Celebration Day
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Hermann Nitsch *VIII 29 1938 — The Life You Give
Hermann Nitsch is an 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 imagery,…
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Lohengrin (Wagner) premiered today in 1850
Lohengrin, WWV 75Romantic opera in three acts Composition: Richard WagnerLibretto: Richard WagnerPremiere: 28 August 1850, Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar The story of the eponymous character is taken from medieval German romance, notably the Parzival of Wolfram von Eschenbach, and its sequel Lohengrin, itself inspired by the epic of Garin le Loherain. It is part of the…
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Johann Wolfgang von Goethe *VIII 28 1749 — The Life You Give
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…
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Rebecca Clarke *VIII 27 1886 — The Life You Give
Rebecca Helferich Clarke, born on August 27 1886, is the classical composer and violist, internationally renowned as a viola virtuoso who also became one of the first female professional orchestral players in London. In many respects, Rebecca Clarke had a troubled childhood. Her father maintained a strict sense of Victorian morals and could be quite…
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Jorge Luis Borges *VII 24 1899 — The Life You Give
Jorge Luis Borges, born Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo, August 24, 1899, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, is the poet, essayist, and short-story writer whose works became classics of 20th-century world literature. Borges was reared in the then-shabby Palermo district of Buenos Aires, the setting of some of his works. His family, which had been…
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Stephen Fry *VIII 24 1957 — The Life You Give
Stephen Fry (born August 24, 1957, London, England) is a British actor, comedian, author, screenwriter, and director, known especially for his virtuosic command and comical manipulation of the English language—in both speech and writing. He is especially admired for his ability to desacralize even the most serious or taboo of topics. Fry spent most of…
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Claude Debussy *VIII 22 1862 / The Life You Give
Claude Debussy, born Achille-Claude Debussy, on August 22, 1862, in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France, is the composer whose works were a seminal force in the music of the 20th century. He developed a highly original system of harmony and musical structure that expressed in many respects the ideals to which the Impressionist and Symbolist painters and writers…
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Karlheinz Stockhausen *VIII 22 1928 / The Life You Give
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…
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Lili Boulanger *VIII 21 1893 / The Life You Give
Lili Boulanger was born on August 21, 1893 in Paris, France, to a musical family. Her mother, father, and sister Nadia were all trained composers or performers. When her father, Ernest, was only 20, he won the Prix de Rome. This coveted prize, which provided a year’s study in Rome, was the greatest recognition a…
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Jacopo Peri *VIII 20 1561 / The Life You Give
Jacopo Peri, byname Il Zazzerino, born August 20, 1561, in Rome or Florence, is the composer noted for his contribution to the development of dramatic vocal style in early Baroque opera. Under the early sponsorship of the Florentine Cristofano Malvezzi, Peri had published by 1583 both an instrumental work and a madrigal. After early posts…
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Robert Plant *VIII 20 1948 / The Life You Give
Robert Plant, born Robert Anthony Plant, on August 20, 1948, in West Bromwich, Staffordshire, England, is the singer-songwriter best known as the lead singer for the rock band Led Zeppelin. Plant’s dynamic vocal range and flamboyant stage presence has distinguished him as a popular and influential rock and roll front man. Since the dissolution of…
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Antonio Salieri *VIII 18 1750 / The Life You Give
Antonio Salieri, born Aug. 18, 1750, in Legnago, Republic of Venice [Italy], is the composer whose operas were acclaimed throughout Europe in the late 18th century. At the age of 16, Salieri was taken to Vienna by F.L. Gassmann, the imperial court composer and music director (Hofkapellmeister), and was introduced to Emperor Joseph II. During…
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Götterdämmerung, fourth day in Ring des Nibelungen (Wagner) premiered VIII 17 1876
Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods), WWV 86D, is the last of the four epic music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner’s cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen (English: The Ring of the Nibelung). It received its premiere at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus on 17 August 1876, as part of the first complete performance of the whole work. The…
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Siegfried, second day in the Ring of the Nibelung (Wagner), premiered VIII 16 1876
Siegfried is a figure from the heroic literature of the ancient Germanic people. He appears in both German and Old Norse literature, although the versions of his stories told by these two branches of the Germanic tradition do not always agree. He plays a part in the story of Brunhild, in which he meets his…
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Kaikhosru Sorabji *VIII 14 1892 — The Life You Give
Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji, born Leon Dudley Sorabji on August 14 1892, in Chingford, near London, England, is the eccentric English composer known for his complex musical works combining free rhythms, elements of Asiatic melodic construction, and European polyphonic structures. As a young man he became interested in his father’s Parsi heritage and changed his name…
Sila Blume 