “Doomsday Island”
Season 4 (1967-1968)
Season 4, Episode 3: “Cave of the Dead” Guest star Warren Stevens was also a guest on Star Trek later that year.
Season 4, Episode 5: “Sealed Orders”
Season 4, Episode 6: “Man of Many Faces”
Season 4, Episode 7: “Fatal Cargo”
Season 4, Episode 8: “Time Lock”
Season 4, Episode 9: “Rescue”
Season 4, Episode 24: “The Edge of Doom”
Season 4, Episode 26: “No Way Back”
Of the 110 episodes of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea produced, I think that 33 of them (30%) are well worth watching. Season 1 was the only season filmed in black-and-white, and the only season that had 32 episodes instead of 26. It was also the best season, with 15 great episodes. The next best season was the fourth and final season with 8 great episodes, followed by Season 2 with 6 great episodes. Season 3 was the worst season with only 4 great episodes.
The coldest temperature ever reliably recorded on the surface of the Earth occurred on July 21, 1983, when a temperature of -128.6° F was recorded at Vostok Station, Antarctica (φ = 78° 27′ 52″ S, λ = 106° 50′ 14″ E, elevation 11,444 ft.). Located at the center of the East Antarctic ice sheet, Vostok Station is prone to extremely cold temperatures given its high elevation and location far inland (~868 miles) from the moderating influence of the ocean. Other contributing factors to the low temperature are the extremely low humidity (water vapor retains heat near the surface) and the high albedo of the snow and ice which reflects much solar radiation back out into space.
Vostok Station is the most isolated of all the established research stations on the Antarctic continent. Only about 30 scientists and engineers reside at Vostok Station during the summer months, but during winter that number dwindles to about 15.
The monthly average temperature at Vostok is as follows: April -84.6°F, May -86.4°F, June -85.5°F, July -88.1°F, August -90.2°F, September -86.8°F, October -70.8°F, November -44.7°F, December -25.2°F, January -25.6°F, February -47.7°F, March -72.2°F. The warmest temperature ever recorded at Vostok was +6.8° F on January 5, 1974.
Vostok is a desert, averaging just 0.9 inches of snowfall each year. Does any non-dormant indigenous life exist at Vostok Station? No. Except for the human presence there, on the surface it is lifeless. But, fortuitously, Vostok Station sits above a giant freshwater lake called, appropriately, Lake Vostok, 13,100 feet under the ice. Scientists believe that life exists there, but they want to be very, very careful not to biocontaminate the lake as they begin exploring it in earnest.
It is interesting for us to ponder the possibility that sub-surface life exists on Mars and some of the satellites in the outer solar system. Though far more difficult than Lake Vostok to explore, someday we will.
Incidentally, at higher elevations along the Eastern Antarctica Plateau (specifically, along the ridge between Dome Argus and Dome Fuji), satellite measurements between 2010 and 2013 indicate that even colder surface temperatures than at Vostok Station have been reached, perhaps even as low as -144°F. However, since these are not surface temperature measurements, the current Vostok Station record of -128.6° F still holds as the coldest temperature ever recorded on Earth. And with anthropogenic global warming, that record is not likely to be broken anytime soon.
Factino: Did you know that it takes a lot more energy to cool down humid air than to cool down dry air? Air conditioners cool much more efficiently in Arizona and New Mexico than they do in Florida and Louisiana. Moreover, evaporative coolers in desert areas can reduce energy use by 80% or more over refrigerative air conditioning, but they only work well in dry climates.
Here’s a comprehensive list of live classical music performances in Tucson for the year 2025 where the program of composers and works has been published. I will keep this Excel document regularly updated. Please post a comment if anything should be added or changed.
I’ve included a column called “Dave’s Faves” which notes the works I am already familiar with and that I highly recommend. This is subjective, of course, but I hope this will help some of you in deciding which concerts to attend.
Happy Listening!
Link below is an Excel file (.xlsx). Last Updated: September 30, 2024
Music for Listeners is a series of short courses for high school students and adults presenting the works of composers from a listening enjoyment rather than a music theory perspective. Each course presents the life and music of a composer chronologically and is taught by lifelong classical music enthusiast David Oesper.
Music for Listeners
Classical Music Courses in Tucson, AZ
Classical Music Exploration Club
If you live in the Tucson metro area and would like to get together each month to listen to and discuss recordings of favorite classical music pieces we love and would like to introduce to others, I hope you will consider joining:
The first (and only!) sunset1 this year at Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station in Antarctica occurs on March 22 at 0615 UTC (using “astronomer’s time” as time zone has no meaning so close to the South Pole).
The year’s first and only end of civil twilight (when the geometric center of the Sun lies 6° below the horizon) occurs on April 4 at 1153 UTC. That’s 13d05h38m after sunset.
The year’s first and only end of nautical twilight (when the geometric center of the Sun lies 12° below the horizon) occurs on April 21 at 0409 UTC. That’s 16d16h16m after the end of civil twilight.
The year’s first and only end of astronomical twilight (when the geometric center of the Sun lies 18° below the horizon) occurs on May 11 at 0521 UTC. That’s 20d01h12m after the end of nautical twilight, and 49d23h06m after sunset. That’s one heck of a long twilight!
Night lasts from May 11 at 0521 UTC until astronomical twilight begins on July 31 at 1916 UTC. A duration of 81d13h55m.
Nautical twilight begins on August 21 at 0024 UTC. That’s 20d05h08m after the beginning of astronomical twilight.
Civil twilight begins on September 6 at 2121 UTC. That’s 16d20h57m after the beginning of nautical twilight.
The first and only sunrise of the year occurs on September 20 at 0945 UTC. “Morning” twilight lasts a total of 50d14h29m.
The Sun remains above the horizon continuously until sunset on March 22, 2025 at 1100 UTC. Daylight “hours” last 183d01h15m.
Strange place!
