September 30 - Donald Swann (The Musical Birthday Series, 2nd Annual Cycle)

Donald Swann (30 September 1923 – 23 March 1994) was a Welsh-born composer, musician, singer and entertainer, best known as half of the duo Flanders and Swann. 

[For last year's limericks on Charles Villiers Stanford click here.] 

Swann Song

 

Michael Flanders and Donald Swann 

  Performed their act with charm and wit,

And if you happened thereupon

  You would have been entranced with it.

Unless, of course, you didn’t choose

To patronize such twee revues. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

September 29 - Vincent Lübeck (The Musical Birthday Series, 2nd Annual Cycle)

Vincent Lübeck (c. September 1654 – 9 February 1740) was a German organist and composer.  The date of Lübeck's birth is uncertain.

[For last year's verse on Richard Bonynge and Gene Autry click here.] 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Home is Where...

The citizens of Padingbüttel

   Honor Lübeck’s name,

For he is tiny Padingbüttel’s

  Only claim to fame.

They named the town Gymnasium

  The Vincent Lübeck School,

And students hear ad nauseum

  That organ fugues are cool.

Oh little town of Padingbüttel,

  How still we see thee lie,

Give praise to your distinguished son,

  Your Padingbüttel guy!

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

September 28 - Johann Mattheson (The Musical Birthday Series, 2nd Annual Cycle)

Johann Mattheson (28 September 1681 – 17 April 1764) was a German composer, singer, writer,  lexicographer, diplomat and music theorist. 

[For last year's posts on Johann Mattheson and Moon Unit Zappa click here.] 

Visitation Rites

"After his death in 1764, Johann Mattheson was buried in the vault of Hamburg's St. Michaelis’ church where his grave can be visited." --Wikipedia

To honor Johann Mattheson

By visiting his tomb,

Travel to St. Michael’s Church,

And there within its gloom

You’ll find the grave you’re seeking,

(There’s nothing to forbid it).

Although it’s pretty safe to say

That no one ever did it.

 

+++++++++++++++

 

Cryptanalysis

"A memorable part of visiting the St. Michaelis church is descending down into the large crypt.... Completely renovated in 2000, the crypt now hosts church services and concerts." -- from “A Brief Introduction to St. Michaelis Church”, at culturetrip

When they equipped

The church’s crypt

     For concerts and events,

They changed the air

Prevailing there

Away for dark laments 

    

They did the task,

And didn’t ask

     Herr Mattheson’s permission,

But truth to tell

It just as well,

      In light of his position.

+++++++++++++++++

 

Rhetorical Flourishes

To make your performance historical

You should make your performance rhetorical.

You’ll learn all the ropes

Of rhetorical tropes

With Mattheson’s book as your oracle.

 

 

 

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

 

   

 

September 27 - Igor Kipnis (The Musical Birthday Series, 2nd Annual Cycle)

Igor Kipnis (27 September 1930 – 23 January 2002) was an American harpsichordist, pianist, and conductor. The situation with his father, the great basso Alexander Kipnis, described below is entirely imaginary.

[For last year's verses on Jean Berger and Vincent Youmans click here.]

Not with a Bang, but a Tinkle

When Alexander Kipnis,

    A most successful bass,

Heard his son’s decision,

   He thought it out of place.

“You want to play the harpsichord!?

   Dear Igor, are you mad?

I ask you this with deep concern,

   Because I am your dad.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

   

September 26 - George Gershwin (The Musical Birthday Series, 2nd Annual Cycle)

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

[For last year's verses, also on Gershwin, click here.] 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two Tin Pan Alley Variations

(1)

Said Gershwin, “My higher ambitions

Will inspire my new compositions;

In short, I will try now

To write something highbrow.

And flummox the academicians.”

(2) 

“Alan Gilbert makes his return to the Teatro alla Scala on 

November 13, when he helps premiere a new semi-staged production 

of Porgy and Bess by stage director Philipp Harnoncourt.” 

--- press announcement at alangilbert.com

Said Gershwin, “I’ve cooked up a plan

For confounding the classical clan --

Surmise their distress

When my Porgy and Bess

Is heard at La Scala Milan.

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

September 25 - Dmitri Shostakovich (The Musical Birthday Series, 2nd Annual Cycle)

Dmitri Shostakovich (25 September [O.S. 12 September] 1906 – 9 August 1975) was a Soviet-Russian composer and pianist.

[For last year's limericks on Jean-Philippe Rameau and Glenn Gould click here.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dilemma

With Shostakovich we don’t know

What is it we’re getting.

Do we hear the muses’ glow,

Or governmental vetting?

Is the music what it seems,

Or are there hidden meanings?

Does it favor Red regimes,

Or are there Western leanings?

Is it for the Bolsheviks,

Or is it just discursive?

Is it free from politics,

Or secretly subversive?

Even with his Memoirs, we

Are far from a consensus,

For the author seems to be

A fake amanuensis.

Critical opinion, too,

Is drastically divided.

There are not too many who

Will listen undecided.

Should his music have a place

On every season’s roster,

Or was his just a vulgar case -

A popular imposter?

I won’t have the final say

(It’s very complicated),

And yet, it is his natal day

No matter how he’s rated.

 

 

 

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