John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer, music theorist, writer, and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde. Critics have lauded him as one of the most influential … Continue reading In memory of John Cage
Author: f. d. leone
Songwriter.
Karl Weigl : Jewish composer, died Aug 11, 1949
Karl Weigl, born Vienna, 6 Feb 1881; died New York, 11 Aug 1949. Austrian composer, naturalized American. After graduating from the Vienna Music Academy in 1902, he studied composition with Alexander Zemlinsky and musicology with Guido Adler at the University of Vienna (PhD 1904). He served as a rehearsal conductor for Gustav Mahler at the Vienna Hofoper … Continue reading Karl Weigl : Jewish composer, died Aug 11, 1949
Krzysztof Meyer, composer
Krzysztof Meyer (born 11 August 1943) is a Polish composer, pianist and music scholar, formerly Dean of the Department of Music Theory (1972–1975) at the State College of Music (now Academy of Music in Kraków), and president of the Union of Polish Composers (1985–1989). Meyer served as professor of composition at the Hochschule für Musik … Continue reading Krzysztof Meyer, composer
Alexander Goehr : English composer, born 10 August 1932,
Goehr was born in Berlin in 1932, the son of the conductor and Schoenberg pupil Walter Goehr. In his early twenties he emerged as a central figure in the Manchester School of post-war British composers. In 1955–56 he joined Olivier Messiaen's masterclass in Paris. Although in the early sixties Goehr was considered a leader of the … Continue reading Alexander Goehr : English composer, born 10 August 1932,
Dmitri Shostakovich : 25 September 1906 – 9 August 1975
Russian composer and pianist, and a prominent figure of 20th-century music. A poly-stylist, Shostakovich developed a hybrid voice, combining a variety of different musical techniques into his music. Shostakovich's music is characterized by sharp contrasts, elements of the grotesque, and ambivalent tonality; the composer was also heavily influenced by the neo-classical style pioneered by Igor … Continue reading Dmitri Shostakovich : 25 September 1906 – 9 August 1975
Karel Husa : Czech Composer
Karel Husa (born August 7, 1921 in Prague) is a Czech-born classical composer and conductor, winner of the 1969 Pulitzer Prize for Music and 1993 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition. In 1954 he went to the United States and became an American citizen in 1959. He is probably best known for his Music for … Continue reading Karel Husa : Czech Composer
Leon Bismarck “Bix” Beiderbecke : jazz cornetist
Leon Bismarck "Bix" Beiderbecke, jazz cornetist, died at 28 on August 6th. With Louis Armstrong and Muggsy Spanier, Beiderbecke was one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s. His turns on "Singin' the Blues" and "I'm Coming, Virginia" (both 1927), in particular, demonstrated an unusual purity of tone and a gift for improvisation. … Continue reading Leon Bismarck “Bix” Beiderbecke : jazz cornetist
Barbara Strozzi (baptized 6 August 1619)
Barbara Strozzi (also called Barbara Valle; baptised 6 August 1619 – 11 November 1677) was an Italian Baroque singer and composer. Strozzi was said to be "the most prolific composer - man or woman - of printed secular vocal music in Venice in the Middle of the century." Her output is also unique in that it … Continue reading Barbara Strozzi (baptized 6 August 1619)
Guillaume Dufay
Guillaume Dufay (5 August, ca. 1397 – 27 November 1474) was a Franco-Flemish composer of the early Renaissance. The central figure in the Burgundian School, he was regarded by his contemporaries as the leading composer in Europe in the mid-15th century. We can't be 100% certain about birth dates from the 15th century, even the year … Continue reading Guillaume Dufay
Louis Armstrong : jazz prophet
There is hardly any jazz musician who lived after Louis Armstrong's comet blazed across the jazz landscape who was not influenced to a crucial degree. It is easy to take for granted Armstrong's contributions to the idea of jazz soloing they have become so fundamental to how we define jazz. Just his way of phrasing, what … Continue reading Louis Armstrong : jazz prophet
Musica Kaleidoskopea 