1936
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5 January 1936 Samuel Barber (25) sings his Beggar’s Song to words of Davies in its first performance, at the American Academy in Rome. He finished the song earlier today.
9 January 1936 The fifth and sixth movements of Statements for orchestra by Aaron Copland (35) are performed for the first time, in an NBC radio broadcast originating in Minneapolis. See 7 January 1942.
11 January 1936 During a sit down strike against General Motors by its workers in Flint, Michigan, management orders the heat turned off.
15 January 1936 All leftist parties in Spain join in the Frente Popular.
Japan withdraws from the London Naval Conference on the limitation of world navies.
16 January 1936 Oration, concerto elegiaco for cello and orchestra by Frank Bridge (56) is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of the BBC the composer conducting.
17 January 1936 Paul Hindemith (40) signs an oath of allegiance to Adolf Hitler.
Stalin attends a performance of Quiet Flows the Don, an opera by Ivan Ivanovich Dzerzhinsky, in Moscow. After the performance, the composer, conductor Samuel Samosoud and stage director MA Tereshkovich are invited to Stalin’s box. Stalin approves of the opera and waxes that Soviet opera “will largely use the melodious qualities of folk song, will be very approachable and graspable in its form.” Tomorrow, Stalin’s remarks will be printed in all Soviet newspapers.
18 January 1936 Rudyard Kipling dies in London at the age of 70.
20 January 1936 King George V of Great Britain, Emperor of India, dies at Sandringham, Norfolk and is succeeded by his son Edward VIII.
21 January 1936 Bolivia, Paraguay, and six neutral countries sign a peace treaty in Buenos Aires. Prisoners will be repatriated and diplomatic relations resumed.
Catfish Row, an orchestral suite from Porgy and Bess by George Gershwin (37), is performed for the first time, at the Philadelphia Academy of Music.
22 January 1936 Trauermusik for viola and strings by Paul Hindemith (40) is performed for the first time, in London the composer as soloist. The work was written yesterday in response to the death of King George V.
Musica per tre pianoforti by Luigi Dallapiccola (31) is performed for the first time, in Geneva.
23 January 1936 Karl Amadeus Hartmann (30) receives a telegram informing him that he has received the first prize in an international string quartet competition sponsored by Carillon, a chamber music society based in Geneva.
Sinfonia India by Carlos Chávez (36) is performed for the first time, in New York over the airwaves of the CBS radio network. The composer conducts.
24 January 1936 Albert Pierre Sarraut replaces Pierre Laval as Prime Minister of France.
Deux mélodies op.55 for voice and piano by Albert Roussel (66) to words of Ville is performed for the first time, in Paris.
25 January 1936 Florent Schmitt (65) is elected to the French Institute to fill the chair vacated by the death of Paul Dukas (†0). Igor Stravinsky (53) receives no more than five out of 32 votes on any of the five ballots.
26 January 1936 Dmitri Shostakovich (29) is ordered by the director of the Bolshoy Theatre to attend a performance of his opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District in Moscow. Present this evening are Stalin, Vyacheslav Molotov, Anastas Mikoyan and Andrey Zhdanov. He is not called to their box after the performance.
Nothing is Here for Tears for chorus and piano by Ralph Vaughan Williams (63) to words of Milton, is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of the BBC originating in London.
The first New York run of Porgy and Bess closes. Its authors, DuBose Heyward, George Gershwin (37), and Ira Gershwin lose their investment. However, this will be more than made up by royalties from the songs.
In Greek general elections, the Liberal Party returns to its status of largest party in the Parliament.
27 January 1936 Tout va bien op.139/9 for voice and piano by Charles Koechlin (68) to his own words is performed for the first time, in Paris, the composer at the keyboard. See 17 January 1986.
28 January 1936 An article appears in the Communist Party daily Pravda entitled “Muddle instead of music.” It is a scathing denunciation of Dmitri Shostakovich (29), his opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, and Soviet composers in general. “From the first moment, the listener is shocked by a deliberately dissonant, confused stream of sound. Fragments of melody, embryonic phrases appear--only to disappear again in the din, the grinding, the screaming of petty-bourgeois invocations...The music quacks, growls and suffocates itself. All this could end very badly. The danger of this trend to Soviet music is clear.” The lack of signature indicates that the article probably originates with Stalin.
Richard Loeb has his throat cut by a fellow inmate at Stateville Prison, Illinois. He dies a few hours later.
29 January 1936 Concerto for harpsichord and chamber orchestra by Bohuslav Martinu (45) is performed for the first time, in Paris.
1 February 1936 Harry Partch (34) is hired as a proofreader in San Bernadino, California.
3 February 1936 Béla Bartók (54) is inaugurated into the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
String Quartet no.3 by Frederick S. Converse (65) is performed for the first time, in Jordan Hall, Boston.
4 February 1936 The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money by John Maynard Keynes is published in Britain.
The Union of Soviet Composers expels Alyeksandr Vasilyevich Mosolov (35) for several drunken brawls and other actions “incompatible with the honorable status of a Soviet composer...”
5 February 1936 Charlie Chaplin’s film Modern Times is released in the United States. It is the last significant silent film.
6 February 1936 A second article denouncing Dmitri Shostakovich (29) appears in Pravda. This one is entitled “Falsehood in Ballet” and takes particular aim at the composer’s ballet The Limpid Stream.
The Fourth Winter Olympic Games open in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
7 February 1936 Dmitri Shostakovich (29) meets with Platon Mikhailovich Kerzhentsev, the chairman of the Soviet Committee on Arts Affairs. He passes on suggestions and questions that clearly come from Stalin. The composer should take up the collecting of folk songs (he never will), and submit libretti of future operas and ballets for approval (he will not complete another). Mostly, Stalin wants to know if Shostakovich has accepted the criticism of his work. Shostakovich’s answer is evasive.
Incidental music to Gide’s play Oedipus by Bohuslav Martinu (45) is performed for the first time, in Prague.
8 February 1936 Giulio Cesare, an opera by Gian Francesco Malipiero (53) to his own words after Shakespeare, is performed for the first time, in Teatro Carlo Felice, Genoa.
Fire tonight destroys the Teatro Regio in Turin.
9 February 1936 The Cotton Club closes in Harlem.
10 February 1936 Members of the Moscow Union of Composers jam into their hall to denounce Dmitri Shostakovich (29) and plan the true path of Soviet music. The scene will be repeated on 13 and 15 February.
11 February 1936 Works by Charles Koechlin (68) are performed for the first time, in Paris: Vocalise in G major, one of the 15 vocalises pour chant et piano dans tous les tons majeurs, the composer at the piano, and Sonatine modale for flute and clarinet op.155a.
13 February 1936 French Socialist leader Léon Blum is dragged from his car and beaten, almost to death, by royalist thugs in Paris.
16 February 1936 The Fourth Winter Olympic Games close in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. In eleven days of competition, 646 athletes from 28 countries took part.
General elections in Spain bring the leftist Popular Front to power.
A coup d’etat led by General Rafael de la Cruz Franco Ojeda, in opposition to the peace treaty with Bolivia, overthrows the government of President Eusebio Ayala of Paraguay.
Density 21.5 for flute by Edgard Varèse (52) is performed for the first time, in Carnegie Hall, New York. It is the first work composed specifically for the platinum flute.
17 February 1936 Incidental music to Lenormand’s play La folle du ciel by Darius Milhaud (43) is performed for the first time, in Théâtre Mathurins, Paris.
