Breathing Curiosity
Steve Reich, born Stephen Michael Reich, October 3, 1936, in New York, New York, U.S.A., is the composer who was one of the leading exponents of Minimalism, a style based on repetitions and combinations of simple motifs and harmonies.Reich was the son of an attorney and a singer-lyricist. He majored in philosophy at Cornell University… Continue reading Steve Reich *X 3 1936 — The Life You Give
While fronting Roxy Music in the 1970s and early '80s, Bryan Ferry devised a blueprint for art rock, and as a solo performer, he brilliantly updated the parameters of the pop songbook. Although Ferry's solo career has included several excellent self-penned tracks, he's best-known for his adventurous interpretations of songs from the rock and pop… Continue reading Bryan Ferry *IX 26 1945 — The Life You Give
Pedro Almodóvar, born Pedro Mercedes Almodóvar Caballero, September 25, 1949, in Calzada de Calatrava, Spain, is the filmmaker known for colourful melodramatic films that often feature sexual themes.As a young man, Almodóvar moved to Madrid with the hopes of attending the Spanish national film school, but it had recently been closed under dictator Francisco Franco’s… Continue reading Pedro Almodóvar *IX 25 1949 — The Life You Give
Ray Charles, born Ray Charles Robinson, September 23, 1930, in Albany, Georgia, U.S.A., is the pianist, singer, composer, bandleader, and leading entertainer billed as “the Genius” who was credited with the early development of soul music, a style based on a melding of gospel, rhythm and blues, and jazz music.When Charles was an infant his… Continue reading Ray Charles *IX 23 1930 — The Life You Give
The intention one may have when allowing beauty and essence to be carried out in one’s work, is not to be a need to actively and intentionally touch humanity in posterity. The need lies in posterity being touched, not in the author of a piece needing to touch.
Vladimir Horowitz, born September 18 [Old Style], 1903, in Berdichev, Russia [now in Ukraine], is the virtuoso pianist in the Romantic tradition who was celebrated for his flawless technique and an almost orchestral quality of tone. Horowitz’s performances of works by Franz Liszt, Sergey Rachmaninoff, Frédéric Chopin, Aleksandr Scriabin, Domenico Scarlatti, and Sergey Prokofiev were… Continue reading Vladimir Horowitz *IX 18 1903 / The Life You Give
Francesca Caccini, also called Francesca Signorini, Francesca Signorini-Malaspina, or Francesca Raffaelli, byname La Cecchina, born September 18, 1587, in Florence, Italy, is the composer and singer who was one of only a handful of women in 17th-century Europe whose compositions were published. The most significant of her compositions—published and unpublished—were produced during her employment at… Continue reading Francesca Caccini *IX 18 1587 — The Life You Give
Jessye Norman, born Jessye Mae Norman on September 15, 1945, in Augusta, Georgia, U.S.A., is the operatic soprano, one of the finest of her day, who also enjoyed a successful concert career.Norman was reared in a musical family. Both her mother and grandmother were pianists and her father sang in church, as did the young… Continue reading Jessye Norman *IX 15 1945 — The Life You Give
Arnold Schoenberg, born Arnold Franz Walter Schönberg, September 13, 1874 in Vienna, Austria, is the composer who created new methods of musical composition involving atonality, namely serialism and the 12-tone row. He was also one of the most-influential teachers of the 20th century; among his most-significant pupils were Alban Berg and Anton Webern.Schoenberg’s father, Samuel,… Continue reading Arnold Schönberg *IX 13 1874 — The Life You Give
There is unrest in the forest Trouble with the trees For the maples want more sunlight And the oaks ignore their pleas The trouble with the maples (And they're quite convinced they're right) They say the oaks are just too lofty And they grab up all the light But the oaks can't help their feelings… Continue reading The Trees
Charlie Parker, born Charles Parker, Jr., also called Bird or Yardbird, on August 29, 1920, in Kansas City, Kansas, U.S.A., is the alto saxophonist, composer, and bandleader, a lyric artist generally considered the greatest jazz saxophonist. Parker was the principal stimulus of the modern jazz idiom known as bebop, and—together with Louis Armstrong and Ornette… Continue reading Charlie Parker *VIII 29 1920 / The Life You Give
Hermann Nitsch was an Austrian avant-garde painter, composer, and performance artist who worked in experimental and multimedia modes. He was a co-founder of the notorious art movement known as the Viennese Aktionists. With his project Orgien Mysterien Theater ("the Orgiastic Mystery Theater"), Nitsch immersed his audiences in scenes and symbols heavily charged with meaning: religious… Continue reading The Life You Give: Hermann Nitsch *VIII 29 1938
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, born August 28, 1749, in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, is the poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, critic, and amateur artist, considered the greatest German literary figure of the modern era.Goethe is the only German literary figure whose range and international standing equal those of Germany’s supreme philosophers (who have… Continue reading The Life You Give: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe *VIII 28 1749
Karlheinz Stockhausen, born Aug. 22, 1928, in Mödrath, near Cologne, Germany, is the composer, and important creator and theoretician of electronic and serial music who strongly influenced avant-garde composers from the 1950s through the ’80s.Stockhausen studied at the State Academy for Music in Cologne and the University of Cologne from 1947 to 1951. In 1952… Continue reading The Life You Give: Karlheinz Stockhausen *VIII 22 1928
Alfred Hitchcock, born August 13, 1899, London, England, is the motion-picture director whose suspenseful films and television programs won immense popularity and critical acclaim over a long and tremendously productive career. His films are marked by a macabre sense of humour and a somewhat bleak view of the human condition.Hitchcock grew up in London’s East… Continue reading The Life You Give: Alfred Hitchcock *VIII 13 1899
Born Ian Scott Anderson, August 10 1947 in Dunfermline, Scotland, Anderson was interested in music from a young age, gaining influence from his father James' record collection of big band and jazz, as well as early rock & roll by Elvis Presley. The Anderson family later relocated to Blackpool where Ian finished his studies. In… Continue reading The Life You Give: Ian Anderson *VIII 10 1947
When the guitarist Manitas de Plata became an international star in the 1960s, his was the name most widely associated with flamenco. At the time, music was classified as either popular or classical: the term “world music” had not been coined and the wizardry of the Gypsy from the south of France was regarded as… Continue reading La Vida Que Das / The Life You Give: Manitas de Plata *VIII 7 1921
The very first thing that a writer has to face is that he can not be told what to write. Nobody asked me to be a writer. I chose to be a writer. The one thing you have to do is try to tell the truth. In order to do it, when the book comes… Continue reading The artist is not free to do what he wants to do
James Baldwin, born James Arthur Baldwin on August 2 1924 in New York, New York, is the essayist, novelist, and playwright whose eloquence and passion on the subject of race in America made him an important voice, particularly in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the United States and, later, through much of western… Continue reading The Life You Give: James Baldwin *VIII 2 1924
Enrique Granados, born July 27, 1867, in Lérida, Spain, is the pianist and composer who was a leader of the movement toward nationalism in late 19th-century Spanish music.Granados made his debut as a pianist at 16. He studied composition in Barcelona with Felipe Pedrell, the father of Spanish nationalism in music. He studied piano in… Continue reading The Life You Give: Enrique Granados *VII 27 1867
El mundo de la literatura es grotescamente amplio, con una cantidad de autores que, a lo largo de los años, han aportado su pequeño grano de arena al mundo literario. Sin embargo, algunos son más reconocidos que otros por diversas razones, incluso para aquellas personas que no son muy allegadas a la lectura, algunos nombres… Continue reading La Vida Que Das / The Life You Give: Pablo Neruda *VII 11 1904
Sila Blume 