Sydney Philharmonia Choirs' ChorusOz 2024 - The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace

Choral Singing / Choral Music

 

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs Presents

ChorusOz 2024 - THE ARMED MAN: A Mass for Peace

Sunday 9 June 2024, 5 P.M.
Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House 

(LIVE broadcast from ABC Classic!)    

“A hope for mankind.”
 

It's that time of the year in June when hundreds of passionate singers join the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs choristers for the annual ChorusOz weekend of singing, fun and friendship, finishing with a performance on the world-famous Sydney Opera House Concert Hall with a professional orchestra and soloists.

ChorusOz – Sydney Philharmonia Choirs' annual “big sing” – brings together a community of singers from across Australia and around the world for an inspiring weekend. And this time, ChorusOz returns with a complete performance of The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace.

 

Music & artistic director Brett Weymark has chosen The Armed Man: one of the most popular choral works of our time, with thousands of performances and decades in the classical charts. Its starting point is a mediæval earworm (L’Homme armé) but the themes are absolutely contemporary.

Inspired by the tragedy of the Kosovo War, Karl Jenkins combines sacred and secular texts. It’s exhilarating music to perform, with a parade of musical styles, thought-provoking texts and powerful emotions. Equally exhilarating are the choral hymns Finlandia and Jerusalem. And – for the first time the 16-year history of ChorusOz – Sydney Philharmonia Choirs commissioned a new Australian work especially for this event.

Whether you’re in the middle of the choir singing at full voice, or joining in the audience, find harmony singing for peace.

Sunday 9 June at 5pm
Sydney Opera House Concert Hall

This performance will run for 1 hour and 30 minutes. No interval.

PROGRAM

Karl JENKINS The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace
Jean SIBELIUS Finlandia with choral hymn finale
Hubert PARRY Jerusalem
(orchestral accompaniment by Edward Elgar)
Katie NOONAN & Andrew O’CONNOR An Instrument of Peace† (World premiere)

† Sydney Philharmonia Choirs commission

ARTISTS

Brett Weymark conductor
AVÉ (Australian Vocal Ensemble)
   Katie Noonan soprano
   Fiona Campbell mezzo-soprano
   Louis Hurley tenor
   Andrew O’Connor baritone
ChorusOz 2024
Sydney Philharmonia Orchestra

BOOK TICKETS HERE

DOWNLOAD FREE PROGRAM BOOK HERE

ChorusOz for singers takes place on Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 June.Visit sydneyphilharmonia.com.au to sign up as a participant - no prior singing experience required.

 

Related Links:

Karl Jenkins: The Armed Man - Concert for Peace. Youtube, uploaded by CMajorEntertainment. Accessed June 1, 2022  

Karl Jenkins: The Armed Man - full concert. Youtube, uploaded by Oscar Fredriks Vocalis. Accessed June 1, 2022.  

The Armed Man - A Mass for Peace - Sir Karl Jenkins. Youtube. uploaded by Jerusalem Oratorio Choir. Accessed June 1, 2022.  

The Armed Man: Seeking Peace for 25 Years and Counting. Composer Sir Karl Jenkins speaks to Limelight about his most popular work and its evolving meaning over more than 3000 performances. Limelight. 5 June, 2024. Accessed same day. Quoted from Limelight:

"Sir Karl Jenkins' pride in the work is tempered by some mixed feelings.He says: “The original brief for the piece was to write something that was hopeful for peace,” he says. “That was back in 1998 and look where we are now. Nothing has changed. Peace is as far away as it ever was.”"

"For the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs concert, conductor Brett Weymark has paired Jenkins’ The Armed Man with two other choral hymns that chime with similar hopes for peace: Hubert Parry’s Jerusalem, Jean Sibelius's Finlandia and a newly commissioned work by Katie Noonan and Andrew O’Connor, An Instrument of Peace, which will premiere at ChorusOz this weekend.  “In planning this year’s program,” says Weymark, “I felt it timely to bring together music from different countries and different times to explore diverse voices on the themes of peace and hope and consider the questions generations of poets and composers have been trying to answer.”"

 

Photo Credit:

ChorusOz The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace. Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. 

Resources:

1. ChorusOz | The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace. Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. Accessed June 1, 2024. (Available at the time of access.) 
2. ChorusOz Online Program. 
3. Sydney Philharmonia Choirs 2024 Season Catalogue. Voice. Energy. JOY.
4. Sydney Philharmonia Choirs ChorusOz 2024, The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace. The Aussie Theatre Com. Accessed June 1, 2024.

 

COVID-19 SAFETY AT OUR CONCERTS

Up-to-date COVID guidelines will be available a few weeks before the concert. Please note that we regularly update our guidelines based on health advice available at the time.

 

(c) June 2024. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.

June 1 Dateline

Birthdays

1804 - Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka, Russian composer considered the "Father of Russian music", famous for his opera A Life for the Tsar. He was the first Russian composer to gain wide recognition within his own country, often regarded as the fountainhead of Russian classical music. (See Glinka's featured music below.)

1926 - Marilyn Monroe (born Norma Jeane Mortenson), American actress, model, and singer. Famous for playing comedic "blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s and was emblematic of the era's changing attitudes towards sexuality. She was a top-billed actress for only a decade, but her films grossed $200 million (equivalent to $2 billion in 2019) by the time of her death in 1962. She continues to be a major popular culture icon.
   
1926 - Andy Samuel Griffith, American actor, comedian, television producer.He was also a Southern gospel singer and writer whose career spanned seven decades in music and television. Known for his southern drawl, his characters with a folksy-friendly personality, and his gruff but friendly voice, Griffith was a Tony Award nominee for two roles, and gained prominence in the starring role in the film A Face in the Crowd before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead roles of Andy Taylor in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show  and Ben Matlock in the legal drama Matlock.

1930 - Edward Woodward, OBE, English actor and singer. He began his career on stage after graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic arts. Throughout his career, he appeared in productions in both the West End of London and on Broadway in New York City. He came to wider attention from 1967 in the title role of the British television spy drama Callan, earning him the 1970 British Academy Television Award for Best Actor.

1937 - Colleen McCullough, AO (married name Robinson, previously Ion-Robinson), Australian novelist, her most well-known being The Thorn Birds and The Ladies of Missalonghi, the latter of which was involved in a plagiarism controversy.

1941 - Edo de Waart, Dutch conductor. His recording catalog encompasses such labels as Philips and orchestras such as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, and San Francisco Symphony. In January 2001, he was awarded the Australian Centenary Medal "for service to Australian society and the advancement of music" and in May 2005, he was appointed an Honorary Officer of the Order of Australia "for service to Australia, particularly as Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra". He is a knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion. (Chopin Piano Concerto No 2 in F, with Stephen Hough (pianist), Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Edo de Waart (conductor). Uploaded by mahavishnu1001. Accessed June 1, 2017.)

1972 -  Daniel Casey, English actor, best known for playing DS Gavin Troy, the original sidekick of DCI Tom Barnaby, for the first six seasons of the long-running television series Midsomer Murders.

1974 - Alanis Morisette, Canadian-American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her emotive mezzo-soprano voice, she began her career in Canada in the early 1990s with two mildly successful dance-pop albums.

Lefties:
Actress Marilyn Monroe

 

 

More birthdays and historical events today, 1 June - On This Day.
 

