The Short Symphony, or Symphony No. 2, is a symphony written by the American composer Aaron Copland from 1931 to 1933. The name derives from its short length of only 15 minutes. The work is dedicated to Copland's friend, the Mexican composer and conductor Carlos Chávez (pictured). The composition contains complex rhythms and polyharmonies, and incorporates the composer's emerging interest in serialism and Mexican music. Copland later arranged the work as a sextet. The symphony was not widely performed during Copland's lifetime, largely due to the piece's rhythmic difficulties. After Serge Koussevitzky and Leopold Stokowski both declined to conduct the premiere, Chávez agreed to deliver it in 1934 in Mexico City. Though Copland thought of the Short Symphony as "one of the best things I ever wrote", some critics found it to be fragmented and cacophonous. Others agreed with Copland's assessment, describing the symphony as a masterpiece and a significant work in both Copland's career and modernist music.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_Symphony

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1867:

The Manchester Martyrs were hanged in Manchester, England, for killing a police officer while helping two Irish nationalists escape from police custody. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_Martyrs

1924:

The New York Times published evidence from Edwin Hubble stating that the Andromeda Nebula, previously believed to be part of the Milky Way, is in fact another galaxy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Hubble

1976:

Jacques Mayol became the first person to freedive to a depth of 100 metres (330 ft). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Mayol

2011:

Arab Spring: After 11 months of protests in Yemen, President Ali Abdullah Saleh agreed to transfer power to Vice President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdrabbuh_Mansur_Hadi

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

intraordinary: (rare, nonstandard) Falling within normal parameters; normal, ordinary. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/intraordinary

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

I will always hold to those principles by which I have been raised … To seek understanding before taking action, yet to trust my instincts when action is called for. Never to avoid danger from fear, never to seek out danger for its own sake. Never to conform to fashion from fear of eccentricity, never to be eccentric from fear of conformity. … To hold myself to higher standards of conduct than I hold another. To never strike without cause, and, when there is cause, to strike for the heart.   --Steven Brust https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Steven_Brust