Personalities
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Modest Mussorgsky *III 21 1839 — The Life You Give
Modest Mussorgsky, born Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky, on March 9 [March 21, New Style], 1839, in Karevo, Russia, was the composer noted particularly for his opera Boris Godunov (final version first performed 1874), his songs, and his piano piece Pictures from an Exhibition (1874). Mussorgsky, along with Aleksandr Borodin, Mily Balakirev, Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov, and César Cui,…
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Johann Sebastian Bach *III 21 1685 — The Life You Give
Johann Sebastian Bach, born March 21 [March 31, New Style], 1685, in Eisenach, Thuringia, Ernestine Saxon Duchies [Germany], was a composer of the Baroque era, the most celebrated member of a large family of north German musicians. Although he was admired by his contemporaries primarily as an outstanding harpsichordist, organist, and expert on organ building,…
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Sviatoslav Richter *III 20 1915 — The Life You Give
Sviatoslav Richter, born Sviatoslav Teofilovich Richter, on March 7 [March 20, New Style], 1915, Zhitomir, Ukraine, Russian Empire [now Zhytomyr, Ukraine], is the pianist whose technical virtuosity combined with subtle introspection, made him one of the preeminent pianists of the 20th century. Though his repertoire was enormous, he was especially praised for his interpretations of…
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Bernd Alois Zimmermann *III 20 1918 — The Life You Give
One of the most important German composers to emerge during the post-World War II era, Bernd Alois Zimmermann was born in the outskirts of Cologne in 1918. His schooling at the Cologne Musikhochschule was interrupted when he was drafted for military service in the early days of the Second World War. Discharged in 1942, Zimmermann…
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Eikoh Hosoe *III 18 1933 — The Life You Give
In his collaborations with influential literary figures and performers, Eikoh Hosoe (born on March 18 1933, in Yonezawa, Yamagata, Japan) is the photographer and filmmaker who created surreal scenes that invoke the fantastic. It is said that the kamaitachi spirit resembles a weasel, rides on a whirlwind, flies through the air, and moves so incredibly…
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Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre *III 17 1665 — The Life You Give
Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre, also known as Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre or Elisabeth Jacquet, Elisabeth also spelled Élisabeth, (baptized March 17, 1665) in Paris, France, is the composer, harpsichordist, and organist, who was the first woman to compose an opera in France. Elisabeth Jacquet was born into a family of artisans that included…
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Christa Ludwig *III 16 1928 — The Life You Give
Christa Ludwig was one of the most admired mezzo-sopranos of her generation, with a wide repertoire of both lieder and opera. She brought a fine sense of musicianship as well as drama to her performances. Her roles ranged from Dorabella in Così fan Tutte to Brangane in Tristan und Isolde and Clytemnestra in Elektra, and…
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David Cronenberg *III 15 1943 / The Life You Give
David Paul Cronenberg, born March 15, 1943, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is a film director, screenwriter, and actor, best known for movies that employed elements of horror and science fiction to vividly explore the disturbing intersections between technology, the human body, and subconscious desire. Cronenberg graduated from the University of Toronto in 1967 with a…
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Johann Strauss *III 14 1804 — The Life You Give
Johann Strauss I, born March 14, 1804, Vienna, is one of the principal composers of Viennese waltzes. Strauss became a viola player in the dance orchestra of Michael Pamer, a composer of light music. Later he conducted the orchestra of Josef Lanner and in 1826 performed at the gardens of the “Zwei Tauben” the Täuberl-walzer,…
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James Taylor *III 12 1948 — The Life You Give
James Taylor, born March 12 1948, in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A., is the singer, songwriter, and guitarist who defined the singer-songwriter movement of the 1970s. Bob Dylan brought confessional poetry to folk rock, but Taylor became the epitome of the troubadour whose life was the subject of his songs. Among the experiences that shaped Taylor, who…
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Henry Cowell *III 11 1897 — The Life You Give
Of all the early twentieth century American musical revolutionaries, perhaps composer Henry Cowell wielded the most vivid and far-reaching influence. Born in 1897 to a rural California family, Cowell began to study the violin at age five, though his parents’ hopes of creating a prodigy on the instrument remained unfulfilled when the lessons had to…
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Arthur Honegger *III 10 1892 — The Life You Give
Born in France to Swiss parents, Arthur Honegger was a major twentieth century composer whose musical style was more cosmopolitan than either French or Swiss. An almost exact contemporary of Prokofiev (1891-1953), he rivaled Poulenc as the most successful member of Les Six and was without doubt among the greatest French composers of his day.…
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Ornette Coleman *III 9 1930 — The Life You Give
Ornette Coleman, born Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman, on March 9, 1930, in Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.A., is the jazz saxophonist, composer, and bandleader who was the principal initiator and leading exponent of free jazz in the late 1950s. Coleman began playing alto, then tenor saxophone as a teenager and soon became a working musician in…
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Samuel Barber *III 9 1910 — The Life You Give
Early years Barber was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania, the son of Marguerite McLeod (née Beatty) and Samuel LeRoy Barber. At a very early age, Barber became profoundly interested in music, and it was apparent that he had great musical talent and ability. At the age of nine he wrote to his mother: Dear Mother:…
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Gary Numan *III 8 1958 — The Life You Give
Gary Numan is an influential English singer, composer, and musician. Most widely known for his chart-topping 1979 hits “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?” (when in Tubeway Army) and “Cars”, Numan achieved his peak of mainstream popularity in the late 70s and early 80s but maintains a loyal cult following. Numan, whose signature sound consists of heavy synthesizer…
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