May 17 - Erik Satie; Bob Merrill (The Musical Birthday Series, 6th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for May 17th may be found here: Erik Satie (2019), Birgit Nilsson and Zinka Milanov (2020), Erik Satie (2021), Erik Satie; Enya (2022), and Erik Satie (2023)

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Erik Satie (17 May 1866 – 1 July 1925) has influenced and inspired composers for more than a century, perhaps more for his attitude than the intrinsic worth of his music.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Getting Satie-sfaction

From about 1910 he became the focus of successive groups of young composers attracted by his unconventionality and originality. – Wikipedia

Erik Satie, though very odd,

Became a kind of minor god

To those among the younger set

Who very soon were in his debt.

His music, once dismissed as twaddle

Became their new aesthetic model.

 

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Bob Merrill (17 May 1921 – 17 February 1998) was an American songwriter, theatrical composer, lyricist, and screenwriter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Luckiest People in the World

Make certain that there’ll

Be cheers for Bob Merrill!

    Let ringing resound from the steeple!

He was in the Top Ten

As composer, and then,

   He, of course, wrote the lyrics “People”.

 

 

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New Posts for May 16, May 7, and May 8

In addition to today verse, I have also published verse for May 8 and 9 today.  See below.

May 16 - Betty Carter (The Musical Birthday Series, 6th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for May 16th may be found here: Liberace (2019), Richard Tauber (2020), Woody Herman (2021), Liberace (2022), and Woody Herman (2023)

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Betty Carter (16 May 1929 – 26 September 1998) was an innovative American jazz singer. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nice and Easy... Not

Don’t judge her with excessive haste,

Her voice is an acquired taste.

And rest assured, the art that lurks

Behind her odd expressive quirks,

Is worth the effort when you find it,

Though, at first, you had maligned it.

 

 

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May 15 - Claudio Monteverdi; Stephen Heller (The Musical Birthday Series, 6th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for March 15th may be found here: Claudio Monteverdi (2019), Michael William Balfe (2020), Claudio Monteverdi (2021), Claudio Monteverdi (2022), and Mike Oldfield (2023)

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Claudio Monteverdi (bapt. 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was, by any measure, one of the greatest composers of all time.  We do not know his date of birth, however he was baptized on May 15th.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You Say Prima, I Say Seconda

In 1600 and 1603, Artusi attacked the "crudities" and "license" shown in the works of a composer he initially refused to name (it was Claudio Monteverdi).  – Wikipedia, s.v. “Giovanni Artusi“

In his settings of text he unfurled

New heights of expression, and hurled

A gauntlet which taunted

The timid who wanted

A pre-Monteverdian world.

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Stephen Heller (15 May 1813 – 14 January 1888) was a Hungarian pianist, teacher, and composer 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Been There, Done That

He outlived his reputation, and was a near-forgotten figure at his death in 1888. – Wikipedia

Heller was a prolific composer for the piano and his studies remain popular with music teachers and students. – Wikipedia

Fate can sometimes get it wrong,

And one is doomed to live too long;

And thus it was for Stephen Heller,

Whose early life was truly stellar,

But lived so long, (and this is rotten),

That he was doomed to die forgotten.

And yet, his name, through Fate’s caprices,

Is still extant on piano pieces

Which, though they may be tested winners,

Make Heller hell for young beginners.

 

 

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May 14 - Bobby Darin (The Musical Birthday Series, 6th Annual Series)

Previous posts for May 14 may be found here: Otto Klemperer (2019), Lou Harrison (2020), Lou Harrison (2021), Bobby Darin (2022), and Bobby Darin (2024)

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Bobby Darin (14 May 1936 – 20 December 1973) was an American singer, musician, and actor.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Garden of Good and Evil

I doubt that there was time for prayer in

The swinging world of Bobby Darin.

Such deeds of faith do not attract

The spenders to your Vegas act,

And nightclub folks are ill at ease

With biblical pericopes;

And for his fan club getting dressed meant

Party clothes, not cope or vestment.

For if you seek to entertain,

And if your goal is worldly gain,

The path to take is strait and plain,

It isn’t sacred, but profane.

 

 

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May 13 - Arthur Sullivan (The Musical Birthday Series, 6th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for May 13th may be found here: Arthur Sullivan (2019), Stevie Wonder; Arthur Sullivan (2020), Bea Arthur; Arthur Sullivan (2021), Arthur Sullivan; Maxine Sullivan (2022), and Arthur Sullivan (2023)

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Arthur Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was a respected composer in a Mendelssohnian vein, but he was also, of course, the musical half of Gilbert and Sullivan.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sisters, Cousins, Aunts, and Others

In the Gilbert and Sullivan shows

There’s a group in symmetrical rows,

Who, when the plot ends,

Intermingle with friends

In a time-honored aggregate pose.

This chorus is made up of those

Which suspension of belief will suppose

Spend all of their time

In spontaneous rhyme

While costumed in similar clothes.

Whenever there’s news to disclose

Concerning their friends or their foes,

They’re suddenly there

In the picturesque square

To repeat it in verse – never prose.

 

 

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