 

Featured Music:

Mikhail Glinka's A Life for the Tsar (Finale), with Mikhailovsky Theatre orchestra and choir, March 6, 2013, State Hermitage, St. Petersburg.

Historical Events

1831 - James Clark Ross discovers the position of the North magnetic Pole, on the Boothia Peninsula.

1943 - Actor Leslie Howard, actor of Gone with the Wind and Brief Encounter films, is killed when a civilian flight from Lisbon to London is shot down by the Germans during World War II.

May 31 Dateline

Birthdays

1656 - Marin Marais, French composer and viola da gambist. He studied composition with Jean-Baptiste Lully, often conducting his operas, and with master of the bass viol Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe for six months. (Marin Marais - Les Folies d'Espagne (On Period Instruments). Uploaded by On Period Instruments. Accessed May 31, 2017)

1819 - Walt Whitman, American poet, essayist, and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between Transcendentalism and Realism, both views he incorporated in his works.  Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse. His work was controversial in its time, particularly his poetry collection Leaves of Grass, which was described as obscene for its overt sensuality. Whitman's own life came under scrutiny for his presumed homosexuality. Whitman's major work, Leaves of Grass, was first published in 1855 with his own money. The work was an attempt at reaching out to the common person with an American epic. He continued expanding and revising it until his death in 1892. During the American Civil War, he went to Washington, D.C. and worked in hospitals caring for the wounded. His poetry often focused on both loss and healing. Two of his well known poems, "O Captain! My Captain!" and "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd", were written on the death of Abraham Lincoln. When he died at age 72, his funeral was a public event. Whitman's influence on poetry remains strong.

1838 - Henry Sidgwick, English philosopher and economist. He was the Knightbridge Professor of moral philosophy at the University of Cambridge from 1883 until his death, and is best known in philosophy for his utilitarian treatise "The Methods of Ethics".

1915 - Judith Arundell Wright, Australian poet, environmentalist and campaigner for Aboriginal land rights. She was a recipient of the Christopher Brennan Award. She was a recipient of the Australian National Living Treasure Award in 1998.

1930 - Clint Eastwood, American actor, filmmaker, musician, and politician. After achieving success in the Western TV series Rawhide, he rose to international fame with his role as the 'Man with No Name' in Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy of spaghetti Westerns and as antihero cop Harry Callahan in the five Dirty Harry films. He directed films, such as the mystery drama Mystic River and the war film Letters from Iwo Jima, for which he received Academy Award nominations. Eastwood was awarded two of France's highest civilian honors: in 1994, he became a recipient of the Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and in 2007, was awarded the Legion of Honour medal. In 2000, Eastwood was awarded the Italian Venice Film Festival Golden Lion for lifetime achievement. Since 1967, his Malpaso Productions has produced all but four of his American films. Elected in 1986, Eastwood served for two years as mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, a non-partisan office.

1934 - Jim Hutton (born Dana James Hutton), American actor in film and television best remembered for his role as Ellery Queen in the 1970s TV series of the same name and his screen partnership with Paula Prentiss in four films, starting with Where the Boys Are. He is the father of actor Timothy Hutton.

Death:

1809 - Composer Joseph Haydn dies in Vienna, aged 77.  

 

Leftie:
Actor Jim Hutton

 

More birthdays and historical evens today, 31 May - On This Day.
 

 

In memory of Walt Whitman:  
I'm featuring Ralph Vaughan Williams' "A Sea Symphony" by which, having selected his main 'instrument' as the choir for this work, chose for his texts sections of the perfectly equated humanist poems by this great American poet and essayist, Walt Whitman.

Historical Events

1279 B.C. - Ramesses II ascends the Egyptian throne and reigns as pharaoh for sixty-seven years.

1859 - The "Big Ben," the bell of the Great Clock at Westminster, rings for the first time across  London. The bell was cast in Whitechapel and transported to its new home by teams of horses.

May 30 Dateline

Birthdays

1846 - Peter Carl Fabergé (also known as Karl Gustavovich Fabergé), Russian master jeweller and goldsmith, best known for the famous Fabergé eggs made in the style of genuine Easter eggs, but using precious metals and gemstones rather than more mundane materials.

1883 - Riccardo Zandonai, Italian composer. As a young man, he showed such an aptitude for music that he entered the Pesaro Conservatorio in 1899 and completed his studies in 1902. He completed the nine-year curriculum in only three years. Among his teachers was Pietro Mascagni (famous for his masterpiece Cavalleria Rusticana), who regarded him highly. (Zandonai's Francesca da Rimini. Uploaded by bel canto. Accessed May 30, 2019.)

1909 - Benny David Goodman, American clarinetist and jazz-band leader, called the "King of Swing". In the mid-1930s, Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in the United States. (Benny Goodman plays Wolfgang Mozart's famous clarinet music. Pure bliss! Uploaded by Clarinet Clasica. Accessed May 30, 2014.)  

1912 - Julian Gustave Symons (originally Gustave Julian Symons), British crime writer and poet. He also wrote social and military history, biography and studies of literature.

1977 - Rachael Stirling, English actress on stage, film and television. She has been nominated twice for the Laurence Olivier Award for her stage work. She played Nancy Astley in the BBC drama Tipping the Velvet, and Millie in the ITV series The Bletchley Circle, BBC Four sitcom Detectorists. She has also guest starred in episodes of numerous series, such as Agatha Christie's Poirot,  Lewis, and Doctor Who alongside her mother Dame Diana Rigg.


Lefties:
None known

 

More birthdays and historical events today, May 30 - On This Day

Historical Events

1431 - Joan of Arc is burned at the stake in Rouen, France. Her ashes is thrown into the Seine by the English so no relics could be taken. This was the time called The Hundred Years War, when France was at war against England. 

1962 - Benjamin Britten's War Requiem, for soli, chorus, and orchestra, is first performed in the Coventry Cathedral, England. (Here's a relished performance - Britten's War Requiem, himself conducting and Meredith Davies.) 

May 29 Dateline

Birthdays

1860 - Isaac Albeniz (born Isaac Manuel Francisco Albéniz y Pascual, Spanish virtuoso pianist, composer, and conductor. He is one of the foremost composers of the Post-Romantic era who also had a significant influence on his contemporaries and younger composers. He is best known for his piano works based on Spanish folk music idioms. Transcriptions of many of his pieces, such as Asturias (Leyenda), Granada, Sevilla, Cadiz, Córdoba, Cataluña, Mallorca, and Tango in D, are important pieces for classical guitar, though he never composed for the guitar. The personal papers of Albéniz are preserved, among other institutions, in the Biblioteca de Catalunya.

 1892 - Frederick Schiller Faust, pen name is "Max Brand" becomes "king of the pulp writers". American author known primarily for his Western stories. As Max Brand, he created the popular fictional character of young medical intern Dr. James Kildare for a series of pulp fiction stories. Faust's Kildare character was subsequently featured over several decades in other media, including a series of American theatrical movies by Paramount Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), a radio series, two television series, and comics.Faust used many other pseudonyms including George Owen Baxter, Evan Evans, George Evans, Peter Dawson, David Manning, John Frederick, Peter Morland, George Challis, Peter Ward and Frederick Frost.

1897 - Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Austrian-American composer and conductor. A child prodigy, he became one of the most important and influential composers in Hollywood history. He was a noted pianist and composer of classical music, along with music for Hollywood films, and the first composer of international stature to write Hollywood scores.  (Toscha Seidel (violin) - Korngold, "Much Ado About Nothing" Suite 3, Op. 11- III, Daniel Kurganov. Accessed May 29, 2019. (VIOLANTA Korngold – Teatro Regio Torino. Uploaded by OperaVision. Accessed May 29, 2020.)

