Category Archives: Listening to Beethoven

On this day in 1936 – the death of composer Ottorino Respighi

Posted on by
Reply

by Ben Hogwood Image of Respighi courtesy of Wikipedia

Today marks the anniversary of the death of composer Ottorino Respighi, 90 years ago in 1936, at the age of just 56.

Respighi’s most famous works are the orchestral pieces making up the ‘Roman trilogy’ – in order of composition the Fountains of Rome, Pines of Rome and Roman Festivals. A previous post on the composer highlighted recordings of those three; however I wanted this time to pay tribute to Respighi’s flair as an orchestrator. Here are his arrangements of five of Rachmaninoff‘s Etude-Tableaux for piano, showing off the orchestra with colour and flair:

Published post no.2,862 – Saturday 18 April 2026

On this day in 1895 – the first performance of The Wood Nymph by Sibelius

Posted on by
Reply

by Ben Hogwood Image of Sibelius courtesy of Wikipedia, and Finnish photographer Daniel Nyblin

Having just returned from Tallinn, Estonia, I feel particularly close the music of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. On this day in 1895 one of his early orchestral works, The Wood Nymph, was premiered – and you can listen below:

Published post no.2,861 – Monday 17 April 2026

On this day in 1896 – the first performance of the Lemminkäinen Suite by Sibelius

Posted on by
Reply

by Ben Hogwood Image of Sibelius courtesy of Wikipedia, and Finnish photographer Daniel Nyblin

On this day in 1896, the world premiere of Jean Sibelius’ Lemminkäinen Suite took place in Helsinki. The suite, in four distinct movements, has become a popular concert piece and is an early indication of the composer’s ability to tell dramatic tales through the orchestra. In this case the story follows Lemminkäinen in the Kalevala, the Finnish epic of folklore and poetry. The four movements are Lemminkäinen and the Maidens of the Island, The Swan of Tuonela (sometimes placed third and the most popular of the four), Lemminkäinen in Tuonela and Lemminkäinen’s Return

You can listen to a performance below from the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Jukka-Pekka Saraste:

Published post no.2,857 – Monday 13 April 2026

On this day in 1800 – the first performance of Beethoven’s First Symphony

Posted on by
Reply

by Ben Hogwood Image of Ludwig van Beethoven in 1801, courtesy of Wikipedia

On this day in 1800 the premiere of Beethoven‘s game-changing Symphony no.1 took place, in Vienna’s Burgtheater.

You can read all about the work as part of Arcana’s ongoing Beethoven odyssey, and listen to a performance of the symphony given by the London Symphony Orchestra and Bernard Haitink here:

Published post no.2,845 – Thursday 2 April 2026

On this day – the premiere of Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music

Posted on by
Reply

Picture: By uncredited press photographer, public domain

by Ben Hogwood

On this day in 1938, the premiere of Serenade to Music, one of Vaughan Williams‘ best-loved pieces, took place at the Royal Albert Hall. Conducted by Sir Henry Wood, the orchestra was a blend of players from the London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra and London Philharmonic Orchestra.

In the audience was a certain Sergei Rachmaninoff, who had performed his own Piano Concerto no.2 in the first half of the concert, and who was moved to tears by Vaughan Williams’ new work.

Serenade To Music is led by a group of 16 solo singers, a starry line-up including the likes of Isobel Baillie, Elsie Suddaby, Heddle Nash and Walter Widdop. The account below is conducted by John Wilson, from the Concordia Foundation 15th Anniversary Gala at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. 22nd November 2010:

Published post no.2,678 – Sunday 5 October 2025