Pierre Monteux (1875–1964) was a French (later American) conductor, who directed orchestras around the world for more than half a century. After violin and viola studies, and a decade as an orchestral player and occasional conductor, he began to receive regular conducting engagements in 1907. He came to prominence when he conducted the world premieres of ballets such as The Rite of Spring, Daphnis et Chloé, and Jeux. From 1917 to 1919 he was the principal conductor of the French repertoire at the Metropolitan Opera. He then led the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Concertgebouw Orchestra (1924–34), Orchestre Symphonique de Paris (1929–38), San Francisco Symphony (1936–52), and from 1961, aged eighty-six, the London Symphony Orchestra. Monteux's chief love was the music of German composers, above all Brahms. He disliked recording, finding it incompatible with spontaneity, but made a substantial number of records. He began to teach conducting in Paris in 1932. After moving permanently to the US in 1942, he founded the Pierre Monteux School in Hancock, Maine, which has continued. His students included Igor Markevitch, Neville Marriner, André Previn, Lorin Maazel and Seiji Ozawa.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1653:

The Westminster Assembly of Divines, assembled to restructure the Church of England, held its first meeting in Westminster Abbey, London. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminster_Assembly

1782:

American Revolutionary War: Five American privateer vessels attacked the British settlement at Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_on_Lunenburg,_Nova_Scotia_(1782)

1916:

First World War: The first day of the Battle of Albert, the opening phase of the Battle of the Somme, became the bloodiest day in the history of the British Army, with 57,470 casualties of which 19,240 were killed or died of wounds. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Albert_(1916)

1960:

Ghana became a republic with Kwame Nkrumah as its first president. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwame_Nkrumah

2002:

Bashkirian Airlines Flight 2937 and DHL Flight 611 collided in mid-air over the towns of Owingen and Überlingen in Germany, killing all 71 people aboard both aircraft. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%9Cberlingen_mid-air_collision

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

scuppernong: 1. A large greenish-bronze grape native to the Southeastern United States, a variety of the muscadine grape (Vitis rotundifolia). 2. A sweet, golden or amber-colored American wine made from this variety of grape. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/scuppernong

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

 If an angel were ever to tell us anything of his philosophy I believe many propositions would sound like 2 times 2 equals 13.   --Georg Christoph Lichtenberg https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Georg_Christoph_Lichtenberg