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| To represent Joan Cererols, I used the Basilica of Montserrat, his place of burial. Tagged image here. |
1521 – Josquin des Prez (Franco-Flemish composer)
1680 – Joan Cererols (Spanish composer & Benedictine monk)
1746 – Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer (German composer & keyboardist)
1841 – Ignaz von Seyfried (Austrian conductor & composer, pupil of Mozart, friend of Beethoven)
1846 – Frantiszek Ścigalski (Polish composer, violinist & conductor)
1846 – Gottfried Wilhelm Fink (German theologian, poet, composer, writer & lecturer on music & music editor)
1855 – Francisco Eduardo da Costa (Portuguese pianist & composer)
1865 – Józef Nowakowski (Polish composer, pianist & teacher, friend of Chopin)
1867 – Karol Kątski (Polish violinist & composer)
1868 – Franz Xaver Schnyder von Wartensee (Swiss composer, pianist, conductor & writer on music)
1883 – August Friedrich Pott (German violinist & composer)
1887 – Wilhelm Volkmar (German organist & composer)
1922 – Carl Fuchs (German cellist, composer, teacher & writer on music)
1948 – Oscar Lorenzo Fernández (Brazilian composer, violinist, pianist, cellist & academician)
1948 – Oley Speaks (American songwriter & baritone singer)
1953 – Nicolai Berezowsky (Russian-born American violinist, composer & conductor)
1958 – Nina Garelli (Italian operatic soprano)
1962 – Carlos Lavín (Chilean composer & musicologist)
1964 – Aleksey Zhivotov (Russian composer)
1965 – Otto Reinhold (German composer)
1967 – Brian Epstein (English music entrepreneur & manager of The Beatles)
1976 – Mukesh (Indian Bollywood playback singer)
1979 – Bolesław Szabelski (Polish composer)
1981 – Joan Edwards (American jazz singer & philanthropist)
1990 – Stevie Ray Vaughan (American blues guitarist & singer)
1991 – Vince Taylor (English rock singer & songwriter, The Playboys, "Brand New Cadillac")
1994 – El Polaco [Roberto Goyeneche] (Argentine tango singer)
1994 – Thomas Hayward (American operatic tenor & teacher)
1995 – Marty Paich (American jazz arranger, pianist, composer & conductor)
1997 – Sotiria Bellou (Greek rebetiko singer)
2005 – Giorgos Mouzakis (Greek songwriter, trumpeter & composer of light music)
2006 – Jesse Pintado (Mexican-born American metal guitarist, Napalm Death)
On August 27th we remember one of history's greatest composers, Josquin; the greatest Spanish composer of Josquin's century, Victoria (who may have died on the 20th, not the 27th - I opted for the earlier date to remember him, considering how full-up the 27th is - I mean, just LOOK at that list); Beatles manager Brian Epstein; Bollywood playback singer Mukesh; Texas blues great Stevie Ray Vaughan; jazz arranger Marty Paich; grindcore guitar pioneer Jesse Pintado of Napalm Death; and a whole lot of other tuneful stiffs...
Such as Gottfried Wilhelm Fink. Fink was, among many other things, both a poet and a composer. Thus, many of his compositions are Lieder for which he set his own poems to music. I have no idea if they're any good. But, it is kind of interesting, and something you don't see every day in a 19th-century composer. Of course, much earlier, you had your medieval poet-composers: your troubadours, your trouvères, your Minnesänger. But eventually a division of labor between writing of lyrics and music became pretty standard, at least for professional songwriters.
Now, for folk musicians - itinerant minstrels, jongleurs, country blues singers and the like - it's always been a little different. But even up until the mid-20th century, lyrics and music of published songs were usually written by separate persons. Songwriters who did both, like Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, and (sometimes) Frank Loesser and Hoagy Carmichael were definitely exceptions to the rule. And that's for pop songwriting. In the classical world, such exceptions are still almost unheard-of, which is why Fink is quite remarkable. Rotten about his surname. With a name like Fink you don't get very far in the English-speaking world. Although in German, it merely means "finch," which is quite lovely. Seriously, take a look at these guys and tell me they aren't the most delightful creatures you've ever seen:
Such as Gottfried Wilhelm Fink. Fink was, among many other things, both a poet and a composer. Thus, many of his compositions are Lieder for which he set his own poems to music. I have no idea if they're any good. But, it is kind of interesting, and something you don't see every day in a 19th-century composer. Of course, much earlier, you had your medieval poet-composers: your troubadours, your trouvères, your Minnesänger. But eventually a division of labor between writing of lyrics and music became pretty standard, at least for professional songwriters.
Now, for folk musicians - itinerant minstrels, jongleurs, country blues singers and the like - it's always been a little different. But even up until the mid-20th century, lyrics and music of published songs were usually written by separate persons. Songwriters who did both, like Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, and (sometimes) Frank Loesser and Hoagy Carmichael were definitely exceptions to the rule. And that's for pop songwriting. In the classical world, such exceptions are still almost unheard-of, which is why Fink is quite remarkable. Rotten about his surname. With a name like Fink you don't get very far in the English-speaking world. Although in German, it merely means "finch," which is quite lovely. Seriously, take a look at these guys and tell me they aren't the most delightful creatures you've ever seen:
As you can see, some of them are more colorful than others.
Oscar Lorenzo Fernández was a Brazilian composer of Spanish descent. His nationalistic opera Malazarte (1931–33) is considered the first successful Brazilian opera of this type. Its Portuguese libretto by Graça Aranha was for some reason translated into Italian for its 1941 premiere at the Teatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro. In 1936, Fernández founded the Conservatório Brasiliero de Música in Rio, which he directed until you-know-what happened.
Nicolai Berezowsky recalled in his memoire Duet with Nicky that as a young chorister in the Imperial Capella in St. Petersburg, the choir sometimes sang for the family of Tsar Nicholas and Rasputin. He says the choirboys would tear pages from their hymnals to make spit-balls which they would aim at Rasputin. After settling in New York, Berezowsky attended Juilliard and played in the 1st Violin section of the New York Philharmonic. He was a protégé of Serge Koussevitzky, who premiered his symphonies to great acclaim. In his lifetime, he was apparently a better-known composer than Aaron Copland.
Do you know who wrote the music to "On the Road to Mandalay," with words by Rudyard Kipling, that Frank Sinatra recorded for his 1958 album Come Fly With Me? - Oley Speaks. - That's nice, but what was the name of the composer? - Oley Speaks. - Okay, fine. You don't want to tell me his name. But could you at least tell me what this guy Oley is saying? - He's not saying anything. He's been dead for 63 years....
