Personalities
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Louis Braille *I 4 1809 — The Life You Give
Louis Braille, born January 4, 1809, in Coupvray, near Paris, France, is the educator who developed a system of printing and writing, called Braille, that is extensively used by the blind. Braille was himself blinded at the age of three in an accident that occurred while he was playing with tools in his father’s harness…
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Grace Bumbry *I 4 1937 — The Life You Give
Grace Bumbry is a pioneering Mezzo & Soprano. Few mezzo-sopranos have successfully made the transition to becoming top sopranos. Grace Bumbry managed that. She was also a major figure in helping black singers find their rightful place on the opera stage in an era where segregation ran rampant. Born on Jan. 4, 1937, the mezzo…
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J. R. R. Tolkien *I 3 1892 — The Life You Give
J. R. R. Tolkien, born John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, January 3, 1892, in Bloemfontein, South Africa, is the writer and scholar who achieved fame with his children’s book The Hobbit (1937) and his richly inventive epic fantasy The Lord of the Rings (1954–55). At age four Tolkien, with his mother and younger brother, settled near…
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Enrique Jorrín *XII 25 1926 — The Life You Give
Enrique Jorrín, born in Candelaria, Pinar del Rio, Cuba, on December 25, 1926, is the composer, violinist and band director, famous as the inventor of a style of Cuban dance music called cha-cha-chá. At an early age, his family moved to the El Cerro neighborhood of Havana, where Jorrín was to live for the rest…
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Giacomo Puccini *XII 22 1858 — The Life You Give
Giacomo Puccini, born Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini, December 22, 1858, in Lucca, Tuscany [Italy], is the composer, and one of the greatest exponents of operatic realism, who virtually brought the history of Italian opera to an end. His mature operas included La Bohème (1896), Tosca (1900), Madama Butterfly (1904), and Turandot (left…
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The Life You Give: Edgard Varèse *1883
Edgard Varèse, born Edgar Varèse on Dec. 22, 1883, in Paris, France, was a composer and innovator in 20th-century techniques of sound production. Varèse spent his boyhood in Paris, Burgundy, and Turin, Italy. After composing without formal instruction as a youth, he later studied under Vincent d’Indy, Albert Roussel, and Charles Widor and was strongly…
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Paco de Lucía *XII 21 1947 — The Life You Give
The role of the flamenco guitar evolved considerably through the playing of Paco de Lucia (born Francisco Sanchez Gomez). The son of flamenco guitarist Antonio Sanchez and the brother of a flamenco guitarist, Ramón de Algeciras, and flamenco singer, Pepe de Lucia, Paco de Lucia extended the former accompaniment-only tradition of flamenco guitar to include…
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Édith Piaf *XII 19 1915 — The Life You Give
Edith Piaf, born Edith Giovanna Gassion, on December 19, 1915, in Paris, France, is the singer and actress whose interpretation of the chanson, or French ballad, made her internationally famous. Among her trademark songs were “Non, je ne regrette rien” (“No, I Don’t Regret Anything”) and “La Vie en rose” (literally “Life in Pink”. The…
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The Life You Give: Ludwig van Beethoven *1770
Ludwig van Beethoven, born on December 17, 1770, in Bonn, Germany, was a composer, and the predominant musical figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras. Widely regarded as the greatest composer who ever lived, Ludwig van Beethoven dominates a period of musical history as no one else before or since. Rooted…
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Frank Sinatra *XII 12 1915 — The Life You Give
Frank Sinatra, born December 12, 1915, in Hoboken, New Jersey, was a singer, and motion-picture actor who, through a long career and a very public personal life, became one of the most sought-after performers in the entertainment industry; he is often hailed as the greatest American singer of 20th-century popular music. The Aristipposian Poetcelebrates the…
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Hector Berlioz *XII 11 1803 — The Life You Give
Hector Berlioz, born December 11, 1803, in La Côte-Saint-André, France, was a composer, critic, and conductor of the Romantic period, known largely for his Symphonie fantastique (1830), the choral symphony Roméo et Juliette (1839), and the dramatic piece La Damnation de Faust (1846). His last years were marked by fame abroad and hostility at home.…
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Big Mama Thornton *XII 11 1926 — The Life You Give
Big Mama Thornton, born Willie Mae Thornton, Dec. 11, 1926, in Montgomery, Alabama, U.S.A., is the singer and songwriter who performed in the tradition of classic blues singers such as Bessie Smith and Memphis Minnie. Her work inspired imitation by Elvis Presley and Janis Joplin, who recorded popular cover versions of Thornton’s “Hound Dog” and…
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Olivier Messiaen *XII 10 1908 — The Life You Give
Olivier Messiaen, born Olivier-Eugène-Prosper-Charles Messiaen, Dec. 10, 1908, Avignon, France, is the influential composer, organist, and teacher noted for his use of mystical and religious themes. As a composer he developed a highly personal style noted for its rhythmic complexity, rich tonal colour, and unique harmonic language. Messiaen was the son of Pierre Messiaen, who…
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César Franck *XII 10 1822 — The Life You Give
César Franck, born César-auguste Franck, Dec. 10, 1822, Liège, Neth.—died Nov. 8, 1890, Paris, France), Belgian-French Romantic composer and organist who was the chief figure in a movement to give French music an emotional engagement, technical solidity, and seriousness comparable to that of German composers. Franck was born of a Walloon father and a mother…
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Ray Schulman *XII 8 1949 — The Life You Give
Ray Shulman, born Raymond 8 December 1949) is the multi-instrumentalist, and the youngest of three brothers in progressive rock band Gentle Giant. Formed at the dawn of the progressive rock era, Gentle Giant seemed poised for a time in the mid-’70s to break out of their cult-band status, but they somehow never made the jump.…
