The Andre Kostelanetz papers

The papers of legendary conductor, arranger and broadcaster Andre Kostelanetz have been donated to the Library of Congress by his estate. Kostelanetz died in 1980. The gift is a veritable treasure trove for students of 20th century music and broadcasting. The archive of Kostelanetz' personal property, papers, clippings, letters, sound recordings, posters, and photographs spans some 73 crates. It documents in detail the career of one of America's most remarkable men of music. The gift from Kostelanetz' estate will complement the gift of scores and parts for many of his arrangements Kostelanetz made to the Library of Congress. His papers will join those of George and Ira Gershwin, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, Lorenz Hart, Frederick Loewe, Alan Jay Lerner, and Irving Berlin, among others in the Library's collection of material belonging to eminent American musicians.

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David Oistrakh birth centennial

30 SEP 1908 Birth of Russian violinst David OISTRAKH in Odessa. Died in Amsterdam, 24 OCT 1974

David Fyodorovich Oistrakh (Russian: Давид Фёдорович Ойстрах), David Fiodorovič Ojstrah; September 30 [O.S. September 17] 1908 – October 24, 1974) was a Soviet violin virtuoso who made many recordings and was the dedicatee of numerous violin works. His recordings and performances of Shostakovich's concerti are particularly well known, but he was also a performer of classical concerti. He worked with orchestras in Russia, and also with musicians in Europe and the United States. The violin concerto of Aram Khachaturian is dedicated to him, as are the two violin concerti by Dmitri Shostakovich.

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Zubin Mehta's autobiography

Music maestro Zubin Mehta has come up with an autobiography ‘The scores of my Life’. The book gives a candid insight into his personal, as well as public life. In this book he has discussed about his life, his family, and other interesting incidents. Zubin Mehta was born into a Parsi family in Bombay (now Mumbai), India, the son of Mehli and Tehmina Mehta. His father Mehli Mehta was a violinist and founding conductor of the Bombay Symphony Orchestra. Zubin is an alumnus of St. Mary's (ISC) High School, Mazagoan, Mumbai. Zubin initially intended to study medicine, but eventually became a music student in Vienna at the age of 18, under the eminent instructor Hans Swarowsky. Also at the same academy along with Zubin were conductor Claudio Abbado and conductor/pianist Daniel Barenboim.

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Eugen Suchoň

Eugen Suchoň was born on September 25, 1908 in Pezinok, Hungary (now Slovakia). His father, Ladislav Suchoň, was an organist and teacher. His mother, Serafĭna Suchoňovà, was a piano teacher, and it was from her that he received his first piano tuition. The house was always filled with music and, as a small child, he would listen from under the piano when his father rehearsed at home with other musicians. In 1920, at the age of twelve, he started taking piano lessons at the Bratislava School of Music with the distinguished musician Frico Kafenda. Later, from 1927–1931, he continued his studies with the same teacher at the newly established Academy of Music in Bratislava. His early works include several piano compositions and a choral work Vel’ky Pôst (The Great Fast). He graduated from his composition classes with the Sonata in A-flat for Violin and Piano and a String Quartet (op.2, 1931, revised 1939).

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Pablo de Sarasate

Pablo de Sarasate was born in Pampalona, Spain on 10 MAR 1844. He died 20 SEP 1908
He was the son of an artillery bandmaster. He began studying the violin with his father at the age of five and later took lessons from a local teacher but his musical talent became evident early on and he appeared in his first public concert in La Coruña at the age of eight. His performance was well-received, and caught the attention of a wealthy patron who provided the funding for Sarasate to study under Manuel Rodríguez Saez in Madrid where he gained the favor of Queen Isabel II. Later, as his abilities developed, he was sent to study under Jean-Delphin Alard at the Paris Conservatoire at the age of twelve. There, at seventeen, Sarasate entered a competition for the Premier Prix and won his first prize, the Conservatoire's highest honour...MORE WIKI BIO.

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Joshua Bell

VIVALDI: The Four Seasons

TARTINI: The Devil's Trill; Joshua Bell, violin; musicians of The Academy of St Martin in the Fields

Joshua Bell on the WEB

SHOP Joshua BellGrammy Award-winning violinist Joshua Bell, who has enchanted audiences for two decades with his breathtaking playing and tone of rare opulence, has recorded Antonio Vivaldi’s concertos The Four Seasons. Widely considered as one of the premiere violinists of his generation, Bell is joined on this studio release by the celebrated musicians of the Academy of St.Martin in the Fields, who toured the work with him prior to the recording sessions. This recording of The Four Seasons is coupled with another masterpiece of Baroque virtuosity, Giuseppe Tartini’s The Devil’s Trill. The liner notes by Linda Kobler explain the curious genesis of Tartini’s piece and the indisputable place of Vivaldi’s concertos in the history of sonata composition.

Joaquin NIN-CULMELL birth centennial

5 SEPTEMBER 1908, Birth of Cuban-Spanish pianist and composer Joaquin NIN-CULMELL in Berlin. Joaquín Nin-Culmell d-age 95, in Oakland, CA 14 JAN 2004. Was composer of Spanish-style piano pieces. He was the son of Cuban-Spanish composer Joaquín Nin y Castellanos and Danish-French-Cuban singer Rosa Culmell. He studied in Paris and Spain (with Falla), settling in the USA in 1938. He wrote a Mass for the consecration of St Mary's Cathedral, San Francisco (1970), and the opera La celestina (1965-80), as well as instrumental and chamber pieces and songs with strong Spanish elements...

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