November 6 - Adolphe Sax; John Philip Sousa (The Musical Birthday Series, 6th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for November 6th are here: Adolphe Sax; John Philip Sousa (2019), Ray Conniff (2020), John Philip Sousa (2021), John Philip Sousa; Gus Kahn (2022), and John Philip Sousa (2023)

+++++++++++++++++++++++

 

Adolphe Sax (6 November 1814 – 7 February 1894) was a prolific inventor and modifier of musical instruments.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Instrumentality

With his father he evolved the saxhorn (patented 1845), a development on the bugle horn; the saxo-tromba, producing a tone between that of the bugle and the trumpet; and the saxtuba. – britannica.com

Adolphe Sax, a clever thinker,

Never missed a chance to tinker

With instruments that any band

Would more than likely have at hand.

The upshot of these clever hacks

Invented by Herr Adolphe Sax

Was instruments in novel guises

And most surprising shapes and sizes.

 

 

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

 

John Philip Sousa (6 November 1854 – 6 March 1932) was an extremely successful band 
leader, who remains a byword for band excellence to this day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step Lively

When John Philip Sousa was late

For a meeting, appointment, or date,

He hurried his tread

With a march in his head

In a splendidly sprightly six-eight.

 

 

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

++++++++++++++++++++ 

 

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.]

 

 

November 4 - Carl Tausig (The Musical Birthday Series, 6th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for November 4th are here: Carl Tausig (2019), Gena Branscombe (2020), Arnold Cooke; Sean Combs (2021), Carl Tausig (2022), and Carl Tausig

++++++++++++++++++++

 

Carl Tausig (4 November 1841 – 17 July 1871) was a great pianist and a minor composer, now mostly remembered for virtuoso arrangements and transcriptions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anything You Can Do…

Carl Tausig, though his life was short,

Attained an immortality of sort

By publishing extravagant transcriptions

Whose difficulty beggars all descriptions.

 

 

 

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

 

November 3 - Vincenzo Bellini (The Musical Birthday Series, 6th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for November 3rd are here: Vladimir Ussachevsky; Vincenzo Bellini (2019), Samuel Scheidt (2020), Jake Shimabukuro (2021), and Vincenzo Bellini (2022)

++++++++++++++++++++++ 

Vincenzo Bellini (3 November 1801 – 23 September 1835) was an important Italian opera composer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Facts of Life

Though Bellini is dreamy and pensive,

The demands that he makes are extensive,

And a diva who’s weak

From the point of technique,

Will await her reviews, apprehensive.

++++++++++++++++

Fach of Life

Though Bellini is pensive and dreamy,

He isn’t verismo or steamy,

And the voice to perform a

Persona like Norma

Is different from one that sings Mimi.

 

 

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

 

November 2 - Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf (The Musical Birthday Series, 6th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for November 2nd are here: Patrice Chéreau; Friedrich Kalkbrenner (2019), k. d. lang; Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf (2020), Friedrich Kalkbrenner (2021), Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf (2022), and Otto Reubke

+++++++++++++++++++++++

 

Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf (2 November 1739 – 24 October 1799) was an a composer and violinist.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Namesake

Since this new post required a noble title, Ditters was sent to Vienna and given the noble title of von Dittersdorf. His full surname thus became "Ditters von Dittersdorf", but he is usually referred to simply as "Dittersdorf". — Wikipedia

Since it gave court officials the jitters

To address him as simply Herr Ditters,

They had his name padded,

With “von Dittersdorf” added,

Which made him the grandest of critters!

 

 

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

 

November 1 - Roger Quilter (The Musical Birthday Series, 6th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for November 1st are here: Roger Quilter; Guido Adler (2019), Victoria de los Angeles (2020), Roger Quilter (2021), Roger Quilter (2022), and Roger Quilter

+++++++++++++++++++++++

 

Roger Quilter (1 November 1877 – 21 September 1953) was a British composer, important for his art songs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Assessment

While a collection rather than a true song cycle, Seven Elizabethan Lyrics is "probably the best single volume of songs the composer ever produced", according to Michael Pilkington.  – Wikipedia

Roger Quilter’s lyric taste,

Traditional and very chaste,

Focused on familiar rimes

From Merrie England’s Olden Times.

He set these verses by the cluster

With all the taste that he could muster,

And writing with polite sincerity,

Avoided bombast or severity.

 

 

 

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