celebration
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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…
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The Life You Give: Aleksandr Pushkin *1799
Aleksandr Pushkin, born Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, May 26 [June 6, New Style], 1799, Moscow, Russia, is the poet, novelist, dramatist, and short-story writer, often considered his country’s greatest poet and the founder of modern Russian literature. Pushkin’s father came of an old boyar family; his mother was a granddaughter of Abram Hannibal, who, according to…
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Federico García Lorca *V 5 1898 — La Vida Que Das / The Life You Give
See English text below Federico García Lorca (Fuentevaqueros, 5 de junio de 1898 – camino Víznar a Alfacar, 1936). Poeta y dramaturgo español, adscrito a la generación del 27. Desde pequeño entra en contacto con las artes a través de la música y el dibujo. En 1915 comienza a estudiar Filosofía y Letras, así como…
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Martha Argerich *VI 5 1941 — La Vida Que Das / The Life You Give
Martha Argerich, (born June 5, 1941, Buenos Aires, Argentina), Argentine pianist known for her recordings and performances of chamber music, particularly of works by Olivier Messiaen, Sergey Prokofiev, and Sergey Rachmaninoff. A prodigy, Argerich was performing professionally by age eight. In 1955 she went to Europe, where her teachers included Friedrich Gulda and Arturo Benedetti…
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The Life You Give: Dagmar Krause *1950
It seems odd to consider the work of Dagmar Krause as specifically rock, mainly due to her superb talent singing non-rock popular music. It is because of her association with German progressive rockers Slapp Happy, and British avant-garde prog rockers Henry Cow and the Art Bears that Krause becomes a suitable subject for inclusion in…
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The Life You Give: Josephine Baker *1906
Josephine Baker, born Freda Josephine McDonald, June 3, 1906, in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A., is the dancer and singer who symbolized the beauty and vitality of Black American culture, which took Paris by storm in the 1920s. Baker grew up fatherless and in poverty. Between the ages of 8 and 10 she was out of…
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The Life You Give: Edward Elgar *1857
Sir Edward Elgar, born Edward William Elgar, June 2, 1857, in Broadheath, Worcestershire, England, is the composer whose works in the orchestral idiom of late 19th-century Romanticism—characterized by bold tunes, striking colour effects, and mastery of large forms—stimulated a renaissance of English music. The son of an organist and music dealer, Elgar left school at…
Sila Blume 