Sila Blume
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Olivier Messiaen *XII 10 1908 — The Life You Give
Olivier Messiaen, born Olivier-Eugène-Prosper-Charles Messiaen, December 10, 1908, in Avignon, France, is the influential composer, organist, and teacher noted for his use of mystical and religious themes. As a composer he developed a highly personal style noted for its rhythmic complexity, rich tonal colour, and unique harmonic language. Messiaen was the son of Pierre Messiaen,…
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César Franck *XII 10 1822 — The Life You Give
César Franck, born César Auguste Jean Guillaume Hubert Franck, on December 10, 1822, in Liège, Neth.—died Nov. 8, 1890, Paris, France), Belgian-French Romantic composer and organist who was the chief figure in a movement to give French music an emotional engagement, technical solidity, and seriousness comparable to that of German composers. Franck was born of a…
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Elisabeth Schwarzkopf *XII 9 1915 — The Life You Give
Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, born December 9 1915, in Jarotschin, near Posen, Germany, [now Poznań, Poland] is the soprano who performed in the major opera houses of the Western world, and is remembered especially for her mastery of German songs known as lieder. Schwarzkopf studied at the Berlin High School for Music from 1934, winning various…
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Baal (play by Bertolt Brecht) premiered today in 1923
Baal Play in one act, written in prose Text and Melodies by Bertolt Brecht. Written in 1918 Premiered December 8 1923 at the Altes Theater, Leipzig, Germany Synopsis Baal is epic theatre-maker Bertolt Brecht’s first full-length play. Brecht wrote it in 1918 while a student at Munich University, though it wasn’t performed until 1923. In…
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Jim Morrison *XII 8 1943 — The Life You Give
Jim Morrison, born James Douglas Morrison, December 8, 1943, in Melbourne, Florida, U.S.A., is the singer and songwriter who was the charismatic front man of the psychedelic rock group the Doors. Morrison’s father was a naval officer (ultimately an admiral), and the family moved frequently, though it settled down in the Washington, D.C., suburb of…
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Jean Sibelius *XII 8 1865 — The Life You Give
Jean Sibelius was born in Hämeenlinna, Finland, on 8th December 1865, the second of three children. His father died when ‘Janne’ was only two. Although the language spoken at home was Swedish, Janne attended Hämeenlinna’s pioneering Finnish-speaking grammar school. Music was encouraged at home, and before long Janne was improvising and composing pieces of his…
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Tom Waits *1949 — The Life You Give
Tom Waits, born December 7, 1949, in Pomona, California, is a singer-songwriter and actor whose gritty, sometimes romantic depictions of the lives of the urban underclass won him a loyal if limited following and the admiration of critics and prominent musicians who performed and recorded his songs. Born into a middle-class California family but enamoured…
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Marius Müller-Westernhagen *XII 6 1948 — Das Leben das Du Gibst / The Life You Give
Marius Müller-Westernhagen, born Marius Hubertus Hans Müller-Westernhagen, December 6 1948 in Düsseldorf, Germany, is the popular singer and performer who made his first move into the entertainment industry via theatre acting and singing courses in Hamburg. He made his television debut in 1964, and has gone on to appear in over 50 movies since. Possibly…
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Rainer Maria Rilke *XII 4 1875 — The Life You Give / Das Leben das Du Gibst
Rainer Maria Rilke, born December 4 1875, in Prague, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary [now in Czech Republic] was the poet who became internationally famous with such works as Duino Elegies and Sonnets to Orpheus. Rilke was the only son of a not-too-happy marriage. His father, Josef, a civil servant, was a man frustrated in his career; his…
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John Wallis *XII 3 1616 — The Life You Give
John Wallis, born December 3, 1616, (O.S. November 23), in Ashford, Kent, England, is the mathematician who contributed substantially to the origins of the calculus and was the most influential English mathematician before Isaac Newton. Wallis learned Latin, Greek, Hebrew, logic, and arithmetic during his early school years. In 1632 he entered the University of…
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Ozzy Osborne *XII 3 1948 — The Life You Give
Ozzy Osbourne, born John Michael Osbourne, December 3, 1948, in Birmingham, England, is the musician who gained a loyal following as the vocalist for the heavy metal group Black Sabbath before embarking on a successful solo career. Raised in a working-class family, Osbourne dropped out of school at age 15 and held several low-paying jobs.…
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