April 30 - Alfed Gaul (The Musical Birthday Series, 8th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for April 30th may be found here: Franz Lehár (2019), Sheldon Harnick (2020), Robert Shaw; Alfred Gaul (2021), Merrill Osmond (2022), Franz Lehár (2023), Robert Shaw (2024), and Sheldon Harnick (2025)

+++++++++++++++++++ 

 

Alfred Robert Gaul (30 April 1837 — 13 September 1913) was an English composer, conductor, teacher and organist. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All Gaul…

Scholes reported the enormous number of vocal scores of Gaul's choral works which were sold by Novello and concluded that, "Decidedly Gaul was a 'best-seller'!" – Wikipedia

Show pity for Alfred R. Gaul,

Who held choral England in thrall,

Whose cantatas, once gold

For Novello, we're told,

Are scarcely remembered at all.

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

April 6 - Hart Pease Danks (The Musical Birthday Series, 8th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for April 6th may be found here: André Previn (2019), Gheorghe Zamfir (2020), Johann Kuhnau (2021), John Pizzarelli (2022), Johann Kuhnau (2023), Johann Kuhnau (2024), and Leo Robin; Alessandro Rolla (2025)

+++++++++++++++++

Hart Pease Danks (6 April 1834 – 20 November 1903) was an American musician who specialized in composing, singing and leading choral groups. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then and Now

Today we note with dubious thanks

The natal day of Hart Pease Danks,

Who found his fame in days of old

With "Silver Threads Among the Gold,"

A song when sung in yesteryear

Would conjure up a gentle tear.

But now when e'er a silver thread

Appears, unwelcome, on our head,

We're more inclined to keep it quiet

And ask our hair salon to dye it.

 

 

 

 

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

April 4 - Elmer Bernstein (The Musical Birthday Series, 8th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for April 4th may be found here: Elmer Bernstein (2019), Stephen Storace (2020), Sheku Kanneh-Mason (2021), Pierre Monteux; Eugène Bozza (2022), Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli (2023), Arthur Murray (2024), and Hans Richter (2025)

+++++++++++++++++++++++

 

Elmer Bernstein (4 April 1922 – 8 August 2004) was a hugely prolific and successful film composer and conductor.  His credits include over 150 films (The Tenth Commandments, To Kill a Mockingbird, Ghostbusters, Animal House), many TV shows, and Broadway musicals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On and On

In total, Bernstein wrote 2½ hours of music for The Ten Commandments, which proved a massive hit and cemented his status as a top score composer. – Wikipedia

A film by Cecil B. DeMille

Has quite a lot of time to fill,

And Elmer Bernstein showed his powers

By backgrounding those epic hours.

 

 

 

 

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

 
 

 

 

April 1 - Sergei Rachmaninoff (The Musical Birthday Series, 8th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for April 1st may be found here: Sergei Rachmaninoff (2019), F. Melius Christiansen (2020), Alberta Hunter (2021), Debbie Reynolds; Sergei Rachmaninoff (2022), Susan Boyle (2023) , Rachmaninoff (2024), and Sergei Rachmaninoff (2025)

++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1 April [O.S. 20 March] 1873 – 28 March 1943) was, of course, one of the greatest pianists of his time, and remains one of the most beloved of all composers.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Musical Heritage Society

A composer whose lineage is Russian

Is an heir to a style to be plush in,

And laughing or grieving,

This heart-on-your-sleeving

Is not a thing up for discussion.

+++++++++++++++++++++++

Hand Me Downers

Along with his musical gifts, Rachmaninoff possessed physical gifts that placed him in good stead as a pianist, including large hands with a gigantic finger stretch. – Wikipedia

The spread of Rachmaninoff's hand

Was quite inexplicably grand,

And his passage work numbs

The ten fingers and thumbs

Of mortals less lavishly planned.

 

 

 

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

 

March 31 - Johann Sebastian Bach; Joseph Haydn (The Musical Birthday Series, 8th 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), Joseph Haydn (2023), Shirley Jones; Johann Sebastian Bach (2024), and Sergei Diaghilev; Johann Sebastian Bach; Joseph Haydn (2025)

++++++++++++++++++++++

 

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

Joseph Haydn (31 March 1732 – 31 May 1809) was one of the great composers of the late 18th century.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Might Have Beens

For eighteen years they shared this earth,

And also shared their date of birth;

But never met for cake and candles,

Or shared their take on local scandals,

Or took a break with scores of Handel's;

They never sat and played duets,

Or turned their chat to minuets,

And then from that to cigarettes;

Envoi

Sometimes lives that overlap

Are kept divided by the map.

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