March 31 - Shirley Jones; Johann Sebastian Bach (The Musical Birthday Series, 6th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for March 31st may be found here: Joseph Haydn (2019) and (2020), Herb Alpert (2022), Joseph Haydn; Johann Sebastian Bach (2022), and Joseph Haydn (2023)

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Shirley Jones (b. 31 March 1934) is an American  actress and singer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Menu Planning

In 1970, after turning down the role of Carol Brady on The Brady Bunch, Jones was the producers' first choice to audition for the lead role of Shirley Partridge in The Partridge Family. - Wikipedia

Shirley Jones, a frequent leading lady,

Was nearly cast to act as Mrs. Brady.

Would that have meant (as certainly my hunch is),

That partridge would appear at Brady brunches?

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Johann Sebastian Bach (31 March [O. S. 21 March] 1685 – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and organist.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Make a Joyful Noise

Leipzig observed tempus clausum, quiet time, in Advent and Lent, when no cantatas were performed. – Wikipedia, s.v.”Church cantata (Bach)”

When Bach and his choir were bent

On breaking the quiet of Lent.

He sat on his keister

And wrote stuff for Easter,

That would make it a noisy event.

March 30 - John Stafford Smith (The Musical Birthday series, 6th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for March 30th may be found here: John Stafford Smith (2019), Celine Dion (2020), Eric Clapton (2021). Johann Wilhelm Wilms (2022), and Antonio de Cabezón (2023)

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John Stafford Smith (30 March 1750 – 21 September 1836) was a pioneer in the collection and study of musical manuscripts, a friend of Haydn and Mozart, and a minor composer.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Repurposing 

The poem was set to the tune of a popular song written by John Stafford Smith  Anacreontic Society,  a men's social club in London. – Wikipedia, s.v. “The Star-Spangled Banner“

Because "some of the comic songs [were not] exactly calculated for the entertainment of ladies, the singers were restrained; which displeasing many of the members, they resigned one after another; and a general meeting being called, the society was dissolved" – Wikipedia, s.v. “The Anacreontic Song“

“O say, can you see”

  Is sung to his tune,

But the song came to be

  For the bar or saloon.

They’d raise up a glass

  And the toast that they gave

Was rather more crass

 Than “The Home of the Brave!”

 

 

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

 

 

 

March 29 - William Walton; Richard Rodney Bennett (The Musical Birthday Series, 6th Annual Cycle)

Previous postings for March 29th may be found here: Albert von Tilzer (2019), Astrud Gilberto (2020), Supply Belcher; William Walton; John Hawkins (2021), William Walton (2022), and E. Power Biggs (2023)

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Sir William Walton (29 March 1902 – 8 March 1983) was an English composer who remains in the active repertoire.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Left! Right!

 

Orb and Sceptre is a march for orchestra written by William Walton for the coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953.  -- adapted from Wikipedia, s.v. "Orb and Scepter"

As Elizabeth’s retinue swept her

  Down the Abbey aisle,

The monarchical march Orb and Scepter

  Kept her on pace with style.

 

 

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Richard Rodney Bennett (29 March 1936 – 24 December 2012) was an English composer of film, TV and concert music, and also a jazz pianist and occasional vocalist.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Man for All Seasons

 

He said that it was as if the different styles of music that he was writing went on 'in different rooms, albeit in the same house'. -- Wikipedia 

Richard Rodney Bennett,

  Who did both this and that,

Was always ready when it

  Was time to change his hat.

He never found it hard to

  Switch his musical scene,

From jazz or avant-garde to

  Something right between.

 

 

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

 

 

March 28 - Joseph Weigl; Myfanwy Piper (The Musical Birthday Series, 6th Annual Cycle)

Previous postings for March 28th may be found here: Paul Whiteman (2019), Lady Gaga (2020), Alf Clausen (2021), Lady Gaga (2022), and Joey Roukens (2023)

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Joseph Weigl (28 March 1766 – 3 February 1846) was an Austrian composer and conductor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well Connected

 

Weigl studied music under Johan Georg Albrechtsberger, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Antonio Salieri. --- Wikipedia

When Albrechtsberger, Mozart, and Salieri

  Are listed on your resume as teachers,

You’ll go through life with quite a load to carry,

  Regardless of your own intrinsic features.

 

 

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Myfanwy Piper (28 March 1911 – 18 January 1997) was a British art critic and librettist. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Second Fiddle

 

In 1953 she was asked by Benjamin Britten to write the libretto for The Turn of the Screw, followed by Owen Wingrave (1971) and Death in Venice (1973).  - National Portrait Gallery (www.npg.org.uk)

In music there are dingy ghettos

Reserved for writers of librettos.

Their names are on the title page,

But do not use this fact to gauge

The scope of credit given to them,

Beyond the cash remittance due them,

 

Consider Piper, for example,

Though proofs of her success are ample,

It would have been absurd of her

To think that folks had heard of her.

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