1903 - Bob Hope, KBE, KC*SG, KSS (born Leslie Townes Hope), British-American stand-up Comedian, Vaudevillian, actor, singer, dancer, athlete, and author. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with 54 feature films with Hope as star, including a series of seven "Road" musical comedy movies with Bing Crosby as Hope's top-billed partner.  In addition to hosting the Academy Awards show 19 times, more than any other host, he appeared in many stage productions and television roles, and was the author of 14 books. The song "Thanks for the Memory" was his signature tune. 

1917 - John Fitzgerald Kennedy, often referred to by his initials as JFK or by the nickname Jack. He was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination near the end of his third year in office. Kennedy was the youngest person to assume the presidency by election. He was also the youngest president at the end of his tenure, and his lifespan was the shortest of any president. Kennedy served at the height of the Cold War, and the majority of his work as president concerned relations with the Soviet Union and Cuba. A Democrat, he represented Massachusetts in both houses of the U.S. Congress prior to his presidency.
 

1958 - Annette Carol Bening, American actress. She was nominated for the 1987 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her Broadway debut in Coastal Disturbances and for the 2019 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for All My Sons. She is a four-time Academy Award nominee for the films: The Grifters, American Beauty, Being Julia, and The Kids Are All Right. In 2006, she received a film star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Bening won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role for American Beauty, two Golden Globe Awards for Being Julia and The Kids Are All Right, and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie for Mrs. Harris. In 2019, she played the roles of Supreme Intelligence and Mar-Vell / Wendy Lawson in the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Captain Marvel, which became her highest grossing release. Annette Being is married to actor Warren Betty.

Leftie:
None known

 

More birthdays and historical events today, May 29 - On This Day

 

Feature: 

 

Sharing a favourite tango music of Albeniz I grew up listening to. (I don't know the performing pianist.)  Enjoy!

Historical Events

1453 - Constantinople falls to Muhammad II, ending the Byzantine Empire.

1919 - Charles Strite patents a pop-up toaster.

May 28 Dateline

Birthdays

1759 - William Pitt the Younger, prominent British Tory statesman of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He became the youngest prime minister of Great Britain in 1783 at the age of 24 and the first prime minister of the UK of Great Britain and Ireland as of January 1801. He left office in March 1801, but served as prime minister again from 1804 until his death in 1806. He was also Chancellor of the Exchequer for all of his time as prime minister. He is known as "the Younger" to distinguish him from his father, William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, who is customarily referred to as "William Pitt the Elder" and had previously served as prime minister.

1779 - Thomas Moore, Irish poet, singer, songwriter, and entertainer, often referred to as Anacreon Moore. He is best remembered for the lyrics of "The Minstrel Boy" and "The Last Rose of Summer". As Lord Byron's named literary executor, along with John Murray, Moore was responsible for burning Lord Byron's memoirs after his death. (The Last Rose of Summer by Thomas Moore. 'Tis the Last Rose of Summer (lyrics). Uploaded by 4Stanzas. Accessed April 30, 2020.) "The Last Rose of Summer" was written by Moore in 1805 while he was at  Jenkinstown Park in County Kilkenny, Ireland, said to have been inspired by a specimen Rosa 'Old Blush'. The music is a traditional tune called "Aislean an Oigfear" or "The Young Man's Dream", transcribed by Edward Bunting in 1792. The poem and the tune together were published in December 1813, Volume 5 of Moore's A Selection of Irish Melodies. (The Last Rose of Summer. Taryn Fiebig & Jayne Hockley. YouTube, by The Orchard Enterprises. Thyme & Roses ℗ 2005. Accessed May 28, 2017.)

1853 - Carl Olof Larsson, Swedish painter representative of the Arts and Crafts movement. His many paintings include oils, watercolors, and frescoes. He is principally known for his watercolors of idyllic family life. He considered his finest work to be Midvinterblot (Midwinter Sacrifice), a large painting now displayed inside the Swedish National Museum of Fine Arts. His turning point came in 1882 when he moved to the Scandinavian artists’ colony in Grez-zur-Loing outside Paris where he met his future wife Karin Bergöö. He abandoned his oil painting in favour of watercolours – a lucky move that would mean a lot for his artistic development. It was in Grez-zur-Loing that Carl Larsson painted some of his most significant pictures.

1903 - Marguerite Monnot, French songwriter and composer, best known for having written many of the songs performed by Édith Piaf and for the music in the stage musical Irma La Douce. As a female composer of popular music in the first half of the 20th century, Monnot was a pioneer in her field. Classically trained by her father and at the Paris Conservatory (her teachers included prominent composers Nadia Boulanger, Vincent d’Indy, and Alfred Cortot), Monnot made the unusual switch to composing popular music after poor health ended her career as a concert pianist when she was eighteen. Soon after writing her first commercially successful song, "L'Étranger", she met Édith Piaf, and they became the first female songwriting team in France, remaining friends and collaborators throughout most of their lives. (Hymne a L'amour - Edith Piaf. Uploaded by Paawit Gala. Accessed April 30, 2020.)   

1908 - Ian Lancaster Fleming, English author, journalist and naval intelligence officer best known for his James Bond series of spy novels. (How Ian Fleming Created James Bond. Uploaded by moogheer. Accessed May 28, 2010.) He wrote his first Bond novel, Casino Royale, in 1952. It was a success, with three print runs being commissioned to cope with the demand. Eleven Bond novels and two collections of short stories followed between 1953 and 1966. The novels revolve around James Bond, an officer in the Secret Intelligence Service, commonly known as MI6. Bond is also known by his code number, 007, and was a commander in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve.

1912 - Patrick White (born Patrick Victor Martindale White), Australian writer who published 12 novels (famous for The Eye of Storm), three short-story collections, and eight plays, from 1935 to 1987. His fiction employs humour, florid prose, shifting narrative vantage points and stream of consciousness techniques. In 1973 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, "for an epic and psychological narrative art which has introduced a new continent into literature", as it says in the Swedish Academy's citation, the first and only Australian to have been awarded the prize. White was also the inaugural recipient of the Miles Franklin Award.

1935 - Anne Reid, CBE, English stage, film and television actress. She's known for her roles as Valerie Barlow in the soap opera Coronation Street (1961–71); Jean in the sitcom Dinnerladies (1998–2000); and her BAFTA-nominated role as Celia Dawson in Last Tango in Halifax (2012–2020). She won the London Film Critics Circle Award for British Actress of the Year for the film The Mother (2003).

1940 - Maeve Binchy, Irish writer. Best known for her sympathetic and often humorous portrayal of small-town life in Ireland, her descriptive characters, her interest in human nature, and her often clever surprise endings.

 

1952 -  Elizabeth Spires, American poet and university professor. She holds a Chair for Distinguished Achievement. Her poems have appeared in The New Yorker, Poetry, American Poetry Review, The New Criterion, The Paris Review and many other literary magazines and anthologies.She has been the recipient of the Amy Lowell Poetry Travelling Scholarship, a Whiting Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Witter Bynner Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Ohioana Book Awards, and the Maryland Author Award from the Maryland Library Association. (Elizabeth Spires on riddles and writer's block and  ends with reading "In Heaven it is Always Autumn", YouTube, uploaded by hocopolitso. Accessed May 28, 2018.)

