September 30 - Charles Villiers Stanford (The Musical Birthday Series, 6th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for September 30th are here: Charles Villiers Stanford (2019), Donald Swann (2020), Johnny Mathis (2021), Buddy Rich (2022), and Donald Swann (2023)

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Charles Villiers Stanford (30 September 1852 – 29 March 1924) was an Anglo-Irish composer, teacher, and conductor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

English Master

The music of Stanford (C.V.)

Is just what he wrote it to be;

It’s stolid and stodgy,

But never hodge-podgy,

And as proper as English high tea.

 
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Passing the Torch

He held the professorship for the rest of his life; among the best known of his many pupils were Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Gustav Holst, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Frank Bridge, and Arthur Bliss. – adapted from Wikipedia

The pupils of Stanford outshone

Their master when out on their own;

It’s the archetypal story

Where princes find glory,

By toppling the king from his throne.

 

 

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September 29 - Henry Harington (The Musical Birthday Series, 6th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for September 29th are here: Richard Bonynge; Gene Autry (2019), Vincent Lübeck (2020), Madeline Kahn; Maria Hester Park (2021), Jerry Lee Lewis (2022), and Gene Autry (2023)

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Henry Harington M.D. (29 September 1727 – 15 January 1816) was an English physician, musician and author. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two Sestets for HH

While at Oxford he joined a musical society set up by William Hayes, and restricted to competent sight-readers. In 1771 Harington moved to Bath, Somerset, where he composed in spare time, and founded the Bath Harmonic Society. The Duke of York appointed him his physician. He was also an alderman and magistrate of Bath, and served as mayor in 1793. – excerpts from Wikipedia

Henry Harington, physician,

Won himself a plum position,

But also was, for a clinician,

Quite an amateur musician,

And catch your breath, ‘cause in addition

He also was a politician!

He joined with other devotees

And sang the fashionable glees

In gentlemen’s societies,

Where, showing off his expertise,

He even wrote a few of these,

So celebrate his birthday, please!

 

 

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September 28 - Wallace Harrison (The Musical Birthday Series, 6th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for September 28th are here: Johann Mattheson; Moon Unit Zappa (2019), Johann Mattheson (2020), Giovanni Punto (2021), Maria Franziska von Trapp (2022), and Florent Schmitt (2023)

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Wallace Harrison (28 September 1895 – 2 December 981) was an American architect who designed the Metropolitan Opera House at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have We MET?

The Metropolitan Opera House

   Designed by Wallace Harrison

Is home to Mozart, Berg, and Strauss,

   And stands up to comparison

With other venues we might cite

   Where opera is heard.

And opera fans arrive at night, –

   The taxied and chauffeured.

And in Manhattan's twilight glow,

   The public strolls or marches,

To scan their tickets as they go

   Through Harrison’s Met arches.

 

 

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September 27 - Vincent Youmans (The Musical Birthday Series, 6th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for September 27th are here: Vincent Youmans; Jean Berger (2019), Igor Kipnis (2020), Cyril Scott; Giovanni Carlo Maria Clari (2021), Shaun Cassidy; Cyril Scott (2022), and Vincent Youmans (2023)

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Vincent Youmans (27 September 1898 – 5 April 1946) was a Broadway and Hollywood composer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the Rest Is History

In 1933, Youmans wrote the songs for Flying Down to Rio, the first film to feature Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers as a featured dancing pair. – Wikipedia

A celebrated movie for

Which Youmans wrote a sparkling score

Was the very picture where

Ginger Rogers and Astaire

First became a dancing pair.

Flying Down to Rio thus

Created such a buzz and fuss,

That from that day down unto us,

Though their plots show some wear and tear,

No dancing duo can compare

With Ginger Rogers and Astaire.

 

 

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September 26 - George Gershwin (The Musical Birthday Series, 6th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for September 26th are here: George Gershwin (2019) and (2020), William L. Dawson; Fritz Wunderlich (2021), George Gershwin (2022), and George Gershwin (2023)

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George Gershwin (26 September 1898 – 11 July 1937) was an American composer and pianist, initially of popular songs, but later, in larger forms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wozzeck and Bess

Gershwin attended the American premiere of Wozzeck, conducted by Leopold Stokowski in 1931, and was "thrilled and deeply impressed". – Wikipedia

George Gershwin was eager to hear

The latest atonal frontier,

But you might not have guessed

He was thrilled and impressed

When attending the Wozzeck premiere.

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Different Roads

When George Gershwin moved from New York to a new house in Hollywood in 1936, he discovered that the legendary Viennese composer Arnold Schoenberg lived around the corner. These two geniuses of the 20th century struck up an unlikely friendship, playing tennis together every week, discussing music, art, love and the political situation in Europe. – www.sydneysymphony.com

Though following disparate trends,

George Gershwin and Schoenberg were friends.

“Were they equally great?”

It’s a thing to debate,

And the answer would be, “It depends.”

 

 

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