Leonard Bernstein / Annie

On this day in classical music: Leonard Bernstein’s “Clarinet Sonata” was premiered in Boston in 1942. Listen to clarinetist Jonathan Cohler and pianist Rasa Vitkauskaite perform the first movement. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHM2Xv0P7YM

 

On this day in the musical theatre: The 1976-77 Broadway season had a huge hit with “Annie,” a musical based on the comic strip “Little Orphan Annie.” Charles Strouse and Martin Charnin provided music and lyrics for this popular family show, one whose original production ran nearly six years. “Annie” has remained exceedingly popular in stock, regional and collegiate theater. A 1999 made-for-television movie version starred Oklahoman Kristin Chenoweth as Lily St. Regis. 

 

Musical musings: In his neo-Hindemithian work the “Sonata for Clarinet and Piano” (the first piece of his to be published), the composer’s personality emerges in its asymmetric jazzy passages. – From Working With Bernstein, by Jack Gottlieb.

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