January 31 - Philip Glass; Gioseffo Zarlino (The Musical Birthday Series, 5th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for January 31st are here: Franz Schubert; George Benjamin (2020), Philip Glass; Mario Lanza (2021), Justin Timberlake; Carol Channing (2022), and Franz Schubert (2023)

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Philip Glass (b. 31 January 1937) is an extraodinarily influential American composer and pianist. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glassical Gas

Said an orchestra player, “Alas!

This week we have got Philip Glass,

And so we’ll endeavor

To play triads forever,

And I wonder if this too shall pass.”

 

 

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Gioseffo Zarlino (31 January or 22 March 1517 – 4 February 1590) was an influential Italian music theorist and composer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birthday?

(31 January or 22 March 1517 – 4 February 1590) – Wikipedia

Concerning Gioseffo Zarlino

There’s a lot of his bio that wé know,

But the sources are torn

About when he was born,

Which befuddled the little bambino.

 

 

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January 30 - Johann Joachim Quantz (The Musical Birthday Series, 5th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for January 30th are here: Johann Joachim Quantz; Thomas Tallis (2020), Johann Joachim Quantz (2021), Thomas Tallis; Harold Prince (2022), and Thomas Tallis (2023)

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Johann Joachim Quantz (30 January 1697 – 12 July 1773) composed hundreds of compositions, mostly for flute, but is now remembered for his treatise on flute-playing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flute of Fate

Quantz composed hundreds of flute sonatas and concertos, and wrote On Playing the Flute, an influential treatise on flute performance. – Wikipedia

The music heard in restaurants

Is seldom that of J. J. Quantz.

It’s rare to find a chef who feels

That flutes go well with gourmet meals,

And so a flutist seldom toodles

To complement you beans or noodles,

You’ll rarely use a fork or knife

To pleasant tunes upon the fife,

And though it isn’t absolute,

(This strange aversion for the flute),

The music heard in restaurants

Is seldom that of J. J. Quantz.

 

 

 

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January 29 - Georg Christoph Wagenseil; Havergal Brian (The Musical Birthday Series, 5th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for January 29th are here: Daniel François Esprit Auber (2020), Adam Lambert (2021), John Raitt; Frederick Delius (2022), and Luigi Nono (2023)

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Georg Christoph Wagenseil (29 January 1715 – 1 March 1777) was an Austrian composer and early symphonist.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bridge

His early works are Baroque, while his later pieces are in the Classical style. He composed a number of operas, choral works, symphonies, concertos, chamber music, and keyboard pieces.   – Wikipedia

Have patience with this blog awhile

As I consider Wagenseil,

Who found a way to reconcile

The late Baroque and Classic style.

And now before I leave you, I’ll

Make note that he was versatile, —

His works add up to quite a pile.

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Havergal Brian (29 January 1876 – 28 November 1972) was a prominent 20th-century English composer, best known for his many symphonies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sizing It Up

19:00 Sun 17 Jul 2011 Royal Albert Hall

This season's sequence of Choral Sundays kicks off with arguably the grandest statement in British music, Havergal Brian's 'The Gothic', a gargantuan work that earned an entry in the Guinness Book of Records under 'Longest Symphony'. Over a thousand performers gathered for a rare performance of Brian’s gargantuan work, ‘The Gothic’. – BBC announcement

Havergal Brian’s Symphony One

Is famous, but is rarely done,

And this should come as no surprise

Because of its enormous size.

An orchestra will find it troubling

To see quadrupling, tripling, doubling;

And no one with a budget hires

So many soloists and choirs,

And that’s the problem set before

An orchestra who does this score

Where more is more is more is more.

 

 

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January 28 - Ferdinand Hérold (The Musical Birthday Series, 5th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for January 28th are here: John Tavener (2020), Artur [Arthur] Rubinstein; Johann Ernst Bach (2021), Giovanni Battista Velluti; Ferdinand Hérold (2022), and Gottfried Vopelius (2023)

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Ferdinand Hérold (28 January 1791 – 19 January 1833) was a French composer, best known for his many operas and ballets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Appropriation

Berlioz found things to praise in Zampa but thought Hérold lacked a style of his own, yet was neither Italian, nor French, nor German: "His music strongly resembles those industrial products made in Paris according to processes invented elsewhere and slightly modified; it is Parisian music", which, Berlioz thought, was why the Parisian middle classes loved it. – Wikipedia

Hérold, wrote Berlioz, was worthwhile,

But was a man without a style.

Hérold’s stuff, he said, resembled

Manufactured goods assembled

From scraps obtained from hither and yon,

With Paris logos added on.

 

 

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