September 30 - Charles Villiers Stanford (The Musical Birthday Series)

Charles Villiers Stanford (30 September 1852 – 29 March 1924) was an Irish composer, teacher, and conductor.

High Church

If Charles Villiers Stanford to you

Is a name that you already knew,

Then vespers and matins

With laces and satins,

Is probably a thing that you do.

♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪

In the Service

The choir of the chapel in Eton,

Was never at risk of defeat in

The service today

(It was Stanford in A)

And so they got through it unbeaten.

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Thwarted Ambitions

For Stanford, the urgent desire

That the future would hear and admire,

Resulted in swarms

Of works in big forms -

Yet he’s known for a few things for choir.

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September 29 - Richard Bonynge; Gene Autry (The Musical Birthday Series)

Richard Bonynge (b. 9 September 1930) was a conductor, chiefly of opera and ballet.

Gene Autry (29 September 1907 – 2 October 1998) was a singer, actor, and baseball executive.

Symbiosis 

Richard Bonynge spent his life

Doing operas with his wife.

Sutherland, it’s fairly clear,

Gave her husband his career. 

Again

Gene Autry, each year,

Gets back in the saddle.

   Read on and I’ll tell you the reason:

His “Rudolph” and “Frosty”

And such fiddle faddle,

   Return with the holiday season.

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September 28 - Johann Mattheson; Moon Unit Zappa (The Musical Birthday Series)

Johann Mattheson (28 September 1681 – 17 April 1764) was a German polymath, but chiefly known today as a music theorist and composer. 

Moon Unit Zappa (b. 28 September 1967) is an American actress and author. She has occasionally been involved in musical projects.  She is the daughter of Frank Zappa.

Raging Furiously Together

Perhaps you remember the scandal

Of Mattheson dueling with Handel.

We’re told that young Mattheson’s blade

Hit a button on Handel’s brocade,

And thus did Dame Fortune contrive

To keep G. F. Handel alive,

For it would have been sad to deny a

Musical world its Messiah.

Query

Was Moon Unit Zappa

In Phi Beta Kappa?

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September 27 - Vincent Youmans; Jean Berger (The Musical Birthday Series)

Vincent Youmans (27 September 1898 – 5 April 1946) was a Broadway composer and producer.

Jean Berger (27 September 1909 – 28 May 2002) was a composer and pianist who is remembered today for a small handful of choral pieces.

Tea Totaler

If Youmans resented the fame 

That “Tea for Two” brought to his name,

He’d admit that the ditty

Was really quite pretty

Each year when the royalties came.

Alleluia Together Now

Alleluia, when set a capella,

Is sure to become a best sella...

    They say.

There’s Thompson and Cohen,

And then you can throw in...

     Berger.


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September 26 - George Gershwin (The Musical Birthday Series)

George Gershwin (26 September 1898 – 11 July 1937) was an American composer and pianist, initially of popular songs, but later, in larger forms.

Well Met

When Gershwin wrote Porgy and Bess

Did he somehow intuit or guess

His opera would get

Opening night at the Met?

I doubt that the answer is yes.

Split Definitive

For the brothers the labor was split 

‘Twixt music and lyrics, to whit,

George would inspire a

Slick lyric from Ira, 

With verses and the chorus well knit.

Pounding on Tin

In the annals of popular song

The Gershwins achievement is strong.

It seems every sally

Along Tin Pan Alley

Became a success before long.

Shared Responsibility 

That Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue 

Is known to me and known to you,

Doesn’t change this fact, - it may

Be the best work of Grofé.

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