Showing posts with label music humor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label music humor. Show all posts

Thursday, February 24, 2022

February 24 - Samuel Wesley (The Musical Birthday Series, 3rd Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for February 24th are here: Arnold Dolmetsch (2020) and Arrigo Boito (2021)

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Samuel Wesley (24 February 1766 – 11 October 1837) was an English organist and composer. 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Dark Horse

Generally he appeared to be mistrusted by the British establishment, perhaps due to a forthright manner, his marriage arrangements and it is possible to speculate that he was unreliable. From 1815 onwards, he was beset by lack of money and depression. – Wikipedia


Here’s a rhyme I wrote expressly

On the life of Samuel Wesley.

(There’s scandal if you care to hear it!)

He had a most unbridled spirit,

And caused confusion in his home

By turning to the Church of Rome.

He had affairs that went unblessed,

And as you will, by now, have guessed,

This left his family most distressed.


He played the organ better than most,

But couldn’t get an organist post;

He scribbled music to survive,

Which no one’s eager to revive.


And that is all I want to tell

About this English ne’er-do-well.

 

 

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

 

 

 

Friday, September 3, 2021

September 3 - Jo Ann Castle (The Musical Birthday Series, 3rd Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for September 3rd are here: Dorothy Maynor; Thurston Dart (2019) and Adriano Banchieri (2020)

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Jo Ann Castle (b. 3 September 1939) is an American honky tonk pianist, best remembered for appearing on The Lawrence Welk Show.

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Family Night Rules


Welk's musicians were bound by an unofficial set of morals (artistic and personal) dictated by Welk, and if he believed the audience did not find them wholesome enough, they would be fired.   --- adapted from Wikipedia



You may say what you will

  Of Miss Jo Ann Castle,

But on Lawrence Welk's bill

  She was perky and facile.


She’d mug and she’d smile

  While bouncing around

With a family-show style,

  But a honky tonk sound.


It can truly be said

  Though her manner was broad,

She was not too ill bred

  For the Lawrence Welk squad. 

 

 

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

 

 

Thursday, September 2, 2021

September 2- Alphons Diepenbrock (The Musical Birthday Series, 3rd Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for September 2nd are here: Georg Böhm (2019) and Hugo Montenegro (2020)

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Alphon Diepenbrock (2 September 1862 – 5 April 1921) was a Dutch composer, essayist, and classicist. 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Local Boy Makes Good

Diepenbrock is one of the Dutch composers whose name is displayed on the first balcony of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw.-- Wikipedia

Alphons Diepenbrock is now

Enshrined at the Concertgebouw,

Which seems to some as just a touch

Of overreaching by the Dutch.


But local folks should celebrate

The artists that they think are great,

And foreigners should never mock

A case like Alphons Diepenbrock.

 

 

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

 

Sunday, September 13, 2020

September 13 - Clara Schumann; Yma Sumac (The Musical Birthday Series, 2nd Annual Cycle)

Clara Schumann (13 September 1819 – 20 May 1896) was a German pianist, composer and piano teacher. 

[For last year's tribute to Arnold Schoenberg click here.] 

[Clara Schumann is also featured on Robert Schumann's birthday here.]



 

 

Er, der Herrlichste von allen


We know that Clara sacrificed

    Herself at Robert’s altar,

At yet we shoudn’t be enticed

    To criticize or fault here,

She felt it her Herz and Geist,

    And no advice could halt her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪

 

Yma Sumac (13 September 13, 1922 – 1 November 1, 2008) was a Peruvian singer and movie star who achieved enormous fame in the United States.

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inca Dinca Doo

 

Yma Sumac’s vocal range

Was was so extreme that it was strange,

Furthermore,  here fans were shone a

Most exotic stage persona,

Put together, the result

Was the Yma Sumac cult.

 

 

 

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

 

 

 





 



 

Wednesday, September 2, 2020

September 2 - Hugo Montenegro (The Musical Birthday Series, 2nd Annual Cycle)

Hugo Montenegro (2 September 1925 – 6 February 1981) was an American orchestra leader, and composer and arranger, especially of film music.

[For last year's tribute to Georg Böhn click here.]



Lèse-majesté


Of all he composed and arranged for the screen, he

   May have been dismayed,

That the opening theme song of I Dream of Jeannie

   Was most often played.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 




Tuesday, September 1, 2020

September 1 - Johann Pachelbel (The Musical Birthday Series, 2nd Annual Cycle)

Johann Pachelbel (baptised 1 September 1653 – buried 9 March 1706) was an important German composer and organist, who by a quirk of fate is largely known for one minor composition.

[For last year's Verse on Engelbert Humperdinck click here.]



Canon Infernal


“Canon in D” by Pachelbel

Is on the playlist down in Hell,

And then, to make the pain more sharp,

They have it played arranged for harp.





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