1Sunrise and sunset. For computational purposes, sunrise or sunset is defined to occur when the geometric zenith distance of the center of the Sun is 90.8333 degrees. That is, the center of the Sun is geometrically 50 arcminutes below a horizontal plane. For an observer at sea level with a level, unobstructed horizon, under average atmospheric conditions, the upper limb of the Sun will then appear to be tangent to the horizon. The 50-arcminute geometric depression of the Sun’s center used for the computations is obtained by adding the average apparent radius of the Sun (16 arcminutes) to the average amount of atmospheric refraction at the horizon (34 arcminutes). [Reference: https://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/RST_defs, but see here: https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/etdr/697/]
Note: SkySafari 6 Pro, Version 6.8.2 (6820) for MacOS was used to determine these dates and times. The location coordinates used for Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station were 89° 58′ 59.9″ S, 139° 16′ 01.2″ E, 2835 m.
Fun Fact: Did you know that there is a seismic station near the south pole, and that it has been operating since 1957?
This is one of a series of postings of important classical music dates, from the 17th century to the present. Included are the date and location of the birth and death of composers, and the premiere date and location of the first public performance of works. When the premiere date and location is unknown, the date or year of completion of the work is given. Though reasonably comprehensive, this is a subjective list, so the choice of composers and works is mine. If you find any errors, or if you can offer a premiere date and location for a work where only the completion date or year is listed, please post a comment here.
1930 August 7 – Veljo Tormis (1930-2017) was born in Kuusalu, Estonia
October 12 – La cathédrale engloutie (The Sunken Cathedral), from Préludes pour piano, Book 1, No. 10, by Claude Debussy (1862-1918) and orchestrated by Leopold Stokowski (1882-1977), was first performed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
November 28 – Symphony No. 2 in D♭ major, op. 30, “Romantic” by Howard Hanson (1896-1981) was first performed in Boston, Massachusetts
December 17 – Peter Warlock (1894-1930) died in London, England
1931 Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) completed Ancient Airs and Dances, Suite III, P172
Percy Grainger (1882-1961) completed the orchestral version of Blithe Bells (Ramble on Bach’s “Sheep May Safely Graze”)
September 8 – A Choral Fantasia, op. 51 by Gustav Holst (1874-1934) was first performed in Gloucester, England
October 3 – Carl Nielsen (1865-1931) died in Copenhagen, Denmark
November 22 – Grand Canyon Suite by Ferde Grofé (1892-1972) was first performed in Chicago, Illinois
December 2 – Vincent d’Indy (1851-1931) died in Paris, France
1932 February 8 – John Williams (1932-) was born in New York, New York
March 17 – La donna serpente, opera by Alfredo Casella (1883-1947) was first performed in Rome, Italy
April 2 – Symphony No. 9 by Anton Bruckner (1824-1896) was first performed in Munich, Germany
April 22 – Isao Tomita (1932-2016) was born in Tokyo, Japan
May – Piano Quartet in A minor, op. 67 by Joaquín Turina (1882-1949) was first performed (location unknown)
September 5 – Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra in D minor, FP 61 by Francis Poulenc (1899-1963) was first performed in Venice, Italy
1933 Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962) completed Cavatina
Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) completed Pastorale for Violin and Piano
Aita Donostia (1886-1956) completed Urruti-jaia [Festive Song], for chamber orchestra
January 23 – Piano Concerto No. 2 in G major, Sz. 95, BB 101 by Béla Bartók (1881-1945) was first performed in Frankfurt, Germany
April 9 – Sigfrid Karg-Elert (1877-1933) died in Leipzig, Germany
May 13 – Chorale on a Theme of Hans Leo Hassler, for string orchestra, by George Templeton Strong (1856-1948) was first performed in Geneva, Switzerland
August 30 – Overture to The School for Scandal, op. 5 by Samuel Barber (1910-1981) was first performed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
October 10 – Gloria Coates (1933-2023) was born in Wausau, Wisconsin
October 15 – Concerto for Piano, Trumpet, and String Orchestra (Piano Concerto No. 1), op. 35 by Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) was first performed in Saint Petersburg, Russia
1934 January 22 – Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, op. 29, opera by Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) was first performed in Saint Petersburg, Russia
February 23 – Edward Elgar (1857-1934) died in Worcester, Worcestershire, England
March – Brook Green Suite, for string orchestra, H. 190 by Gustav Holst (1874-1934) was first performed in London, England
March 21 – Franz Schreker (1878-1934) died in Berlin, Germany
March 24 – Suite for Jazz Orchestra No. 1 by Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) was first performed in Saint Petersburg, Russia
April 3 – The Haunted Ballroom, ballet by Geoffrey Toye (1889-1942) was first performed in London, England
May 25 – Gustav Holst (1874-1934) died in London, England
June 10 – Frederick Delius (1862-1934) died in Grez-sur-Loing, France
September 27 – Fantasia on “Greensleeves” by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) and arranged for string orchestra and harp by Ralph Greaves (1889-1966) was first performed in London, England
November 7 – Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, in A minor, op. 43 by Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) was first performed in Baltimore, Maryland
December 21 – Lieutenant Kijé, suite, op. 60 by Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) was first performed in Paris, France
December 25 – Cello Sonata in D minor, op. 40 by Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) was first performed in Moscow, Russia
December 31 – Egyptian Nights, symphonic suite, op. 61 by Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) was first performed in a radio broadcast from Moscow, Russia
1935 William Grant Still (1895-1978) completed Summerland
January 28 – Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov (1859-1935) died in Moscow, Russia
March 10 – Auvo Sarmanto (1935-) was born in Helsinki, Finland
March 24 – Music for a Scene from Shelley, tone poem, op. 7 by Samuel Barber (1910-1981) was first performed in New York, New York
April 10 – Symphony No. 4 in F minor by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) was first performed in London, England
May 17 – Paul Dukas (1865-1935) died in Paris, France
May 29 – Josef Suk (1874-1935) died in Benešov, Czech Republic
July 17 – Peter Schickele (1935-2024) was born in Ames, Iowa
November 6 – Symphony No. 1 in B♭ minor by William Walton (1902-1983) was first performed in London, England
December 1 – Violin Concerto No. 2 in G minor, op. 63 by Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) was first performed in Madrid, Spain
December 4 – Johan Halvorsen (1864-1935) died in Oslo, Norway
1936 January 29 – Summer’s Last Will and Testament, cantata by Constant Lambert (1905-1951) was first performed in London, England
March 21 – Alexander Glazunov (1865-1936) died in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
April 11 – Music for Children, for piano, op. 65 by Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) was first performed in Moscow, Russia
April 18 – Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) died in Rome, Italy
May 2 – Peter and the Wolf, a symphonic fairy tale for children, op. 67 by Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) was first performed in Moscow, Russia
May 10 – The Plow That Broke the Plains, with documentary film score by Virgil Thomson (1896-1989), received its public premiere in Washington, D.C.
