May 31 - Louise Farrenc (The Musical Birthday Series, 6th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for May 31st are found here: Alfred Deller (2019), Marin Marais (2020), Louise Farrenc (2021), Johnny Paycheck (2022), and Bruce Adolphe (2023)

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Louise Farrenc (31 May 1804 – 15 September 1875) was a French composer, virtuoso pianist and teacher. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Perfectly Farrenc

But, despite some new editions of her chamber music after her death, her works were largely forgotten until, in the late 20th century, an interest in women composers led to the rediscovery – and thence to the performance and recording – of many of her works.  -- Wikipedia

 

Louise Farrenc, who has, of late,

  Received renewed acclaim,

Has suffered from that frequent fate,

  The fickleness of fame.

Though canon-makers give more weight

  To secondary men,

Her music, on the edge of great,

  Is in the air again.

 

 

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As critics re-evaluate

  The music from her pen.

 

May 30 - Riccardo Zandonai (The Musical Birthday Series, 6th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for May 30th are found here: Benny Goodman (2019), Gustav Leonhardt (2020), Benny Goodman (2021), Benny Goodman (2022), and Pauline Oliveros (2022)

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Riccardo Zandonai (28 or 30 May 1883 – 5 June 1944) was an Italian composer, especially of operas. [Most sources give his birth date as May 28, but some including the usually very reliable Baker's Biographical give the 30th,  which fits my needs better today.  I have written about him previously May 28, 2021.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chiasmus 

Zandonai's fame rests largely on his opera Francesca da Rimini. – Wikipedia

“But as the evening wears on, you are likely to wonder why anyone felt any of it [Francesca da Rimini] was worth the bother.” -- Steve Smith, NYT review of Met production of Francesca da Rimini, March 6, 2013

If someone praises Zandonai,

I think I know the reason why;

They use him to impress their friends

With operatic odds and ends.

They are the sort who like to pose

As someone who enjoys and knows

The scores of long-forgotten shows,

And thus intimidating those

Whose ticket buying choice depends

On what a critic recommends,

And critics are a little shy

Of recommending Zandonai.

 

 

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May 29 - Erich Wolfgang Korngold; Danny Elfman (The Musical Birthday Series, 6th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for May 29th are available here: Isaac Albéniz (2019), Iannis Xenakis (2020), Erich Wolfgang Korngold (2021), Iannis Xenakis (2022), and Iannis Xenakis (2023)

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Erich Wolfgang Korngold (29 May 1897 – 29 November 1957) was an Austrian-born American composer and conductor.  He was the first composer of international stature to write Hollywood scores.

Danny Elfman (b. 29 May 1953) is an American film composer, singer, songwriter, and musician. He came to prominence as the lead singer and primary songwriter for the new wave band Oingo Boingo in the early 1980s.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two Roads Diverged

Today our birthday honors hit

  On two colossi of their trade,

Whose bios show a polar split

  In how a career in film is made.

Korngold was precocious and

  Was weaned on classics from the start,

While Elfman led an new wave band

  As his apprenticeship in art.

Our bio’s earliest episodes

  Cannot predict what might emerge,

And different folks on different roads

  Can, in the course of time, converge.

 

 

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

 

May 28 - Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (The Musical Birthday Series, 6th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for May 28th are available here: György Ligeti (2019), Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (2020), Riccardo Zandonai (2021), Thomas Moore (2022), and György Ligeti (2023)

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Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (28 May 1925 – 18 May 2012) was one of the greatest baritones of the twentieth century.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Team Play

When Fischer-Dieskau planned a concert tour

He often worked with pianist Gerald Moore;

A singer who is so superbly flanked

Might ask which gods or muses should be thanked,

For even Lieder’s leading baritone

Can’t face the concert public all alone.

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

May 27 - Joachim Raff (The Musical Birthday Series, 6th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for May 27th are available here: Celius Dougherty (2019), Harold Rome (2020), Joachim Raff (2021), Fromental Halévy (2022), and Louis Durey; Ralph Carmichael (2023)

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Joachim Raff (27 May 1822 – 24 or 25 June 1882) was a German-Swiss composer, pedagogue, and pianist.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Raff Sailing

After his death, his reputation plummeted until, for much of the 20th century, his name became a byword for compositional incompetence, his catalogue of 405 works ignored despite the praise it had garnered during his lifetime.  – raff.org

When hearing the music of Joachim Raff

The public would fidget and quietly cough.

The miracle cure for this bronchial sickness

Was found, when he died, with embarrassing quickness.

When they stopped playing Raff without any compunction,

It provided relief from catarrhal dysfunction.

 

 

(If you enjoy these posts, please help me, and consider sharing.

 [Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Tales: Great Art Repurposed.]