For January 2025 the Classics a Day team challenges you to look back a century. The "modern" era of music was well underway in 1925. Some of the works composed still shock audiences today.
The challenge is to post classical works that were created, premiered, or recorded for the first time in 1925. Here are my posts for the fifth and final week of #Classical1925.
01/26/25 Gustav Holst: At the Boar's Head
Holst wrote the libretto as well as the music for this one-act opera. It's based on Shakespeare's Henry IV, parts 1 & 2. Holst completed the work in 1924. It premiered the following year with the British National Opera Company.01/27/25 Ferruccio Busoni: Doktor Faust
Busoni worked on the score to this opera for eight years. But in remained unfinished at the time of his death. German composer Philipp Jarnach finished the work based on Busoni's sketches, and the opera premiered in 1925.01/28/25 Leos Janacek: The Makropulos Affair
Janacek took two years to compose this work. The opera premiered in 1925. The original supernatural story was written by Karel Čapek. He's best remembered for coining the word "Robot" for his 1920 story, R.U.R.01/29/25 Leos Janacek: Sarka
This was an early work by Janacek, completed in 1887. Janacek shelved the opera and remained unheard for decades. "Sarka" was finally premiered in 1925 to honor the composer's 71st birthday.02/30/25 Rudolph Friml: The Vagabond King
This 1925 operetta was a smash hit on Broadway, running 551 performances. It was eventually adapted for film starring Dennis King and Jeanette MacDonald.01/31/25 Charles Villiers Stanford: The Travelling Companion
Stanford based his opera on the stories of Hans Christian Anderson. It was composed during World War I, but wasn't premiered until 1925 -- the year after Stanford's death.Next month:
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