Sunday, December 22, 2019

December 22 - Edgard Varèse; Giacomo Puccini (The Musical Birthday Series)

Edgard Varèse (22 December 1883 – 6 November 1965) was an influential modernist composer.


Little Drummer Boy

Varèse enjoyed making a noise
With sirens and drums and such toys.
When asked, “Why the din?”
He replied with a grin,
“As Mom would say, ‘Boys will be boys!’ ”









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21.5

Varèse, who had a propensity
For textures of sonic immensity,
Announced with a smirk
That his very next work
Was for flute all alone and called “Density.”














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Giacomo Puccini (22 December 1858 – 29 November 1924) composed several of the most beloved operas in the repertoire.
 
















A Bouquet for Mimì


The Lost Key

Perhaps it’s the custom in France
To discover amour at a glance,
And thus it gets steamy
For Rudolfo and Mimi
When they meet on a stairway by chance.

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Christmas Eve

The gang at the Momus Café
Have a riotous end to the day.
Then Musetta, for show,
Sings “Quando m’en vo’ ”
And they leave without having to pay.

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Sharing

When you’re sick like the fragile Mimì
With a terminal case of TB,
It’s unwise to share it
High up in a garret.
(And your healthy young friends will agree.)

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Defiance

Mimì, a young seamstress with gumption,
Ignored the prevailing assumption
That one shouldn’t sing,
Fall in love, have a fling,
When wasting away from consumption.

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