"Because ignorance of your culture is considered uncool"
Eugene Bigot was one of the most widely respected and recorded conductors during the 1930s and 1940s. During the era of the 78 rpm record, Bigot was responsible for recording more French repertoire heard all over the world than just about any conductor at the time. Sadly, his recording activities...
Ondes Martenot Quartet – Messiaen – Oraison – Recorded by ORTF, Paris – 1954 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection – Something unusual this weekend. The Ondes Martenot Quartet, featuring the inventor Maurice Martenot in a piece written by Olivier Messiaen especially for the Ondes Martenot; Oraison – recorded in the...
Something a little unusual this weekend. A broadcast recital by the great German-born Soprano Elisabeth Schumann via the RCA Magic Key Program from January 8, 1939. Part of that Golden Age of Operatic Singing, Elisabeth Schumann was a very much loved singer who was an integral part of the Operatic...
BBC Concert Orchestra – Vilem Tausky and Malcolm Arnold, conductors – Michael Krein, Saxophone – 1957 From a weekly series of concerts featuring the BBC Concert Orchestra, a program of works by Malcolm Arnold, Ronald Binge and Sidney Torch with Vilem Tausky and Malcolm Arnold (conducting his own works) and...
Covering some familiar territory tonight. Familiar composer, but a less familiar work. Jacques Ibert has enjoyed a popularity undiminished with time. Versatile and well regarded during his lifetime, his popularity has only increased since his death 50 years ago. Ibert pursued a successful composing career, writing (sometimes in collaboration with...
It could make a huge difference: Become a Patron! More Contemporary music of the 20th Century this week. Michel Michelet, a native of Kiev, who first migrated to Germany and then, with German persecution of Jews, fled Germany and wound up in the U.S., most notably in Hollywood where he...
The Hancock Ensemble – Julius Tannenbaum, cond. – Harold Whitcraft, tenor – MBS-KHJ – February 6, 1938 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection – Another concert of small works, some unfamiliar, performed by local ensembles and broadcast in the 1930s. This one featuring the Hancock Ensemble, founded and led by G....
Theme and Variations – The Hancock Ensemble – Loren Powell, Conductor – April 23, 1943 – KHJ, Los Angeles – Mutual Network – Another program of American music performed during the War years by the Hancock Ensemble, conducted by Loren Powelll and featuring Martin Ruderman, flute. This broadcast is from...
American Contemporary Music Festival – USC – May 7, 1948 – USC Symphony – Ingolf Dahl, Conductor – The fifth (and last) program from the 1948 American Contemporary Music Fesival, held at the Bovard Auditorium at USC and broadcast over KHJ and KUSC in Los Angeles on May 7, 1948....
Ruggiero Ricci, violin with the American Broadcasting Company Symphony – conducted by Bronislaw Gimpel – November 2, 1946 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection – More rarities this week – two legendary violinists sharing the stage – one as conductor and the other as soloist. Ruggiero Rici with The American Broadcasting...
Gordon Skene, two-time Grammy Nominee and archivist runs The Gordon Skene Sound Archive and this website, which is dedicated to preserving and encouraging an interest in history and historic news, events, and cultural aspects of our society. Past Daily is the only place on the Internet where you can hear a Nixon speech, listen to an interview with John Cassavettes or play a broadcast of Charles Munch rehearsing the Boston Symphony in 1950, all in the same place. It's living history and it's timeless.
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