18 February 1936 Sonata for violin and piano no.3 by Paul Hindemith (40) is performed for the first time, in Geneva.
19 February 1936 Manuel Azaña y Díaz replaces Manuel Portela Valladares as Prime Minister of Spain.
The Girl Friends, a film with music by Dmitri Shostakovich (29), is shown for the first time.
Sonata for violin and piano by Frederick S. Converse (65) is performed for the first time, in Jordan Hall, Boston.
20 February 1936 William Cameron Menzies’ film Things to Come is released in Great Britain.
General Rafael de la Cruz Franco Ojeda assumes the presidency of Paraguay and repudiates the peace treaty with Bolivia.
21 February 1936 General José Felix Estigarribia, commander of victorious Paraguayan forces in the Chaco War, is arrested in Asuncion. He and President Ayala are exiled.
Lady of Secrets, a film with music by William Grant Still (40), is released in the United States.
23 February 1936 Sketch no.1 by Marc Blitzstein (30) is performed for the first time, in New York. It will be incorporated into The Cradle Will Rock.
24 February 1936 Works for piano are performed for the first time, at a concert of educational music by contemporary composers at the City College of New York: Two Children’s Pieces by Aaron Copland (35) and The Harper Minstrel Sings and The Irishman Dances, both by Henry Cowell (38).
25 February 1936 Three Divertimenti for string quartet by Benjamin Britten (22), a reworking of his Alla Quartetto Serioso “Go Play, Boy, Play” is performed for the first time, in Wigmore Hall, London.
Kurt Weill (35) goes to the German consulate in New York to replace his expired passport. In spite of the recently enacted Nuremberg Laws depriving Jews of their citizenship, he is issued a new passport without comment.
26 February 1936 Radical army officers stage a widespread coup in Tokyo. Grand Chamberlain Kantaro Suzuki is shot four times at his home, but survives. Finance Minister Korekiyo Takahashi is shot and stabbed to death in his home. Denzo Matsuo, brother-in-law to Prime Minister Okada, is killed in the prime minister’s residence, the conspirators apparently mistaking him in the darkness for Okada (the Prime Minister survives unhurt). Inspector-General Jotaro Watanabe is shot and stabbed at his home. Count Nobuaki Makino, advisor to the Emperor, escapes his attackers. Rebel army units occupy the Diet building and one square mile in the center of Tokyo. Count Fumio Goto replaces Keisuke Okada as Prime Minister.
Divertimento for piano and small orchestra by David Diamond (20) is performed for the first time, in Philadelphia.
27 February 1936 The French Chamber of Deputies approves the alliance between France and the USSR.
La Nativité du Seigneur for organ by Olivier Messiaen (27) is performed completely for the first time, in Église de la Sainte-Trinité, Paris. The nine movements are shared by three organists. The composer will later consider this a turning point in his career. “I produced the proof...that it was possible to write music for the organ other than in a post-Franckist aesthetic.”
The Duke Ellington (36) band records Clarinet Lament (Barney’s Concerto) and Echoes of Harlem (Cootie’s Concerto) in New York.
28 February 1936 Italian musicologist Massimo Mila is sentenced in Rome to seven years imprisonment for anti-Fascist activities.
Incidental music to Supervielle’s play Bolivar by Darius Milhaud (43) is performed for the first time, in the Comédie Française, Paris.
Two new works by Roy Harris (38) are performed for the first time, in separate concerts: Symphony no.2 in Boston and Prelude and Fugue for strings at the Philadelphia Academy of Music.
Henry Cowell’s (38) dance music Salutation, to a scenario by Holm, is performed for the first time, in Millbrook, New York.
29 February 1936 On the fourth day of an insurrection by junior army officers in Tokyo, the leaders give up in the face of overwhelming land and naval forces. One leader, Captain Shiro Nonaka, commits hara-kiri, while others surrender. Keisuke Okada resumes the post of Prime Minister from Count Fumio Goto.
1 March 1936 An issue of Die Musik devoted to anti-Semitic articles warns Aryans of the decadence of Jewish composers.
2 March 1936 Ballade for orchestra by David Diamond (20) is performed for the first time, in New York.
5 March 1936 The first Spitfire is given a test flight at Eastleigh Aerodrome.
Several songs by Charles Ives (61) are performed for the first time, in the concert hall of the Schola Cantorum, Paris: The Innate, Resolution and Majority, all to his own words, Requiem to words of Stevenson, and Paracelsus to words of Browning. Olivier Messiaen (27) is at the piano.
6 March 1936 As Prime Minister Stojadinovic of Yugoslavia is speaking in Parliament, a Serbian deputy fires several shots at him. The Prime Minister survives unhurt.
7 March 1936 Noon German troops cross the Hohenzollern Bridge into Cologne and at five other bridges, beginning the remilitarization of the Rhineland, in violation of the Versailles and Locarno Treaties. They have orders to withdraw if challenged by French troops. They are not challenged. They do not withdraw.
8 March 1936 Russian Funeral for brass and percussion by Benjamin Britten (22) is performed for the first time, in Westminster Theatre, London.
The Pagan Symphony by Granville Bantock (67) is performed for the first time, in London.
9 March 1936 Koki Hirota replaces Keisuke Okada as Prime Minister of Japan.
Werner Egk (34) becomes Kapellmeister at the Prussian State Opera.
11 March 1936 In Los Angeles, Arnold Schoenberg (61) receives the unfinished third act of Lulu, an opera by Alban Berg (†0) to orchestrate. After realizing that a Jewish character is treated in an unfavorable light, he refuses.
12 March 1936 The League of Nations condemns Germany for remilitarizing the Rhineland.
Prelude and Fugue for orchestra by Walter Piston (42) is performed for the first time, in Cleveland.
13 March 1936 Two works by Benjamin Britten (22) are performed for the first time, over the airwaves of the BBC National: Suite for violin and piano (first complete), and The Birds, a song for voice and piano to words of Belloc. See 17 December 1934 and 21 April 1936.
14 March 1936 After being condemned in Pravda by high Soviet officialdom, and suffering the acquiescence in this of his peers, Dmitri Shostakovich (29) is strongly defended in a speech by the theatre director Vsevolod Emilyevich Meyerhold in Leningrad. His audience responds with strong and prolonged applause.
15 March 1936 After the announced engagement of Wilhelm Furtwängler as conductor of the New York Philharmonic causes loud protests due to his affiliation with the Nazi government, the conductor releases the management from the contract.
19 March 1936 Two Lullabies for two pianos by Benjamin Britten (22) are performed for the first time, privately at Broadcasting House, London by Adolph Hallis and the composer. See 22 June 1988.
Solemn Prelude for orchestra by Vladimir Ussachevsky (24) is performed for the first time, at the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, New York conducted by Howard Hanson (39). It is the composer’s master’s thesis.
21 March 1936 Alyeksandr Konstantinovich Glazunov dies in Paris of uremic poisoning, aged 70 years, seven months, and eleven days. His mortal remains will be buried in Neuilly, near Paris. See 13 November 1972.
Music for the film Peace of Britain by Benjamin Britten (22) is recorded.
22 March 1936 Dance of Liberation for piano by David Diamond (20) is performed for the first time, in New York.
26 March 1936 The publishers Heugel in Paris notify Kurt Weill (36) that they will end their contract with him effective 31 December. They can’t make enough money off of him.
A 200” (508 cm) 18,000 kg mirror leaves Corning, New York bound for the Mt. Palomar Observatory in California.
