{"podcast":{"title":"Composers Datebook","slug":"composers-datebook-550176","podcast_index_feed_id":550176,"rss_url":"https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/composers-datebook","website_url":"https://www.yourclassical.org/composers-datebook","image_url":"https://img.apmcdn.org/1486eb29dcac7f11a5275eaa0d424ba7c6b9afc7/uncropped/8588a0-20210225-composers-datebook-2000.jpg","author":"American Public Media","episode_count":30,"summary":"Composers Datebook™ is a daily two-minute program designed to inform, engage, and entertain listeners with timely information about composers of the past and present. Each program notes significant or intriguing musical events involving composers of the past and present, with appropriate and accessible music related to each.","last_synced_at":"2026-06-07T04:19:16.343454+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/composers-datebook-550176"},"episode":{"title":"Arthur Farwell","slug":"arthur-farwell","published_at":"2026-04-23T05:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/composers-datebook-550176/arthur-farwell","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/composers-datebook-550176","url":"https://pscrb.fm/rss/p/mgln.ai/e/5/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/play.publicradio.org/podcast/o/composers_datebook/2026/04/23/datebook_20260423_128.mp3","audio_url":"https://pscrb.fm/rss/p/mgln.ai/e/5/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/play.publicradio.org/podcast/o/composers_datebook/2026/04/23/datebook_20260423_128.mp3","summary":"Synopsis During his stay in America, Czech composer Antonín Dvořák became convinced that distinctive American music could be based on two sources: the work songs and spirituals of African-Americans and the chants and dances of indigenous Native American tribes. By the early 20th century, a number of American composers had taken his suggestions to heart. One of them, Arthur Farwell, was born in St. Paul, Minnesota on today’s date in 1872. He went to MIT intending to become an electrical engineer, and did, in fact, get his engineering degree in 1893, the same year Dvořák’s views began appearing in the press. Farwell decided that a musical career might be more interesting than engineering. Frustrated at his inability to find a publisher for his set of solo piano transcriptions, American Indian Melodies, he formed his own publishing house. He also set Emily Dickinson poems to music, experimented with polytonality, and, in 1916, arranged for the first light show in New York’s Central Park, decades before the psychedelic 1960s. Farwell taught at Cornell, UC Berkley and Michigan State, but never felt at home in academia, preferring to organize community-based musical pageants with audience participation. He died at 79 in New York in 1953. Music Played in Today's Program Arthur Farwell (1872-1952): Navajo War Dance and Song of Peace ; Dario Muller, piano; Marco Polo 223715","meta_description":"Synopsis During his stay in America, Czech composer Antonín Dvořák became convinced that distinctive American music could be based on two sources: the wor…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":120,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/composers-datebook-550176/episodes/arthur-farwell/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/composers-datebook-550176/arthur-farwell.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}