Happy Birthday
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Keith Jarrett *V 8 1945 / The Life You Give
Keith Jarrett, born May 8, 1945, in Allentown, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., is a jazz pianist, composer, and saxophonist considered to be one of the most original and prolific jazz musicians to emerge during the late 20th century. He was also a noted classical pianist. A child prodigy, Jarrett began studying the piano at age three and…
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Pyotr Tchaikovsky *V 7 1840 / The Life You Give
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, also spelled Chaikovsky, Chaikovskii, or Tschaikowsky, born April 25 [May 7, New Style], 1840, in Votkinsk, Russia, is the most popular Russian composer of all time. His music has always had great appeal for the general public in virtue of its tuneful, open-hearted melodies, impressive harmonies, and colourful, picturesque orchestration, all of…
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Johannes Brahms *V 7 1833 / The Life You Give
Johannes Brahms, born May 7, 1833, in Hamburg, Germany, is a composer and pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote symphonies, concerti, chamber music, piano works, choral compositions, and more than 200 songs. Brahms was the great master of symphonic and sonata style in the second half of the 19th century. He can be viewed…
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Orson Welles *V 6 1915 — The Life You Give
Orson Welles, born George Orson Welles, May 6, 1915, Kenosha, Wisconsin, U.S.A., is the motion-picture actor, director, producer, and write who’s innovative narrative techniques and use of photography, dramatic lighting, and music to further the dramatic line and to create mood made his Citizen Kane (1941)—which he wrote, directed, produced, and acted in—one of the…
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Søren Kierkegaard *V 5 1813 — The Life You Give
Søren Kierkegaard, born Søren Aabye Kierkegaard, on May 5, 1813, in Copenhagen, Denmark, is the philosopher, theologian, and cultural critic who was a major influence on existentialism and Protestant theology in the 20th century. He attacked the literary, philosophical, and ecclesiastical establishments of his day for misrepresenting the highest task of human existence—namely, becoming oneself…
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Ron Carter *V 4 1937 — The Life You Give
Ron Carter, born Ronald Levin Carter, on May 4, 1937 in Ferndale, Michigan, USA, is known for Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992), House of Gucci (2021) and What Happens in Vegas (2008). He was previously married to Janet Hasbrouch. The epitome of class and elegance without the stuffiness, Ron Carter has been a…
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James Brown *V 3 1933 / The Life You Give
James Brown, born May 3, 1933, in Barnwell, South Carolina, U.S.A., is the singer, songwriter, arranger, and dancer, who was one of the most important and influential entertainers in 20th-century popular music and whose remarkable achievements earned him the sobriquet “the Hardest-Working Man in Show Business.” James Brown and Luciano Pavarotti Brown was raised mainly…
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Alessandro Scarlatti *V 2 1660 — The Life You Give
Alessandro Scarlatti, born Pietro Alessandro Gaspare Scarlatti, on May 2, 1660, in Palermo, Sicily, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies [now in Italy] is the composer known for operas and religious works. Scarlatti was sent to Rome at about the age of 12; there he met Bernardo Pasquini, by whom he was greatly influenced. The first…
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Valery Gergiev *V 2 1953 — The Life You Give
Valery Gergiev, born May 2, 1953, Moscow, Russia, U.S.S.R., is a conductor, known for his charismatic stage presence and passionate performances, who became artistic and general director of the Mariinsky Theatre (previously called Kirov Theatre) in St. Petersburg in 1996. Gergiev was the son of Ossetian parents and spent much of his youth in the…
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Lars von Trier *IV 30 1956 — The Life You Give
Lars von Trier, born April 30, 1956, in Copenhagen, Denmark, is the film director and cofounder of the Dogme 95 movement, whose films were known for their bleak worldview and controversial subject matter. Von Trier attended the National Film School of Denmark, graduating in 1983. He was born Lars Trier, but while in school he…
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Duke Ellington *IV 29 1899 — The Life You Give
Duke Ellington, born Edward Kennedy Ellington, April 29, 1899, in Washington, D.C., U.S.A., is the pianist who was the greatest jazz composer and bandleader of his time. One of the originators of big-band jazz, Ellington led his band for more than half a century, composed thousands of scores, and created one of the most distinctive…
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William Shakespeare *IV 26 1564 — The Life You Give
William Shakespeare, baptized April 26, 1564, born in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England, is the poet, dramatist, and actor often called the English national poet. He is considered by many to be the greatest dramatist of all time. Shakespeare occupies a position unique in world literature. Other poets, such as Homer and Dante, and novelists, such as…
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Ludwig Wittgenstein *IV 26 1889 — The Life You Give
Ludwig Wittgenstein, born Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein, on April 26, 1889, in Vienna, Austria-Hungary [now in Austria], is the philosopher, regarded by many as the greatest philosopher of the 20th century. Wittgenstein’s two major works, Logisch-philosophische Abhandlung (1921; Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, 1922) and Philosophische Untersuchungen (published posthumously in 1953; Philosophical Investigations), have inspired a vast secondary…
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Ella Fitzgerald *IV 25 1917 — The Life You Give
Ella Fitzgerald, born Ella Jane Fitzgerald, on April 25 1917 in Newport News, Virginia, U.S.A., is the jazz singer who became world famous for the wide range and rare sweetness of her voice. She became an international legend during a career that spanned some six decades. As a child, Fitzgerald wanted to be a dancer,…
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Barbra Streisand *IV 24 1942 — The Life You Give
Barbra Streisand, born Barbara Joan Streisand, April 24, 1942, in Brooklyn, New York, is the singer, composer, actress, director, and producer who was considered by many to be the greatest popular singer of her generation. The first major female star to command roles as a Jewish actress, Streisand redefined female stardom in the 1960s and…
Sila Blume 