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Ruth Crawford Seeger *VII 3 1901 — The Life You Give
Ruth Crawford Seeger, born July 3, 1901, in East Liverpool, Ohio, U.S.A., studied piano as a child and was self-taught as a composer until she entered the American Conservatory. After early works influenced by Alexander Scriabin, she wrote several astonishing serial pieces, including her String Quartet (1931). She married the musicologist Charles Seeger (1886–1979) in…
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Leoš Janáček *VII 3 1854 — The Life You Give
Leoš Janáček, born July 3, 1854, in Hukvaldy, Moravia, Austrian Empire, is a composer who counts as one of the most important exponents of musical nationalism of the 20th century. Janáček was a choirboy at Brno and studied at the Prague, Leipzig, and Vienna conservatories. In 1881 he founded a college of organists at Brno,…
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Franz Kafka *VII 3 1883 — The Life You Give
Franz Kafka, born July 3, 1883, in Prague, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary [now in Czech Republic] is the writer of visionary fiction whose works — especially the novel Der Prozess (1925; The Trial) and the story Die Verwandlung (1915; The Metamorphosis) — express the anxieties and alienation felt by many in 20th-century Europe and North America. Life…
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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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Debbie Harry * VII 1 1945 — The Life You Give
Artists going into the music industry are not usually equipped for the sudden onslaught of fame. Although it may seem alluring to the casual musician to have millions of people singing songs back to them every time they play live, things get a bit complicated when everything they thought was private becomes lost instantly. While…
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Twyla Tharp *VII 1 1941 — The Life You Give
Twyla Tharp, born July 1, 1941, in Portland, Indiana, U.S.A., is the dancer, director, and choreographer known for her innovative and often humourous work. Tharp grew up in her native Portland, Indiana, and in Los Angeles, and her childhood included comprehensive training in music and dance. While a student at Barnard College, she studied at…
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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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Víctor Erice *VI 30 1940 — The Life You Give
Víctor Erice Aras, born June 30, 1940, in Karrantza, Biscay, the Basque Autonomous Community of Spain, served in the military after graduating from film school. Following his discharge, he made his directorial debut at the age of 29 with an installment in the omnibus film LOS DESAFÍOS, winning a Silver Seashell Award at the San…
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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…














