Synopsis

If you’re a baby boomer who played in a high school or college band, you’ll probably remember the “Divertimento for Band” by the American composer, Vincent Persichetti, music that premiered on today’s date in 1950, with the composer conducting the Goldman Band.

Persichetti didn’t envision his “Divertimento” as a band work, per se. At the start, it was just some woodwind figures accentuated by brass and percussion. When Persichetti realized that violins and cellos just didn’t seem to fit in the picture, “Divertimento” began to take shape in his mind as a work for winds, brass and percussion alone.

Persichetti went on to write a dozen more compositions for concert band. Beyond his works for band, Persichetti was a prolific composer of keyboard, chamber and orchestra pieces. He once claimed that since musical ideas often came to him in his car, he liked to tape a piece of music paper to his steering wheel, so he could jot down ideas and keep his eyes on the road at the same time.

Luckily for other residents of his hometown of Philadelphia, apparently this practice didn’t result in any head-on collisions!

Music Played in Today's Program

Vincent Persichetti (1915 - 1987) Divertimento North Texas Wind Symphony; Eugene Migliaro Corporon, conductor. Klavier 11124