Category Archives: Music

October 13

Art Tatum: The Prodigy of Jazz

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Art Tatum, one of the most famous jazz pianists in history, was born on the 13th of October 1909, in Toledo, Ohio. His exceptional talent and prodigious technique were a true revelation to the jazz lovers at the time. Many would agree that Tatum was to jazz what Mozart to classical music. “When Art Tatum arrived…, […]

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October 11

Piaf and Cocteau: Les Enfants Terribles

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When I write I disturb. When I make a film I disturb. When I paint I disturb. When I exhibit my paintings I disturb, and I disturb if I don’t. I have a knack for disturbing. (Jean Cocteau, Diary of an Unknown) On the 11th of October 1963, a French poet, novelist, designer, playwright, artist, […]

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October 05

‘Love Me Do’ and the Hormonal Storm of the 1960s

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On the 5th of October 1962, The Beatles’ first single ‘Love Me Do’ was released. The release of the song triumphantly marks the beginning of one of the most fascinating phenomena in the history of popular music – the ‘Beatlemania’.  On the 5th of October 1962, after few years of ups and downs, The Beatles were officially […]

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September 30

Masonism in Mozart’s The Magic Flute

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On the 30th of September 1791, the opera The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart made its debut at Freihaus-Theater auf der Wieden in Vienna. The piece was finished three months before the composer died of suspected rheumatoid fever at the young age of 35. Mozart scholar Maynard Solomon wrote that, “Although there were no reviews of […]

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September 22

The Musical Brush of M. K. Ciurlionis

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On the 22nd of September 1875, Lithuanian painter, composer and writer Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis was born in Senoji Varėna, the Russian Empire. Čiurlionis contributed to symbolism and art nouveau at the turn of the century and is seen as one of the earliest experimenters with abstraction in European art. The majority of his paintings are housed in the […]

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September 17

Ettore De Grazia’s Experiments in Art and Music

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On the 17th of September 1982, American artist Ettore “Ted” De Grazia died in Tucson, Arizona. He was an impressionist, western pop painter, sculptor, and lithographer best known for his pastel images of wide-eyed Native American children, which were used by UNICEF as cover art for their greeting cards. De Grazia was born into a […]

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September 05

John Cage’s Music of Chance and Change

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On the 5th of September 1912, American composer, theorist, writer, and the pioneer of indeterminacy in music John Cage was born in Los Angeles, California. After having studied piano in LA and Paris, he came under the influence of such musical innovators as Richard Buhling, Henry Cowell, Adolph Weiss, and Arnold Schönberg. By the late […]

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August 27

Early Music Masters: Josquin des Prez

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On the 27th of August 1521, the Renaissance  Netherlandish composer Josquin des Prez died in Condé-sur-l’Escaut, nowadays Northern France. The exact year and place of his birth are still not known, yet this does not prevent scholars and early music lovers from stating that Josquin was one of the most renowned musicians of his time. […]

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August 01

Jim Carroll: Punk and Poetry

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On the 1st of August 1949, American poet and punk musician Jim Carroll was born in Manhattan, New York City. Initially a pupil at Catholic schools, in 1964 he won a scholarship to the elite Trinity School, where he starred at basketball. It is at Trinity that he took up writing and started experimenting with […]

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July 19

Florence Foster Jenkins: The World’s Worst Singer?

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On the 19th of July 1868, American amateur operatic soprano Florence Foster Jenkins was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Jenkins had no sense of rhythm or intonation, yet she became highly popular during her time, making it eventually into Carnegie Hall, New York. Considering her lacking vocal abilities, she nevertheless appears to have taken herself seriously and […]

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