Born on July 26, 1874, Russian-born American conductor, composer, and virtuoso double-bassist.Serge KoussevitzkyHe is most celebrated for his legendary 25-year tenure as the music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1924 to 1949, during which he transformed the BSO into a world-class ensemble. An ardent champion of 20th-century music, he would commission and premiere an unparalleled catalog of modern orchestral masterpieces from the greatest composers of the century. On this week's Sunday on Blue Lake with Foley Schuler, in honor of Koussevitsky's birthday, we will enjoy a number of works whose existence we owe to Koussevitsky, including two cornerstorns of the modern choral repertoire—Igor Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms and Randall Thompson's Alleluia—as well as two magnificent orchestral showpieces: Maurice Ravel's orchestration of Mussorgsky's Pictures at and Exhibition and the Concerto for Orchestra by Béla Bartók.
We'll also hear music of the celebrated Irish composer and pianist, John Field, born on the same day just under a century later, in 1784—John Field. (In fact, we'll hear a selection of the pieces in the form he invented, the nocturne.)
You can hear Sunday on Blue Lake with Foley Schuler every Sunday afternoon from 1 until 4 on Blue Lake Public Radio.
