Showing posts with label patron birthday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label patron birthday. Show all posts

Monday, April 22, 2024

April 22 - Paul II Anton Esterházy de Galánth; Yehudi Menuhin; Kathleen Ferrier (The Musical Birthday Series, 6th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for April 22rd may be found here: Alfred Burt (2019), Ethel Smyth (2021), Joshua Rifkin, and Glen Campbell (2021), Giuseppe Torelli (2022), and Alfred Burt (2023)

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Prince Paul II Anton Esterházy de Galántha (22 April 1711 – 18 March 1762) was a Hungarian prince, soldier, and patron of music from the Esterházy family.

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Duty


The Esterházy princes (Paul Anton, then from 1762 to 1790 Nikolaus I) were musical connoisseurs who appreciated his work and gave him daily access to his own small orchestra. During the nearly thirty years that Haydn worked at the Esterházy court, he produced a flood of compositions, and his musical style continued to develop. – Wikipedia, s.v. “Joseph Haydn”


Paul, the Prince of Esterhazy,

Earns a mention here because he

(In the year before he died)

Hired Haydn to provide

Music for the palace band,

Which Haydn did, at his command;

And then, for decades, answered “yes sir”

To Nikolaus, old Paul’s successor.

 

 

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Yehudi Menuhin (22 April 1916 – 12 March 1999), was an American-born British violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in Britain. 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fruition


The talent of the young Yehudi Menuhin

Was recognized by everyone as genuine;

An assessment which was reaffirmed as truth

When Menuhin was long in the tooth.


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Kathleen Ferrier (22 April 1912 – 8 October 1953) was an English contralto singer who achieved an international reputation as a stage, concert and recording artist.

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thoughts


It’s hard to think of singer Kathleen Ferrier

As one who made a music party merrier.


Contraltos by the nature of their voices

Must make the best from their restricted choices;


Not everyone is giddy and delirious,

And there are those who thrive on being serious.


But higher things in art were not a barrier

For someone with the soul of Kathleen Ferrier.

 

 

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

 

 

 

Monday, September 11, 2023

September 11 - Alice Tully; William Boyce (The Musical Birthday Series, 5th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for September 11th are here: Arvo Pärt (2019) , Harry Connick Jr.; William Boyce (2020), Friedrich Kuhlau; Eduard Hanslick (2021), and William Boyce (2022)

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Alice Tully (11 September 1902 – 10 December 1993) was an American singer of opera and recital, music promoter, patron of the arts and philanthropist. [For her birth date I have chosen to follow Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians (8th ed.), rather than Wikipedia, which gives the 14th.)

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Donor Class

Sing praises to her, do not sully

This day by exalting her dully!

And praise one and all

The eponymous hall

That was built by the late Alice Tully.

 

 

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William Boyce (bapt.11 September 1711 – 7 February 1779) was an English composer, organist, and music editor.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Panegyrick on the Late Lamented William Boyce


Raise your voice!

Rejoice! Rejoice!

And sing the praise of William Boyce!


Sing, oh sing

For God and King!

Let the very rafters ring!


Let the choir

Find the fire

That his choral hymns require!


Or invoke

His masterstroke,

The stirring naval “Heart of Oak”!


Take any sample

For your example,

His oeuvre, like his girth, was ample!

 

 

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

 

Monday, January 16, 2023

January 16 - Ethel Merman; Willoughby Bertie, 4th Earl of Abingdon (The Musical Birthday Series, 4th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for January 16th are here: Lin-Manuel Miranda; Marilyn Horne; Brian Ferneyhough (2020), Marilyn Horne (2021), and Roger Wagner (2022)

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Ethel Merman (16 January 1908 – 15 February 1984) was an American actress and singer, known for her distinctive, powerful voice, and for leading roles in musical theater.

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No Business Like It


When Ethel Merman plowed

Through numbers, brash and loud,

Her force of nature wowed

The eager Broadway crowd.


When finished, justly proud,

She waved and beamed and bowed.

 


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Amen


I’m sure that the great Ethel Merman

Could have brought down the house with a sermon,

And it would have been swell.

And have gone just as well,

If she sang it in Middle High German.

 

 

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Willoughby Bertie, 4th Earl of Abingdon (16 January 1740 – 26 September 1799) was an English peer, music patron, and amateur composer.

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Advice from the Best


Abingdon was a patron of Haydn’s, who may have encouraged him to compose. Abingdon is credited with the composition of one hundred and twenty musical works. –Wikipedia


The Fourth Earl of Abingdon, Willoughby Bertie,

Was odd and eccentric, and lived life pell mell.

We’re told that Herr Haydn was there to assert he

Should take up composing, and thus it befell.

 

 

 

 

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