October 8 - Louis Vierne; Toru Takemitsu; Walter Schumann (The Musical Birthday Series)

Louis Vierne (8 October 1870 – 2 June 1937) was a French organist and composer. 

On the Job

Louis Vierne died in recital

At the church of Notre-Dāme,

Where for years he held the title,

Premier organist of the same.

See him as he chooses stops

On the great Cavaillé-Coll,

Suddenly his body drops -

And Vierne gives up his soul.

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Toru Takemitsu (8 October 1930 – 20 February 1996) was one of the first Japanese composers to achieve world wide renown. 

October (Birthday) Steps

Toru Takemitsu,

   Was a magpie of a kind,

He used eclectic bits to

   Stimulate his mind.

A foundation occidental

   With a Japanese veneer,

A touch of Transcendental,

   And a synthesizing ear.

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Walter Schumann (8 October 1913 – 21 August 1958) was the composer of the Dragnet  

theme . He is remembered for a number of easy listening choral recordings with 

his group, The Voices of Walter Schumann.

Life in the Fifties

The Voices of Walter Schumann,

  In their smooth and mellifluous way,

Went well with a double martini

   At the end of the 9 to 5 day.

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October 7 - Alfred Drake; William Billings; John (Cougar) Mellencamp (The Musical Birthday Series)

Alfred Drake (7 October 1914 – 25 July 1992) was a baritone, especially known for several important Broadway roles.

True in His Fashion

Alfred Drake 

Didn’t fake.

On the stage

In his age

It was expected 

One projected,

No free ride, 

(Unamplified).

He didn’t croon

With autotune,

But held his own

In a full grown 

Rich baritone.

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William Billings (7 October 1746 – 26 September 1800) was the most important early American composer of choral music.

Compensation

Young William Billings

Was rewarded in shillings

But later his scholars

Paid him in dollars.

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John (Cougar) Mellencamp (b. October 7, 1951) is an American rock singer and song writer.

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 on JCM 

Higgledy piggledy,

John Cougar Mellencamp

Living in Bloomington,

Hoosier of fame.

Bored with a sobriquet 

Hexasyllabical,

Every so often would

Alter his name.

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October 6 - Karol Szymanowski; Jenny Lind

Karol Szymanowski (6 October 1882 – 29 March 1937) was the leading Polish composer of the first third of the last century.

Bathing Beauties

“'There, [in Sicily]' he said, 'I saw a few young men bathing 

who could be models for Antinous. I couldn't take my eyes 

off them.' Now he was a confirmed homosexual. He told me

 all this with burning eyes." Artur Rubenstein on Karol Szymanowski

Szymanowski, whose musical pen

Sought beauty again and again,

Had his true revelation 

When on a vacation 

He discovered Sicilian men.

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Jenny Lind "The Swedish Nightingale" (6 October 1820 – 2 November 1887) was a Swedish singer who became so famous that her name is still a synonymous with "opera singer". 

Sins of the Mother

Rumor was that Jenny Lind

Never strayed and never sinned.

She even had the moral clarity

To give her fees away to charity.

But oh! the guilt she must have carried

That her mother wasn’t married.

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October 5 - Glynis Johns; Mrs. Miller (The Musical Birthday Series)

Glynis Johns (born 5 October 1923) is an actress who has occasionally done parts in musicals, notably A Little Night Music on Broadway.

Isn't It Rich

When sizing up the pros and cons

Of writing songs for Glynnis Johns,

It was a matter of import

That vocal phrases should be short,

For Glynnis Johns’s sung technique 

Was husky and a little weak.
So Sondheim wrote a four note phrase
Expressive of our life's malaise,

Giving her a vocal solo

Stocked with notes where she could go low.

Everyone was shocked when it

Became the show's outstanding hit.

And thus by doing more with less

“Send in the Clowns” was a success.

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Mrs. Miller (October 5, 1907 – July 5, 1997) recorded several novelty vocal albums in the mid-1960s.

Miller Time

I hope Mrs. Miller saw fit

To parlay her unlikely hit

And funded her late years,

And avoided the fears

That uncertain assets admit.


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