celebration
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Sting *X 2 1951 / The Life You Give
Sting, born Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, October 2, 1951, in Wallsend, Northumberland, England), is the singer and songwriter known both for being the front man of the band the Police and for his successful solo career that followed. His musical style was distinguished by its intermingling of pop, jazz, world music, and other genres. Early…
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Pedro Almodóvar *IX 25 1949 — The Life You Give / La Vida Que Das
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…
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Anton Bruckner *IX 4 1824 / The Life You Give
Anton Bruckner, born Josef Anton Bruckner, Sept. 4, 1824, in Ansfelden, Austria, is the composer of a number of highly original and monumental symphonies. He was also an organist and teacher who composed much sacred and secular choral music. Bruckner was the son of a village schoolmaster and organist in Upper Austria. He showed talent…
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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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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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Bake your blueberry basil cornbread, and eat it, too!
That is what one may do when listening to the piano marathon by Kaikhosru Sorabji, “Sequentia cyclica super Dies Iræ ex missa pro defunctis”. We are listening to it right now — just entered the third hour — on Clubhouse.
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Kaikhosru Sorabji: Sequentia Cyclica super Dies Iræ Missa pro defunctis
This week we celebrate the achievements of Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji, born on the 14th of August of 1892. He is one of the most enigmatic and controversial 20th century composers. Largely self-taught he chose his own way, never fitting into any school or movement. His style is highly idiosyncratic, inspired by late-romantics like Busoni and…
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Kaikhosru Sorabji: Toccata Seconda per Pianoforte & Songs for Soprano
Toccata Seconda per Pianoforte KSS57 Written for: PianoDate composed: 1933–34Dedicatee: Norman PeterkinApproximate duration (minutes): 150 (2h25)Manuscript pages: 111Manuscript location: Mills Memorial Library, McMaster University Structure/Movements:I Preludio-ToccataII Preludio-CoraleIII ScherzoIV AriaV Ostinato (theme with 49 variations)VI NotturnoVII InterludioVIII CadenzaIX Fuga libera a cinque voci Toccata Seconda per Pianoforte KSS57 Sorabji wrote four piano works entitled toccatas –…
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James Baldwin *VIII 2 1924 / The Life You Give
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…
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Geddy Lee *VII 29 1953 / The Life You Give
Few hard rock bassists have been as influential as Rush’s Geddy Lee. Born Gary Weinrib on July 29, 1953, in Toronto, his parents migrated from Europe to Canada and got his nickname “Geddy” from when his mother would try to pronounce “Gary” in her accent. Taking up bass as a teenager and influenced by the…
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We all scream for Ice Cream in July — History and Celebration
In 1984, July was proclaimed National Ice Cream Month, and a resolution was introduced, subsequently signing it as bill into law. Join us in celebrating this comfort wonder. La Vida en Blanco y Negrocelebrael mes del helado24 de Julio, 3 pm ESTen Clubhouse continue abajo para el texto en español The Evolution of Ice Cream…
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Evelyn Glennie *VII 19 1965 / The Life You Give
Evelyn Glennie is the world’s foremost, and first full-time, solo percussionist. She has been pivotal to the expansion of percussion as solo instruments, personally having commissioned over 200 new works. The recipient of enormous media attention due to her deafness, Glennie is likewise noteworthy for the variety of her repertoire and recording projects. Glennie was…
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Nelson Mandela *VII 18 1918 / The Life You Give
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born in Transkei, South Africa on July 18, 1918. His father was Hendry Mphakanyiswa of the Tembu Tribe. Mandela himself was educated at University College of Fort Hare and the University of Witwatersrand where he studied law. He joined the African National Congress in 1944 and was engaged in resistance against…
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“Scenes from a Marriage” — Days with Ingmar Bergman *VII 14 1918 / The Life You Give
Scenes from a MarriageTelevision miniseries about the breakdown of a marriage that sent Sweden’s divorce rate soaring. “It took two and a half months to write these scenes; it took a whole adult life to live.”Ingmar Bergman On 27 March 1972 Ingmar Bergman wrote in his workbook: ‘Here’s something we can do for the fun…
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The Life You Give: Gustav Mahler *VII 7 1860
Gustav Mahler, born July 7, 1860, in Kaliště, Bohemia, Austrian Empire, is the composer and conductor, noted for his 10 symphonies and various songs with orchestra, which drew together many different strands of Romanticism. Although his music was largely ignored for 50 years after his death, Mahler was later regarded as an important forerunner of…
Sila Blume 