Music
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The Life You Give: Sergey Rachmaninoff *1873
Sergey Rachmaninoff, born Sergey Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff, on March 20 [April 1, New Style], 1873, in Oneg, near Semyonovo, Russia, is the composer who was the last great figure of the tradition of Russian Romanticism and a leading piano virtuoso of his time. He is especially known for his piano concerti and the piece for piano…
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Johann Sebastian Bach *III 21 1685 — The Life You Give
Johann Sebastian Bach, born March 21 [March 31, New Style], 1685, in Eisenach, Thuringia, Ernestine Saxon Duchies [Germany], was a composer of the Baroque era, the most celebrated member of a large family of north German musicians. Although he was admired by his contemporaries primarily as an outstanding harpsichordist, organist, and expert on organ building,…
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The Life You Give: Nat King Cole *1919
Nat King Cole, born Nathaniel Adams Cole, on March 17 1919, in Montgomery, Alabama, U.S.A., is the musician hailed as one of the best and most influential pianists and small-group leaders of the swing era. Cole attained his greatest commercial success, however, as a vocalist specializing in warm ballads and light swing. Cole grew up…
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Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre *III 17 1665 — The Life You Give
Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre, also known as Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre or Elisabeth Jacquet, Elisabeth also spelled Élisabeth, (baptized March 17, 1665) in Paris, France, is the composer, harpsichordist, and organist, who was the first woman to compose an opera in France. Elisabeth Jacquet was born into a family of artisans that included…
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Johann Strauss *III 14 1804 — The Life You Give
Johann Strauss I, born March 14, 1804, Vienna, is one of the principal composers of Viennese waltzes. Strauss became a viola player in the dance orchestra of Michael Pamer, a composer of light music. Later he conducted the orchestra of Josef Lanner and in 1826 performed at the gardens of the “Zwei Tauben” the Täuberl-walzer,…
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James Taylor *III 12 1948 — The Life You Give
James Taylor, born March 12 1948, in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A., is the singer, songwriter, and guitarist who defined the singer-songwriter movement of the 1970s. Bob Dylan brought confessional poetry to folk rock, but Taylor became the epitome of the troubadour whose life was the subject of his songs. Among the experiences that shaped Taylor, who…
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Ornette Coleman *III 9 1930 — The Life You Give
Ornette Coleman, born Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman, on March 9, 1930, in Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.A., is the jazz saxophonist, composer, and bandleader who was the principal initiator and leading exponent of free jazz in the late 1950s. Coleman began playing alto, then tenor saxophone as a teenager and soon became a working musician in…
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Samuel Barber *III 9 1910 — The Life You Give
Early years Barber was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania, the son of Marguerite McLeod (née Beatty) and Samuel LeRoy Barber. At a very early age, Barber became profoundly interested in music, and it was apparent that he had great musical talent and ability. At the age of nine he wrote to his mother: Dear Mother:…
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Bedřich Smetana *III 2 1824 — The Life You Give
Bedřich Smetana, born March 2, 1824, in Leitomischl, Bohemia, Austrian Empire [now Litomyšl, Czech Republic], was composer of operas and symphonic poems, and founder of the Czech national school of music. He was the first truly important Bohemian nationalist composer. Smetana studied music under his father, an amateur violinist. He early took up piano under…
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Frédéric Chopin *III 1 1810 — The Life You Give
Frédéric Chopin, Fryderyk Franciszek Szopen, on March 1, 1810, in Żelazowa Wola, near Warsaw, Duchy of Warsaw [now in Poland], was the composer and pianist of the Romantic period, best known for his solo pieces for piano and his piano concerti. Although he wrote little but piano works, many of them brief, Chopin ranks as…
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Gioachino Rossini *February 29 1792 — The Life You Give
Gioachino Rossini, born Gioachino Antonio Rossini, on February 29 1792, in Pesaro, Papal States [Italy], is the composer noted for his operas, particularly his comic operas, of which The Barber of Seville (1816), Cinderella (1817), and Semiramide (1823) are among the best known. Of his later, larger-scale dramatic operas, the most widely heard is William…
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George Harrison *II 25 1943
George Harrison, born February 25, 1943, in Liverpool, England, is the musician, singer, and songwriter who gained fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles, one of the most important and influential bands in the history of rock music. Harrison was the youngest of the “Fab Four” and was known as “the quiet Beatle.” He…
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Georg Friedrich Händel *II 23 1685 — The Life You Give
George Frideric Handel, German (until 1715) Georg Friedrich Händel, Händel also spelled Haendel, (born February 23, 1685, Halle, Brandenburg [Germany]—died April 14, 1759, London, England), German-born English composer of the late Baroque era, noted particularly for his operas, oratorios, and instrumental compositions. He wrote the most famous of all oratorios, Messiah (1741), and is also…
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The Life You Give: Andrés Segovia *1893
Andrés Segovia, born February 21 1893, in Linares, Spain, is the musician acclaimed as the foremost guitarist of his time. He was the most important force in reestablishing the guitar as a concert instrument in the 20th century, chiefly through demonstrating its expressive and technical potential. He continued giving concert performances past the age of…
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Peter Gabriel *II 13 1950 — The Life You Give
There is a complex, dotted, and cloudy line that divides or unites an individual in two. I am referring to what seems to be two sources and periods in the life of Peter Gabriel, as I see, hear, and think about his music. One Gabriel is the period during his work as front man to…
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