Piano Sonata no.1 by Lou Harrison (18) is performed for the first time, at the California School of Fine Arts, San Francisco.
27 March 1936 William Schuman (25), having secured employment at Sarah Lawrence College, marries Frances Prince, daughter of a businessman in the wine and liquor trade, at her family’s apartment at 41 West 96th Street, New York. In the afternoon, the wedding party and guests walk to the West Side piers where the couple boards ship for Virginia Beach.
From the Revelation of St. John the Divine for male chorus, three trumpets, two pianos, and timpani by Colin McPhee (36) is performed for the first time, in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York.
Farewell to Pioneers by Roy Harris (38) is performed for the first time, in the Philadelphia Academy of Music conducted by Carlos Chávez (36).
29 March 1936 Partita for oboe, bassoon, and piano by David Diamond (20) is performed for the first time, in New York.
30 March 1936 Musica per tre pianoforti (Inni) by Luigi Dallapiccola (32) is performed for the first time, in Geneva.
1 April 1936 Austria introduces conscription in violation of the Treaty of St. Germain.
2 April 1936 Month’s Mind for piano by John Ireland (56) is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of the BBC originating in London, by the composer.
3 April 1936 Richard Bruno Hauptmann, convicted of the kidnapping and murder of the infant son of Charles Lindbergh, is killed by the state of New Jersey in Trenton.
Geigenmusik for violin and orchestra by Werner Egk (34) is performed for the first time, in Baden-Baden.
5 April 1936 Three Male Choruses by Richard Strauss (71) to words of Rückert are performed for the first time, in Cologne.
7 April 1936 Diego Martínez Barrio becomes acting President of Spain, replacing Niceto Alcalá Zamora y Torres.
8 April 1936 After a third rehearsal of Alban Berg’s (†0) Violin Concerto in Barcelona, Anton Webern (52), upset by what he sees as the inability of the Catalan musicians to follow his directions, takes the score and locks himself in his hotel room. He gives up the score only when Helene Berg, widow of the composer, on her knees, pleads through tears for his permission to perform the work. Hermann Scherchen will take over tomorrow.
9 April 1936 The three-minute film Peace of Britain, with music by Benjamin Britten (22), is released.
The American Guild of Musical Artists is incorporated in New York. It is the first musicians’ union in the United States.
10 April 1936 A 200” (508 cm) 18,000 kg mirror arrives in Pasadena, California from Corning, New York.
A production of Shakespeare’s play Macbeth directed by Orson Welles and produced by John Houseman is performed for the first time, in the Lafayette Theatre in Harlem. The music is provided by and directed by Virgil Thomson (39) but includes no original compositions.
11 April 1936 Prime Minister Karlis Ulmanis replaces Albert Kviesis as President of Latvia.
Music for Children op.65 for piano by Sergey Prokofiev (44) is performed for the first time, in Moscow.
Two Symphonic Interludes for orchestra by Otto Luening (35) is performed for the first time, in Carnegie Hall, New York. Press and public are very pleased.
13 April 1936 Prime Minister Konstantinos Demertzis of Greece dies of heart disease in Athens. Ioannis Panagou Metaxas replaces him.
15 April 1936 A little more than a year after they moved in, Vaura and Pascale Honegger resume their practice of not living with their husband and father, Arthur Honegger (44). They find an apartment nearby in Paris.
Piano Concerto by Marc Blitzstein (31) is performed for the first time, in New York in a version for two pianos. The composer plays the orchestral reduction. Also premiered is Blitzstein’s song Writing a Letter from his Children’s Cantata: Workers’ Kids of the World Unite!, the composer at the piano. See 25 January 1986.
18 April 1936 Victor Alexander John Hope, Marquess of Linlithgow replaces George Freeman Freeman-Thomas, Earl of Willingdon as Viceroy of India.
06:10 Ottorino Respighi dies at his villa “The Pines” in Rome, aged 56 years, eight months, and nine days.
19 April 1936 Three works are performed for the first time, in Barcelona: Violin Concerto by Alban Berg (†0), composed to the memory of Manon Gropius, Fragmente aus dem Bühnenwerk Karl V for soprano and orchestra by Ernst Krenek (35), and Ariel, a ballet by Roberto Gerhard (39) to a story by Foix and the composer, in a concert setting. In the audience is Benjamin Britten (22).
20 April 1936 A funeral mass in honor of Ottorino Respighi takes place in the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome.
21 April 1936 Riots by Arabs against Jews in Tel Aviv-Jaffa causes eleven deaths and 50 injuries.
Suite for violin and piano op.6 by Benjamin Britten (22) is performed publicly for the first time, in Barcelona. See 13 March 1936.
An exhibition of paintings by George Gershwin (37) opens at the Society of Independent Artists, New York.
22 April 1936 Two of the Three Songs op.10 for voice and piano by Samuel Barber (26) to words of Joyce, Rain Has Fallen and Sleep Now, along with The Beggar’s Song to words of Davies, are performed for the first time, in Rome. See 7 March 1937.
25 April 1936 Pièce pour le Tombeau de Paul Dukas for piano by Olivier Messiaen (27) is performed for the first time, at École Normale de Musique, Paris. This is one of a collection of piano pieces by nine composers in memory of Dukas (†0).
26 April 1936 O Lord God of Israel op.141, an anthem for solo voices and chorus by Amy Beach (68) to words of the Bible, is performed for the first time, in St. Bartholemew’s Church, New York.
28 April 1936 King Fuad of Egypt dies and is succeeded by his son, Farouk I under a Council of Regency.
Pour le Tombeau de Paul Dukas for piano by Manuel de Falla (59) is performed for the first time, in the Salle de l’École Normale de Musique, Paris.
30 April 1936 Nocturne for orchestra by Arthur Honegger (44) is performed for the first time, in Brussels.
2 May 1936 Peter and the Wolf op.67 for speaker and orchestra by Sergey Prokofiev (45) to his own words, is performed for the first time, in Moscow.
3 May 1936 A second round of voting in the French general election results in victory for the Popular Front coalition of leftist parties.
5 May 1936 As Italian forces march into Addis Ababa, Mussolini declares the end of the Ethiopian war and announces Italy’s annexation of Ethiopia.
Chatterbox, the first of the Three Children’s Songs op.68 for voice and piano by Sergey Prokofiev (45), is performed for the first time, in Moscow.
7 May 1936 Brian Cornelius McDonough Cardew is born in Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, second of three children born to Michael Ambrose Cardew, a potter and Mary Ellen Russell, a painter and museum curator, the daughter of a journalist.
The first airborne recital takes place when Fritz Wagner of Dresden gives a program of Romantic piano music aboard the Hindenburg crossing from Hamburg to New York.
The Beloved Vagabond, a film with music by Darius Milhaud (43), is shown for the first time, in Ciné Marignan, Paris.
9 May 1936 King Vittorio Emanuele III of Italy proclaims himself Emperor of Ethiopia.
A general strike takes place in Thessaloniki to protest the Metaxas dictatorship. Police fire on a crowd killing 30 and wounding hundreds. The events inspire Iannis Ritsos to compose a series of poems called Epitafios, laments of a mother over her dead sons. In 1958 they will be set to music by Mikis Theodorakis (10).
The German zeppelin Hindenburg arrives in Lakehurst, New Jersey on its first flight to New York, three days out of Frankfurt-am-Main.
