December 26 - George Winston (The Musical Birthday Series, 3rd Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for December 26th are here: Earle Brown (2019) and Steve Allen (2020)

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George Winston (b. 26 December 1949) is a popular American pianist. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why It Doesn't Happen

Professors at Yale or at Princeton

Don’t analyze works by George Winston –

Before they can do an analysis

They are struck with a learned paralysis

Brought on by attempts to engage

With the enervate sounds of New Age.

 

 

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December 25 - Cab Calloway (The Musical Birthday Series, 3rd Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for December 2th are here: Orlando Gibbons (2019) and Cosima Wagner (2020)

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Cab Calloway (25 December 1907 – 18 November 1994) was an American jazz singer, dancer, bandleader and actor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Catching a Cab

He reached the Billboard charts in five consecutive decades (1930s–1970s). -- Wikipedia

Cab Calloway reached the Billboard charts

   Five decades in a row.

A master of the vaudeville arts,

   And giving folks a show,

A super showbiz man of parts,

   Much more than "Hi-de-ho"

 

 

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December 24 - Peter Cornelius (The Musical Birthday Series, 3rd Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for December 24th are here: Harry Warren (2019) and Ricky Martin (2020)

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Peter Cornelius (24 December 1824 – 26 October 1874) was a German composer, writer about music, poet and translator.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Musical Advice for Your Legacy

 

An arrangement by Ivor Atkins of [Cornelius's] "The Three Kings" for solo voice and choir is included in the first volume of the popular David Willcocks and Reginald Jacques compilation Carols for Choirs. -- Wikipedia  

Though Peter Cornelius wrote other things,

He’s chiefly renowned for his song “The Three Kings.”

Its seasonal nature assists its survival

In somewhat ambivalent yearly revival.

If your name is remembered for only one hit,

Something for Christmastide should surely be it.

 

 

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December 23 - Ross Lee Finney (The Musical Birthday Series, 3rd Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for December 23rd are here: Chet Baker (2019) and Mathilde Wesendonck (2020)

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Ross Lee Finney  (23 December 1906 – 4 February 1997) was an American composer who taught for many years at the University of Michigan. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Uff Da

Born in Wells, Minnesota, Finney received his early training at Carleton College and the University of Minnesota...  -- Wikipedia

Though Ross Lee Finney, Minnesotan,

May not be a man of note in   

     His native town of Wells,

Perhaps the folks at Carleton College

Are more likely to acknowledge

    His time within its cells,

Or maybe at the U of M

They think of him as one of them -

    If so, then no one tells.

And that, Dear Reader, is the skinny

On Minnesota’s Ross Lee Finney.

 

 

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December 22 - Andre Kostelanetz (The Musical Birthday Series, 3rd Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for December 22nd are here:  Edgard Varèse; Giacomo Puccini (2019) and Carl Friedrich Abel (2020)

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Andre Kostelanetz (22 December 1901 – 13 January 1980) was a Russian-born American conductor and arranger especially in the light classics and easy listening vein.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…And His Orchestra

Sing, O Muse, of Kostelanetz!

Not with odes, and not with sonnets,

But with verses more prosaic,

Quatrains, simple and trochaic.

Kostelanetz had a flair

For a brand of lighter fair

In the “easy listening” niche.

And happily, it made him rich.

Eschew poetic engineering!

No villanelles! No sonneteering!

Offer Kostelanetz praises

In humble tetrametric phrases.

 

 

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December 21 - Frank Zappa; Werner von Trapp (The Musical Birthday Series, 3rd Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for December 21st are here: András Schiff; Michael Tilson Thomas (2019) and Michael Tilson Thomas (2020)

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Frank Zappa (21 December 1940 – 4 December 1993) was an American musician, singer, composer, songwriter and bandleader.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Legit Question 1

As he carefully mothered invention,

Was it really Frank Zappa’s intention

To be boldly courageous,

Or was he outrageous

For an ego that needed attention?

 

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

 

Werner von Trapp (21 December 1915 – 11 October 2007) was an Austrian singer and member of the Trapp Family Singers.  He was portrayed as the character Kurt in The Sound of Music.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Legit Question 2

Was Werner von Trapp at all hurt

When he learned that his character (Kurt)

Goes all evening long

Without his own song,

But is perky and precious and pert?

 

 

 

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