1968 - Kylie Minogue, AO, OBE (born Kylie Ann Minogue), Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 70 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinventing herself in music and fashion, for which she is referred to by the European press as the “Princess of Pop” and a style icon. Her accolades include a Grammy Award, three Brit Awards and 17 ARIA Music Awards.

 
Lefties:
None known

 

More birthdays and historical events today, May 28 - On This Day.

 

 
Feature: 

 

Edith Piaf singing the popular and loved French song "Hymne a l'amour" ("Hymn to Love"), here - with music composed by Marguerite Monnot, the lyrics written by Piaf herself, also originally performed by her.  Piaf  first sang this song at the Cabaret Versailles in New York on September 14, 1949. It was written to her lover and the love of her life, the French boxer, Marcel Cerdan. On October 28, 1949 Cerdan was killed in a plane crash on his way from Paris to New York to come see her. She recorded the song on 2 May 1950. Apology. Live videos are no longer available at YouTube. (April 3, 2022).

Below is a video of Hymne a L'amour  sung by Piaf in English: "If you love me, really love me."

Historical Events

1533 - Archbishop Thomas Cranmer proclaimed the validity of the marriage of Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn.

1961 - Amnesty international is founded by Peter Benenson.  

May 27 Dateline

Birthdays

1888 - Louis Durey, composer and music critic, oldest member of French group of composers known as "Les Six". Strongly influenced by Debussy’s opera Pelléas et Mélisande, durey joined the Groupe des Six, the six young French composers under the influence of Satie and Cocteau, but later on took a divergent course that allowed increasing scope for his political affiliations. He was secretary general of the Fédération Musicale Populaire and later of the Association Française des Musiciens Progressistes. His works include stage music, orchestral, chamber, vocal & choral, and piano music. (Louis Durey - Sonatine for flute and piano op.25. (Daniela Dottori, flute - Luca Moscardi, piano. Uploaded by lucamadeus. Accessed May 27, 2018.)

1907 - Rachel Louise Carson, American marine biologist, writer, and conservationist whose book Silent Spring and other writings are credited with advancing the global environmental movement. Her widely praised 1951 bestseller The Sea Around Us won her a U.S. National Book Award, recognition as a gifted writer and financial security. Her next book, The Edge of the Sea, and the reissued version of her first book, Under the Sea Wind, were also bestsellers. Late in the 1950s, Carson turned her attention to conservation, especially problems she believed were caused by synthetic pesticides. The result was the book Silent Spring, which brought environmental concerns to an unprecedented share of the American people. Silent Spring inspired a grassroots environmental movement that led to the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Carson was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Jimmy Carter. (The Life of Rachel Carson. Uploaded by hypnotik42. Accessed May 27, 2016.)

1923 - Henry Alfred Kissinger (born Heinz Alfred Kissinger), American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the presidential administrations of Richard Nixon instrument from the bones of a giant pike. Orpheus-like, he plays upon it and enchants the people. All listen and all weep, their hearts melted. Even Väinämäinen weeps and his tears 'bigger than cranberries' fall into the clear waters of the deep blue sea. A sea bird dives down to retrieve his tears - they have ripened into pearls.  (YouTube, uploaded by Raul. Accessed 27 May 2018)

Lefties:

None known

More birthdays and historical events today, May 27 - On This Day

Historical Events

1703 - Peter the Great founds St. Petersburg, (later known as Leningrad), as the capital of Russia.

1937 - The newly completed Golden Gate Bridge connecting San Francisco and Marin County, California, is opened to pedestrians. The bridge becomes the symbol of San Francisco.

May 26 Dateline

Birthdays

1799 - Alexander Pushkin (born Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (see also 6 June [O.S. 26 May] 1799), Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era who is considered by many to be the greatest Russian poet and the founder of modern Russian literature. Pushkin was born into Russian nobility in Moscow.  (Alexander Pushkin (Алекса́ндр Серге́евич Пу́шкин). Uploaded by Steven Parris Ward. Accessed May 26, 2018.

1893 - Sir Eugene Aynsley Goossens, English conductor and composer. His works include two symphonies, two "Phantasy" concertos (one for piano, one for violin), two string quartets, two violin sonatas, and a Concertino for string octet. The Oboe Concerto was written for his brother, Léon Goossens. He wrote two operas (both with libretto by Arnold Bennett: Judith (1929) and Don Juan de Manara), and a large-scale oratorio, The Apocalypse, after the Revelation of St. John. Goossens is credited for much of the lobbying to the NSW Government to build a music performance venue, a process that led to the construction of the Sydney Opera House. He insisted that it be built at Bennelong Point overlooking Sydney Harbour, was confirmed in 1957, after he had left Australia. He is commemorated in the Eugene Goossens Hall, a concert and recording facility of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in Ultimo, Sydney. (Goosens' Oboe Concerto, Op.45 beautifully performed by Samantha Crouse. Uploaded by Arts Laureate. Accessed May 26, 2016.)

1907 - John Wayne (born Marion Michael Morrison), nicknamed "Duke", American actor, Director, Producer and Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient. He was among the top box office draws for three decades, famous for his roles in Western films.

1920 - Peggy Lee (born Norma Deloris Egstrom), American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress, over a career spanning seven decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman's big band, Lee created a sophisticated persona, writing music for films, acting, and recording conceptual record albums combining poetry and music. Lee recorded over 1,100 masters and composed over 270 songs.

1966 - Helena Bonham Carter, CBE, English actress. Recipient of British Academy Film Award, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and nominations for two Academy Awards, nine Golden Globe Awards, four Primetime Emmy Awards and four British Academy Television Awards. She began her film career playing Lucy Honeychurch in A Room with a View. For her role as Kate Croy in The Wings of the Dove, Bonham Carter received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress, and for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother in The King's Speech, she won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her collaborations with director Tim Burton include Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Alice in Wonderland as the Red Queen, and Dark Shadows. For her role as children's author Enid Blyton in the BBC Four biographical film Enid, she won the 2010 International Emmy Award for Best Actress and was nominated for the British Academy TV Award for Best Actress. Aside from her numerous movies she has other television films that include Fatal Deception: Mrs. Lee Harvey Oswald, and Burton & Taylor. Beginning in 2019, she portrayed Princess Margaret on seasons three and four of The Crown.

Leftie:
None known

 

More birthdays and historical events today, May 26 - On This Day
 

 

Feature:

Below, a video of Stravinsky's  Le Rossignol (The Nightingale). Barbara Hannigan, soprano; Edgaras Montvidas, tenor; Pierre Boulez, conductor. Berliner Philharmoniker / Recorded at the Berlin Philharmonie, 18 September 2010.

Historical Events

1521 - Martin Luther, leader of the Protestant Reformation, is banned by the Edict of Worms because of his religious beliefs and is formally declared an outlaw. (Resource: Luther & the Protestant Reformation. Uploaded by CrashCourse. Accessed May 26, 2016)    

1896 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is first published. It is the oldest stock market index still used today in the U.S.

May 25 Dateline

Birthdays

1803 - Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist, lecturer, poet and philosopher. He led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. Main interests‎: ‎Individualism‎, ‎mysticism.  School‎: ‎Transcendentalism. Some of his best known essays include:  Self-Reliance, The Over-Soul, Compensation, The Poet, and Experience. (Literature - Ralph Waldo Emerson. Uploaded by The School of Life. Accessed Mary 25, 2018.) 