July 22 – Krasimir Kyurkchiyski (1936-2011) was born in Troyan, Bulgaria
October 2 – Dona Nobis Pacem, cantata for soprano, baritone, chorus, and orchestra by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) was first performed in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England
October 28 – Carl Davis (1936-2023) was born in Brooklyn, New York
November 11 – Edward German (1862-1936) died in London, England
1937 Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) completed Four Marches for Military Band, op. 69
January 19 – Hollywood Suite by Ferde Grofé (1892-1972) was first performed in New York, New York
January 31 – Philip Glass (1937-) was born in Baltimore, Maryland
March 12 – Charles-Marie Widor (1844-1937) died in Paris, France
March 29 – Karol Szymanowski (1882-1937) died in Lausanne, Switzerland
May 7 – “Walking the Dog (Promenade)” by George Gershwin (1898-1937) premiered in the film Shall We Dance. This may be the last instrumental composition by Gershwin.
May 8 – The Prince and the Pauper, with film score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957), was released
July 11 – George Gershwin (1898-1937) died in Los Angeles, California
July 12 – Piano Concerto in D♭ major, op. 38 by Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978) was first performed in Moscow, Russia
September 30 – Valentin Silvestrov (1937-) was born in Kyiv, Ukraine
November 21 – Symphony No. 5 in D minor, op. 47 by Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) was first performed in Saint Petersburg, Russia
December 28 – Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) died in Paris, France
1938 Howard Hanson (1896-1981) completed Suite from Merry Mount
Joaquín Rodrigo (1901-1999) completed Cinco piezas del siglo XVI (Five Pieces of the Sixteenth Century), for piano
January 5 – Songs of Our Days, cantata for mezzo-soprano and baritone soloists, chorus, and orchestra, op. 76 by Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) was first performed in Moscow, Russia
February 16 – John Corigliano (1938-) was born in New York, New York
February 22 – Colas Breugnon, opera, op. 24 by Dmitry Kabalevsky (1904-1987) was first performed in Saint Petersburg, Russia
May 26 – William Bolcom (1938-) was born in Seattle, Washington
October 5 – Serenade to Music in D major by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) was first performed in London, England
October 19 – “September Song”, from Knickerbocker Holiday by Kurt Weill (1900-1950) was first performed in New York, New York
November 5 – Adagio for Strings in B♭ minor by Samuel Barber (1910-1981) was first performed in New York, New York
December 30 – Romeo and Juliet, ballet, op. 64 by Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) was first performed in Brno, Czech Republic
1939 Percy Grainger (1882-1961) completed “The Duke of Marlborough” Fanfare (BFMS No. 36)
March 9 – Cuatro piezas para piano by Joaquín Rodrigo (1901-1999) was first performed in Paris, France
May 17 – Alexander Nevsky, cantata, op. 78 by Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) was first performed in Moscow, Russia
May 30 – Symphony in D major by Antonio Sarrier (1725-1762) was first performed in Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico
June 2 – Enrique Fernández Arbós (1863-1939) died in San Sebastián, Spain
June 22 – Heikki Sarmanto (1939-) was born in Helsinki, Finland
November 5 – Symphony No. 6 in B minor, op. 54 by Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) was first performed in Saint Petersburg, Russia
December 21 – Zdravitsa, cantata for chorus and orchestra, op. 85 by Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) was first performed in Moscow, Russia
I recently completed teaching a six-week course on the Ukraine-born Russian/Soviet composer Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953), a course I am eager to reprise in the not-too-distant future. His story is by turns both fascinating and tragic, and he wrote a lot of great music—much of it seldom performed. I am amazed that no one has yet produced an English-language documentary on Prokofiev, nor even a biopic.
Since my primary interests are classical music and astronomy, I am naturally curious about significant classical composers who were also interested in astronomy. Prokofiev was one of those composers.
Prokofiev kept fascinating and extensive diaries between 1907 and 1933, a practice which sadly ceased as soon as he began seriously contemplating a return to the Soviet Union and the increasingly repressive regime of Joseph Stalin.
Here are Prokofiev’s astronomy-related entries from those diaries.
26 September 1913 Visited the Andreyevs and showed them my old song “There are other planets”. I love this song, and the other day, inspired by the example of Maddalena, made some revisions to the vocal line. It is now a good song, and Anna Grigorievna liked it very much. She wants to include it in her recital programme in December.
The song Prokofiev is referring to here is Two Poems for voice and piano, op. 9, no. 1. The text is a poem by Russian poet Konstantin Balmont (1867-1942). Here is that poem in an English translation:
There are other planets. The skies are clear and completely calm there, the mimosa blossoms are softer, and sweet grasses grow higher. The clarity that plays there, it is less changeable than here, we cherish it always and can always smile.
There are other planets for another existence. We will return there, but later, but much later, when a day we have lost cannot be returned to us unchanged, when we don’t like anything in this world where the herbs grow grey and without fragrance, funereal herbs.
