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Hans Werner Henze *VII 1 1926 — The Life You Give
Hans Werner Henze, born July 1, 1926, in Gütersloh, Germany, is the composer whose operas, ballets, symphonies, and other works are marked by an individual and advanced style wrought within traditional forms. Henze was a pupil of the noted German composer Wolfgang Fortner and of René Leibowitz, the leading French composer of 12-tone music. One…
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George Sand * VII 1 1804 — The Life You Give
George Sand, Amantine-Lucile-Aurore Dudevant, née Dupin, born July 1, 1804, in Paris, France, is the Romantic writer known primarily for her so-called rustic novels. She was brought up at Nohant, near La Châtre in Berry, the country home of her grandmother. There she gained the profound love and understanding of the countryside that were to…
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Models of Social Life
In some highly structured societies, like one will find in Japan, though being densely populated and lively, in the city of Tokyo it is not proper to eat and drink on the street. With a very different approach to the joys found in the drinking of coffee, at the old and traditional Cafè Hawelka, in…
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Antoine de Saint-Exupéry *VI 29 1900 — The Life You Give
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, born Antoine-Marie-Roger de Saint-Exupéry, June 29, 1900, in Lyon, France, is the aviator and writer whose works are the unique testimony of a pilot and a warrior who looked at adventure and danger with a poet’s eyes. His fable Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince) has become a modern classic. Saint-Exupéry came…
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George Theophilus Walker *VI 27 1922 — The Life You Give
George Walker was one of America’s most honored composers, having had his works performed by every major orchestra in the country, and was the first African-American composer to win a Pulitzer Prize for music. He composed nearly 100 pieces in forms ranging from solo piano pieces and songs to concerti and symphonies and was also…
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Dance, Dance, Dance
From pre-historic to primitive, to modern, to contemporary, and back to povera, with elegance, seduction, tribalism, or spiritualism, dance seems to be a global, perhaps universal phenomenon serving as celebration of joy or pain, to free or incarcerate body or soul. During my continuing search for causes for celebration, I came across this obscure moment…
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George Orwell *VI 25 1903 — The Life You Give
George Orwell, born June 25, 1903, in Motihari, Bengal, India, is the novelist, essayist, and critic famous for his novels Animal Farm (1945) and Nineteen Eighty-four (1949). The latter of these is a profound anti-utopian novel that examines the dangers of totalitarian rule. Born Eric Arthur Blair, Orwell never entirely abandoned his original name, but…
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Antoni Gaudi *VI 25 1852 — The Life You Give
Antoni Gaudí, born June 25, 1852, in Reus, Spain, is the architect whose distinctive style is characterized by freedom of form, voluptuous color and texture, and organic unity. Gaudí worked almost entirely in or near Barcelona. Much of his career was occupied with the construction of the Expiatory Temple of the Holy Family (Sagrada Família),…
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Anthony Bourdain *VI 25 1956 — The Life You Give
Anthony Bourdain, born Anthony Michael Bourdain, June 25, 1956, in New York City, New York, U.S.A., is the chef, author, and television personality who helped popularize “foodie” culture in the early 21st century through his books and television programs. Raised in New Jersey, Bourdain first took an interest in food when he ate an oyster…
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Mick Fleetwood *VI 24 1947 — The Life You Give
Mick Fleetwood anchored his namesake band Fleetwood Mac through thick and thin, seeing the group evolve from one of the pioneering British blues combos to the biggest pop/rock band in the world. Fleetwood may have never left his seat behind the drums in Fleetwood Mac but he did occasionally step away from the group. Notably,…
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Harry Partch *VI 24 1901 — The Life You Give
Harry Partch, born June 24, 1901, in Oakland, Calif., U.S.A., is the visionary and eclectic composer and instrument builder, largely self-taught, whose compositions are remarkable for the complexity of their scores (each instrument has its own characteristic notation, often involving 43 tones to each octave) and their employment of unique instruments of his invention. Partch’s…
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Remembering James Levine *VI 23 1943
James Levine, born June 23, 1943, in Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.A., is the conductor and pianist, especially noted for his work with the Metropolitan Opera (Met) of New York City. He was considered the preeminent American conductor of his generation. As a piano prodigy, Levine made his debut in 1953 with the Cincinnati Orchestra in Ohio.…
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Peter Pears *VI 22 1910 — The Life You Give
Sir Peter Pears, born Peter Neville Luard Pears, June 22, 1910, in Farnham, Surrey, England, is the tenor, a singer of outstanding skill and subtlety who was closely associated with the works of Sir Benjamin Britten. He received a knighthood in 1977. Pears studied at the University of Oxford, at the Royal College of Music,…
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Eliades Ochoa *VI 22 1946 — The Life You Give
From the outset of his career, Eliades Ochoa built his repertoire from Cuban traditional music, in particular son, guarachas, guajiras, and boleros. As a child, he learned to play guitar and tres (an adapted guitar), and also began singing. In 1958 he moved to the city of Santiago and during the following decade, developed a…
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