Sila Blume
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Toni Morrison *II 18 1931 — The Live You Give
Toni Morrison, born Chloe Anthony Wofford on February 18 1931, in Lorain, Ohio, U.S.A., was the writer noted for her examination of Black experience (particularly Black female experience) within the Black community. She received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993. Morrison grew up in the American Midwest in a family that possessed an intense…
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Repeatedly attractive for the wrong reason
He – standing while I sat – leaned his upper body towards me to utter some form of greeting. I understood neither the language nor the intention of the greeting. Yet, I immediately had the feeling to understand why he had addressed me. One of my several sketch/notebooks has a Persian structure on its cover,…
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silence — music — silence
Whenever music happens, silence must follow.Not the absolute absence of sound but no other piece of music should be allowed to interject the silence which ought to encompass and protect a piece of music. A short, intricate piece, at times “simple” – Schubert, Chopin, Satie, Liszt, et cetera – interpreted by a mature, talented, seasoned,…
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The Whale (Tavener) on the Day of the Whale
The History of World Whale Day – A Deep DiveIn our vast open oceans, there exists a majestic creature that has captured the awe and imagination of humanity for centuries – the whale. These magnificent giants of the sea have played a significant role in our planet’s ecosystem and cultural narratives. Every year on February…
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Renée Lynn Fleming *II 14 1959 / The Life You Give
Renée Fleming, born February 14, 1959, in Indiana, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., is a soprano noted for the beauty and richness of her voice and for the thought and sensitivity she brings to the texts. Fleming’s repertoire is extraordinarily broad, spanning three centuries and ranging from Handel and Mozart through 19th-century bel canto to the works of…
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Peter Gabriel *II 13 1950 — The Life You Give
There is a complex, dotted, and cloudy line that divides or unites an individual in two. I am referring to what seems to be two sources and periods in the life of Peter Gabriel, as I see, hear, and think about his music. One Gabriel is the period during his work as front man to…
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Leopold Godowsky *II 13 1870 — The Life You Give
Leopold Godowsky, born February 13, 1870, in Soshly, near Vilnius, Lithuania, Russian Empire, is the renowned Russian-born American virtuoso pianist and composer, known for his exceptional piano technique. Godowsky entered the Berlin High School for Music at age 14; soon thereafter he went to the United States, where he spent most of the remainder of…
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Michael McDonald *II 12 1952 — The Life You Give
Michael McDonald, born February 12, 1952, in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A., is the singer-songwriter best known as the lead vocalist and keyboardist for the rock band the Doobie Brothers. McDonald became a fixture on rock radio with his rich and soulful vocals. He followed up his successful stint with the Doobie Brothers with a durable…
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Charles Darwin *II 12 1809 — The Life You Give
Charles Darwin, born Charles Robert Darwin on February 12, 1809, in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England, is the naturalist whose scientific theory of evolution by natural selection became the foundation of modern evolutionary studies. An affable country gentleman, Darwin at first shocked religious Victorian society by suggesting that animals and humans shared a common ancestry. However, his…
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Bertolt Brecht *II 10 1898 — The Life You Give
Bertolt Brecht, born Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht, on February 10 1898, in Augsburg, Germany, is the poet, playwright, and theatrical reformer whose epic theatre departed from the conventions of theatrical illusion and developed the drama as a social and ideological forum for leftist causes. Until 1924 Brecht lived in Bavaria, where he was born, studied…
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Leontyne Price *II 10 1927 — The Life You Give
Metropolitan Opera audiences began an extraordinary love affair with American soprano Leontyne Price immediately upon her debut on January 27, 1961. She was by then an internationally heralded singer and an experienced, refined musician and artist. But more than anything, it was the sheer beauty of her voice that excited her listeners. What they heard…
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Gerhard Richter *II 9 1932 — The Live You Give
Gerhard Richter, born on February 9, 1932, in Dresden, Germany, is the painter known for his diverse painting styles and subjects. His deliberate lack of commitment to a single stylistic direction has often been read as an attack on the implicit ideologies embedded in the specific histories of painting. Such distaste for aesthetic dogma has…
Sila Blume 