December 26 - Steve Allen (The Musical Birthday Series, 2nd Annual Cycle)

Steve Allen (26 December 1921 – 30 October 2000) was an American television and radio personality, comedian, musician, composer, actor, writer, and an advocate of scientific skepticism.

[For last year's verse on Earle Brown click here.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Towards a Catalogue raisonée

 

According to his own estimate, Allen was a prolific composer who wrote more than 8,500 songs... Wikipedia

Other recurring routines included Allen inviting audience members to select three musical notes at random then on the spot composing a song based on the notes… --adapted from Wikipedia

 

Sing the praises of Steve Allen,

Man of talents by the gallon!

On his shows he had a schtick,

(Really just a party trick)

Of improvising on the spot

With random pitches he’d just got.

(I do not know if these belong

Among his songs eight thousand strong.)

 

 

 

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December 25 - Cosima Wagner (The Musical Birthday Series, 2nd Annual Cycle)

Cosima Wagner (24 December 1837 – 1 April 1930) was the daughter of Franz Liszt  and Marie d'Agoult. She became the second wife of Richard Wagner and ran the Bayreuth festival after his death. While her birthday was actually on the 24th, she chose to celebrate it on the 25th. ("Cosima Wagner wurde zwar am 24. Dezember 1837 geboren, feierte ihren Geburtstag aber traditionell am ersten Weihnachtstag. Deshalb ist oft irrtümlich der 25. Dezember als Geburtsdatum angegeben." = German Wikipedia)

[For last year's quatrains on Orlando Gibbons click here.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not an Idyll

Cosima Wagner took  the reigns

   Of Richard Wagner’s canon,

And she defined the narrow lanes

   That Bayreuth matters ran in.

Cosima Wagner specified

   What must be customáry in

Any Opernhaus which tried

   To claim to be Wagnerian.

At Bayreuth, where her word was law,

   No little thing got past her,

As she for decades oversaw

   The Mythos of the Master.

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

 

December 24 - Ricky Martin (The Musical Birthday Series, 2nd Annual Cycle)

Ricky Martin (b. 24 December 1971) is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, and actor.

[For last year's verse on Harry Warren click here.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Changes

Ricky Martin, Latin hunk,

Thought for years that he’d be sunk,

Thought he’d never tour again

If word got out he dated men.

Now, in hunky middle age,

Life for him has turned a page.

He has a husband; they have kids,

And yet his career’s not on the skids.

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

December 23 - Mathilde Wesendonck (The Musical Birthday Series, 2nd Annual Cycle)

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

[For last year's limerick's on Chet Baker click here.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Ninth Commandment

 

It is not known whether she returned his affections to the same degree, or if the affair - if there was one - was ever consummated. Nevertheless, the episode inspired Wagner to put aside his work on Der Ring des Nibelungen and begin work on Tristan und Isolde. -- adapted from Wikipedia  

Madame Wesendonck (Mathilde), 

   Very different from Brunnhilde,

Came to Wagner’s keen attention,

  Who in spite of all convention

Gave free rein to admiration,

   And expressed infatuation.

   

First he set aside The Ring

   And started on another thing.

Thus began the opera Tristan,

   Where the hero can’t resist an-

Other fellow’s wedded wife ---

   Art, they say, must spring from life.

 

 

 

 

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

 

December 22 - Carl Friedrich Abel (The Musical Birthday Series, 2nd Annual Cycle)

Carl Friedrich Abel (22 December 1723 – 20 June 1787) was a German composer and gambist.

[For last year's limericks on Edgard Varèse and Giacomo Puccini click here.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oops

One of Abel's works became famous due to a misattribution in the 19th century, a manuscript symphony in the hand of Mozart was catalogued as his  Symphony #3 in E-flat, K, 18, and was published as such in the first complete edition of Mozart’s works. -- adapted from Wikipedia

The Mozart Symphony in E-Flat

  Caused an embarrassing squabble,

When it was discovered that

  It was written by C. F. Abel.

 

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

Means to an End

C. F. Abel was a master

  On viola da gamba.

Which, sadly, ended in disaster

  When he played a samba.

Although this story isn't true,

  The rhyme words worked so nicely.

That I humbly ask that you

  Don't judge me to precisely.