From the category archives:

Musical Birthdays

King Henry VIII: Better Musician Than Husband

May 10, 2010

King Henry VIII, famous for his marriages on the rocks (and the blocks), is lesser known for his talent as a musician and composer. Tall, handsome, and charming in his youth, he played several musical instruments, and was a skilled singer and dancer. Some of his musical compositions are still performed today.

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Spike Jones – Dec. 14

December 14, 2009
Spike Jones

This bandleader and musical parodist used “found sounds” from hiccups to gunshots in his musical spoofs, paving the way for STOMP, Blast, P.D.Q. Bach, Frank Zappa, Monty Python, & others. He (and Donald Duck) even spoofed Hitler, who probably wasn’t amused.

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Oliver Messiaen – Dec. 10

December 12, 2009
Bird Song

“I give bird-songs to those who dwell in cities and have never heard them. . .and paint colors for those who see none.” —Messiaen. He used birdsongs and colors as no musician ever had before, bringing beauty and hope even to fellow prisoners in a German POW camp.

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Joshua Bell – Dec. 9

December 9, 2009
Joshua Bell

Will the busy world stop and listen to a subway violinist at rush hour, even if he is Joshua Bell? If only we had the ears and heart of a 3-yr.-old. . .

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Domenico Scarlatti – Oct. 26

October 26, 2009
Domenico Scarlatti

This Italian Baroque composer spent most of his life in the royal courts of Portugal and Spain. You can hear the traces of the Spanish guitar in his keyboard sonatas.

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Georges Bizet – Oct. 25

October 25, 2009
Thumbnail image for Georges Bizet – Oct. 25

Bizet’s Carmen was a box-office bomb, and he never lived to see it become one of the world’s most beloved operas.

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Franz Liszt – Oct. 22

October 22, 2009
Franz Liszt

“Rock star” pianist and composer Liszt wooed the women and wowed his audiences. He also revived interest in under-appreciated music of Bach, Beethoven, & other greats.

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Charles Ives – Oct. 20

October 20, 2009
Charles Ives

His day job was selling insurance, but in his “free time” composer Charles Ives stitched together a patchwork of 19th-century America that stretched the bounds of 20th-century music.

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Thelonious Monk – Oct. 10

October 10, 2009
Thelonious Monk

Jazz legend Thelonious Monk’s legacy continues, thanks to his family bringing jazz education to young students, and even to the White House.

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Camille Saint-Säens – Oct. 9

October 9, 2009
Carnival of the Animals

He refused to allow his Carnival of the Animals to be played in public or published during his lifetime. Ironically, this is the work for which he is most remembered.

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Paul Dukas – Oct. 1

October 1, 2009
The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Thanks to Mickey Mouse, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice became one of the most famous works of all times. (Too bad Dukas never lived to see Fantasia.)

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Ray Charles – Sept. 23

September 23, 2009
Ray Charles

Ray Charles overcame blindness and poverty to become a legend in American music. His gritty mix of gospel, rhythm and blues, and jazz speaks to kids as well as adults.

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Georg Böhm – Sept. 2

September 2, 2009
Organ

German composers and organists Georg Bohm and J. S. Bach had much in common, and Bach praised his music. Both had to “sing for their supper” as musicians dependent on the church and their patrons.

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Engelbert Humperdinck – Sept. 1

September 1, 2009
Hansel and Gretel

His German opera Hansel and Gretel was the first complete opera ever broadcast on radio (1923), and is still a favorite with kids everywhere.

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Morton Subotnik – April 14

April 14, 2009
Morton Subotnik

This innovative American composer of electronic and eclectroacoustic music is also a trailblazer in music education software for students.

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Herbie Hancock – April 12

April 12, 2009
Herbie Hancock

This classically trained jazz icon studied music and electrical engineering. Music won out, and after a 5-decade career, Herbie still electrifies his audiences.

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Alberto Ginastera – April 11

April 11, 2009
Alberto Ginastera

One of Latin America’s most original and important composers, creating over 50 works. After he completed his study in Buenos Aires, he spent time in the United States where he studied with Aaron Copland.

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Eugene d’Albert – April 10

April 10, 2009
Eugene D'Albert

Known for his amazing pianistic technique and colorful lifestyle, d’Albert also found time to be a prolific composer, change his nationality 3 times and marry 6 times.

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Paul Robeson – April 9

April 9, 2009
Paul Robeson

The son of a runaway slave, Robeson grew to become an All-American athlete, lawyer, scholar and writer who spoke several languages, stage and film actor, and one of the most renowned baritones of the century.

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Giuseppe Tartini – April 8

April 8, 2009
Giuseppe Tartini

This famous Italian violinist and composer– the first known owner of an original Stradivarius violin– is best known for his devilishly demanding Devil’s Trill Sonata, inspired by a dream of the devil playing violin at the foot of his bed.

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Billie Holiday – April 7

April 7, 2009
Billie Holiday

Breaking the race barrier as one of the first African Americans to sing with an all-white band, jazz legend Billie Holiday earned international fame before her life was cut tragically short at age 44.

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Marvin Gaye – April 2

April 2, 2009
Marvin Gaye

This American singer and songwriter (with a 3-octave range) was Motown Records’ top-selling solo artist during the 1960’s. Gaye was named #6 by Rolling Stone Magazine on its list of Greatest Singers of All Time.

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Sergei Rachmaninoff – April 1

April 1, 2009
Sergei Rachmaninoff

This Russian composer and pianist, exiled from his homeland, died a few days after gaining U.S. citizenship. He was one of the earliest recording stars with Victor Talking Machine…

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Franz Joseph Haydn – March 31

March 31, 2009
Franz Joseph Haydn

He was the “father of the symphony,” taught young Beethoven, and epitomized the Classic Era.

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