June 30 - Lena Horne (The Musical Birthday Series, 2nd Annual Cycle)

Lena Horne (30 June 1917 – 9 May 2010) was an American singer, dancer, actress, and civil rights activist.

[For last year's limerick on Esa-Pekka Salonen click here.]

Time and Again

These concerts were represented as Horne's farewell tour, yet her retirement lasted less than a year. - Wikipedia

Lena Horne, whose long career

  Of sixty years or better,

Proved that if you persevere

  And if you’re a go-getter,

You can work to ripe old age

  In nightclubs and on vinyl,

And even proved the final page

  Is really not so final.

 

 

 

If you enjoy these posts, please help me, and consider sharing.  [Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Tales: Great Art Repurposed.]

 

 

June 29 - Nelson Eddy (The Musical Birthday Series, 2nd Annual Cycle)

Nelson Eddy (29 June 1901 – 6 March 1967) was an American baritone singer and actor. 

[For last year's tribute to Frank Loesser click here.] 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sweet Mystery of Life

“When he resumed his concert career following his screen success, he made a point of delivering a traditional concert repertoire, performing his hit screen songs only as encores. He felt strongly that audiences needed to be exposed to all kinds of music.” -- Wikipedia

Nelson Eddy, in his career,

Sang it all, or pretty near.

Starting in the opera house -

Wagner, Verdi, Richard Strauss,

And, you’ll be surprised know,

He gave atonal Berg a go.

Though his stage career was steady,

Who can blame young Nelson Eddy,

If he left it all behind him

When the movie moguls signed him.

But in the end, as at the start,

He heard the urging of his heart

And served the higher things in art.

If you enjoy these posts, please help me, and consider sharing.  [Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Tales: Great Art Repurposed.]

 

June 28 - Joseph Joachim (The Musical Birthday Series, 2nd Annual Cycle)

Joseph Joachim (28 June 1831 – 15 August 1907) was a Hungarian violinist, conductor, composer and teacher.

[For last year's remarks on Richard Rodgers click here.]

New-fangled

They knew it would shock him

When Joseph Joachim

        Heard the recordings he had done. 

What a breath-taking playback

For someone born way back

         In eighteen hundred thirty-one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you enjoy these posts, please help me, and consider sharing.  [Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Tales: Great Art Repurposed.]

 

June 27 - Frank Mills (The Musical Birthday Series, 2nd Annual Cycle)

Frank Mills (b. June 27, 1942) is a Canadian pianist, best known for his solo instrumental hit "Music Box Dancer."

[For last year's thoughts on Anna Moffo click here.] 

Royalties

 

Composer and pianist Frank Mills

Is able to pay all his bills.

If you ask how he does it, the answer

Is his mega-hit “Music Box Dancer.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you enjoy these posts, please help me, and consider sharing.  [Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Tales: Great Art Repurposed.]

 

 

June 26 - Hugues Cuénod (The Musical Birthday Series, 2nd Annual cycle)

 Hugues Cuénod (26 June 1902 – 6 December 2010) was a Swiss tenor and music educator.

 [For last year's nonsense on Leopold Koželuch click here.]

 

Never Too Late

Hugues Cuénod debuted at the Met

    When he was eighty-four,

So if there are things that you haven’t done yet,

    You have plenty of time to score.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you enjoy these posts, please help me, and consider sharing.  [Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Tales: Great Art Repurposed.]

 

 

 

June 25 - Gustave Charpentier (The Musical Birthday Series, 2nd Annual cycle)

French composer Gustave Charpentier (25 June 1860 – 18 February 1956) had an improbably long life and one highly successful opera.

 [For last year's limerick, also on Charpentier click here.] 

Sing Out, Louise!

"Louise is still occasionally performed today, with the soprano aria 'Depuis le jour' a popular recital piece". -- Wikipedia

Of the works of Monsieur Charpentier

There isn’t a lot I can say.

He had a big hit,

But only one bit

Is frequently programmed today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you enjoy these posts, please help me, and consider sharing.  [Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Tales: Great Art Repurposed.]

 

June 24 - Harry Partch (The Musical Birthday Series, 2nd Annual Cycle)

Harry Partch (24 June 1901 – 3 September 1974) was an American composer, music theorist, and creator of musical instruments.

[For last year's limerick on Terry Riley  click here.] 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Partched

The fact that the two

Were romantically linked,

Is none of my business

So I’ll be succinct:

One could have predicted

It ending in sorrow,

At the start of the fling

Between Partch and Navarro.

 

 

 

 

If you enjoy these posts, please help me, and consider sharing.  [Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Tales: Great Art Repurposed.]