February 13 - Eileen Farrell (The Musical Birthday Series)

Eileen Farrell (13 February 1920 – 23 March 2002) was an American operatic soprano who also sang in popular styles.

Wrong or Right

It’s not easy, crossing over

(Think, e.g. - Calais to Dover!)

Eileen Farrell passed the test

Belting standards with the rest.

Though it’s true that style purists,

Who are most exacting jurists,

Said that she was wrong to choose

To claim the right to sing the blues.

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February 12 - Thomas Campion (The Musical Birthday Series)

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

Campionology
 

Thomas Campion’s vocal ayres

  Are there for anyone that cares.

Indeed, if anybody asks

  He also wrote some nifty masques.

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February 11 - Jerome Lowenthal (The Musical Birthday Series)

Jerome Lowenthal (11 February 1932) is an American piano virtuoso and teacher. The item below is entirely speculative.

Starting Early

Though his friends thought Jerome was a geek

As he practiced for week after week,

He dreamed, in the schoolyard,

Of lessons at Juilliard,

And a Lisztian piano technique.

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February 10 - Leontyne Price (The Musical Birthday Series)

Leontyne Price (b. 10 February 1927) is a great American operatic soprano.

Sage Advice

When Barber wrote songs for Miss Price

He was given some useful advice,

“The old Irish sages

Wrote pages and pages -

They're amusingly droll and concise.”

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February 9 - Alban Berg (The Musical Birthday Series)

Alban Berg (9 February 1885 – 24 December 1935) was a great Austrian composer mostly in atonal and serial styles.

All Keyed Up

Though Wozzeck is tonally free,

And written without any key,

There’s nothing that’s finer

Than good old D minor -

And that’s we are in Act 3.

 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Femme Fatale

When Lulu went out on a date

She knew she was sealing their fate.

If anyone looked up

Her profile and hooked up

They soon became known as “the late.”

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