November 11 - Ernestine Anderson (The Musical Birthday Series)

Ernestine Anderson (November 11, 1928 – March 10, 2016) had a long career as a jazz singer in some of the most prestigious venues in the field.

A double dactyl is a biographically inspired humorous poem with very strict structural rules.   

Here are links to two definitions for those who are curious.  The first from the  
Poetry Foundation is clearer but less accurate than the second, from Wikipedia.  Take 
your pick.  The classic statement is the book Jiggery-Pokery:  A Compendium of 
Double Dactyls by Anthony Hecht and John Hollander (New York, 1967).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Double Dactyl for E. A. 

 

[Ernestine Anderson, when she was compared with Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, and 

Billie Holiday] "I wish they would let me be just me." [Time magazine, 1958]

 

Higgledy-piggledy

Ernestine Anderson,

Singer of jazz with the

Best of the best,

Said “If the critics show

Impartiality,

Then I’ll let history

Care for the rest.

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June 2 - Edward Elgar (The Musical Birthday Series)

Edward Elgar (2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) is arguably the most important British composer between Purcell and Britten.

Victim of Circumstance

Here is the genuine Elgar enigma,

A thing which has saddled him under a stigma —

How did the march which he called “P and C”

Become de rigueur when we get a degree?

June 1 - Mikhail Glinka (The Musical Birthday Series)

Mikhail Glinka (1 June [O.S. 20 May] 1804 – 15 February  [O.S. 3 February] 1857) is often regarded as the father of the distinctively Russian style of composition.

  

Inka Glinka Doo

Q.  Let’s think a-

     bout Glinka;

What comes to your mind?

A.   There’s gush a-

      bout Russia, 

And the Czar is enshrined.

May 31 - Alfred Deller (The Musical Birthday Series)

Alfred Deller (31 May 1912 – 16 July 1979) was one of the first countertenors to achieve genuine stardom.  

 Old Deller

Alfred Deller

Had a stellar

  Countertenor voice.

Quite a rebel

Singing treble

   As his vocal choice.

Pioneering,

Onward steering!

   This is my high five now:

No more ghetto

Of falsetto, 

    Countertenors thrive now.