10 May 1936 Manuel Azaña y Díaz becomes President of Spain, replacing acting president Diego Martínez Barrio. Augusto Barcia Trelles replaces Manuel Azaña y Díaz as Prime Minister.
Incidental music to Slater’s play Stay down Miner by Benjamin Britten (22) is performed for the first time, in the Westminster Theatre, London.
11 May 1936 Some of the Hungarian Folksongs for chorus by Béla Bartók (55) are performed for the first time, in Kecskemét.
12 May 1936 Ralph Vaughan Williams’ (63) romantic extravaganza The Poisoned Kiss, to words of Sharp after Garnett, is performed for the first time, in Cambridge.
Music to the film Redes by Silvestre Revueltas (36) is performed for the first time, in the Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City directed by the composer.
13 May 1936 Santiago Casares Quiroga replaces Manuel Azaña y Díaz as Prime Minister of Spain.
The last concert in the Teatro Augusteo in Rome takes place. The theatre is to be demolished to uncover the tomb of the Emperor Augustus, believed to lie underneath.
15 May 1936 Felicjan Slawoj-Skladkowski replaces Marian Koscialkowski- Zyndram as Prime Minister of Poland.
The wife and children of Sergey Prokofiev (45) arrive in Moscow, thus completing his transition back to his homeland.
Samuel Barber (26) and Gian Carlo Menotti (24) move into a game warden’s cottage on a large estate near St. Wolfgang in the Austrian Alps. They will stay until 1 November.
16 May 1936 Poor People, a song by Marc Blitzstein (31), is performed for the first time, at the YMHA, New York. It will become Joe Worker in The Cradle Will Rock.
18 May 1936 Blacks riot against Italians in Harlem in sympathy for Ethiopia.
19 May 1936 Portuguese Prime Minister Salazar creates a radical fascist youth organization, the Mocidade Portuguesa.
Sonata for cello and piano by David Diamond (20) is performed for the first time, in Princeton, New Jersey.
20 May 1936 Symphony for Chorus by Roy Harris (38) is performed for the first time, at the Westminster Choir School, Princeton, New Jersey.
22 May 1936 01:00 Henry Cowell (39) is arrested at his home in Menlo Park, California for having intimate relations with at least one teenaged boy. He is detained in the Redwood City jail.
25 May 1936 The Plow That Broke the Plains, a film with music by Virgil Thomson (39), is shown for the first time, in New York. It was commissioned by the Resettlement Administration. See 2 January 1943.
26 May 1936 Guatemala withdraws from the League of Nations.
Eva Goldbeck, wife of Marc Blitzstein (31) dies in Cambridge of “starvation associated with psychosis” (now known as anorexia nervosa). Many factors added to her eating disorder, not the least was being married to a homosexual. Because he is attending her, Blitzstein misses the premiere of Chesapeake Bay Retriever in Channing Auditorium, New York, a film for which he wrote the music.
Henry Cowell (39) writes to Stanford University offering his resignation.
27 May 1936 Domenico (Mimi) Mascagni, son of Pietro (72), dies of disease in Italian Somaliland. He is part of an engineering battalion.
28 May 1936 In a paper submitted to the London Mathematical Society, Alan Turing first describes his Turing Machine. It will be published next year.
While in Berlin, on his way to Prague to attend the First International Congress of Music Education, Heitor Villa-Lobos (49) writes to his wife, Lucília Guimarães, in Rio de Janeiro. He declares their marriage over and informs her of his resolve not to live with her anymore. At present, she makes more money than he does.
30 May 1936 Wallingford Riegger (51) writes from New York to Henry Cowell (39) in California offering whatever help he can.
31 May 1936 General José David Toro overthrows the government of Daniel Domingo Salamanca Urey of Bolivia and sets up a military government.
1 June 1936 Ethiopia, Eritrea and Italian Somaliland are joined together into Italian East Africa.
2 June 1936 Stanford University accepts the resignation of Henry Cowell (39).
3 June 1936 This date marks the first appearance of La jeune France, a group formed by Olivier Messiaen (27) and three others to oppose Neo-Classicism, balance and order. Orchestral music is performed at the Salle Gaveau featuring the works of Messiaen, Yves Baudrier, Jean-Yves Daniel-Lesur and André Jolivet.
4 June 1936 Léon André Blum, four months after being severely beaten by right-wing thugs, replaces Albert Pierre Sarraut as Prime Minister of France. Blum is the first Jewish and first Socialist prime minister. His government will introduce the 40-hour week and collective labor agreements.
Otto Luening (35) writes to Henry Cowell (39) offering assistance.
5 June 1936 Edgard Varèse (52) and his wife Louise move to Santa Fe, New Mexico so that he may work uninterrupted on The-One-All-Alone and Espace.
8 June 1936 The Committee for Literature and Art of the League of Nations meets in Budapest. A government reception is held in the City Park, but several member artists, including Thomas Mann and Béla Bartók (55) refuse to attend and “sit at the same table as the Minister of Culture, Bálint Hóman.” Instead, the two meet privately at the house of Lajos Hatvany.
11 June 1936 The first international surrealist exhibition opens at New Burlington Galleries in London. It will run through 4 July.
Man and the Masses, a dance-drama for solo voices, chorus, two pianos, and percussion by Ross Lee Finney (29), is performed for the first time, at the Smith College graduation exercises in Northampton, Massachusetts.
12 June 1936 The 40-hour working week is introduced in France after a strike by 300,000 workers.
14 June 1936 Roy Harris (38) writes to Henry Cowell (39) offering assistance.
17 June 1936 The Supreme Court of Canada rules that most of Prime Minister Bennett’s New Deal legislation is invalid.
18 June 1936 Maxim Gorky dies at the age of 68. He is presumably poisoned by enemies of the government.
The government of the Irish Free State enacts the Declaration of Unlawful Organization Order, outlawing the Irish Republican Army.
In Los Angeles, John Cage (23) writes an encouraging letter to Henry Cowell (39).
19 June 1936 Axel Pehrsson-Bramstorp replaces Per Albin Hansson as Prime Minister of Sweden.
German heavyweight Max Schmeling defeats Joe Louis in Yankee Stadium, New York. Duke Ellington (37) is present and will compose It Was a Sad Night in Harlem in honor of the event.
23 June 1936 In Basel, Paul Sacher offers a commission to Béla Bartók (55) for a work for strings or chamber orchestra. It will be the Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta. See 21 January 1937.
The second movement of The Hour glass for piano by Frank Bridge (57) is performed for the first time.
A Sinfonietta for orchestra by David Diamond (20) is performed for the first time, in Philadelphia.
25 June 1936 The Douglas Sleeper Transport, a version of the DC-3, goes into scheduled operations with American Airlines.
26 June 1936 Hymne à la raison for chorus and winds by Charles Koechlin (68) to words of Rouget de Lisle is performed for the first time, in Salle Pleyel, Paris.
George (37) and Ira Gershwin agree on a deal to work 16 weeks on a film with RKO Pictures. There is also an option for a second film.
27 June 1936 The Soviet government issues severe restrictions on abortions while simultaneously increasing aid to mothers who have children.
Nicaragua withdraws from the League of Nations.
28 June 1936 La victoire op.153/3 for winds by Charles Koechlin (68) is performed for the first time, in the Stadium at Choisy-le-Roi to commemorate 100 years since the death of Rouget de Lisle. See 8 December 1961.
29 June 1936 RCA opens the first television station in the United States, transmitting from the top of the Empire State Building, New York.
30 June 1936 Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell is published by MacMillan. It will become the fastest-selling novel in US history.