1878 - Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, American tap dancer, actor, and singer, the best known and the most highly paid black American entertainer in America during the first half of the twentieth century. His long career mirrored changes in American entertainment tastes and technology.

1926 - Miles Davis, American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. (Miles Davis - Smoke gets in your eyes. Uploaded by TheLittletan. Accessed May 25, 2020.)

1927 - Robert Ludlum, American spy author of 27 thriller novels, best known as the creator of Jason Bourne from the original The Bourne Trilogy series. The number of copies of his books in print is estimated between 300 million and 500 million. They have been published in 33 languages and 40 countries.

1938 - Raymond Carver (born Raymond Clevie Carver Jr.), American short-story writer and poet. His main characters are working-class Americans; his spare, tense prose reflects their attempts to express themselves. Several of his short-story collections were nominated for prestigious prizes, including Pulitzer Prizes. He is considered to be amongst America's greatest writers.  

Leftie:
None known

 

More birthdays and historical events today, May 25 - On This Day
 

 

Feature:

 Delibes: Coppélia (Royal Ballet) Uploaded by Opus Arte. Accessed April 3, 2022.

Historical Events

1659 - Richard Cromwell, son of Oliver Cromwell, resigns as Lord Protector, leading the way to the Restoration of the Monarchy and the reign of Charles II.

1870 - Leo Delibes's ballet Coppelia is first staged, in Paris. 

May 24 Dateline

Birthdays

1686 - Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit, FRS, physicist, inventor of the first practical, accurate thermometer and the Fahrenheit scale. He was born in Danzig (Gdańsk), in the Pomeranian Voivodeship of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, but lived most of his life in the Dutch Republic, a notable figure in the Golden Age of Dutch science and technology. A pioneer of exact thermometry, he helped lay the foundations for the era of precision thermometry by inventing the mercury-in-glass thermometer and Fahrenheit scale (first standardized temperature scale to be widely used). His inventions ushered in the first revolution in the history of thermometry. From the early 1710s until the beginnings of the electronic era, mercury-in-glass thermometers were among the most reliable and accurate thermometers ever invented.

1819 - Queen Victoria (born Alexandrina Victoria), Queen of the UK of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. She adopted the additional title of Empress of India. Her era was period of industrial, cultural, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom, and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. (Tracing Queen Victoria from George III:  George IV becomes king upon the death of his father, King George III, in 1820. Because of his father's madness, George IV is Prince Regent for nine years before being king. The heir apparent, Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales, the only daughter of George IV, dies with her child during childbirth at the age of 21, and the throne passes to William IV, George's IV's younger brother, 3rd son of George III. He too dies without heirs and the throne is passed on to Queen Victoria, the 18-year-old only child of the 4th son of George III, Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent.)

1940 - Joseph Brodsky, Russian-American poet and essayist. He was awarded the 1987 Nobel Prize in Literature "for an all-embracing authorship, imbued with clarity of thought and poetic intensity" and was appointed United States Poet Laureate in 1991.

1941 - Bob Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman), American singer-songwriter, author, and visual artist who has been a major figure in popular culture for more than 50 years. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s, when songs such as "Blowin' in the Wind" (1963) and "The Times They Are a-Changin'" (1964) became anthems for the civil rights and anti-war movements. His lyrics incorporated a range of political, social, philosophical, and literary influences, defied pop music conventions and appealed to the burgeoning counterculture of the period. (Blowin' in the Wind. Accessed May 24, 2013.)  

1960 - Dame Kristin Ann Scott Thomas, DBE, English-French actress. Five times a BAFTA Award nominee and five-times Olivier Award nominee, she won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) and the Olivier Award for Best Actress in 2008 for the Royal Court revival of The Seagull. She was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for The English Patient (1996). 

1994 - Emma Jennifer McKeon, AM, OAM, Australian competitive swimmer. She is a four-time world record holder, in the 4x100 metre freestyle relay. Her total career haul of 11 Olympic medals following the 2020 Olympic Games made her Australia's most decorated Olympian and included one gold medal from the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and four gold medals from the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Emma McKeon is multi-awarded in the swimming world, member of the Order of Australia (OA) and Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM), and also nominated for the Laureus World Sports Award for Sportswoman of the Year in 2022.

Lefties:
Singer-Songwriter  Bob Dylan
Queen Victoria

 

More birthdays and historical events today, May 24 - On This Day

 
 

Features:

Dame Nellie Melba. This day in 1888, she makes her London debut at Covent Garden in Donizetti's opera Lucia di Lamermoor. Dame Nellie Melba (Helen Porter Mitchell), GBE, was an Australian operatic soprano. She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian era and the early 20th century.  Listen to her sing her favourite 1904 Donizetti  Lucia di Lammermoor (Mad Scene), "Del ciel clemente un riso." - Here.  

Sir Edward Elgar's elegiac Symphony No. 2 in E-flat major, Op. 63  (Daniel Harding conducting the London Symphony Orchestra, 2013 Proms. Royal albert Hall.)  Uploaded by Classicl Vault 1. Accessed  24 May 2018. 




Also sharing an all-time favourite popular folk song composed by Bob Dylan, "Blowin' in the Wind," performed by Peter, Paul and Mary.

May 23 Dateline

Birthdays

1734 - Franz Mesmer (born Franz Friedrich Anton Mesmer), German physician and hypnotist, with an interest in astronomy who theorized that there was a natural energy transference that occurred between all animated and inanimate objects that he called animal magnetism, sometimes later referred to as mesmerism. ("Mozart, Mesmer, and Medicine", by James L. Franklin. Accessed May 23, 2008.)

1883 - Douglas Fairbanks, American actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. He was best known for his swashbuckling roles in silent films including: The Thief of Bagdad, Robin Hood, and The Mark of Zorro but spent the early part of his career making comedies. Fairbanks was a founding member of United Artists.

1908 - John Bardeen, American scientist (physicist and electrical engineer) and Nobel Laureate (twice). He is the only person to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics twice: first in 1956 with William Shockley and Walter Brattain for the invention of the transistor; and again in 1972 with Leon N Cooper and John Robert Schrieffer for a fundamental theory of conventional superconductivity known as the BCS theory

1923 - Alicia de Larrocha, Spanish pianist and interpreter of Spanish music. She is considered the greatest Spanish pianist in history and one of the greatest in her time. (Alicia de Larrocha plays Mozart - Piano Sonata in Bb major, K.570. There are also links of her recording within the page below the video. Uploaded by AdL Channel. Accessed  May 23, 2015.)

1951 - Anatoli Karpov (born Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov), Russian chess grandmaster and former world champion. He was the official world champion from 1975 to 1985 when he was defeated by Garry Kasparov. Karpov played five matches against Kasparov for the title from 1984 to 1990 without ever defeating him in a match, later becoming FIDE World Champion once again after Kasparov broke away from FIDE in 1993. He held the title until 1999, when he resigned his title in protest against FIDE's new world championship rules.

1958 - Drew Carey (born Drew Allison Carey), American actor, comedian, sports executive, and Game Show host. After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps and making a name for himself in stand-up comedy, he gained stardom in his own sitcom, The Drew Carey Show, and as host of the U.S. version of the improv comedy show Whose Line Is It Anyway?, both of which aired on ABC. He then appeared in several films, television series, music videos, a made-for-television film, and a computer game.

