October 31 - Phillippe de Vitry (The Musical Birthday Series, 2nd Annual Cycle)

 

Philippe de Vitry (31 October 1291 – 9 June 1361) was a composer, music theorist, and churchman.

[For last year's verse on Ethel Waters and more limericks on de Vitry click here.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

O Philippe / When asked / De Vitry

When they asked if he harbored regrets

For his multi-text three-voice motets,

He replied, “Thanks for asking,

But I’m just double tasking

By singing the verses in sets.”

De Vitry continued, “It’s fine

When multiple texts don’t align.

If simultaneity

Confuses the laity,

They should find other music than mine!”

De Vitry was told, “It’s not sensible

When words are made incomprehensible.”

He replied, “The elite

Think motets are a treat,

Which to me makes the practice defensible.”

 

 

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October 30 - Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge (The Musical Birthday Series, 2nd Annual Cycle)

Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge (30 October 1864 – 4 November 1953) was an American patron of music, especially of chamber music.  She was responsibly for commissioning important works from most of the major composers of her time. She was also an accomplished amateur pianist. 

 [For last year's verses on Peter Warlock and Frans Brüggen click here.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mrs. Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge (1)

I have read that her friends called her Liz,

But in the commissioning biz,

It’s considered more normal

For names to be formal,

When handing out money, that is.

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

Mrs. Coolidge (2 & 3)

“My plea for modern music is not that we should like it, nor necessarily that we should even understand it, but that we should exhibit it as a significant human document." --  Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge

Liz Coolidge (Elizabeth Sprague)

Was not indecisive or vague.

She proffer commissions

To modern musicians

Whom listeners shunned liked the plague.

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 

Mrs. Coolidge said, “Over the years

I’ve sponsored a hundred premieres.

I’m worth quite enough

To encourage this stuff,

Though the music may leave you in tears.”

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 

 

Mrs. Coolidge (4) 

"She was famous in her later decades for attending premieres and turning off her hearing aid. 'I can pay for it, but I don’t have to listen to it.' was her typically forthright explanation." -- John Barker, The Pro Arte Quartet, 17

When the string quartet played a premiere, it

Was touched Mrs. Coolidge sat near it,

But she turned off her earpiece,

As they started the queer piece,

And simply pretended to hear it.

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

Mrs. Coolidge (5)

“"Mrs. Coolidge, why is it that you do so much for the cause of modern music and you do nothing for modern art?' To which she quickly responded, 'Young man, I may be deaf but I'm not blind.'" John Barker, The Pro Arte Quartet, 17

When he asked her if she was inclined

To buy the new painting he’d signed,

She said she would not

Play a sou for the blot,

And explained she was deaf but not blind.

 

October 29 - Vivian Ellis (The Musical Birthday Series, 2nd Annual Cycle)

Vivian Ellis (29 October 1903 – 19 June 1996) was an English musical comedy composer best known for the song "Spread a Little Happiness" and the theme "Coronation Scot."

 [For last year's item on Jon Vickers click here.] 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vivacious

There isn’t much the books can tell us

About composer Vivian Ellis;

There were a few forgotten shows

Which only a fanatic knows,

And then perhaps a song or two

Recalled by a nostalgic few.

I should, you say, have passed him by,

But I will not, and this is why

I’m rescuing this minor Vivian

From doubtless well-deserved oblivion:

I sing this man of little fame

To make a point about his name.

For in a world in which we live

Where men can have a name like Viv,

The lesson, which you may have guessed,

Is “neutral pronouns are the best.”

Envoi

Until you know which they prefer,

Use “them and they” not “him or her”.

 

 

 

 

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October 28 - Howard Hanson (The Musical Birthday Series, 2nd Annual Cycle)

Howard Hanson (28 October 1896 – 26 February 1981) was a composer, music administrator, and advocate for new American music. This bit of facetiousness entirely imaginary, and may or may not reflect reality.

[For last year's comments about Howard Hanson and Cleo Laine click here.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Howard Hanson; or, The Ballad of Wahoo

He was born and bred in Wahoo

   And the neighbors heard him say,

As is often said in Wahoo,

  “I have got to get away!”

Well, you shouldn’t take to task a

  Man who had a mission,

And staying in Nebraska

  Could stifle a musician.

He had ceased to dwell in Wahoo,

  And at an early age

He had said farewell to Wahoo

  To attempt the world stage.

He went to New York City,

  And he went to Illinois,

Where he seldom would admit he

  Was a former Wahoo boy.

In Winter cold, old Wahoo

  Would woo his weary spirit,

But no one told old Wahoo

  That he didn't want to hear it.

 

 

 

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October 27 - Niccolò Paganini (The Musical Birthday Series, 2nd Annual Cycle)

Niccolò Paganini (27 October 1782 – 27 May 1840) was a fantastically successful violin virtuoso and minor composer.

[For last year's entries for Niccolò Paganini and Conlon Nancarrow click here.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the Details

"A week later, on 27 May 1840, Paganini died from internal hemorrhaging before a priest could be summoned. Because of this, and his widely rumored association with the devil, the Church denied his body a Catholic burial in Genoa." -- Wikipedia

There must have been

Some magic in

     Paganini’s violin.

If it were so,

How would we know

     That fiendish forces fueled his bow?

Was he obsessed,

Perhaps possessed,

     Beelzebub made manifest?

It’s said he’d revel

With the devil,

     But I doubt that’s on the level.

 

 

 

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