The sweet grass trembles sadly under the stars, seeking peace in the mournful places, and pushes on our tombs, so calmly, so calmly, so sad and calm, under the serenity of the moon.
16 March 1914 In the evening Mama and I went to hear Zherebtsova-Andreyeva, who had included my song “There are Other Planets” in her programme. I was extremely interested to hear my song, never having heard it performed before. Rather good, although naturally not for the wider public (although actually it was very well received). Anna Grigorievna sang wonderfully, except for her habit of clearing her throat when she finishes singing, but Dulov accompanied drily and he played some wrong notes in the bass.
In this first performance, Anna Grigorievna Zherebtsova-Andreyeva was the singer, and Dulov (first name unknown) was the pianist.
Here is a performance of this work by Andrey Slavny (baritone) and Yuri Serov (piano), recorded at St. Catherine Lutheran Church in St. Petersburg in 1995.
October 1916 I have become deeply interested in the stars. I have always felt drawn to astronomy, and now that I have got hold of Ignatiev’s little book I have begun to study the stars in the night sky, committing their names to memory and tracing out the constellations on paper. But alas, every night last week was cloudy.
The astronomy book Prokofiev was referring to is The World of the Heavens [Nebesny Mir], An Illustrated Astronomy for the General Reader by E. I. Ignatiev, published in St. Petersburg in 1916. Hardly a “little book” at over 400 pages!
7 November 1916 Coming away from Balmont’s, I feasted my eyes on the stars. The layer of cloud had finally dispersed, and what joy it was to see the beauty of Orion, red Aldebaran and Betelgeuse, and the wonderful green and white diamond of Sirius. I gazed at them with newly opened eyes recognizing them from the astronomical maps I had been studying—and felt as though invisible threads were connecting me to the heavens! It was four o’clock in the morning, I should have been asleep, but white Sirius stood directly in front of my window and I could not take my eyes away from him! I took a copy of Sarcasms round to Balmont, with the inscription: “To our Sun, a few fragments of darkness”.
When Prokofiev writes “the green and white diamond of Sirius” he must be referring to the impressive scintillation of Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, since at the latitude (50° N) of Kharkiv, Ukraine, where he was at the time, Sirius never reaches an altitude higher than 23° above the horizon.
February 1917 I…read a book about astronomy (I am deeply interested in this subject)…
May 1917 As spring continued my astronomical interest deepened. Naturally, in the perpetually cloudy skies over Petrograd it was a rare gift to be able to see the stars, even so by the time I moved out to my dacha I knew the main stars well enough to distinguish them not merely by their relationship to other heavenly bodies but in their own right, so to say, each one face to face. I decided to buy a telescope and set it up on the balcony of the dacha so that I could look at the stars by night. Wartime conditions in Petrograd meant that the choice was down to two, one of which was a splendid three-inch Fraunhofer (i.e. one of the best makes) refractor, which I bought for 200 roubles. It is quite portable, about two arshins in length mounted on a high tripod base and a lens giving a magnification to the power of seventy. I was incredibly pleased with my purchase and awaited with the greatest impatience a chance to point it at the heavens.
What’s an arshin, you might be wondering? An arshin is an antiquated Russian unit of length equal to 71.12 cm, so “two arshins” would be a little less than 5 ft. in length.
An editorial footnote indicates that “Presumably, Prokofiev’s Fraunhofer was looted or destroyed in the Petrograd flat after his departure in 1918. It would be worth a fortune today.”
Prokofiev continues,
On the 6th I gathered up my telescope, my suitcase and all my things and departed for my country estate. The weather was marvellous, everything was green, but no sooner had I arrived, installed myself, pleasurably inspected my six rooms, corridor, balcony and attic than the thermometer started falling rapidly and it came on to snow, at first mixed with rain and then in earnest, so that the following morning everything around me was as white as if it were January, and not a green leaf anywhere was to be seen poking through the blanket of snow.
My desire to pursue my astronomical activities was so great that when, that first evening, the great clouds scudding across the sky parted just enough to reveal a patch through which stars sparkled, I rushed to mark the place and set up the telescope, huddled in overcoat and scarf and freezing with cold, so that should that part of the sky clear again I would be able to capture the star in my 3-inch refractor. After several unsuccessful attempts I dismantled the telescope and went to bed. My “first telescope night” had not been very successful! After two more days the weather reverted to spring and on the 9th I went to Petrograd to attend the Graduation Concert at the Conservatoire.
I enjoyed myself very much at the concert and even felt a reluctance to return to my “estate” in the evening! I went to Andreyev’s to play bridge, but this was basically an error of judgement because the sky cleared and became very “telescopic”. The planets Mars, Venus and Jupiter were all in conjunction with the Taurus constellation, and I should not have put off viewing them because later on in May Taurus would be in the sky during the day and would not be visible at night.
Prokofiev again continues,
The White Nights are hopeless for the telescope: only the brightest stars (Vega and Arcturus) are visible. I trained the telescope on them but did not derive any great satisfaction; they are simple, uninteresting, stars. But I did observe the moon in her first quarter, studying her empty seas and the craters with which her surface is pitted as though with smallpox.
An editorial footnote indicates that “The White Nights in St. Petersburg are normally regarded as lasting from 11 June to 2 July. During this period the sun does not descend far enough below the horizon for the sky to become dark.”
Now on holiday on the Kama river, a tributary of the Volga, Prokofiev writes,
One evening I had my first sight of the most beautiful and most ancient star Antares. This star is in the southern hemisphere and from our northern lands can be seen only in early summer, appearing so low above the horizon that it is invisible through the roofs and buildings of Petrograd. For several evenings I watched for it on the Kama, and at last it appeared through the clouds precisely in the spot where I was looking for it. This was a great joy to me.
