Music
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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”. Piaf’s…
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Ludwig van Beethoven *XII 17 1770 — The Life You Give
Ludwig van Beethoven, born on December 17, 1770, in Bonn, Germany, is the composer, and 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 in…
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Hector Berlioz *XII 11 1803 — The Life You Give
Hector Berlioz, born Louis-Hector Berlioz on December 11, 1803, in La Côte-Saint-André, France, is the 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…
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Olivier Messiaen *XII 10 1908 — The Life You Give
Olivier Messiaen, born Olivier-Eugène-Prosper-Charles Messiaen, December 10, 1908, in 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,…
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Ozzy Osborne *XII 3 1948 — The Life You Give
Ozzy Osbourne, born John Michael Osbourne, December 3, 1948, in Birmingham, England, is the musician who gained a loyal following as the vocalist for the heavy metal group Black Sabbath before embarking on a successful solo career. Raised in a working-class family, Osbourne dropped out of school at age 15 and held several low-paying jobs.…
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María Callas *XII 2 1923 — The Life You Give
Maria Callas, born Maria Cecilia Sophia Anna Kalogeropoulos, on December 2, 1923, in New York, New York, U.S.A., is the operatic soprano who revived classical coloratura roles in the mid-20th century with her lyrical and dramatic versatility. Callas was the daughter of Greek immigrants and early developed an interest in singing. Accompanied by her mother,…
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Gaetano Donizetti *XI 29 1797 — The Life You Give
Gaetano Donizetti, born on Nov. 29, 1797, in Bergamo, Cisalpine Republic, was an Italian opera composer whose numerous operas in both Italian and French represent a transitional stage in operatic development between Rossini and Verdi. Among his major works are Lucia di Lammermoor (1835), La fille du régiment (1840), and La favorite (1840). In his…
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Helmut Lachenmann *XI 27 1935 — The Life You Give
“Expression is created on the reverse face of that on which the composer is working…destruction, deflation, and disintegration. But during this process expressive energy radiates out in the first instance like a creative serenity — freedom even.” Helmut Lachenmann To scratch the grain of one’s own voice, to perpetually resist and violate the habitual, to…
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Jimi Hendrix *Nov 27 1942 — The Life You Give
Though his active career as a featured artist lasted a mere four years, Hendrix altered the course of popular music and became one of the most successful and influential musicians of his era. An instrumentalist who radically redefined the expressive potential and sonic palette of the electric guitar, he was the composer of a classic…
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Alfred Schnittke *XI 24 1934 — The Life you Give
Alfred Schnittke, born Nov. 24, 1934, Engels, Volga German Autonomous S.S.R. [now in Saratov oblast, Russia], is the postmodernist Russian composer who created serious, dark-toned musical works characterized by abrupt juxtapositions of radically different, often contradictory, styles, an approach that came to be known as “polystylism.” Schnittke’s father was a Jewish journalist who had been…
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Alfredo Kraus *XI 24 1927 — The Life You Give
One of the most stylistic, professional and refined tenors of the century, Spanish tenor Alfredo Kraus, had a long and outstanding career in the world of opera. The Kraus personality gravitated between two poles. On one side the tenor of Mozart and on the other side the lyrical tenor of Donizetti, Verdi but above all…
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Krzysztof Penderecki *XI 23 1933 — The Life You Give
Krzysztof Penderecki, born November 23, 1933, in Debica, Poland, is an outstanding composer of his generation whose novel and masterful treatment of orchestration won worldwide acclaim. Penderecki studied composition at the Superior School of Music in Kraków (graduated 1958) and subsequently became a professor there. He first drew attention in 1959 at the third Warsaw…
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Manuel de Falla *XI 23 1876 — La Vida Que Das / The Life You Give
See English biography at the bottom Manuel de Falla Matheu, nacido en Cádiz, el 23 de Noviembre del 1876, es el compositor y la figura musical más trascendente de todo el siglo xx español, tanto por la importancia de sus obras como por las secuelas que su trabajo ha creado en generaciones posteriores. Es el…
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Benjamin Britten *XI 22 1913 — The Life You Give
Benjamin Britten, born Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten Of Aldeburgh, November 22, 1913, in Lowestoft, Suffolk, England, is the composer of the mid-20th century, whose operas were considered the finest English operas since those of Henry Purcell in the 17th century. He was also an outstanding pianist and conductor. Britten composed as a child and…
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Björk *XI 21 1965 — The Life You Give
Björk, born Björk Gudmundsdottir, November 21, 1965, in Reykjavík, Iceland, is the singer-songwriter and actress best known for her solo work covering a wide variety of music styles. Integrating electronic and organic sounds, her music frequently explored the relationship between nature and technology. Björk recorded her first solo album, a collection of cover versions of…
Sila Blume 