February 4 - Carl Michael Bellman (The Musical Birthday Series, 6th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for February 4th are here: Erich Leinsdorf (2020), James Dunn (2021), Johann Ludwig Bach (2022), Alice Cooper (2023), and Johann Ludwig Bach (2024)

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Carl Michael Bellman (4 February 1740 – 11 February 1795)] was a Swedish songwriter, composer, musician, poet, and entertainer. He is a central figure in the Swedish song tradition and remains a powerful influence in Swedish music, as well as in Scandinavian literature, to this day. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Skål!

He has been compared to Shakespeare, Beethoven, Mozart, and Hogart, but his gift, using elegantly rococo classical references in comic contrast to sordid drinking and prostitution—at once regretted and celebrated in song—is unique. – Wikipedia

Bellman entertained the stolid Swedes

With songs and poems about the squalid needs

Of folks whose lives were given to carousing.

And songs like these made entertaining browsing

For Swedes relaxing in the dark of winter,

Who grabbed their copies fresh-inked from the printer;

Which puts the lie to those who think that hedonism

Was never an intrinsic part of Swedenism!

 

 

 

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December 23 - Mathilde Wesendonck (The Musical Birthday Series, 6th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for December 23rd are here: Chet Baker (2019), Mathilde Wesendonck (2020), Ross Lee Finney (2021), José Greco (2022), and Chet Baker (2023)

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Mathilde Wesendonck (23 December 1828 – 31 August 1902) was a German  poet and author.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Letter Writing, Letter Reading

By 1857, Wagner had become infatuated with Mathilde. It is not known whether she returned his affections to the same degree, or if the affair - if there was one - was ever consummated. In 1858, Wagner's wife Minna intercepted a romantic letter from Wagner to Mathilde. – Wikipedia

We know that Mathilde attracted

Herr Wagner’s attentions, who acted

By sending her notes

Full of amorous quotes,

Which his wife somehow read unredacted.

The sordid affair might have been a

One-sided thing, but Frau Minna

Was quick to disparage

This affront to her marriage,

And called Frau Mathilde a sinna.

So here is the moral imparted

By the tale that these limericks have charted:

If a stray billet-doux,

Can be traced back to you,

You will rue the ado that you started.

 

 

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

 

 

November 5 - Hans Sachs (The Musical Birthday Series, 6th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for November 5th are here: Hans Sachs (2019), Art Garfunkel (2020), Myron Floren (2021), Roy Rogers (2022), and Bryan Adams; Ryan Adams; Thomas Sanders Dupuis

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Hans Sachs (5 November 1494 – 19 January 1576) was a German Meistersinger,  poet, and shoemaker, now mostly remembered from Wagner's opera of which he is the title character. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cobble Cobble

Though Sachs was proud of every stylish shoe,

He never had no inkling, not a clue

Of what a Wagner opera would do

To keep his name in every Who Was Who.

 

 

 

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

 

 

February 12 - Thomas Campion (The Musical Birthday Series, 5th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for February 12th are here: Thomas Campion (2020), (2021), Thomas Campion; Julian Scriabin (2022), and Thomas Campion; Roy Harris (2023)

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Thomas Campion (12 February 1567 – 1 March 1620) was a composer, poet, and physician.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

While Campion had attained a considerable reputation in his own day, in the years that followed his death his works sank into complete oblivion, when the vogue for masques and song-books proved ephemeral.  – adapted from Wikipedia

Thomas Campion in his lifetime had

  Success when masques and lute songs were a passion;

But both, alas, were just a passing fad,

  And Thomas Campion faded with the fashion.

 

 

 

 

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November 10 - Friedrich Schiller; John David Marks (The Musical Birthday Series, 5th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for November 10th are here: Martin Luther; Carl Stalling (2019), Johann Christian Schieferdecker (2020), François Couperin; Friedrich Schiller (2021), and Idabell Smith Firestone (2022)

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Friedrich Schiller (10 November 1759 – 9 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher whose poems were set by Beethoven and Schubert, among others.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sing It!

When reading Schiller’s “Ode to Joy”

Old Ludwig chortled “Boy, oh boy!

These are words I’ve got to set

To make my biggest statement yet,”

And since that day we’ve all enjoyed a

Rousing hymn called “An die Freude”.

 

 

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

 

 

 

John David [Johnny] Marks (10 November 1909 – 3 September 1985) was an American songwriter, best known for Christmas songs. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And Many Happy Returns

Johnny Marks specialized in Christmas songs (although he himself was Jewish and did not celebrate Christmas) and wrote many holiday standards, including “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”, “A Holly Jolly Christmas”, and others. – adapted from Wikipedia

When the years in their unending arcs

Bring Christmas to streets and to parks,

The musical medley

Re-echoing steadily

Will always include Johnny Marks.

 

 

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