Happy Birthday
-
Jessye Norman *IX 15 1945 — The Life You Give
Jessye Norman, born Jessye Mae Norman on September 15, 1945, in Augusta, Georgia, U.S.A., is the operatic soprano, one of the finest of her day, who also enjoyed a successful concert career. Norman was reared in a musical family. Both her mother and grandmother were pianists and her father sang in church, as did the…
-
Arnold Schönberg *IX 13 1874 — The Life You Give
Arnold Schoenberg, born Arnold Franz Walter Schönberg, September 13, 1874 in Vienna, Austria, is the composer who created new methods of musical composition involving atonality, namely serialism and the 12-tone row. He was also one of the most-influential teachers of the 20th century; among his most-significant pupils were Alban Berg and Anton Webern. Schoenberg’s father,…
-
Caspar David Friedrich *IX 5 1774 / The Life You Give
Caspar David Friedrich, born September 5, 1774, in Greifswald, Pomerania [now in Germany], is one of the leading figures of the German Romantic movement. His vast, mysterious, atmospheric landscapes and seascapes proclaimed human helplessness against the forces of nature and did much to establish the idea of the Sublime as a central concern of Romanticism.…
-
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…
-
Leonard Bernstein *VIII 25 1918 / The Life You Give
Leonard Bernstein, born August 25, 1918, in Lawrence, Massachusetts, is the conductor, composer, and pianist noted for his accomplishments in both classical and popular music, for his flamboyant conducting style, and for his pedagogic flair, especially in concerts for young people. Bernstein played piano from age 10. He attended Boston Latin School; Harvard University (A.B.,…
-
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…
-
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…
-
Kaikhosru Sorabji: Organ Symphony No 1
Organ Symphony No. 1, KSS 39 Piece detailsWritten for: OrganDate composed: 1924Dedicatee: Emily Edroff-SmithApproximate duration (minutes): 120Manuscript pages: 81Manuscript location: Library of Congress Structure: IPrelude. ModéréPassacaglia (theme with 81 variations)PostludeIIIntroduction. LentoAndante (quasi fugue)CodaIIIModeratoCadenza de’ pedali. Con bravuraModeratoCadenza-ToccataCoda-Stretto
-
Kaikhosru Sorabji: Gulistān & Opus Clavicembalisticum MCMXXX
Gulistān, KSS 63 Piece detailsWritten for: PianoDate composed: 1940Dedicatee: Harold MorlandApproximate duration (minutes): 35Manuscript pages: 28Manuscript location: Paul Sacher Foundation, Basel Sorabji wrote a number of nocturnes, from the earliest stages in his development until his final years. These include some of his better-known works such as Le jardin parfumé and Djâmi. Several works —…
-
The Life You Give: Ian Anderson *VIII 10 1947
Born Ian Scott Anderson, August 10 1947 in Dunfermline, Scotland, Anderson was interested in music from a young age, gaining influence from his father James’ record collection of big band and jazz, as well as early rock & roll by Elvis Presley. The Anderson family later relocated to Blackpool where Ian finished his studies. In…
-
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.
-
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…
-
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 –…
-
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…
-
Das Leben, das Du Gibst / The Life You Give: Ernst Jandl *VIII 1 1932
A biography in English is at the bottom Der österreichische Schriftsteller zählt zu den renommiertesten Repräsentanten der experimentellen Lyrik. Er hat sich vor allen Dingen einen Namen durch seine witzigen Sprachexperimente gemacht. Diesbezüglich ist seine Lyrik zu nennen, die durch die ausgesuchte Klangqualität an die dadaistische Strömung erinnern. Kennzeichnend für sein Schaffen waren die Experimente…
Sila Blume 