July 1917 I dislike the idea of a whole summer without spending any time in the real south, and gladly fell in with the plan of going for three weeks to Yessentuki. Moreover the black southern sky with its brilliant stars, so unlike those in the pale north, was a seductive prospect for my astronomical passion!
And so the long-desired day finally came, and on the 22nd I was sitting in a comfortable first-class compartment with my suitcase and my telescope speeding to the south.
In Yessentuki I installed myself in a marvellous four-roomed dacha that Boris Verin had rented. In the south again, and full of joy to be there. Sunshine, and at night the southern stars. I can only imagine how bright they must be at the Equator!
August 1917 I took my seat in the local train and went back. Looking through the window at the stars, I saw for the first time my beloved Fomalhaut, a southern-hemisphere star visible to us in the north only in early autumn, and very seldom indeed from the latitude of Petrograd. I have long admired it on the map, where it appears quite on its own, far away from other stars.
When I came back from Kislovodsk to Yessentuki, B. Verin and I trained my telescope, the one I had brought from Petrograd, on Jupiter and found all six of its satellites. As I had just come from my concert I was still in my tails, and so this is how we observed Jupiter—ceremonial dress to honour the splendour of the planet. Also, this evening I learned the disposition of the Hercules constellation, to which our own sun belongs. It is not a simple constellation to master, as its form is complex, the stars are not easily visible, and it is very spread out across the heavens. But Balmont knows it.
Prokofiev would only have been able to see four satellites of Jupiter with his telescope: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. The other two “satellites” must have been background stars. If I have figured correctly, Prokofiev would have been observing Jupiter early morning on Friday, August 24, 1917 (New Style date) which would have been Friday, August 11 (Old Style date) in Russia at that time. The two stars he thought were satellites of Jupiter were probably 8th-magnitude stars HD 28990 and HD 28966.
Prokofiev’s reference to the Sun “belonging” to Hercules indicates he knew about the solar apex, the direction the Sun travels relative to the local standard of rest. William Herschel was the first to demonstrate that the solar apex is in the constellation Hercules.
Balmont refers to the aforementioned poet, Konstantin Balmont.
November 1917 Elections to the Constituent Assembly. (Venus-Jupiter-Sirius-The Moon).
Prokofiev is referring to the 1917 Russian Constituent Assembly election during the Russian Revolution, and that he observed Venus, Jupiter, Sirius, and the Moon at Kislovodsk.
18 June [1 July] 1918 At night there is wonderful view of Scorpio and its red Antares. In this region the whole constellation glitters in impressive visibility and does genuinely look like a terrifying mystical beast.
On his way to his first visit to the United States, Prokofiev is spending some time in Japan. At this time he is in Yokohama. At latitude 35° N, he is indeed getting a good view of Scorpius. The date in brackets is the New Style (Gregorian calendar) date, whereas the non-bracket date is the Old Style (Julian calendar) date.
20 July [2 August] 1918 I was allocated a state room on my own, even though I only had a second-class ticket. Lying on my chaise-longue I hardly noticed us slipping imperceptibly away from the shore. The steamship Grotius is a fairly large Dutch boat, 8,000 tons, en route from Java to San Francisco. All evening we stayed in sight of the shore.
That night I slept well, and coming on deck at four o’clock just before dawn, saw the most wonderful sight: in the lightening sky, from which the stars were already disappearing, hung the waning moon and alongside her Jupiter and bright, bright Venus.
Prokofiev is now sailing from Yokohama to San Francisco, by way of Honolulu.
22 July [4 August] 1918 Slept well, rocked by the rolling of the ship. At four o’clock went on deck to see if I could see Venus, but the night was too cloudy.
23 July [5 August] 1918 The night being terribly stuffy, at four o’clock I went on deck. Venus had hidden herself behind clouds, but the dawn was magnificent. I then slept outside in my chaise-longue.
27 July [9 August] 1918 The ocean is calm. The voyage is becoming monotonous. I read Taine, and lack all inclination to compose anything. I cannot concentrate, because round every corner I hear the sound of a Dutchman whistling. I look at the stars and find them absorbing. Mars is in conjunction with Antares: the reddest planet with the reddest star. Which is the brighter and more beautiful I cannot decide, but the light from Antares is alive, while that from Mars is merely a reflection.
27 July [9 August] 1918 bis A remarkable event today: the second Friday in a single week. As we move eastwards, the time moves forward by half an hour in each day, so there are actually only twenty-three-and-a-half hours in every twenty-four. In this way a complete extra day eventually accumulates, which is accounted for when one crosses the 180-degree meridian.
28 July [10 August] 1918 Red Mars changes its position every day, and I observe its progress. Scorpio is already high in the sky, promising many new southern stars, but the lower part of the sky is always obscured by storm clouds.
Prokofiev is now in New York City.
2 [15] September 1918 In the evening I went with Bolm to some sort of American artistic society, where “clever” ladies harangued me with complicated homilies about the stars under whose protection I currently was. But I went on to the attack and proved to them that they lacked even the most elementary knowledge of astronomy. The organization had tenuous links with Postnikov and his enterprise, and along the way I had come into possession of certain plausible information suggesting that Postnikov was a cheat and a swindler. The ladies were much astonished.
28 May 1920 I boarded a bus and went out to relax in Greenwich Park to “visit the meridian”. Having travelled right around the globe I thought it only right to pay my respects to the meridian from which the earth’s surface takes its measurements. At the top of the hill the Observatory towers up, a forbidding-looking, grey building, but all around the park is green and welcoming.
Prokofiev is, of course, referring to the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, London, England.
1-31 May 1921 Our joy at meeting again was unconfined on both sides, questions seemed inappropriate. After an hour the three of us (with Linette) went to have dinner and drank a bottle of champagne to celebrate our reunion. B. N. declared that it was the fulfilment of an impossible dream that had sustained him through three dreadful years in Petrograd. Looking at the stars, he had associated me for some reason with Deneb, as if I, like Deneb, existed in some other, inaccessible, world.