1 July 1936 Bothered with symptoms of arthritis, Sergey Rakhmaninov (63) and his wife travel to Aix-les-Bains to take the cure.
3 July 1936 Stefan Lux, a Czechoslovakian journalist, kills himself at a session of the League of Nations in Geneva. He is protesting the treatment of German Jews.
6 July 1936 Henry Cowell (39) is sentenced to one to fifteen years in San Quentin penitentiary.
8 July 1936 In a letter to Ramiro Maeztu, who tried to gain Manuel de Falla’s (59) support in opposing the leftist tendencies of the Spanish government, Falla says, “The only solution for this is not a conservative counterrevolution...but rather another deeper and more noble revolution, guided by the love of God, above all things, and of our neighbor, as you would have him love you...What does not conform to this represents nationalist traditionalism which will finish, like any exaggerated nationalism, by opposing Christ’s true teachings.”
Henry Cowell (39) enters the San Quentin penitentiary.
10 July 1936 Honduras withdraws from the League of Nations.
11 July 1936 Germany and Austria conclude a treaty in which Germany agrees not to interfere in the internal affairs of Austria.
12 July 1936 15 men, leaders of the 26 February insurrection in Japan, are executed by firing squad in Tokyo.
Falangists murder Lt. José Castillo, a member of the Spanish Republican Guard, on the streets of Madrid.
13 July 1936 José Calvo Sotelo, leader of the extreme right in Spain, is murdered in Madrid by government security forces in response to the events of yesterday. These two events are seen as the spark to the Spanish Civil War.
14 July 1936 Incidental music to Roland’s play Le quatorze juillet by Charles Koechlin (68), Albert Roussel (67), Jacques Ibert (45), Arthur Honegger (44), Darius Milhaud (43), Daniel Lazarus (38), and Georges Auric (37) is performed for the first time, in the Alhambra, Paris.
Lev Sergeyevich Termen (Leon Theremin) (39) receives a US patent for a DC to AC inverter.
15 July 1936 Although Italy has not quit Ethiopia, the League of Nations lifts sanctions against Italy.
17 July 1936 The Spanish garrison at Melilla in Spanish Morocco revolts. General Francisco Franco flies from the Canary Islands to the scene to place himself at the head of the rebellion.
The government of France nationalizes the munitions industry.
18 July 1936 Many army garrisons in Spain declare for the rebellion. Prime Minister Santiago Casares Quiroga resigns.
19 July 1936 Diego Martínez Barrio replaces Santiago Casares Quiroga as Prime Minister of Spain. When he can not form a government to negotiate with the rebels, he resigns and is replaced by José Giral Pereira who orders that arms be distributed to workers.
Flying from Lisbon to lead the Spanish rebellion, General Sanjurjo is killed in a plane crash, leaving Generals Moa and Franco in charge. Fascist rebels seize power in Morocco, Navarre, Galicia, Old Castile, and Seville but not in Barcelona and Madrid.
20 July 1936 The Convention of the Straits is signed at Montreux. Turkey recovers sovereignty over the Dardanelles and the Bosporus.
Armed workers overpower the rebellious army garrison at Madrid. General Franco sends missions to Germany and Italy to ask for help. Fascist forces take control of the military academy in Toledo in the Fortress of Alcazar. They are besieged by loyalist troops.
Fascists rise up in Granada. Supporters of the Republic are unarmed and have difficulty countering the move.
21 July 1936 Fascist forces capture the Spanish naval base at El Ferrol in the northwest of the country. This gives them a battleship, two cruisers, and a destroyer.
Semi Joseph Begun receives two US patents for an “electromagnetic talking device” and an “electromagnetic talking machine.”
22 July 1936 Fascist forces capture Alto de Leon, northwest of Madrid.
23 July 1936 A government for the fascist uprising in Spain constitutes itself in Burgos.
Fascists complete their takeover of Granada. Anyone suspected of Republican leanings is killed. Thousands die in the slaughter. Manuel de Falla (59) can hear the firing squads from his house.
25 July 1936 The first shipment of aircraft from France arrives in Spain to aid the constitutional government.
26 July 1936 The COMINTERN decides to send volunteers and money to help the cause of the Spanish government. Adolf Hitler agrees to aid the rebels.
Tampax, Inc. of New Brunswick, New Jersey introduces the tampon with an applicator to the market. It was invented by Earle Haas of Denver.
30 July 1936 Italian planes arrive in Morocco to aid the Spanish fascists. They begin transporting the African army of Spain to Iberia.
1 August 1936 The Games of the Eleventh Olympiad of the Modern Era open in Berlin. Olympic Hymn for chorus and orchestra by Richard Strauss (72) to words of Lubahn is performed for the first time, at the opening ceremonies in Olympic Stadium along with Olympische Festmusik for orchestra by Werner Egk (35).
2 August 1936 Incidental music to Valmy Baisse’s play Bertran de Born by Darius Milhaud (43) is performed for the first time, in Théâtre Antique, Orange.
3 August 1936 As Hitler looks on from his box, Jesse Owens and Ralph Metcalfe, two African-Americans, place first and second in the Olympic 100 meter dash. The master race could do no better than fifth.
A fascist offensive begins in Estremadura, Spain.
4 August 1936 With a general strike in the air, Greek Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas is granted dictatorial powers by King Georgios II to “counter the Communist threat.” Metaxas suspends individual liberties and Parliament, and rules by decree.
7 August 1936 Three dances by Wallingford Riegger (51) to scenarios by Holm are performed for the first time, in Bennington, Vermont: Four Chromatic Eccentricities, The Cry op.22 and City Nocturne.
8 August 1936 France reverses its policy of aiding the constitutional government of Spain and institutes a policy of non-intervention.
9 August 1936 As Germany and Italy pour arms into Spain to support the fascist rebels, France ends all military export to the constitutional government. Government troops land on Ibiza and with the help of local citizens, defeat the fascist garrison on the island. Rebels capture Mérida.
10 August 1936 George (37) and Ira Gershwin board a plane in Newark for Los Angeles to work on a new film, Shall We Dance?
Edgard Varèse (52) begins a series of five lectures in Santa Fe, New Mexico entitled “Special Course in Orchestration for professionals and laymen”.
11 August 1936 Chiang Kai-shek enters Canton, almost uniting China.
The Spanish government battleship Jaime I sinks the rebel gunship Eduardo Dato at Algeciras.
Although not divorced from his wife (not possible under Brazilian law), Heitor Villa-Lobos (49) and Arminda Neves de Almeida are “married before God.” She is a music teacher, 20 years his junior.
13 August 1936 With my Red Fires op.20, a dance by Wallingford Riegger (51) to a scenario by Humphrey, is performed for the first time, in Bennington, Vermont.
14 August 1936 Fascist troops capture Badajoz, thus joining the two parts of Spain already conquered by the rebels. About 4,000 prisoners-of-war and civilians are murdered by the fascists in Badajoz. Thousands of women are raped.
16 August 1936 The Games of the Eleventh Olympiad of the Modern Era close in Berlin. In 16 days of competition, 3,963 athletes from 49 countries took part.
Loyal government forces land on Majorca and advance 13 km inland where they meet stiff resistance from the fascist garrison.
17 August 1936 Elliott Carter’s (27) ballet legend Pochahontas for piano is performed for the first time, at Keene State College, New Hampshire. See 24 May 1939.
