The Not-Mozart Club

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There was only one W.A. Mozart. But scores of contemporaries thrived in
his large shadow, many of whom even enjoyed more fame than he did at
the time. This morning we’ll hear a Mozart-era Violin Concerto by
Chevalier de Saint-Georges. He was born on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, the son of an aristocratic French plantation
owner and an African slave. Saint-Georges was a champion swordsman and an extraordinary athlete, as
well as a violin virtuoso. In 1792, he was appointed colonel and
commander of an all-Black military regiment of French Caribbeans and
former American slaves. Violinist Rachel Barton Pine plays Saint-Georges’ only concerto this morning on VPR Classical. 

 

Playlist:
8:08 am
  • Drive the Cold Winter Away / The Beggar Boy / Woodycock / The piece without title
  • Composer: John Playford
  • Ensemble: Les Witches
  • CD/Album: "Nobody's Jig: Mr. Playford's English Dancing Master"
  • Record co./Cat #: Alpha 909
8:23 am
  • English Dances: First Set
  • Composer: Malcolm Arnold
  • Ensemble: Philharmonia Orchestra
  • Conductor: Bryden Thomson
  • CD/Album: "Arnold: Dances"
  • Record co./Cat #: Chandos 8867
8:33 am
  • Sous les branches / En la rousee / Jolis moi de mai / Au joly boquet croist la violette
  • Composer: Anonymous (Burgundy, c. 1460)
  • Ensemble: Orlando Consort
  • CD/Album: "Medieval Gardens"
  • Record co./Cat #: Harmonia Mundi 907398
  • Note: (French chansons: "Under the boughs"/"In the dew"/"The Merry Month of May"/"Amid the clump of flowers the violets bloom")
8:38 am
  • Petite Suite: selections
  • Composer: Alexander Borodin
  • Arranger: (orch. by Alexander Glazunov)
  • Ensemble: Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra
  • Conductor: Neeme Jarvi
  • CD/Album: "Borodin: Orchestral Works"
  • Record co./Cat #: Deutsche Grammophon 435757
9:02 am
  • Six Caribbean Pieces: (#4) Jamaican Rhumba
  • Composer: Arthur Benjamin
  • Arranger: (arr. by Kell)
  • Soloists: Emma Johnson, clarinet ; Julius Drake, piano
  • CD/Album: "The Essential Emma Johnson"
  • Record co./Cat #: ASV 238
9:05 am
  • Violin Concerto in A , Op. 5/2
  • Composer: Chevalier de Saint-Georges
  • Ensemble: Encore Chamber Orchestra
  • Soloists: Rachel Barton Pine, violin
  • Conductor: Daniel Hege
  • CD/Album: "Violin Concertos by Black Composers of the 18th and 19th Centuries"
  • Record co./Cat #: Cedille 90000035
9:30 am
  • Sigurd Jorsalfar: 3 Pieces for Orchestra , Op. 56
  • Composer: Edvard Grieg
  • Ensemble: Berlin Philharmonic
  • Conductor: Herbert von Karajan
  • CD/Album: "Grieg: Peer Gynt Suites Nos. 1 & 2, Holberg Suite, Sigurd Jorsalfar"
  • Record co./Cat #: Deutsche Grammophon 419474
9:47 am
  • Concerto Grosso #12 "Variations on La Folia" in d
  • Composer: Francesco Geminiani
  • Ensemble: Boston Baroque
  • Conductor: Martin Pearlman
  • CD/Album: "Vivaldi: The Four Seasons"
  • Record co./Cat #: Telarc 80698
  • Note: (based on Corelli's Op. 5/12, variations on La Folia)

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