August 27 - Leon Theremin (The Musical Birthday Series, 6th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for August 27th are here: Lester Young (2019), Rebecca Clarke; Eric Coates (2020), Leon Theremin (2021), Eric Coates (2022), and Leon Theremin (2023)

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Leon Theremin (27 August [O.S. 15 August] 1896 – 3 November 1993) was a Russian and Soviet inventor, most famous for his invention of the theremin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eternal Questions

With less than perfect rhyme the cherubim

Proclaim the life and times of Theremin.

 

But what explains this assonancial blunder?

Were they confused by God’s Essential Thunder?

Or is the whirring Music of the Spheres

Disrupted when a theremin appears,

And this disturbs rhyming birthday hymn

Intoned by the eternal cherubim?

 

 

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August 26 - Harriet Ware (The Musical Birthday Series, 6th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for August 26 are here: Leon Redbone (2019), Humphrey Searle (2020), Nico Muhly; Aloys Schmitt (2021), Aloys Schmitt (2022), and Nico Muhly (2023)

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Harriet Ware (26 August 1877 – 9 February 1962) was an American composer, pianist, and music educator.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ware Are You?

Harriet Ware was born in Waupun, Wisconsin. -- Wikipedia 

Her "Women's Triumphal March" was the official song of the general Federation of Women’s Clubs in 1929. Her works were especially popular in programs of American song, or in programs focused on women composers. – adapted from Wikipedia

This now-forgotten Harriet Ware

Was said to have a certain flair.

There must have been both verve and vim in

The Triumphal March she wrote for women,

And I have read that for a while

Her charming songs were much in style,

And yet in tiny Waupun’s bars,

When Waupun toasts its brightest stars,

Her name is missing from the rolls

Of those receiving beery “skols!”

And now you know, but may not care,

About Wisconsin’s Harriet Ware,

 

 

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August 25 - Furtein Valen; Ruby Keeler (The Musical Birthday Series, 6th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for August 25th are here: Leonard Bernstein (2019), (2020), Stefan Wolpe; Undine Smith Moore (2021), Leonard Bernstein (2022), and Leonard Bernstein (2023)

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Fartein Valen (25 August 1887 – 14 December 1952) was a Norwegian composer notable for his work in atonal polyphonic music.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Assessment

 

Glenn Gould became a great admirer of Valen and wrote at the time of his recording of Valen's Piano Sonata no. 2, "I really do feel, for the first time in many years, that I've encountered a major figure in 20th century music". -- extracted from Wikipedia 

I don’t know how it all began,

But Gould was Valen’s biggest fan,

Which likely didn’t help the man.

Gould, of course, was not a liar,

And yes, there’s much there to admire.

But Valen’s never catches fire.

And while it’s true a man like Gould

Would not be likely to be fooled,

His judgment has been overruled.

 

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

Ruby Keeler (25 August 1909 28 February 1993) was a Canadian-born American actress, dancer, and singer in a string of successful early musicals at Warner Bros. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Song and Dance

In the ‘30s when talkies were new,

The Hollywood musical drew,

Big stars to the West

And the movies were blest

When Miss Keeler was seen in a few.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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August 24 - Stephen Paulus (The Musical Birthday Series, 6th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for August 24th are here: Théodore Dubois (2019), Stephen Paulus (2020), Mason Williams (2021), Jean-Michel Jarre (2022), and Théodore Dubois (2023)

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Stephen Paulus (24 August 1949 – 19 October 2014) was an American composer best known for his vocal music.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pentameters for Paulus

Our calendars with yearly promptings call us

To celebrate the work of Stephen Paulus.

Let mingled voices raise their grateful sound

With limpid lyrics, simple and profound.

The dawn’s uncertain when the day is done,

But Stephen with his choral strains has spun

A fabric which our gathered choral throng

Unfurls with careful dignity of song.

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