This takes place in Paris, and B. N. is Boris Nikolayevich Bashkirov, a wealthy amateur poet and friend of Prokofiev whose pseudonym was Boris Verin. “Linette” is Lina Codina, who would become Prokofiev’s wife in two years’ time.
22 August 1924 Read some Christian Science. When Christians first began to preach the immortality of the soul, the Romans objected that since man comes into being through birth he is inevitably bound to die, for something that is finite at one end cannot be infinite at the other. In answer to this Christian Science states that it is not the case that man (in the shape of his soul) comes into being through birth, and will not die. But if I was never born, that is to say I always existed but with no memory of my previous existence, how can I be sure that this present existence is mine and not that of some other being? After all, if my birth into this world entails the removal of all my memory of the past, for me the past does not exist. In that case the future cannot exist for me either, for by cutting off my memory death also cuts me off, in the same way as birth brought me in. Christian Science’s explanation is therefore not clear to me. Generally speaking there are fewer difficulties believing in the mortality of man than in his immortality. On the other hand, it is also easier to conceive of oneself as a being created by God than as a wholly godless creature of nature. It follows from this that for man the most natural understanding of the world is that expressed by Wells, whose theory I found so attractive a year ago: God exists but man is mortal. Wells believes that man is no more than a stage in the divine creation, one link in the biological chain extending from the primeval slime that first appeared on the surface of the not yet cooled waters of the infant planet, to the superhuman being into which we will one day develop and which, perhaps, will then be deserving of immortality. In the meantime the role of mankind is to play his part in this onward movement during his lifespan and then to die, that is to say to vanish and become a quantité négligeable, in the same way as half-completed sketches and drafts are discarded along the way. Even though Christian Science regards this theory as erroneous, it cannot entirely condemn it because at its heart lies humility, while its elements conform to almost all the Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount. Christian Science’s teaching is more optimistic but it is essential, before accepting it, to understand and clarify with much greater precision what this teaching consists of.
An editorial footnote states, “When staying in Les Rochelets in the summer of 1921 Prokofiev every evening read aloud a chapter of H. G. Wells’s The Outline of History to his mother and Boris Bashkirov.”
14 March 1925 I did not read much Christian Science, but I did read some, and thought deeply about certain aspects of it, trying to penetrate to its essence. If God created man, then there must necessarily have been a time when man did not exist. But Christian Science disputes this conclusion, asserting that mankind has always existed. And it is true that, if mankind had a beginning then it must also have an end, which is to say that man cannot be immortal, since nothing that is eternal can be finite at one end. Thus the assertion by Christian Science that man is eternal in the future as he is in the past conflicts with the first proposition, that there was an instant in time when God created man, before which there was no man. Similarly, this proposition is contradicted by the following conclusion: if it is so that there was a moment when God, who is eternal, created man, then eternity must have existed before this moment and after it, which suggests that there must be two eternities, each limited at one end. This is demonstrably absurd, since eternity — illimitableness — that is finite at one end is a contradiction in terms. To reconcile these contradictions it is necessary to conclude that our understanding of eternity as one hour succeeding another and so on without end is incorrect, and that beyond the confines of our own world the laws of time (and therefore doubtless of space as well) are quite other. In all probability our death is the route our consciousness takes to exit from the limits of time and space. But if this is so, that is to say our conception of time is no more than a local conception, then by the same token we are incapable of approaching the question of the creation of mankind. We cannot even pose the question: was there a time (in eternity, which does not contain time) when man did not exist? For this reason, it is impossible to answer yes or no to my first question. In the same way the question asked by some people who, when they contemplate the idea of immortality, become so frightened that they cannot decide which is more terrifying, mortality or immortality, should be hors de combat. Such questioners must likewise have it explained to them that in eternity the concept of time cannot exist.
Interesting that this insightful essay was penned on “Pi Day”, since the transcendental π = 3.1415926535897932384626433832795… has infinitely many digits that neither terminate nor enter a permanently repeating pattern.
My take after reading this is that there may be two realities. One reality (our reality) consist of entities that exist within time and space. But there is another reality, where there are entities that exist outside of time and space (of which eternity and infinity are proxies).
As for immortality, since I have no consciousness of anything before I was born, why should I expect that I would have any consciousness of anything after I die? To me, that is the most tragic fact of human existence. Within a few minutes (or hours, if extraordinary measures are taken) after death occurs, all of our knowledge and experience—our memories—are irretrievably lost, and all that remains of us is what we have left behind (writing, music, art, etc.), and the memories of those who are still living who knew us. After all the people who knew us personally have died, then all that remains of our existence are artifacts. And, eventually, all of those will be gone, too. This truly emphasizes the importance of this life, of this world, of this time. How we live our lives and treat others today, tomorrow, and the next day are of paramount importance. It is all we have, or will ever have.
2 May 1925 Through the Borovskys I was invited to visit the Paris Observatory. I was irritated that the Borovskys had assembled a heterogeneous mob of people to come along, who made things worse by being late. We were welcomed by two astronomers, each of whom was in charge of a tower with a telescope. One of them, Fatou, proved to be a great admirer of my music and was exceptionally pleased that I was there, which astonished and flattered me in equal measure. The other astronomer, no doubt because of his colleague, was equally amiable. His name was Jacobi, and he looks as if he drinks, but he is the discoverer of seven comets and has thus immortalised his name: in five hundred, or perhaps a thousand, years people will observe the return of Jacobi’s Comet. The moon displayed marvellous dark blue reflections, and Saturn its rings. They showed us a double star (Gamma Leo), whose separation could be seen quite clearly, but whose colours (each one is a different colour) I could not make out. Apparently astronomers sometimes cannot themselves distinguish the different colours. Afterwards we went to Mrs. Barbara’s to drink wine, where the astronomers asked me to play, which I was most willing to do; they were delighted.
