When I Was 25, It Was A Very Good Year...
by Tom Heaton
On July 18, WCPE officially turns 25 years old. In a notoriously fickle industry, WCPE's success as a classical-music-only radio station is a tribute to the leadership that set the course and to you, the financial supporter!
It seems fitting to look at what was going on in the world when these composers celebrated their quarter-century mark. Ready? Off we go!
When Antonio Vivaldi was 25: (1704-05)
World Events: Berlin is site of first European public library; Edmund Halley calculates a 76-year orbit for the comet that bears his name.
Music: Handel - St. John Passion; Bach - Cantata #1 "Denn Du Wirst Meine Seele"
When G. P. Telemann was 25: (1706-07)
World Events: London publishes first evening paper (Post); Isaac Watts publishes Hymns and Spiritual Songs.
Music: Albinoni - Adagio in G Minor.
Deaths: Johann Pachelbel, Dietrich Buxtehude
When J.S. Bach & George Frideric Handel were 25: (1710-11)
World Events: Invention of three-color printing.
Music: Handel - Rinaldo; Vivaldi - L'Estro Armonico, Op. 3
Births: Thomas Arne, W.F. Bach, William Boyce, Giovanni Pergolesi
When Giuseppe Tartini was 25: (1717-18)
World Events: First smallpox innoculations in England; murder of Peter the Great; Voltaire imprisoned.
Music: Handel - Water Music Suites, Chandos Anthems; Bach - 46 Organ Chorales
Births: Johann Stamitz
When Pietro Locatelli & Domenico Scarlatti were 25: (1720-21)
World Events: Spain occupies Texas; Swiss immigrants bring rifles to America.
Music: Bach - Brandenburg Concerti, Chromatic Fantasy & Fugue; Handel - Harmonious Blacksmith
When Thomas Arne & W.F. Bach were 25: (1735-36)
World Events: Colony of Georgia prohibits alcohol sales.
Music: Bach - Coffee Cantata; Handel - Alcina; Rameau: Les Indes Galantes
Births: Johann Christian Bach
When William Boyce was 25: (1736-37)
World Events: First successful appendicitis operation; founding of Richmond, Virginia
Music: Pergolesi - Stabat Mater; Handel - Alexander's Feast.
Deaths: Giovanni Pergolesi
When CPE Bach was 25: (1739-40)
World Events: Founding of Moravian church in America
Music: Handel - Saul, Israel in Egypt; Rameau - Dardanus
Births: Karl Ditters (von Dittersdorf)
When Christoph Willibald von Gluck was 25: (1740-41)
World Events: Berlin Academy of Science founded by Frederick the Great; Jonathan Edwards' sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" sparks Great Awakening.
Music: Arne - Rule, Brittania; Bach - Goldberg Variations; Handel - Messiah
Births: Andre Gretry, Giovanni Paisiello
Deaths: Antonio Vivaldi
When Franz Benda was 25: (1747-48)
World Events: Prussians and Swedes form mutual defense alliance.
Music: Bach - The Musical Offering; Handel - Judas Maccabeus
When Karl Friederich Abel was 25: (1748-49)
World Events: Bohemia invaded by Russia; invention of sign language.
Music: Bach - The Art of the Fugue; Rameau - Pygmalion; Handel - Royal Fireworks Music & Solomon
Births: Domenico Cimarosa (JS Bach will die in 1750)
When Franz Josef Haydn was 25: (1757-58)
World Events: Unsuccessful assassination attempt on Louis XV; first organized public concert in America (city of Philadelphia).
Births: Ignaz Pleyel - believed to have written the St. Antoni Chorale.
Deaths: Domenico Scarlatti, Johann Stamitz (Handel will die in 1759)
When J.C. Bach was 25: (1760-61)
World Events: Russia occupies Berlin; Lomonosov discovers Venusian atmosphere.
Music: Haydn - Symphones 2-8; Boyce - Eight Symphonies, Op. 2
Births: Luigi Cherubini
When Michael Haydn was 25: (1762-63)
World Events: Sorbonne opens in Paris; Peter III is Russian Czar for short while; six-year-old W.A. Mozart tours European capitols as musical prodigy.
Music: Gluck - Orpheus and Eurydice; Telemann - The Day of Judgment;
Births: Nicolas Etienne Mehul
When Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf was 25: (1764-65)
World Events: Britain passes Sugar Act and Stamp Act on American colonies; James Watts invents condenser.
Music: Mozart - Symphony #1; Haydn - Symphony #22
Deaths: Jean-Philippe Rameau
When Karl Stamitz was 25: (1770-71)
World Events: Boston Massacre; partitioning of Poland.
Music: Mozart - Bastien und Bastienne; Haydn - La Pescatrice
Births: Ludwig van Beethoven
Deaths: Giuseppe Tartini
When Domenico Cimarosa was 25: (1774-75)
World Events: Port of Boston closed by British Troops after Tea Party.
Music: Mozart - Symphony #29; Gluck - Iphigenie in Aulide
When Antonio Salieri was 25: (1775-76)
World Events: Paul Revere makes his famous midnight ride; James Watt perfects steam engine; Declaration of Independence signed and issued.
Music: Mozart - La Finta Giardiniera, Haffner Serenade and Violin Concerti #3, 4 & 5
Births: Francois-Adrien Boieldieu
When Muzio Clementi was 25: (1777-78)
World Events: Continental Congress adopts stars and stripes as American flag; British troops capture Savannah, Georgia but are routed in Battle of Monmouth; James Cook discovered Hawaiian Islands (which he names Sandwich Islands); La Scala opera house opens.
Music: Haydn - Symphony #63; Mozart - Flute/Harp Concerto, Symphony #31 & Les Petits Riens Ballet Music
When W. A. Mozart was 25: (1781-82)
World Events: End of American Revolution; discovery of planet Uranus; Montgolfier brothers devise and successfully fly first hot-air balloon.
Music: Haydn - String Quartets, Op. 33; Mozart - Idomeneo, Abduction from the Seraglio, Symphony #35
When Luigi Cherubini was 25: (1785-86)
World Events: Shays Rebellion (Massachusetts); invention of seismograph
Music: Haydn - Symphonies 82-85; Dittersdorf - Metamorphosen Symphonies; Mozart - Fantasia in C Minor, Six "Haydn" String Quartets, Piano Concerti 20-25, Symphony 38
When Nicolas Etienne Mehul & Franz Danzi were 25: (1788-89)
World Events: US Constitution takes effect; New York is US Capitol; George Washington becomes first US President; French Revolution
Music: Haydn - Symphony #92; Mozart - Symphonies 39-41, Piano Concerto #26, Clarinet Quintet
Deaths: W.A. Mozart will die in 1791
When Ludwig van Beethoven & Ferdinando Carulli were 25: (1795-96)
World Events: Napoleon marries Josephine; John Adams becomes 2nd US President.
Music: Haydn - Symphonies #103 & 104, Trumpet Concerto; Beethoven - Piano Concerto #1
Next: Paganini, Rossini & Schubert at 25...
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