#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalDoubleDigits Week 5
By Ralph Graves
The Classics a Day team noted that the new year is comprised of two twenties — double digits. So the theme for January 2020 is to post other examples of double digits found in classical music. Prolific composers are a good place to start. But I found a few surprises among composers with very small catalogs.
Here are my posts for the fifth and final week of #ClassicalDoubleDigits.
01/27/20 Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975): String Quartet No. 11
This quartet was written in 1966. Shostakovich dedicated it to memory Vasily Shirinsky of the Beethoven Quartet.
1/28/20 Carl Czerny (1791-1857): Op.99, Rondino No.11 on a Theme of Haydn
Czerny, a student of Beethoven, wrote over 1,000 works. This is one of his 20 numbered rondinos (he wrote dozens more).
01/29/20 Joachim Raff (1822-1882): Symphony No. 11 “Der Winter”
The last of four symphonies based on the seasons, No. 11 was unfinished when Raff died. Max Erdmannsdörfer completed the score and premiered it in 1883.
01/30/20 Cécile Chaminade (1857-1944): 6 Pièces Romantiques, Op.55
Chaminade completed this set of works for piano four hands in 1890. It was published as her Op. 55 the following year.
1/31/20 George Frideric Handel (1685-1759): Amadigi di Gaula, HWV 11, Act 3 Scene 6: No. 30, Amadigi’s Aria
This was Handle’s fifth London opera. It was successful and had a run of 17 performances in 1717.