Leftie:
Actor and Game Show Host Drew Carey

 

More birthdays and historical events today, May 23 - On This Day

 

Historical Events

1785 - Benjamin Franklin writes to a friend announcing his invention of bifocals.

1814 - Ludwig van Beethoven's only opera, Fidelio, is staged successfully in Vienna, after its third and final revision.

1826 - Wolfgang A. Mozart's famous opera Don Giovanni has its American premiere at New York's Park Theater.   

May 22 Dateline

Birthdays

1813 - Wilhelm Richard Wagner, German composer, Theatre Director, and conductor mainly known for his operas, later known as "music dramas". He wrote both the libretto and the music for his stage works. Initially establishing his reputation as a composer in the romantic vein of Carl Maria von Weber and Giacomo Meyerbeer, Wagner revolutionised opera through his concept of the Gesamtkunstwerk ("total work of art"), by which he sought to synthesise the poetic, visual, musical and dramatic arts, with music subsidiary to drama. Wagner realised these ideas fully in the first half of the four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung), work notable for their complex textures, rich harmonies and orchestration, and the elaborate use of leitmotifs—musical phrases associated with individual characters, places, ideas, or plot elements. His Tristan und Isolde is sometimes described as marking the start of modern music.

1844 - Mary Stevenson Cassatt, American Impressionist painter and printmaker. She was born in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, but lived much of her adult life in France, where she first befriended painter Edgar Degas and later exhibited among the Impressionists.

1859 - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle),  KStJ DL, British writer, medical doctor, and creator of the fictional detective character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 when he published A Study in Scarlet, the first of four novels and more than fifty short stories about Holmes and Dr. Watson. The Sherlock Holmes stories are generally considered milestones in the field of crime fiction.  Doyle was a prolific writer; other than Holmes stories, his works include fantasy and science fiction stories about Professor Challenger and humorous stories about the Napoleonic soldier Brigadier Gerard, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction and historical novels. One of Doyle's early short stories, "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement", helped to popularise the mystery of the Mary Celeste.

1907 - Baron Laurence Olivier (Laurence Kerr Olivier), OM, English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson, Peggy Ashcroft and John Gielgud, dominated the British stage of the mid-20th century. He also worked in films throughout his career, playing more than fifty cinema roles. Late in his career, he had considerable success in television roles. Olivier's honours included a knighthood, a life peerage and the Order of Merit. For his on-screen work he received four Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, five Emmy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards. The National Theatre's largest auditorium is named in his honour, and he is commemorated in the Laurence Olivier Awards, given annually by the Society of London Theatre.

1934 - Peter Nero (born Bernard Nierow), American pianist and Pops conductor. He directed the Philly Pops from 1979 to 2013, and has earned two Grammy Awards. In addition to the two Grammy Awards, his honours include six honorary doctorates, from Drexel University, and the International Society of Performing Arts Presenters Award for Excellence in the Arts. He is included on historic Walks of Fame in Philadelphia and Miami, Florida. In 1999, he received the Pennsylvania Distinguished Arts Award, and in 2009, Nero was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Federation of Musicians. (Peter Nero Dazzles on Piano - 1965. Uploaded by Istash. Accessed May 22, 2020.)

1936 - M. Scott Peck (Morgan Scott Peck), American psychiatrist and best-selling author who wrote the book The Road Less Traveled, published in 1978. It is Peck's best-known work. Consisting of four parts, it is a description of the attributes that make for a fulfilled human being. In the first part Peck examines the notion of discipline, which he considers essential for emotional, spiritual, and psychological health, and which he describes as "the means of spiritual evolution". In the second part, Peck addresses the nature of love, which he considers the driving force behind spiritual growth. He argues that "true" love is rather an action that one undertakes consciously to extend one's ego boundaries by including others or humanity, and is therefore the spiritual nurturing. In the third part Peck deals with religion, and the commonly accepted views and misconceptions concerning religion. The fourth and final part concerns "grace", the powerful force originating outside human consciousness that nurtures spiritual growth in human beings.

Leftie:
Pianist and Conductor Peter Nero

 

More birthdays and historical events today, May 22 - On This Day

 

 

Historical Events

1455 - The Battle of  St. Albans takes place. It is the first major battle of the War of the Roses between the houses of Lancaster and York. The war ends with the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, where Richard III is killed. Victory went to the Lancastrian Henry Tudor, who takes the throne as Henry VII.

1836 - Felix Mendelssohn's oratorio St. Paul is first performed, in Dusseldorf, the composer conducting. 

May 21 Dateline

Birthdays

1471 - Albrecht Dürer, German painter, printmaker, and art theorist of the German Renaissance. He established his reputation and influence across Europe when he was in his twenties due to his high-quality woodcut prints. He was in communication with the major Italian artists of his time, and was patronized by Emperor Maximilian I. Dürer is commemorated by both the Lutheran and Episcopal Churches. His woodcuts, such as the Apocalypse series, are more Gothic than the rest of his work. His well-known engravings include the Knight, Death and the Devil, Saint Jerome in his Study, and Melencolia I which has been the subject of extensive analysis and interpretation. His watercolours mark him as one of the first European landscape artists, while his ambitious woodcuts revolutionized the potential of that medium. (Decoding art: Dürer's Melencolia I. Uploaded by Smarthistory. Accessed May 21, 2020.)

1527 - Philip II, King of Spain and Portugal, (Spanish: Felipe II), King of Spain (1556–98), King of Portugal (1581–98, as Philip I, Portuguese: Filipe I), King of Naples and Sicily (both from 1554), and jure uxoris King of England and Ireland (during his marriage to Queen Mary I from 1554 to 1558). He was also Duke of Milan, and from 1555, lord of the Seventeen Provinces of the Netherlands.  The son of Holy Roman Emperor and King of the Spanish kingdoms Charles V and Isabella of Portugal, Philip was called Felipe el Prudente ("Philip the Prudent") in the Spanish kingdoms; his empire included territories on every continent, including his namesake the Philippines. His reign is called the Spanish Golden Age.

1688 - Alexander Pope, foremost 18th Century English poet. He is regarded as one of the greatest English poets. He is best known for his satirical and discursive poetry, including The Rape of the Lock, The Dunciad, and An Essay on Criticism, as well as for his translation of Homer. After Shakespeare, Pope is the second-most quoted writer in the English language, as per The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, some of his verses having even become popular idioms in common parlance (e.g., Damning with faint praise). He is considered a master of the heroic couplet. I'm sharing a favourite short poem Pope wrote when he was just 12 years old. At that age he was diagnosed with Potts Disease, and he grew up hunchbacked, asthmatic, frail, and prone to violent headaches. As an adult he was 4'6" tall. "Ode to Solitude". Uploaded by Mohammed Emad. Accessed May 21, 2019. An Essay on Criticism by Alexander Pope (Full Audiobook). Uploaded by Inez Clotilde. Accessed May 21, 2019.)
 
1844 - Henri Rousseau (born Henri Julien Félix Rousseau), French post-impressionist painter in the Naïve or Primitive manner. He was also known as Le Douanier (the customs officer), a humorous description of his occupation as a toll and tax collector. He started painting seriously in his early forties; by age 49, he retired from his job to work on his art full-time. Ridiculed during his lifetime by critics, he came to be recognized as a self-taught genius whose works are of high artistic quality. Rousseau's work exerted an extensive influence on several generations of avant-garde artists.