Fatou refers to Pierre Joseph Louis Fatou (1878-1929), mathematician and astronomer. I am virtually certain that “Jacobi” is actually the French astronomer Michel Giacobini (1873–1938).
Here are my observing notes about Gamma Leonis:
Algieba. Very bright, close double. Primary is orangish-yellow (2.6 K1-IIIbCN-0.5) and secondary is yellow (3.8 G7IIICN-1). Relative color seems to change as you watch.
2 July 1925 I have been reflecting on time, in connection with a thought that struck me earlier: that in that other life, in eternity, there is no conception of time, and consequently time is connected uniquely with our life on earth. This was followed by another thought: that time, as we know it, has only one dimension, and indeed a sub-dimension, in that within this one dimension we can move in only one of its two directions, not both. Even though at first glance it may appear that with the aid of memory we are able to move backwards, this is not in fact so: memory can help us to catch hold of a few fragments of time which lie behind us, but any movement we may make within this fragment can only be forwards. For example, if we recall yesterday’s automobile excursion, we cannot induce our memory to act in such a way that the car retraces its journey back to the place it started from. Is it impossible to conceive of a condition in that “other” world in which time possesses more than one dimension — three, like space, or even where both time and space have four?!
In an attempt to use imagination to go beyond mere scholastic speculation, I started to think what two additional dimensions, width and thickness, could consist of. It is known that the flow of time sometimes leaves no trace: looking back into the past it is hard to say what period has elapsed, a week or a month. And sometimes the opposite is true: a particular hour may contain so many impressions that it would take a whole year to recall them. Is it not legitimate to regard this as a symbol of the greater or lesser thickness of time? And if such a symbolic representation is allowed, then it becomes possible to conceive of moving through time in that dimension. A third dimension of time — width — may be defined as omnipresence, ubiquity. In speaking of omnipresence I am not here confusing time with space, for ubiquity must be understood not only as the ability to be simultaneously in different places in space, but as the ability simultaneously to assimilate multiple different thoughts (God assimilates contemporaneously the prayers of millions of people?). I do not insist that the additional dimensions of time must be those I have suggested, they may be quite other, I submit them merely as examples of the way in which it is possible to imagine time possessing other dimensions.
None of this, needless to say, provides an answer to the question of eternity from the perspective of the infinity of time, just as extending the number of dimensions in space fails to resolve the conundrum of its illimitability. But admitting at least the possible of three-dimensional time, offering the consequent possibility of moving through it in different dimensions, brings with it the obligation to pose many questions in a form not possible heretofore.
18 December 1926 To Gorchakov I expressed the thought that memory of the past is an indispensable constituent element of immortality, because in this life we are cut off from the past when we have lost memory of it. Gorchakov replied that this is an un-Scientific thought because there can be no concept of time in immortality. I objected that it is an error to confuse “time” with “the chronological sequence of events”. If there is no time in eternity, this does not mean that there is no chronology of events; if this were so then chaos would ensue. The characteristic feature of time as we are bound by it in our present existence is its ability to move only in one direction. But it is possible that in eternity the disappearance of our present concept of time may manifest itself precisely in our new-found ability to move in time on both directions, and moreover at any speed we choose. This hypothesis would confirm my proposition that memory is an inseparable part of immortality (equals our own eternal existence) precisely because memory would have the ability to move in either direction and at any velocity.
I think it only fitting to end these excerpts from Prokofiev’s diaries with some of his music. In preparing my Prokofiev course, I came across some noteworthy compositions that were not known to me previously. Most unfortunately, some of these works are almost unknown and seldom played because they were written (under duress, without a doubt) as propaganda pieces. Here is, I believe, his most inspired composition written under such circumstances. It is a cantata for chorus and orchestra that Prokofiev wrote in 1939, called Zdravitsa (literally “A Toast!”), op. 85. It was written to commemorate the 60th birthday of Joseph Stalin. The words are hagiolatry in praise of Stalin (Prokofiev did not write them), but the music is truly divine. Here are three excerpts from a recording by the Russian State Symphony Orchestra and the Russian State Symphonic Cappella, conducted by Valeri Polyansky.
The first excerpt is of the orchestra alone:
Now, choir and orchestra:
And, finally, the glorious finale:
I look forward to the time when Russia will be free from tyranny, and when this gorgeous piece by Sergei Prokofiev gets a new libretto. No longer a toast to the despot Stalin, but a toast to peace-loving people throughout the world!
This is one of a series of postings of important classical music dates, from the 17th century to the present. Included are the date and location of the birth and death of composers, and the premiere date and location of the first public performance of works. When the premiere date and location is unknown, the date or year of completion of the work is given. Though reasonably comprehensive, this is a subjective list, so the choice of composers and works is mine. If you find any errors, or if you can offer a premiere date and location for a work where only the completion date or year is listed, please post a comment here.
