The Musical Birthday Series - March 6 - Oscar Straus

Today we honor Viennese composer Oscar Straus ( (6 March 1870 – 11 January 1954)

The Chocolate Soldier by Oscar Straus

Was once the global rage

But now it’s rare for an opera house

To mount it on the stage

Confectionary bullets are

No longer cause for smiles;

The operetta repertoire

No longer fills the aisles.

Envoi

And thus, alas, it goes with fame.

Sic transit, as they say:

A solid hit’s as fragile as

A chocolate soufflé.

The Musical Birthday Series - March 5 - Heitor Villa Lobos

Today we honor Brazilian composer Heitor Villa Lobos (March 5, 1887 – November 17, 1959)

The band at the Rio Hotel

Had a highly diverse clientele.

“Bachianas Brasilieras”

Was played on the terrace

Along with “The Best of Adele.”

The Musical Birthday Series - March 4 - Antonio Vivaldi

Today we celebrate the birthday of the very well-known Antonio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741).

One Concerto Five Hundred Times

Vivaldi gets started and then he

Hits auto repeat so that when he

Writes his concerti

It’s qwerty qwert qwerty...

Which explains how he’s written in so many.

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Variety is...

If you want a concerto for flute,

Or oboe, or bongos, or lute,

Or banjo, or bugle,

Or horn (French or flugel) —

Vivaldi’s the man who could do’t.

...the Spice of Life

There are several concertos for brass

And some for the strings played en masse.

They’re even a few

For didgeridoo,

And one for the viola... (alas).

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Big Red

When Tony “the Red Priest” Vivaldi

Was afraid we would think he was bald, he

Donned a red wig

That was terribly big

Before he went shopping at Aldi.

The Musical Birthday Series - March 3 - Alfred Bruneau

There are days when no household names were born, still, Alfred Bruneau (3 March 1857 – 15 June 1934) opera composer and collaborator with Zola, deserves a mention.

Run of the Mill

The oeuvre of Alfred Bruneau

Is largely forgotten, although

I’m told by a fan

That L’attaque du moulin

Is a work we should all get to know.

The Musical Birthday Series - March 2 - Kurt Weill, and Marc Blitzstein, and Weill and Blitzstein

Today's post celebrated the remarkable fact that Kurt Weill (March 2, 1900 – April 3, 1950) and Marc Blitzstein (March 2, 1905 – January 22, 1964) share a birthday.

One Fish, Two Fish, Haifisch, Blue Fish

Sinatra and Armstrong brought life

To Weill’s little tune “Mack the Knife,”

But to hear “Mackie Messer”

You couldn’t do besser

Than to listen to Lenya (his wife).

♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬

Rock It Man

When the cast of The Cradle Will Rock

Found the stage for their play under lock,

They took the whole troupe

Across town to regroup,

And gave the performance ad hoc.

♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬

Lost in the Stars?

Against those sincerely suspect

That an astral shared-birthday effect

Led Blitzstein and Weill

To much the same style,

I argue the reason was Brecht.

The Musical Birthday Series - March 1 - Dimitri Mitropoulos

With this post I am beginning a new series of verse (mostly limericks) celebrated musicians on the day of their birth. Today it's Dimitri Mitropoulos (1 March [O. S. 18 February] 1896 – 2 November 1960).

 

Wary of Greeks…

When conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos

Was at work this very metropolis

The patrons had fears

That his twelve tone premieres

Were signs of the coming apocalypse.

(Program from my collection)

Another Series of Alphabetical Limericks, #11, K is for Kangaroo

To-do at the Zoo

The debut of their new kangaroo

Caused chaos in Kalamazoo;

But with their new kudu

The Kalamazoo zoo

Had a helluva hullabaloo.