Johann Staden (baptized 2 July 1581 – 15 November 1634) He was a distinguished and versatile composer, and one of the outstanding German musicians of his day. In his later years he was the leading musician in Nuremberg and established the so-called Nuremberg school of the 17th century. Much of Staden's work survives in printed … Continue reading Johann Staden and the Nuremberg School
Month: November 2015
Amandine Beyer & Christophe Rousset : Carrying the Baroque Torch
Amandine Beyer and Christophe Rousset are both accomplished French musicians who have devoted much of their careers to promoting music from the Baroque period, much of it not well known. Each has formed a performing ensemble, Gli Incogniti by Beyer and Rousset’s Les Talens Lyriques for this purpose. While the Baroque is the primary concern, … Continue reading Amandine Beyer & Christophe Rousset : Carrying the Baroque Torch
Laurie Anderson : performance artist; poet; provocateur; widow
Initially trained as a sculptor, Laurie Anderson did her first performance-art piece in the late 1960s. Throughout the 1970s, Anderson did a variety of different performance-art activities. She became widely known outside the art world in 1981 when her single "O Superman" reached number two on the UK pop charts. She also starred in and … Continue reading Laurie Anderson : performance artist; poet; provocateur; widow
Aaron Avshalomov : A Jew in China
Aaron Avshalomov (11/11/1894 – 4/26/1965) was a Russian-born Jewish composer. Born into a Mountain Jewish family, he was sent for medical studies to Zürich, but chose to leave Europe in the wake of the Russian revolution. Mountain Jews or Caucasus Jews of the eastern and northern slopes of Caucasus, mainly Azerbaijan and Dagestan. They are the descendants of … Continue reading Aaron Avshalomov : A Jew in China
Allen Tousaint : from Gert Town to the White House
Allen Toussaint, the versatile producer, songwriter, pianist and singer who was a fixture of New Orleans R&B, died Monday after appearing in concert in Madrid. He was 77. His daughter, Alison Toussaint-LeBeaux, confirmed his death in an email, and said the cause appeared to be a heart attack. El Mundo reported in Spain that Mr. … Continue reading Allen Tousaint : from Gert Town to the White House
Antoine Busnois : Worthy of the immortal gods, died #OnThisDay 1492
On this day in 1492, Antoine Busnois died. He was a Netherlandish composer and poet of the early Renaissance Burgundian School. While also noted as a composer of motets and other sacred music, he was one of the most renowned 15th-century composers of secular chansons. He was the leading figure of the late Burgundian school after the … Continue reading Antoine Busnois : Worthy of the immortal gods, died #OnThisDay 1492
Myriam Alter : encompassing jazz, classical music, and various European influences
Myriam Alter is one of those musicians about whom the Internet seems to know very little. What Google manages to dig up more or less tells the same story: Alter hails from a Belgian family of Sephardic Jews. She started piano lessons at age 8 but abandoned the instrument at 15 for other preoccupations. After … Continue reading Myriam Alter : encompassing jazz, classical music, and various European influences
Giovanni Sgambati : Italian pianist and composer
Born in Rome, 1841, to an Italian father and an English mother, Giovanni Sgambati, who lost his father early, received his early education at Trevi, in Umbria, where he wrote some church music and obtained experience as a singer and conductor. In 1860 he settled in Rome, and took up the work of winning acceptance for … Continue reading Giovanni Sgambati : Italian pianist and composer
Yehuda Yannay : composer,conductor, filmmaker and performance artist
Yehuda Yannay (Hebrew: יהודה ינאי) (b. 26 May 1937, Timișoara, Romania) is an American-Israeli composer,conductor, filmmaker and performance artist. Yannay moved from Romania to Israel in 1951, where he studied with Alexander Uriya Boskovitch, who influenced him greatly. After completing his studies at the Rubin Academy of Music in Tel-Aviv, he pursued postgraduate studies in America, … Continue reading Yehuda Yannay : composer,conductor, filmmaker and performance artist
Hugo Distler : chose suicide rather than serve Hitler
Hugo Distler (June 24, 1908 - November 1, 1942), German composer. Born in Nuremberg, he is known mostly for his sacred choral music. He attended Leipzig Conservatory first as a conducting student with piano as his secondary subject, but changing later, on the advice of his teacher, to composition and organ. Once Hitler came to power, … Continue reading Hugo Distler : chose suicide rather than serve Hitler
Musica Kaleidoskopea 