1920 February – Le Tombeau de Couperin (orchestral version) by Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) was first performed in Paris, France
March 25 – The Hymn of Jesus, op. 37 by Gustav Holst (1874-1934) was first performed in London, England
April 8 – Charles Griffes (1884-1920) died in New York, New York
May 23 – Short Festival Te Deum, H. 145 by Gustav Holst (1874-1934) was first performed in London, England
June 20 – Three Tone-Pictures, op. 5 by Charles Griffes (1884-1920) was first performed in Greenwich, Connecticut
October 2 – Max Bruch (1838-1920) died in Berlin, Germany
1921 January 23 – The Three Miracles of Saint Cecilia, incidental music to the play by Henri Ghéon, by Aita Donostia (1886-1956) was first performed in Paris, France
January 30 – The Fog is Lifting, for flute and harp, op. 41, no. 2, by Carl Nielsen (1865-1931) was first performed in Copenhagen, Denmark
February 20 – Ruth Gipps (1921-1999) was born in Bexhill-on-Sea, England
March 4 – Kaljo Raid (1921-2005) was born in Tallinn, Estonia
September 27 – Engelbert Humperdinck (1854-1921) died in Neustrelitz, Germany
October 9 – Taras Bulba by Leoš Janáček (1854-1928) was first performed in Brno, Czech Republic
October 21 – Malcolm Arnold (1921-2006) was born in Northampton, Northamptonshire, England
December 16 – Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) died in Algiers, Algeria
December 16 – Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, op. 26 by Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) was first performed in Chicago, Illinois
1922 January 16 – Symphony No. 3, “Pastoral”, by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) was first performed in London, England
January 30 – Percy Grainger (1882-1961) completed Spoon River (AFMS No. 2) [elastic scoring]
February 25 – Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) was first performed in Paris, France
March 10 – Hans Sitt (1860-1922) died in Leipzig, Germany
May 20 – Daisies, in F major, op. 38, no. 3 (piano-only version) by Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) was first performed in London, England
October 19 – Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881) as orchestrated by Maurice Ravel (1875-1937), was first performed in Paris, France
1923 Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) completed the Ancient Airs and Dances, Suite II
Joseph Canteloube (1879-1957) completed Baïlèro, Chants d’Auvergne, Series 1, No. 2
May 14 – The Perfect Fool by Gustav Holst (1874-1934) was first performed in London, England
May 28 – György Ligeti (1923-2006) was born in Târnăveni, Romania
September 30 – Hassan, incidental music, by Frederick Delius (1862-1934) was first performed in London, England
October 18 – Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major, op. 19 by Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) was first performed in Paris, France
1924 February 12 – Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin (1898-1937) was first performed in New York, New York
February 27 – Trevor Duncan (1924-2005) was born in London, England
May 8 – The revised version of Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, op. 16 by Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) was first performed in Paris, France
July 27 – Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924) died in Berlin, Germany
September 14 – Ruralia hungarica, Five pieces for orchestra, op. 32b, by Ernst von Dohnányi (1877-1960) was first performed in Pécs, Hungary
September 28 – Rudolf Barshai (1924-2010) was born in Labinsk, Russia
November 4 – Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) died in Paris, France
December 14 – The Pines of Rome, tone poem by Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) was first performed in Rome, Italy
1925 Enrique Fernández Arbós (1863-1939) completed his orchestrations of five of the twelve piano pieces, Iberia, by Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909)
May 29 – Concerto Grosso No. 1 for String Orchestra with Piano Obbligato by Ernest Bloch (1880-1959) was first performed in Cleveland, Ohio
August 31 – Mississippi Suite by Ferde Grofé (1892-1972) was first performed in New York, New York
November 20 – Clytus Gottwald (1925-2023) was born in Szczawno-Zdrój, Poland
November 29 – The Love for Three Oranges, Suite, op. 33bis by Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) was first performed in Paris, France
December 3 – Piano Concerto in F major by George Gershwin (1898-1937) was first performed in New York, New York
1926 Gustav Holst (1874-1934) completed Seven Part-Songs, op. 44
May 2 – Trio for Oboe, Bassoon, and Piano, FP 43 by Francis Poulenc (1899-1963) was first performed in Paris, France
May 12 – Symphony No. 1 in F minor, op. 10 by Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) was first performed in Saint Petersburg, Russia
June 26 – Sinfonietta by Leoš Janáček (1854-1928) was first performed in Prague, Czech Republic
October – Peter Warlock (1894-1930) completed Capriol Suite
October 31 – Symphony No. 5 in F♯ minor, “Dance Symphony”, by Emil von Reznicek (1860-1945) was first performed in Vienna, Austria
November 1 – The Profound Life of Saint Francis of Assisi, incidental music to the play by Henri Ghéon, by Aita Donostia (1886-1956) was first performed in Paris, France
December 26 – Tapiola, tone poem in B minor, op. 112 by Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) was first performed in New York, New York
1927 Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962) completed Gypsy Caprice
Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) completed Three Botticelli Pictures
March 24 – Háry János Suite, op. 35a by Zoltán Kodály (1882-1967) was first performed in Barcelona, Spain
June 7 – Le pas d’acier (“The Steel Step”), ballet, op. 41 by Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) was first performed in Paris, France
June 14 – The Red Poppy, ballet, op. 70 by Reinhold Glière (1875-1956) was first performed in Moscow, Russia
October 27 – Dominick Argento (1927-2019) was born in York, Pennsylvania
1928 Leoš Janáček (1854-1928) completed Schluck und Jau, incidental music
On 26 June 2023 UT, Vince Sempronio near Benson, Arizona and David Oesper near Tucson, Arizona observed an occultation of the 12.2-magnitude* star Tycho 5134-1820-1 in the constellation Aquila by the 15.1-magnitude asteroid 1330 Spiridonia. The predicted magnitude drop should have been around 2.9 magnitudes (15.1m-12.2m) by both observers, but I observed only about a 0.2-magnitude drop, and Vince a 1.5 magnitude-drop. After expert analysis by David Gault and David Herald in Australia, it was determined that we had discovered a new double star!
Fortuitously, Vince had observed 1330 Spiridonia covering up only the primary (brightest) component, and I had observed 1330 Spiridonia covering up only the secondary component. Both of us made our observations with 8-inch telescopes.
The double star solution from our observations gives the following:
Follow up observations over time will be needed to determine whether this is an optical double (chance alignment) or a true binary system. The distance to TYC 5134-1820-1 is currently estimated to be between 2,689 and 2,883 light years (SIMBAD). Definitely not in the neighborhood.
Even though double stars are common in our galaxy (and everywhere else in the universe), and understanding that our observations represent only the tiniest contribution to scientific knowledge, there is satisfaction in knowing that we discovered something not known by anyone else before. Besides, you never know when a discovery such as this will draw attention to an unusual and astrophysically-interesting system.
In conclusion, here is but one example showing that observations of stellar occultations by the minor planets of our solar system presents an exquisite method of discovering very close double (and possibly binary) stars, not assayable by any other technique.