18 August 1936 Federico García Lorca is captured by fascists in Granada.
19 August 1936 Escorted by two fascists, Manuel de Falla (59) goes to the government offices in Granada to plead for the release of Federico García Lorca. He learns that Lorca was shot this morning.
22 August 1936 A month after the beginning of the Civil War, and three days after the murder of his friend, Federico García Lorca, Manuel de Falla (59) is diagnosed with “grave malnutrition.”
Reeling from the sudden violent death of his friend and collaborator Pierre-Octave Ferroud, and already in the midst of a religious awakening, Francis Poulenc (37) visits the shrine of the Black Virgin of Rocamadour. Here he solidifies his return to Roman Catholicism. Today, he begins composing Litanies à la Vierge noire.
24 August 1936 Grigory Yevseyevich Zinoviev, Lev Borisvich Kamenev and fourteen other leading Soviet communists are convicted of killing Sergey Kirov in show trials as part of the Stalinist purges. They are sentenced to death.
France, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, Germany, Italy, and Portugal publicly agree not to intervene in the Spanish Civil War.
Germany adopts two-years compulsory military service.
26 August 1936 A treaty between Great Britain and Egypt is signed in Zaafarana Palace, Cairo. Britain will withdraw all troops from Egypt, except those required to defend the Suez Canal, and a naval base at Alexandria. Britain recognizes Egypt’s independence and sovereignty.
The new BBC television station at Alexandra Palace broadcasts for the first time. It is received at the Radio Exhibition taking place at Olympia.
27 August 1936 Albert Roussel (67) is stricken with an attack of angina. He will undergo a long recovery period in Nice.
28 August 1936 The Politburo of the Soviet Union decides to send aid to the constitutional government of Spain, the only nation to officially support Spanish democracy.
Italian Socialist leader Carlo Rosselli leads his countrymen in the Battle of Monte Pelato in Spain. His efforts and subsequent radio broadcast encourage other Italian leftists to join the loyalist cause, in opposition to their government.
Fascist forces bomb Madrid for the first time.
29 August 1936 Spanish rebels capture Oropesa.
In the United States, the National Bureau of Standards begins broadcasting a 440 cps signal for tuning purposes. It will continue until 13 September.
2 September 1936 Budavari Te Deum for four vocal soloists, chorus, orchestra, and organ by Zoltán Kodály (53), is performed for the first time, in the Coronation Church of Buda Castle, Budapest. It was composed for the 250th anniversary of the defeat of the Turks at Buda.
3 September 1936 Spanish rebels capture Talavera. The fascist defenders of Majorca launch a counterattack against the loyal troops who landed on 16 August. They manage to expel them from the island.
As You Like It, a film with music by William Walton (34), is shown for the first time, in the Carlton Theatre, London. The press is mixed. It is the first Shakespeare film starring Laurence Olivier.
4 September 1936 Francisco Largo Caballero replaces José Giral Pereira as Prime Minister of Spain.
Tabuh-tabuhan for two pianos and orchestra by Colin McPhee (36) is performed for the first time, in Mexico City conducted by Carlos Chávez (37). It is very successful.
5 September 1936 Spanish rebels capture Irún and close the border between France and the Basque provinces.
8 September 1936 Two hymn-tune preludes for small orchestra by Ralph Vaughan Williams (63) are performed for the first time, in Hereford Cathedral the composer conducting.
9 September 1936 The crews of three Portuguese warships mutiny in the Tejo and declare solidarity with the Spanish republic. The mutiny will be put down, and the sailors sent to the penal colony of Terrafal, Cape Verde.
The Non-Intervention Committee meets in London for the first time. Eventually, 27 European nations will pledge not to intervene in the Spanish Civil War.
10 September 1936 The American Federation of Labor suspends the ten unions belonging to the Committee for Industrial Organization.
12 September 1936 Fantasia Brevis for clarinet and piano by Otto Luening (36) is performed for the first time, in Saratoga Springs, New York.
13 September 1936 Spanish rebels capture San Sebastián.
16 September 1936 Spanish fascist forces capture Ronda.
20 September 1936 The Suburban Theatre, an opera by Bohuslav Martinu (45) to his own words after folk poetry, Molière, and Debureau, is performed for the first time, in Brno.
22 September 1936 Spanish rebels reach Maqueda and turn away from Madrid to relieve Toledo.
Amy Beach (69) undergoes an operation in Peterborough, New Hampshire for a growth on her groin.
After staying in the state for six weeks to establish residency, the divorce case of Roger Sessions (39) from his first wife, Barbara is heard in a Nevada court. The divorce will be granted.
The epilogue from Leos Janácek’s (†8) opera The Excursion of Mr. Broucek to the Moon is performed for the first time, over Prague Radio.
23 September 1936 A London Overture for orchestra by John Ireland (57) is performed for the first time, in Queen’s Hall, London. This is a reworking of his Comedy Overture for brass. See 29 September 1934.
25 September 1936 Two new works by British composers for voices and orchestra are performed for the first time, in St. Andrew’s Hall, Norwich: Five Tudor Portraits for alto, baritone, chorus, and orchestra by Ralph Vaughan Williams (63) to words of Skelton, and Our Hunting Fathers op.8, a cycle for voice and orchestra by Benjamin Britten (22) to words of Auden and Ravenscroft. Britten conducts his work.
26 September 1936 Nationwide purges begin to take place in the Soviet Union. Thousands are arrested or executed.
The French government devalues the Franc but does not set a gold content for the new currency, thus abandoning the gold standard.
27 September 1936 Switzerland and the Netherlands abandon the gold standard.
After a siege of over two months, the fascist forces in the Fortress of Alcazar, Toledo are relieved and the siege broken.
28 September 1936 Per Albin Hansson replaces Axel Pehrsson-Bramstorp as Prime Minister of Sweden.
1 October 1936 Francisco Franco becomes Generalissimo of the revolt and head of the Spanish State, the new name of the rebel government in Burgos.
Marc Blitzstein (31) signs a contract with the William Morris Agency who will represent him for the rest of his life.
2 October 1936 Dona nobis pacem, a cantata for soprano, baritone, chorus, and orchestra by Ralph Vaughan Williams (63) to words of Whitman and others, is performed for the first time, in Huddersfield Town Hall.
3 October 1936 Stephen Michael Reich is born in New York, the only child of Leonard J. Reich, an attorney, and June Carroll, singer and lyricist. The parents will divorce a little more than a year from now.
4 October 1936 About 300,000 people from a variety of leftist and other groups attack a march by the British Union of Fascists, led by Oswald Mosley, in London. They battle police protecting the 3,000 marchers. About 100 people are injured and 150 arrested. The incident becomes known as the Battle of Cable Street.
Symphony no.1 “The Bells of Zlonice” by Antonín Dvorák (†32) is performed for the first time, in Brno, 71 years after it was composed.
5 October 1936 The State Symphony Orchestra of the USSR performs in public for the first time, in Moscow.
6 October 1936 Extreme right-wing Prime Minister Gyula Gömbös of Hungary dies of kidney disease in a Munich hospital.
7 October 1936 Kyösti Kallio replaces Toivo Mikael Kivimäki as Prime Minister of Finland.
10 October 1936 Fearing its growing power, Austrian Chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg dissolves the Heimwehr.
Roy Harris (38) marries Beula Duffey, pianist and composer, in Union, Oregon. It is his third marriage.
11 October 1936 Kalmán Darányi de Pusztaszentgyörgy et Tetétlen replaces Gyula Gömbös de Jákfa as Prime Minister of Hungary.
