May 31 - Marin Marais (The Musical Birthday Series, 2nd Annual Cycle)

 Marin Marais (31 May 1656 – 15 August 1728) was a French composer and viol player.

 [For last year's celebration of Alfred Deller click here.]

TMI 

"His work The Bladder-Stone Operation... includes composer's annotations such as 'The patient is bound 'with silken cords' and 'He screameth.'" -- Wikipedia

Marin Marais, who played the viol,

Surely went the extra mile

By writing music on such matter

As operations on the bladder.

(If you enjoy these posts, please help me, and consider sharing.

 [Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Tales: Great Art Repurposed.] 

May 30 - Gustav Leonhardt (The Musical Birthday Series, 2nd Annual Cycle)

Gustav Leonhardt (30 May 1928  – 16 January 2012) was a Dutch keyboard player, conductor, musicologist, teacher and editor. 
[For last year's verse on Benny Goodman click here.]

On Record

Gustav Leonhardt could evoke

The sundry styles of the Baroque,

Gustav Leonhardt played a myriad

Of the keyboards of the period,

Gustav Leonhardt played old pieces

In a flood of his releases.

Today on YouTube you can start

To learn the lore of Leonhardt.

(If you enjoy these posts, please help me, and consider sharing.

 [Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Tales: Great Art Repurposed.] 

May 29 - Iannis Xenakis (The Musical Birthday Series, 2nd Annual Cycle)

Iannis Xenakis (29 May 1922 – 4 February 2001) was a Greek-French composer, music theorist  architect, and engineer. 
[For last year's limerick on Isaac Albéniz click here.] 

Impraktika

Xenakis, who used mathematics

To map out his music’s schematics,

Displayed a propensity

For works of such density,

They can only be played by fanatics.

(If you enjoy these posts, please help me, and consider sharing.

 [Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Tales: Great Art Repurposed.] 

May 28 - Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (The Musical Birthday Series, 2nd Annual Cycle)

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (28 May 1925 – 18 May 2012) was a German lyric baritone and conductor.
[For four limericks on György Ligeti, see last year's post here.]  

Sing, Sing, Sing

"No singer in our time, or probably any other has managed the range and versatility of repertory achieved by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau." Alan Blyth, as qtd, in Wikipedia

When Fischer-Dieskau took the risks

Of choosing rep for all those discs,

It looked as if it was his goal

To find, and study, and control

Most every song and every role

That anyone had ever written

That baritones could do their bit in.

(If you enjoy these posts, please help me, and consider sharing.

 [Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Tales: Great Art Repurposed.] 

May 27 - Harold Rome (The Musical Birthday Series, 2nd Annual Cycle)

Harold Rome (27 May 1908 – 26 October 1993) was an American composer and lyricist.
[For last year's verse on Celius Dougherty click here.]
  

When Rome Burns

"In 1970, he wrote a musical adaptation of Gone with the Wind entitled Scarlett for a Tokyo production with a Japanese cast." -- Wikipedia

The theater gods were chagrined

By a musical Gone With the Wind.

What’s more (Geez Louise!)

It was in Japanese!

Oh, Harold, with Scarlett, you sinned!

(If you enjoy these posts, please help me, and consider sharing.

 [Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Tales: Great Art Repurposed.] 

May 26 - Teresa Stratas (The Musical Birthday Series, 2nd Annual Cycle)

Teresa Stratas (b. 26 May 1938) is a retired operatic soprano known for the vividness of her portrayals.
[For last year's entry for William Bolcom click here.]

Throat of Note

When writing a limerick on Stratas

Would you dare use the rhyme “epiglottis”?

It’s overly easy

And just a bit cheesy,

And then there’s the fact

That the rhymes not exact,

And so I will promise you… not us.

(If you enjoy these posts, please help me, and consider sharing.

 [Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Tales: Great Art Repurposed.] 

May 25 - Hal David (The Musical Birthday Series, 2nd Annual Cycle)

Hal David (25 May 1921 – 1 September 2012) was an American lyricist with a long collaboration with Burt Bacharach.  
[For last year's limerick on Beverly Sills click here.] 

What the World (Still) Needs Now

A David and Bacharach playlist

Is better than just an OK list.

In each song you hear a

Souvenir of its era

That belongs on a piano bar's A-list.

(If you enjoy these posts, please help me, and consider sharing.

 [Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Tales: Great Art Repurposed.] 

May 24 - Patti LaBelle (The Musical Birthday Series, 2nd Annual Cycle)

Patti LaBelle (b. 24 May 1944) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman.
[For last year's offering for Bob Dylan click here.]

Hotness

“LaBelle is a dramatic soprano and is noted for her vocal power, range and emotive delivery.”  - Wikipedia

Miss Patti LaBelle, diva and star,

Is idolized both near and far,

Diva of disco, histrionic,

Force nature, and iconic,

Hot as cayenne or serrano...

But NOT a dramatic soprano!

(If you enjoy these posts, please help me, and consider sharing.

 [Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Tales: Great Art Repurposed.]