May 10 - Fred Astaire; Milton Babbitt (The Musical Birthday Series, 7th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for May 10th may be found here: Milton Babbitt (2019), Fred Astaire; Milton Babbitt; Max Steiner (2020), Milton Babbitt (2021), Jean-Marie Leclair (2022), Milton Babbitt (2023), and Milton Babbitt (2024)

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Milton Babbitt (10 May 1916 – 29 January 2011) was an American composer and theorist known for his uncompromising advocacy of advanced serial and electronic techniques.

Fred Astaire (10 May 1899 – 22 June 1987) danced, acted, and sang in some of the most enduring film musicals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Suggested Prompt for A.I.

Imagine the young Fred Astaire

With his limbs flying every which where

As he twitches and bounds like a rabbit,

And dances to music by Babbitt.

 

 

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May 9 - Ciro Pinsuti (The Musical Birthday Series, 7th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for May 9th may be found here: Giovanni Paisiello (2019), Anne Sophie von Otter; Billy Joel (2020), Giovanni Paisiello (2021), Giovanni Paisiello (2022), Giovanni Paisiello (2023), and Adolf von Henselt (2024)

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Ciro Pinsuti (9 May 1829 – 10 March 1888) was an Anglo-Italian composer who composed numerous songs and part-songs which achieved popularity in the Victorian era.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Drawing Room Entertainments

Ciro Pinsuti wrote his songs

   For dreary English evening pleasure.

But no one now looks back and longs

   For stultified Victorian leisure.

 

 

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

 

 

May 8 - Oscar Hammerstein I (The Musical Birthday Series, 7th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for May 8th may be found here: Louis Moreau Gottschalk (2019),  Keith Jarett (2020), Ricky Nelson (2021), Robert Johnson (2022), Carl Stamitz (2023), Carl Stamitz (2023), and Jan Bedřich Kittl (2024)

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Oscar Hammerstein I (8 May 1846 – 1 August 1919) was a  German-born businessman, theater impresario, and composer in New York City.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have We Met?

Hammerstein's high-quality productions were ultimately too expensive to sustain, and by his fourth opera season, he was going bankrupt.  -- Wikipedia

Oscar Hammerstein the First

Pursued a passion and a thirst,

And ended up with loads of debt

When he competed with the Met.

The venture was a bit insane,

And proved too costly to sustain, –

The operatic bubble burst

On Oscar Hammerstein the First,

And quizzical accountants cursed

The aspirations he had nursed.

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

May 7 - Johannes Brahms; Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (The Musical Birthday Series, 7th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for May 7th may be found here: Carl Heinrich Graun (2020), Johannes Brahms; Pyotr Tchaikovsky (2019), Johannes Brahms; Pyotr Tchaikovsky (2021), Johannes Brahms; Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (2022), Johannes Brahms; Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (2023)

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Johannes Brahms (7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was one of the greatest and still most popular nineteenth century composers.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Realism

The music of Johannes Brahms,

(In this, the era of dot coms),

Is seldom played at high school proms;

And when it is, it always bombs.

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Pyotr Tchaikovsky (7 May 1840 [O.S. 25 April] – 6 November [O.S. 25 October] 1893) is one of the greatest and most popular composers in the classical repertoire. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Discretion

Tchaikovsky, who love the ballet,

Attended rehearsal one day,

But averted his eyes

From the sinewy thighs

When a dancer performed his plié.

 

 

 

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May 6 - George Perle (The Musical Birthday Series, 7th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for May 6th may be found here: Carmen Cavallaro (2019), (2020),  George Perle (2021), Joseph Brackett (2022), William Walker (2023), and Gaston Leroux (2025)

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George Perle (6 May 1915 – 23 January 2009) was an American composer and music theorist.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Perles of Wisdom

 

This serialist style, and atonality in general, was the subject of much of his theoretical writings. -- Wikipedia

The musical world grew weary

Of books about serial theory,

But Perle stayed the course.

And was seldom a source

On subjects more upbeat and cheery.

 

 

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