Composers Datebook

Symphonic Mahler and Moross


Listen Later

Synopsis

On this day in 1904, in Cologne, Germany, Gustav Mahler conducted the first performance of his Symphony No. 5. It was not a success. Applause was light, with loud hissing from some in the audience. Even Mahler’s wife, Alma, complained so much about the orchestration that Mahler kept tinkering with the score until the last year of his life.


Despite this inauspicious beginning, Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 has become a popular showpiece for virtuoso orchestras and its slow movement, marked Adagietto — supposedly Mahler’s musical love to Alma — has become one of Mahler’s best-loved pieces.


The American composer Jerome Moross also had a symphony premiered on today’s date. The year was 1943, Moross was 30, and Thomas Beecham conducted its premiere performance with the Seattle Symphony. Unlike Mahler, Moross wrote only one symphony, and the American hobo tune inspired the slow movement of his The Midnight Special.


Jerome Moross is best known his work in Hollywood. His 1958 score for The Big Country was nominated for an Academy Award. Moross also wrote the music for Wagon Train, a popular TV Western. As Moross once said, “a composer must reflect his landscape and mine is the landscape of America. I don't do it consciously, it is simply the only way I can write.”


Music Played in Today's Program

Gustav Mahler (1860-1911): Symphony No. 5; Chicago Symphony; Claudio Abbado, conductor; DG 427 254


Jerome Moross (1913-1983): Symphony No. 1; London Symphony; JoAnn Falletta, conductor; Koch 7188

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Composers DatebookBy American Public Media

  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7

4.7

173 ratings


More shows like Composers Datebook

View all
Radiolab by WNYC Studios

Radiolab

44,014 Listeners

Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! by NPR

Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!

38,741 Listeners

Marketplace by Marketplace

Marketplace

8,715 Listeners

The Book Review by The New York Times

The Book Review

3,881 Listeners

Marketplace Morning Report by Marketplace

Marketplace Morning Report

925 Listeners

Marketplace All-in-One by Marketplace

Marketplace All-in-One

1,380 Listeners

World Cafe Words and Music Podcast by NPR

World Cafe Words and Music Podcast

360 Listeners

Piano Puzzler by American Public Media

Piano Puzzler

529 Listeners

New Classical Tracks with Julie Amacher by American Public Media

New Classical Tracks with Julie Amacher

179 Listeners

BirdNote Daily by BirdNote

BirdNote Daily

1,226 Listeners

Brains On! Science podcast for kids by Brains On Universe

Brains On! Science podcast for kids

13,521 Listeners

The Splendid Table: Conversations & Recipes For Curious Cooks & Eaters by American Public Media

The Splendid Table: Conversations & Recipes For Curious Cooks & Eaters

3,061 Listeners

YourClassical Daily Download by American Public Media

YourClassical Daily Download

248 Listeners

Science Friday by Science Friday and WNYC Studios

Science Friday

6,338 Listeners

Bullseye with Jesse Thorn by NPR

Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

2,619 Listeners

In The Dark by The New Yorker

In The Dark

27,809 Listeners

Thanks For Asking by Feelings & Co.

Thanks For Asking

13,274 Listeners

Twenty Thousand Hertz by Dallas Taylor

Twenty Thousand Hertz

3,999 Listeners

Make Me Smart by Marketplace

Make Me Smart

5,487 Listeners

Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast by Joshua Weilerstein

Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast

2,145 Listeners

Smash Boom Best: A funny, smart debate show for kids and family by Brains On Universe

Smash Boom Best: A funny, smart debate show for kids and family

13,892 Listeners

Forever Ago by Brains On Universe

Forever Ago

6,191 Listeners

Classical Breakdown by WETA Classical

Classical Breakdown

224 Listeners

Short Wave by NPR

Short Wave

6,332 Listeners

NPR's Book of the Day by NPR

NPR's Book of the Day

638 Listeners