1904 - Fats Waller (born Thomas Wright), American jazz pianist, organist, composer, violinist, singer, and comedic entertainer. His innovations in the Harlem stride style laid the groundwork for modern jazz piano. His best-known compositions, "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Honeysuckle Rose", were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1984 and 1999. Waller copyrighted over 400 songs, many of them co-written with his closest collaborator, Andy Razaf.

 

1917 - Raymond William Stacy Burr, Canadian actor known for his lengthy Hollywood film career and his title roles in television dramas Perry Mason and Ironside.  Burr's acting career included roles on Broadway, radio, television, and film, usually as the villain. His portrayal of the suspected murderer in the Alfred Hitchcock thriller Rear Window (1954) is his best-known film role, although he is also remembered for his role in the 1956 film Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, which he reprised in the 1985 film Godzilla 1985. He won Emmy Awards for acting in 1959 and 1961 for the role of Perry Mason, which he played for nine seasons (1957–1966) and reprised in a series of 26 Perry Mason TV movies (1985–1993). His second TV series, Ironside, earned him six Emmy and two Golden Globe nominations.

 
1944 - Mary B. Robinson (Mary Therese Winifred Robinson), Irish independent politician, First woman President of Ireland, she served as the seventh President of Ireland from December 1990 to September 1997. She served as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and a Senator for the University of Dublin. She first rose to prominence as an academic, barrister and campaigner. She became the first Independent candidate nominated by the Labour Party, the Workers' Party and Independent Senators. She was the first elected President in the office's history not to have had the support of Fianna Fáil. She is widely regarded as a transformative figure for Ireland, and for the Irish presidency, revitalising and liberalising a previously conservative, low-profile political office. She resigned the presidency two months ahead of the end of her term of office to take up her post in the United Nations.

Leftie:
Artist Albrecht Dürer

 

More birthdays and historical events today, May 21 - On This Day

 

Featured Video:

 

Albrecht Dürer's Melencolia.  "Decoding art: Dürer's Melencolia I", uploaded by Smarthistory. This famous image, full of meanings, tell us what each object symbolizes, and how they relate to the overall theme of melancholy. Special thanks to the Minneapolis Institute of Art Albrecht Dürer, Melencolia I, 1514, engraving (Minneapolis Institute of Art). Accessed May 21, 2020.
 

Historical Events

1471 - Henry VI, King of England and France, is killed in the Tower of London. Edward IV takes the throne.

1536 - Geneva, Switzerland, officially adopts the Reformation. 

May 20 Dateline

Birthdays

1759 - Dr. William Thornton, British-American physician, inventor, painter and architect who designed the United States Capitol. He also served as the first Architect of the Capitol and first Superintendent of the United States Patent Office.

 

1799 - Honore de Balzac,  French novelist and playwright. His novel sequence La Comédie humaine, which presents a panorama of post-Napoleonic French life, is generally viewed as his magnum opus. (French author spotlight Balzac. Uploaded by The Medieval Reader. Accessed May 20, 2019.) 

1806 - John Stuart Mill (usually cited as J. S. Mill), British philosopher, political economist, and civil servant. One of the most influential thinkers in the history of classical liberalism, he contributed widely to social theory, political theory, and political economy. Dubbed "the most influential English-speaking philosopher of the nineteenth century", Mill's conception of liberty justified the freedom of the individual in opposition to unlimited state and social control. He was a proponent of utilitarianism, an ethical theory developed by his predecessor Jeremy Bentham. He contributed to the investigation of scientific methodology, though his knowledge of the topic was based on the writings of others, notably William Whewell, John Herschel, and Auguste Comte.

1903 - Jerzy Fitelberg, Polish-American composer. He said that his style of composition was similar to the energy and high voltage music of Stravinsky, a focus on linear and harmonic complexity as in Hindemith, and colors of contemporary French music such as Milhaud. In 1927 Fitelberg re-orchestrated Arthur Sullivan's music for The Mikado for Erik Charell's re-staging as an operetta-revue in Berlin's Grosses Schauspielhaus. (Review in the Times (London) September 2, 1927. In 1928, his String Quartet no. 2 won first prize in a competition organized by the Association of Young Polish Musicians in Paris. His first violin concerto made a major impression on the 1929 International Society for Contemporary Music concert.

1908 - James Maitland Stewart, American actor and military officer. Known for his distinctive drawl and every man screen persona, Stewart had a film career that spanned over 55 years and 80 films. With the strong morality he portrayed both on and off the screen, Stewart epitomized the "American ideal" in 20th-century United States. In 1999, the American Film Institute (AFI) ranked him third on its list of the greatest American male actors. 

1946 - Cher (born Cherilyn Sarkisian), American singer, actress and TV personality. Commonly referred to by the media as the "Goddess of Pop", Cher is known for her distinctive contralto singing voice, as well as adopting a variety of styles and appearances. Cher gained popularity in 1965 as one-half of the folk rock husband-wife duo Sonny & Cher after their song "I Got You Babe" peaked at number one on the US and UK charts. By the end of 1967, they had sold 40 million records worldwide. She became a TV with her CBS shows The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, watched by over 30 million viewers weekly during its three-year run, and Cher. She emerged as a fashion trendsetter by wearing elaborate outfits on her television shows.

Leftie:
None known

 

More birthdays and historical events, May 20 - On This Day

 

Feature:

 

Enjoy the music of  Jerzy Fitelberg (1903-1951): Sonata per pianoforte No.1 (1926).  Pianist: Kolja Lessing.  Accessed May 20, 2017

Historical Events

1773 - Captain James Cook, explorer, releases the first sheep in New Zealand.

1873 - Levi Strauss of San Francisco and Jacob Davis of Nevada receive a patent for miners' work pants, marking the birthday of a quintessential American garment - blue jeans. 

May 19 Dateline

Birthdays

1861 - Dame Nellie Melba, (born Helen Porter Mitchell), DBE, Australian operatic soprano, one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian era and the early 20th century, and was the first Australian to achieve international recognition as a classical musician. She took the pseudonym "Melba" from Melbourne, her home town. She moved to Europe in search of a singing career. She studied in Paris, made a great success there and in Brussels. Returning to London she established herself as the leading lyric soprano at Covent Garden. She was successful in Europe and later at New York's Metropolitan Opera. She was known for her performances in French and Italian opera, but sang little German opera. She raised large sums for WWI charities. She returned to Australia frequently during the 20th century, singing in opera and concerts. She was active as singing teacher at the Melbourne Conservatorium. Her death, in Australia, was news across the English-speaking world, and her funeral was a major national event. The Australian $100 note features her image.

1914 - Max Perutz (born Max Ferdinand Perutz, OM CH CBE FRS, Austrian-born British molecular biologist, who shared the 1962 Nobel Prize for Chemistry with John Kendrew, for their studies of the structures of haemoglobin and myoglobin. He went on to win the Royal Medal of the Royal Society in 1971 and the Copley Medal in 1979. At Cambridge he founded and chaired (1962–79) the Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB), fourteen of whose scientists have won Nobel Prizes. Perutz's contributions to molecular biology in Cambridge are documented in The History of the University of Cambridge: Volume 4 (1870 to 1990) published by the Cambridge University Press in 1992.

