Four Centuries of Great Music December 7, 2025 Celebration of the Music of Some Composer whose Birthday Anniversaries are in December

Today on Four Centuries of Great Music, I am featuring four of the composers whose birthday anniversaries are in December.   We open with the music of Julia Wolfe born on December 18, 1958 in Philadelphia, PA.  Wolfe is one of the three founders of the music collaborative Bang on a Can and an acquaintance of mine.


JULIA WOLFE:  ANTHRACITE FIELDS - FOUNDATION
JULIA WOLFE:  ANTHRACITE FIELDS - BREAKER BOYS. 14:24
JULIA WOLFE:  ANTHRACITE FIELDS - SPEECH. 6:29
JULIA WOLFE:  ANTHRACITE FIELDS - FLOWERS. 6:38
JULIA WOLFE:  ANTHRACITE FIELDS - APPLIANCES

Choir of Trinity Wall Street and the Bang on a Can All-Stars conducted by Julian Wachner
Cantaloupe Music

We open this second hour of Four Centuries of Great Music on which I am featuring four of the composers whose birthday anniversaries are in December with the music of Zoltán Kodály who was born on December 16, 1882 in Kecskemét, Hungary.  Kodály was a musicologist, music educator and composer whose method of hand gestures for each note were seen in the movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”

Concerto for Orchestra: I. Allegro risoluto
Concerto for Orchestra: II. Largo
Concerto for Orchestra: III. Tempo primo
Concerto for Orchestra: IV. Largo
Concerto for Orchestra: V. Tempo primo

Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra & Zoltán Kodály
Kodály: Concerto for Orchestra, Summer Evening & Háry János Suite
Mangora Classical

Next in this second hour of  of Four Centuries of Great Music on which I am featuring four of the composers whose birthday anniversaries are in December is the music of Anton Webern.  Anton Webern was born on in Vienna, Austria on December 3, 1883. Webern was a student of Arnold Schoenberg and along with Schoenberg, and their colleague Alban Berg were at the core of what became known as the Second Viennese School.  The is best known for the musical style know as serialism using the twelve-tone compositional technique.
FIVE MOVEMENTS FOR STRING QUARTET, OP.5
12 I. Heftig bewegt 2’31
13 II. Sehr langsam 2’28
14 III. Sehr bewegt 0’42
15 IV. Sehr langsam 1’42
16 V. In zarter Bewegung 3’34

LEONKORO QUARTET 
OUT OF VIENNA: BERG WEBERN SCHULHOFF
ALPHA CLASSICS


I will be closing this episode of Four Centuries of Great Music on which I am featuring four of the composers whose birthday anniversaries are in December is the music of Henry “Harry”Burleigh.  Burleigh was born in Erie PA on December 2, 1866 Burleigh was a student National Conservatory of Music in New York when he met Antonin Dvorak.   He became a friend and confidant of Antonin Dvorak and taught Dvorak about African American music.  During his life, he was famous as a composer, arranger and baritone vocalist.

Henry Burleigh: Five Songs of Laurence Hope_ I. Worth While
03 Five Songs of Laurence Hope_ II. The Jungle Flower
04 Five Songs of Laurence Hope_ III. Kashmiri Song
05 Five Songs of Laurence Hope_ IV. Among the Fuchsias
06 Five Songs of Laurence Hope_ V. Till I Wake

Will Liverman, baritone; Paul Sanchez, piano
Dreams of a New Day - Songs by Black Composers
Cedille Records