End of the Trail, a film with music by William Grant Still (41), is released in the United States.
12 October 1936 British fascist Oswald Mosley leads an anti-Semitic march down Mile End Road, London.
The first Soviet aid to the constitutional government arrives in Spain.
The Story of Norah for chorus by Roy Harris (38) to words of Niles is performed for the first time, at the French Institute, New York. It was first performed in a radio broadcast in 1936.
13 October 1936 Rogue’s Comedy, an overture for orchestra by Arnold Bax (52), is performed for the first time, in Central Hall, Liverpool.
14 October 1936 King Leopold III of Belgium denounces his country’s military treaty with France, preferring complete neutrality.
16 October 1936 Concertino for piano, violin, cello, and orchestra by Bohuslav Martinu (45) is performed for the first time, in Basel.
The first performance of an orchestral work by Olivier Messiaen (27) outside of France takes place in Symphony Hall, Boston when Les Offrandres oublieés is conducted by Serge Koussevitzky.
19 October 1936 President Manuel Azaña y Díez of Spain and many of his ministers evacuate Madrid.
20 October 1936 Music for four films by Benjamin Britten (22) is recorded: Men of the Alps, The Saving of Bill Blewitt, Calendar of the Year and Line to the Tschierva Hut.
21 October 1936 Spanish rebels begin a siege of Madrid.
Two works by William Schuman (26) are performed for the first time, in a concert consisting entirely of his work in New York: Symphony no.1 and String Quartet no.1. These are funded by the Composers Forum Laboratory of the Federal Music Project.
22 October 1936 Martial law is declared in Belgium to combat Rexists (fascists).
23 October 1936 Ernst Krenek (36) begins a series of lectures in Vienna, explaining his belief that music must include tonality and atonality.
Adventure in Manhattan, a film with music by William Grant Still (41), is released in the United States.
26 October 1936 Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner is published by Random House in New York.
29 October 1936 German and Italian planes begin bombing Madrid.
Sergey Prokofiev’s (45) Russian Overture op.72 is performed for the first time, in Moscow.
30 October 1936 Dismal Swamp, a symphonic poem by William Grant Still (41), is performed for the first time, in Rochester, New York conducted by Howard Hanson (40).
1 November 1936 Benito Mussolini announces the “Rome-Berlin” axis, an alliance between Italy and Germany.
Incidental music to The Agamemnon of Aeschylus (tr. MacNeice) by Benjamin Britten (22) is performed for the first time, in the Westminster Theatre, London.
2 November 1936 Spanish fascists capture Brunete.
Kalmán Darányi de Pusztaszentgyörgy et Tetétlen replaces Gyula Gömbös de Jákfa as Prime Minister of Hungary.
The Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission becomes a Crown corporation under the name Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
3 November 1936 Ebon Chronicle for orchestra by William Grant Still (41) is performed for the first time, in Ft. Worth, Texas.
Voting in the United States ensures the reelection of President Franklin Roosevelt over Alf Landon, Governor of Kansas. Roosevelt wins 46 of the 48 states and 61% of the popular vote. His Democratic Party continues to add to its already overwhelming majorities in Congress. They hold 76 of 96 seats in the Senate and 334 of 435 seats in the House of Representatives.
4 November 1936 Spanish fascists capture Getafe.
Igor Stravinsky’s (53) L’histoire du soldat is performed in Berlin by the Jüdischer Kulturbund, to an all Jewish audience, with official permission.
5 November 1936 Prime Minister Francisco Largo Caballero of Spain evacuates Madrid, along with the rest of the constitutional government, leaving the city in the hands of the loyalist army.
Pastorale for oboe, clarinet, and bassoon op.147 by Darius Milhaud (44) is performed for the first time, in Bourges.
Six weeks after surgery to remove a growth from her groin, Amy Beach (69) is discharged from the Peterborough (NH) Hospital.
Richard Strauss (72) conducts the Royal Philharmonic in London. During the intermission he receives the RPS Gold Medal.
6 November 1936 The constitutional Spanish government sets up operations in Valencia.
Symphony no.3 by Sergey Rakhmaninov (63) is performed for the first time, in Philadelphia. The response is “lukewarm.”
Serestas for voice and orchestra by Heitor Villa-Lobos (49) is performed for the first time, in Rio de Janeiro, under the baton of the composer.
8 November 1936 The First International Brigade, foreigners volunteering to fight the fascist revolt in Spain, appears on the streets of Madrid. On the same day, fascist forces begin an offensive to capture the capital.
9 November 1936 Koco Kota replaces Mehdi Bey Frashëri as Prime Minister of Albania.
10 November 1936 During the night, the acting mayor of Leipzig (a Nazi named Haake) has the memorial statue to Mendelssohn (†89), which stands before the Gewandhaus, removed to a cellar. There his henchmen hack it to bits.
12 November 1936 An Organ Symphony by four British composers is performed for the first time, in St. John’s Church, Red Lion Square, London. The Theme for Improvisation is by Benjamin Britten (22) and the Adagio is by William Walton (34).
13 November 1936 Reflections for piano op.62 by Sergey Prokofiev (45) is performed for the first time, in Moscow.
Incidental music to Mistler’s play Le conquérant by Darius Milhaud (44) is performed for the first time, in Théâtre Odéon, Paris.
14 November 1936 The British government creates the Suez Canal Zone.
Albert Roussel’s (67) opera-bouffe Le testament de la tante Caroline to words of Nino (in a Czech translation) is performed for the first time, in Olomouc. See 11 March 1937.
15 November 1936 Belle et ressemblante from Francis Poulenc’s (37) Sept chansons for chorus is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of the BBC conducted by Nadia Boulanger (49). The words are from Eluard. See 21 May 1937.
16 November 1936 In the battle for Madrid, fascist rebels force their way across the River Manzanares.
King Edward VIII of Great Britain informs Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin that he intends to marry the American divorcee Wallis Simpson. Baldwin informs the King that the parliaments and people of Britain and the dominions would never accept a divorcee as queen.
Pennies from Heaven, a film with music by William Grant Still (41), is released in the United States.
17 November 1936 Litanies à la Vierge Noire for female chorus and organ by Francis Poulenc (37) is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of the BBC, Nadia Boulanger (49) conducting.
At Sea, a song by Charles Ives (62) to words of Johnson, is performed for the first time, in Steinway Concert Hall, New York.
18 November 1936 Germany and Italy recognize the rebel government of Francisco Franco as the legitimate government of Spain.
19 November 1936 Johnny Johnson, a musical play by Kurt Weill (36) to words of Green, is performed for the first time, in the 44th Street Theatre, New York. It is a moderate success. Weill is particularly praised in the press.
20 November 1936 Fascist leader José Antonio Primo de Rivera, who was in loyalist territory at the beginning of the revolt, is executed in Alicante.
21 November 1936 Incidental music to Barrie’s play The Boy David by William Walton (34) is performed for the first time, in King’s Theatre, Edinburgh. It is an unparalleled flop.
22 November 1936 Cello Concerto by Willem Pijper (42) is performed for the first time, in Amsterdam.
23 November 1936 By this day, the loyalist forces have successfully stopped the rebel advance on Madrid. Both sides begin to dig in.
Incidental music to Afinogenov’s play Hail, Spain by Dmitri Shostakovich (30) is performed for the first time, in the Pushkin Theatre of Drama, Leningrad.