1930 - Lorraine Vivian Hansberry, American playwright, known for her best work A Raisin in the Sun, the first African-American female author to have a play performed on Broadway. At the age of 29, she won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award — making her the first African-American dramatist, the fifth woman, and the youngest playwright to do so. Hansberry's family had struggled against segregation, challenging a restrictive covenant and eventually provoking the 1940 Supreme Court case Hansberry v. Lee.

1941 - Nora Ephron, American journalist, writer, and filmmaker. She is best known for her romantic comedy films and was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Writing: for Silkwood, When Harry Met Sally..., and Sleepless in Seattle. She won a BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay for When Harry Met Sally.... She often co-wrote scripts with her sister Delia Ephron. Her last film was Julie & Julia. Her first produced play, Imaginary Friends, was honored as one of the ten best plays of the 2002–03 New York theatre season. In 2013, Ephron received a posthumous Tony Award nomination for Best Play for Lucky Guy. She also directed “You’ve Got Mail” starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks.

1942 - Carla Maria Zampatti AC, OMRI, Italian-Australian fashion designer and businesswoman, and executive chair of the fashion label Carla Zampatti Pty Ltd. Zampatti became one of the first Australian designers to introduce swimwear into her collection. Expanding into other areas of fashion, she was commissioned to create the first designer eyewear of Polaroid's range. In 1983, Zampatti launched her first successful perfume, 'Carla', and a second in 1987, 'Bellezza'. In partnership with Ford Australia, Zampatti redesigned a car especially for the women's market. Zampatti held a number of directorships, including chairman of the SBS Corporation, a director of the Westfield Group, and a trustee of the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

Lefties:
None known 

 

More birthdays and historical events today, May 19 - On This Day.

 

Historical Events

1536 - The execution of Anne Boleyn takes place. She was Henry VIII's second wife and mother to Elizabeth I. She stood accused of adultery. She is buried in a chapel at the Tower of London.

1842 - G. Donizetti's opera Linda di Chamounix is first performed, in Vienna.

Here's a personal favourite interpretation from the late Dame Joan Sutherland singing Donizetti's Linda Di Chamonix - "Ah! tardai troppo ... O luce di quest'anima."

 

 

1886 - Camille Saint-Saen's Symphony No. 3, for organ, two pianos, and orchestra, "Organ Symphony," is first performed, in London.  Below is a performance of  Saint-Saëns - Symphony No 3 in C minor, Op 78 - Thierry Escaich, organ; Paavo Järvi conducting the Orchestre de Paris.  YouTube, uploaded by Classical Vault 1. Accessed May 19, 2023.  

May 18 Dateline

Birthdays

1830 - Karl Goldmark (born Károly Goldmark, Keszthely), Hungarian-born Viennese  composer. His opera Die Königin von Saba ("The Queen of Sheba"), Op. 27 was celebrated during his lifetime. First performed in Vienna on 10 March 1875, the work proved so popular that it remained in the repertory of the Vienna Staatsoper continuously until 1938. He wrote six other operas. The Rustic Wedding Symphony (Ländliche Hochzeit), Op. 26 (premiered 1876), was kept in the repertory by Sir Thomas Beecham, and Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 28, was once his most frequently played piece. A very romantic work, it has a Magyar march in the first movement and passages reminiscent of Dvořák and Mendelssohn in the second and third movements.

1868 - Nicholas II (Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer, was the last Emperor of All Russia, ruling from 1 November 1894 until his forced abdication on 15 March 1917. During his reign the Russian Empire fell from one of the foremost great powers of the world to economic and military collapse. He was reviled by Soviet historians as a weak and incompetent leader whose decisions led to military defeats and the deaths of millions of his subjects. By contrast Anglo-Russian historian Nikolai Tolstoy, leader of the International Monarchist League, said in 2012, "There were many bad things about the Czar's regime, but he inherited an autocracy and his acts are now being seen in perspective and in comparison to the terrible crimes committed by the Soviets."

1872 - Bertrand Russell, (Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell), OM FRS, British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, writer, essayist, social critic, political activist, and Nobel laureate. Throughout his life, Russell considered himself a liberal, a socialist and a pacifist, although he also sometimes suggested that his sceptical nature had led him to feel that he had "never been any of these things, in any profound sense."

1913 - Perry Como (born Pierino Ronald Como), American singer and actor. He recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, after signing with the label in 1943. "Mr. C.", as he was nicknamed, sold millions of records and pioneered a weekly musical variety television show. Como received five Emmys, a Christopher Award and shared a Peabody Award with good friend Jackie Gleason. He was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame in 1990 and received a Kennedy Center Honor. Posthumously, Como received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame. He has the distinction of having three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in radio, television, and music.

1919 - Dame Margot Fonteyn, stage name of Margaret Evelyn de Arias, was an English ballerina. (Margot Fonteyn, a Documentary. Updated by Susan Avenue. Accessed February 12, 2019.) She spent her entire career as a dancer with the Royal Ballet (formerly the Sadler's Wells Theater Company), eventually being appointed prima ballerina assoluta of the company by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. In 1961, when she was considering retirement, Soviet ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev, the greatest ballet dancer of his generation, defected from the Kirov Ballet while dancing in Paris. Though reluctant to partner with him because of their 19-year age difference, Fonteyn danced with him in his début with the Royal Ballet in Giselle, on 21 February 1962. The duo immediately became an international sensation. (video below: M. Fonteyn dancing with Rudolf Nureyev - Accessed May 18, 2018.)

1920 - Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła), Head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 to 2005. He was elected pope by the second papal conclave of 1978, which was called after Pope John Paul I, who had been elected in August to succeed Pope Paul VI, died after 33 days. Cardinal Wojtyła was elected on the third day of the conclave and adopted the name of his predecessor in tribute to him. John Paul II is recognised as helping to end Communist rule in his native Poland and eventually all of Europe. He significantly improved the Catholic Church's relations with Judaism, Islam, and the Eastern Orthodox Church. He upheld the Church's teachings on such matters as the right to life, artificial contraception, the ordination of women, and a celibate clergy. Although he supported the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, he was seen as generally conservative in their interpretation.

Lefties:
None known

Death: 

1911 - Composer Gustav Mahler, one of the leading composers of his generation.  It was shortly after 11 o’clock in the evening, May 18, 1911. Mahler lay with dazed eyes; one finger was conducting on the quilt. There was a smile on his lips and said: "Mozart!" "Mozart!"  

 

 

More birthdays and historical events today, May 18 - On This Day. 

 

Features: 

Dame Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev performing  Tchaikovsky's famous Swan Lake, Op. 20,  Act 4 - Pas de deux. Apology, this video is no longer available. Instead, here's Rudolph Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn - SWAN LAKE - act 3 Pas de Deux. Youtube, uploaded by Rare Ballet & Opera Videos. Accessed February 8, 2023.

 

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Karl Goldmark's Rustic Wedding Symphony (Ländliche Hochzeit) in E-flat major, Op. 26. He wrote this music in 1875, a year before his renowned Violin Concerto No. 1. The symphony was premiered in Vienna on 5 March 1876, conducted by Hans Richter. Johannes Brahms, a frequent walking companion of Goldmark's, and whose own Symphony No. 1 was not premiered until November 1876, told him: "That is the best thing you have done; clear-cut and faultless, it sprang into being a finished thing, like Minerva from the head of Jupiter." Its first American performance was at New York Philharmonic Society concert, conducted by Theodore Thomas on 13 January 1877.