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)

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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.

 

 

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April 7 - Charles Burney (The Musical Birthday Series, 8th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for April 7th may be found here: Charles Burney (2019),  Percy Faith (2020), Billie Holiday (2021), Domenico Dragonetti (2022), Ravi Shankar (2023), Percy Faith (2024), and Percy Faith (2025)

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Charles Burney (7 April 1726 – 12 April 1814) is best remembered for his monumental History of Music, but his usefulness to us is in his detailed consideration of the music of his contemporaries as found in the last volume of his History and in two books of travel observations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Memoirs

 

The results of his travels abroad were published in The Present State of Music in France and Italy (1771) and The Present State of Music in Germany, the Netherlands and United Provinces (1773). -- adapted from Wikipedia

Imagine if young Charles Burney

Had decided to be an attorney,

There'd be less to report

From his days in the court,

Than there was on a musical journey.

 

 

 

 

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

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

 

 

April 5 - Herbert von Karajan (The Musical Birthday Series, 8th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for April 5th may be found here: Louis Spohr (2019), Agnetha Fältskog (2020), Herbert von Karajan, Sébastien Érard (2022), Albert Roussel (2023), Louis Spohr; John Wilson (2024), and Agnetha Fältskog; Louis Spohr (2025)

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Herbert von Karajan (5 April 1908 – 16 July 1989) was an Austrian conductor. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over and Done

Part of the reason for his dominance on the musical scene was the large number of recordings he made and their prominence during his lifetime. By one estimate, he sold 200 million records. – adapted from Wikipedia

Karajan's denazification tribunal, held in Vienna on 15 March 1946, cleared him of illegal activity during the Nazi period. – Wikipedia

Though inglorious shadows were cast

By van Karajan's sinister past,

However iniquitous,

He soon was ubiquitous,

And the past, so it seems, was the past.

 

 

 

 

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April 3 - Joseph Kerman (The Musical Birthday Series, 8th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for April 3rd may be found here: Reginald De Koven (2019),  Alessandro Stradella (2020), Wayne Newton (2021), Watkins Shaw (2022), Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (2023), Richard Proulx (2024), and Zez Confrey (2025)

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Joseph Kerman (3 April 1924 – 17 March 2014) was an important American musicologist and music critic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lacuna

You can search on your own to determine

If there's ever been limericks on Kerman,

But if, or if not,

I will give it a shot,

And that is a promise I'm firm in.

 

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Byrd on the Hand

Perhaps you may never have heard

Of this erudite expert on Byrd,

Whose learned conjectures

Were presented in lectures

When Renaissance scholars conferred.

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Vissi d'arte

Among the operas Kerman discussed in the book was Puccini's Tosca which he controversially described as a "shabby little shocker". --Wikipedia

"It's shabby, a shocker, and little,"

Said Kerman, while spitting his spittle,

But fans of the show

Who continued to go,

Are affected by him not a tittle. 

 

 

 

 

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April 2 - Richard Taruskin (The Musical Birthday Series, 8th Annual Cycle)

Previous postings for April 2nd may be found here: EmmyLou Harris (2019),  Marvin Gaye (2020), Franz Asplmayr (2021), Franz Lachner (2022), Giacomo Gotifredo Ferrari (2023), Franz Lachner (2024), and Richard Taruskin (2025)

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Richard Taruskin (2 April 1945 – 1 July 2022) was an American musicologist and music critic who was among the leading and most prominent music historians of his generation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Take That!

Mr. Taruskin courted controversy in nearly everything he wrote. He had a no-holds-barred approach to intellectual combat. – excerpts adapted from William Robin, "Richard Taruskin, Vigorously Polemical Musicologist, Dies at 77," www.nytimes.com

When Richard Taruskin engaged

In polemical battle, he waged

War where his wits

Tore opponents to bits,

Leaving scholarly carnage on stage.

 

 

 

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