Having bought Life magazine for $92,000, Henry Luce, publisher of Time, puts out its first issue. He has turned it into a photo based general interest journal.
24 November 1936 The First Suite op.64a from Sergey Prokofiev’s (45) unperformed ballet Romeo and Juliet is performed for the first time, in Moscow. See 30 December 1938.
Nadia Boulanger (49) conducts a concert of the Royal Philharmonic in Queen’s Hall, London. It is the first time a woman has conducted this orchestra.
25 November 1936 Germany and Japan sign the anti-Comintern Pact, designed to halt the spread of international communism.
26 November 1936 Roger Sessions (39) marries his second wife, Sara Elizabeth (Lisl) Franck, a former student, in Hadley, Massachusetts. One of the witnesses is a student of Sessions, David Diamond (21).
Introduction et marche funèbre op.153b for band by Darius Milhaud (44) is performed for the first time, in Paris.
28 November 1936 A Piano Concerto by Aram Khachaturian (33) is performed for the first time, privately in a two-piano version, at the Moscow Composers’ Union. See 12 July 1937.
30 November 1936 In spite of the efforts of 500 firemen, the Crystal Palace in London is destroyed by fire. 100,000 people come to watch.
1 December 1936 Les Soirées de Nazelles for piano by Francis Poulenc (37) is performed for the first time, by the composer over the airwaves of the BBC.
3 December 1936 While in Brussels, Sergey Prokofiev (45) receives correspondence from the All-Union Committee on Arts Affairs in Moscow that the production of Yevgeny Onegin on which he has been working for the State Moscow Chamber Theatre, has been cancelled. He is instructed to refrain from working on the music.
Symphony in F by Frederick S. Converse (65) is performed for the first time, in Sanders Theatre of Harvard University.
5 December 1936 The Kazakh Autonomous SSR and the Kirghiz Autonomous SSR are elevated to the level of union republics. The Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic is dissolved. Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan become separate republics of the USSR.
Prelude, arioso, fughette sur le nom de Bach for string orchestra by Arthur Honegger (44) is performed for the first time, in Salle Gaveau, Paris. The original piano work was orchestrated by Arthur Hoérée. See 26 November 1932.
6 December 1936 Fascist air forces bomb Barcelona for the first time.
Petite Suite for piano by Béla Bartók (55) is performed for the first time, in Békéscsaba.
7 December 1936 A six-year-old girl becomes the first person successfully treated for streptococous meningitis with a sulfa drug. It is administered by Dr. Francis Schwenkter of Baltimore. The condition was previously 99% fatal.
9 December 1936 Thousands of marchers in Sian (Xi’an) celebrate the first anniversary of the Peking marches by protesting to the headquarters of Chiang Kai-shek. They are fired upon by police.
Fragments dramatiques op.154b for orchestra by Darius Milhaud (44) is performed for the first time, in Paris.
10 December 1936 King Edward VIII signs an instrument of abdication at Fort Belvedere. It is witnessed by his three brothers.
Psalm for orchestra by David Diamond (21) is performed for the first time, in Rochester, New York conducted by Howard Hanson (40).
11 December 1936 Under strong pressure from party officials, Dmitri Shostakovich (30) withdraws his Symphony no.4 scheduled for performance tonight in Leningrad.
King Edward VIII of Great Britain, Emperor of India abdicates his throne for the woman he loves, and is succeeded by his brother, Albert who reigns as George VI. The abdication is approved by the parliaments of Great Britain and the five dominions.
Three chamber works by Arnold Bax (53) are performed for the first time, in Aeolian Hall, London: Threnody and Scherzo for bassoon, harp, and string sextet, Concerto for flute, oboe, harp, and string quartet, and Octet for horn, piano, and string sextet. At 22:01 the concert is interrupted for the seven minute broadcast of King Edward announcing his abdication. Under this cloud, Bax’s works are introduced to the world.
12 December 1936 Attempting to force Chiang Kai-shek to take an anti-Japanese stand, warlord Chang Hsüeh-liang (Zhang Xueliang) attacks the general’s headquarters outside Sian (Xi’an). They manage to capture Chiang, killing most of his bodyguards in the process. Chang publishes eight demands, including a cessation of the civil war and unity against the Japanese.
Former King Edward VIII of Great Britain is created the Duke of Windsor.
The government of the Irish Free State recognizes the abdication of King Edward and the accession of King George and then removes any mention of the crown from the constitution.
Rapsodie flamande for orchestra by Albert Roussel (67) is performed for the first time, in Brussels.
George Cukor’s film Camille, starring Greta Garbo, is shown for the first time, in Palm Springs, California.
13 December 1936 In an attempt to encircle Madrid, fascist troops begin an offensive towards the Corunna Road north of the city.
Symphony no.1 by Samuel Barber (26) is performed for the first time, in the Adriano Theatre, Rome. During the rehearsals, the tuba player told Barber, “I’ve been waiting 15 years for a part like that.”
14 December 1936 String Quartet op.11 by Samuel Barber (26) is performed for the first time, at the Villa Aurelia in Rome.
15 December 1936 Two Ballads for two voices and piano by Benjamin Britten (23) to words of Slater and Auden is performed for the first time, in Wigmore Hall, London. Also premiered is Britten’s Temporal Variations for oboe and piano.
16 December 1936 Incidental music to the play The Christmas Sparrow or Double or Nothin’ by Irving Fine (22) is performed for the first time, at Harvard University. The play was written by Fine’s Harvard classmate, John Horne Burns.
17 December 1936 Merry Mount Suite for orchestra by Howard Hanson (40) is performed for the first time, in Eastman Theatre, Rochester, New York the composer conducting.
19 December 1936 Frederick S. Converse (65) suffers a severe stroke in Boston and is rushed to the hospital. His left side is paralyzed. He will survive, and slowly recover.
20 December 1936 Chronicle op.21, a dance by Wallingford Riegger (51) to a scenario by Graham, is performed for the first time, in New York.
23 December 1936 The first Italian troops arrive in Cadiz to aid the fascist rebels.
25 December 1936 After weeks of negotiation, Chiang Kai-shek is released and flies out of Sian (Xi’an) with his captor, warlord Chang Hsüeh-liang (Zhang Xueliang).
By Strauss, a song by George Gershwin (38) to words of Ira Gershwin, is performed for the first time as part of the revue The Show is On at the Winter Garden Theatre, New York.
26 December 1936 Chiang Kai-shek arrives in Nanking and is welcomed by 400,000 people. His captor, Chang Hsüeh-liang (Zhang Xueliang), will be arrested and sentenced to ten years imprisonment.
The Palestine Symphony Orchestra gives its inaugural concert in Tel Aviv.
27 December 1936 Concerto for flute, violin, and orchestra by Bohuslav Martinu (46) is performed for the first time, in Paris.
29 December 1936 A two-day trial of 14 people perceived by Stalin to be his enemies ends in convictions for all for the murder of Sergey Kirov. All are immediately shot. This is seen as the beginning of the “Great Terror."
Fünf Lieder von Friedrich Hölderlin, a cycle for voice and piano by Stefan Wolpe (34), is performed for the first time, in Jerusalem. This is the inaugural concert of the ISCM, Palestine Branch, Jerusalem Group, founded by Wolpe.
30 December 1936 Workers demanding the right to organize, sit down in the Fisher Body Plant No.1 in Flint, Michigan. The strike will continue for six weeks.
©2004-2012 Paul Scharfenberger
19 November 2012
Last Updated (Monday, 19 November 2012 07:05)