#OnThisDay in 1912, #JulesMassenet, French opera #composer (Werther; Manon), died of abdominal cancer at 70.
#RIP

#OnThisDay in 1928, #LeošJanáček, Czech #composer, died at 74.
#RIP

Today in Labor History August 12, 1936: The First International Brigades arrived in Spain to fight against Franco. Organized by the Communist International, between 40,000 and 60,000 men and women from around the world fought on the Republican side against the fascists. 10,000 of them died. Thousands more international activists joined anti-Stalinist forces, like the socialist POUM, or anarchist groups, like the FAI, CNT and the Durruti Column. Americans defied federal law to participate in the International Brigade, as members of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. Famous Lincoln participants included Avant Garde composer Conlon Nancarrow, labor organizer Delmer Berg, scifi author Theodore Cogswell, novelist William Herrick. The Tom Mooney Company, named for San Francisco labor organizer, Tom Mooney, who was wrongly imprisoned for the WWI Preparedness Day bombing, was commanded by African American labor organizer Oliver Law, the first African-American to command an integrated American military unit. Many African-Americans joined the anti-franco forces. Langston Hughes, who was writing for the Baltimore Afro-American, said: "Give Franco a hood, and he would be a member of the Ku Klux Klan." There was also a George Washington Battlian, and a John Brown battery. Once the U.S. entered World War II, the FBI recommended that none of the veterans of the Spanish war against fascism be given any promotions within the U.S. military, to prevent the “rise of communists” in their ranks. The House UnAmerican Activities Committee (HUAC) blacklisted all American veterans of the Spanish war.

You can read my complete article on Tom Mooney here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/05/19/tom-mooney-and-warren-billings/

#workingclass #LaborHistory #lincolnbrigades #spain #fascism #antifa #antifascism #anarchism #communism #socialism #stalin #fai #cnt #durruti #tommooney #oliverlaw #union #books #author #writer #composer #Blackmastadon @bookstadon

#OnThisDay in 1992, #JohnCage, American #composer (4′33″; Imaginary Landscape No 1/O'O), died of a #stroke at 79.
#RIP

Here's my entry for this month's IndieWeb carnival, hosted by @immarisabel!

I was excited for this prompt since it gives me the opportunity to talk about “color” as it relates to musical timbre, and how I like to emphasize those aspects when I write music:

https://reillyspitzfaden.com/posts/2025/08/indieweb-carnival-tone-colors/

#IndieWeb #Blogging #Blog #Musodon #Composer #ContemporaryMusic #ClassicalMusic #ElectronicMusic #ExperimentalMusic #NoiseMusic @contemporarymusic

Tonight's Geography of Sound will focus on the International Composers Rostrum 2025 - episode 1, featuring works from Portugal, Bulgaria and Denmark: Mariana Dionísio, João Caldas, Carlos Azevedo, Athanasia Kotronia and Pavel Vaklinov.
Click here at 24h (GMT) to listen: http://www.rtp.pt/antena2/ or listen to it later here: http://www.rtp.pt/programa/radio/p1123 @composers @contemporarymusic #radio #composer #newmusic

#OnThisDay in 2008, #IsaacHayes, American Southern soul #musician, singer-songwriter, Grammy and Academy Award-winning #composer ("Theme from Shaft"), and actor (The Rockford Files - "Gandolf Fitch"; South Park -"Chef"), died of a likely stroke at 65.
#RIP †

#OnThisDay in 1648, #JohannMichaelBach, German #composer (In Dulci Jubilo), born in Arnstadt, Electorate of Saxony (d. 1694).
#RIP

#OnThisDay in 1975, #DmitriShostakovich, Russian #composer (The Gadfly; The Nose), died of #lungcancer at 68.
#RIP

Un Sacrifice IV is on FILM MUSIC THEORY (DIGITAL LP) 2010 LYS 014
#music #filmscore #soundtrack #film #composer #piano #filmcomposer #musician #pianoplayer #pianist #producer #movie #musicproducer #love #songwriter #artist #recordingstudio #hollywood #instamusic #musiccomposer #musicproduction #pianomusic #soundtracks #song #swissmusic #violin #musiccomposition #band #losangeles #newmusic

#OnThisDay in 1619, #BarbaraStrozzi, Italian #singer, theorbo player, and #composer, baptized in Venice, Republic of Venice (d. 1677).
#RIP

In this excerpt from Spotlight On, saxophonist and composer Sean Imboden weighs the benefits and limitations of using MIDI and digital composition tools, like Finale and Dorico, against composing directly at the piano.

Listen to the full conversation on the latest episode of the Spotlight On podcast: https://www.spotlightonpodcast.com/sean-imboden-into-the-heart-of-big-band-jazz-indianapolis/

Symphony of Creation: Understanding What It Takes To Compose #composer #composing #inspiration https://muz4now.com/2024/symphony-of-creation-understanding-what-it-takes-to-compose

The Geography of Sound is back with a new season devoted to new music written around the World. Tonight's will be dedicated to new recordings of works by Cesar Viana, António Pinho Vargas, Estêvão Filipe Chissano & Francisco Fontes.
Click here at 24h (GMT) to listen: http://www.rtp.pt/antena2/ or listen to it later here: http://www.rtp.pt/programa/radio/p1123
@contemporarymusic @composers #newmusic #radio #modernmusic #composer #composers #antena2

Sustain Creativity – Pushing Too Far – part 2 #brokenankle #composer #musician https://muz4now.com/2024/sustain-creativity-pushing-too-far-part-2

#OnThisDay in 1997, #FelaKuti, Nigerian Afrobeat #musician and #composer, died of an illness, disputedly #AIDS related, at 58.
#RIP

In this clip from the new episode of Spotlight On, saxophonist and composer Sean Imboden discusses the importance of stepping back to appreciate the collective efforts of highly skilled musicians, while also addressing the need for precise arrangement to prevent chaos.

Check out the full conversation on the Spotlight On podcast: https://www.spotlightonpodcast.com/sean-imboden-into-the-heart-of-big-band-jazz-indianapolis/

Butterflies

A song I wrote during a 21 days of VGM composition challenge. This one was dedicated to a dear friend and his family when they were going through a hard time.

➣ Full song: https://youtu.be/IZsWCX9DZeI

#OnThisDay in 1982, #CarolineShaw, American violinist, #singer, and Pulitzer Prize winning #composer (Partita for 8 Voices), born in Greenville, North Carolina.
#HappyBirthday #43 ⊹₊⋆₊°⊹

1/ I post regularly about #Music - all kinds/genres, from rock-to-classical and everything in between. Also my published essays on music show up here on occasion. I’m a real fan and an amateur ethnomusicologist. My YouTube channel with @ 3,500 #MusicVideos in 19 playlists is in my bio. Currently, I’m very excited for the #ClassicalMusic world, as we have an amazing rare young talent to follow and celebrate. Often called, with good reason, a ‘modern day Mozart’, multi-instrumentalist, composer and now conductor Alma Deutscher is a phenomena. If you don’t already know about her, allow me… this thread will thoroughly introduce her. She started playing piano at 2, violin at 4. She wrote her first concerto at 6 and her 1st opera at 10. Her opera, Cinderella, has been performed in Vienna and in California. I’ve been following her since she was a child prodigy. Here’s a 9 year-old Alma playing the 3rd movement of her violin concerto. https://youtu.be/zad7fkhGzzs?si=-mWqPYSU9i3iS5_0 #AlmaDeutscher #composer #conductor #MusicalProdigy