March 26 - Pierre Boulez (The Musical Birthday Series, 4th Annual Cycle)

Previous postings for March 26th may be found here: Pierre Boulez (2019), Diana Ross; Pierre Boulez (2020), and Pierre Boulez (2021)

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Pierre Boulez (26 March 1925 – 5 January 2016) was one of the foremost composers and conductors of his time. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Either/Or

 

"[Boulez] has produced a catalogue of wondrously luminous and scintillating works. Within them a rigorous compositional skill is coupled to an imagination of extraordinary aural refinement". -- George Benjamin, qtd. in Wikipedia

By some he is thought too cerebral,

For others he’s bracing and febrile.

While the first group is apt to complain he

Was much too abstract and too brainy,

The second accepts their assignment

And esteems his exquisite refinement.

 

And you’re either against or your for,

It’s a case not of “either”, but “or”.

 

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March 25 - Arturo Toscanini (The Musical Birthday Series, 4th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for March 25th may be found here:  Béla Bartók (2019), Anita Bryant; Elton John (2020), and Aretha Franklin; Arturo Toscanini (2021)

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Arturo Toscanini (25 March 1867 – 16 January 1957) was a great and extremely popular Italian conductor.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Solemn Heroic Couplets on the Case of Arturo Toscanini

 

Thanks to the existence of recorded performances, as well as the reminiscences of some of his colleagues, many people now realize that Toscanini's reputation for absolutely literal fidelity to the printed score was largely a media creation.  -- Linda B. Fairtile, "Toscanini and the Myth of Textual Fidelity." Journal of the Conductors Guild 24, no. 1-2 (2003).  Abstract.

 

The myth that Toscanini wished no more

Than always being faithful to the score

Became so strong that ethical dimensions

Were soon assigned to literal intentions.

But just as judges make their contribution

Interpreting our nation’s constitution,

And any pious claims about The Framers

Should always come with plentiful disclaimers,

We find, in music, that the path is vexed

If one is strictly faithful to the text.

There is no way a musical performance

Can ever be in literal conformance

With any score.  Although you use the best,

Subjective taste will always be expressed,

Even by the textually obsessed.

 

 

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March 24 - Elsa Respighi; John Antes (The Musical Birthday Series, 4th Annual Cycle)

Previous post for March 24th may be found here: Maria Malibran (2019), (2020). and Fanny Crosby (2021)

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Elsa Respighi (née Olivieri-Sangiacomo) (24 March 1894 – 17 March 1996) was an Italian singer and occasional composer. She was the wife and former pupil of Ottorino Respighi. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Verse for Mrs. Elsa Respighi

Throughout her long life she championed her husband's work unfailingly. – Wikipedia

Sometimes women go through life

Labeled “the composer’s wife”. —

Clara, Cosima, Yvonne,

Put this loyal mantle on,

And that’s what Elsa sought to do

Until she died at one hundred and two.

 

 

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

 

John Antes (24 March 1740 – 17 December 1811) was a Moravian Missionary in Egypt, and one of the earliest American-born chamber music composers. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

American as Apple Pie?

Antes left Pennsylvania in 1764… – adapted from Wikipedia

When we Americans applaud

Our first composer, it is odd

That Antes usually gets the nod.

It’s not a flimflam or a fraud,

The logic, though, perhaps, is flawed,

Because, you see, this man of God

Spent forty-seven years abroad.

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Title Issues

Antes is often recognized for his choral works, such as Go Congregation Go! and Surely he has Bourne our Griefs.  - adapted from Wikipedia

John Antes had trouble retaining his crowd

For reasons you probably know.

The anthem he wrote that had made him most proud

Was “Go Congregation, Go”

 

 

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

 

 

March 23 - Dave Frishberg; Dane Rudhyar (The Musical Birthday Series, 4th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for March 23rd may be found here: Julius Reubke (2019) and Arthur Farwell (2020), Anthony van Hoboken (2021)

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David Frishberg (23 March 1933 – 17 November 2021) was an American jazz pianist, vocalist, composer, and lyricist.  

 

Top Billing

There are wonderful songs you should hear

From Frishberg’s successful career,

But his “I’m Just a Bill”,

Though showing his skill,

Has eclipsed all his others, I fear.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

Dane Rudhyar (23 March 1895 – 13 September 1985) was a French-born American author, composer, and humanistic astrologer. He was a pioneer of modern transpersonal astrology. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Planets

 

Arguing that astrology is not essentially predictive but rather productive of intuitive insights, The Astrology of Personality was one of the most influential tracts of "free-will" astrology, despite being written in the dense, circuitous style that characterizes much of Rudhyar's writing. -- Wikipedia  

Dane Rudhyar will challenge your ears

By exploring at music’s frontiers.

And just try to make sense

Of his prose (which is dense)

On the role of the Heavenly Spheres.

 

 

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