Musicians And Composers On Stamps

Here is an image of a stamp honoring French composer Claude-Achille Debussy (1862-1918), designed by Israeli artist Gabriel Shamir (1909-1992), printed by photogravure, and issued by Togo on April 15, 1967 as one of a set of seven stamps commemorating the 20th anniversary (in 1966) of UNESCO, Scott No. 602, plus a YouTube link to a performance by French harpist Emmanuel Ceysson (1984- ) of Claude Debussy's impressionistic prelude La Fille aux cheveux de lin ("The Girl with the Flaxen Hair").

- nethryk

Happy Birthday to Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (1899-1963), a French composer of solo piano music, chamber music, oratorio, choral music, opera, ballet music, and orchestral music. Here are images of a semi-postal (charity) stamp honoring Poulenc, designed and engraved by Jacques Combet (1920-1993), and issued by France on February 23, 1974, Scott No. B474, Y&T No. 1785, plus a photo of the composer, and a YouTube link to a 2013 performance by the Calmus Ensemble of Francis Poulenc's responsorial chant "O Magnum Mysterium."

- nethryk

Happy Birthday to Wallonian Belgian classical music composer Jean Joseph Nicolas Guillaume Lekeu (1870-1894). Here is an image of a stamp honoring Guillaume Lekeu, designed by Belgian artist Gerard Gaudaen (1927-2003), printed by photogravure, and issued by Belgium on August 16, 1994 to commemorate the centenary of the composer's premature death (by typhoid fever), Scott No. 1559, plus an image of a portrait of Guillaume Lekeu, c. 1886, and YouTube links to a 2007 performance (parts 1 and 2) of his composition Adagio, op. 3 for orchestra with solo violin (1885-88), by the Orchestre de Chambre Pelléas, Eugène Tichindeleanu, violon solo; Laurent Camatte, alto solo; Annabelle Brey, violoncelle solo; Benjamin Levy, directing.

- nethryk

Happy Birthday to Austrian composer Franz Peter Schubert (1797-1828). Here is an image of a stamp honoring Schubert, designed and combined engraved by Otto Stefferl (1931- ) and photogravure, and issued by Austria on May 9, 1997 to commemorate the bicentenary of the composer's birth, Scott No. 1724, plus an image of a detail from an oil portrait of Schubert by Austrian painter Wilhelm August Rieder (1796-1880) which was probably a model for this stamp's design, and a YouTube link to a 2011 performance by Camille Thomas (cello) and Beatrice Berrut (piano) of Franz Schubert's Ständchen ("Serenade").

- nethryk

Happy Birthday to Austrian composer Alban Maria Johannes Berg (1885-1935). Alban Berg's opera Wozzeck was first performed in 1925. Here is an image of a stamp depicting a poster for Wozzeck created by Polish graphic designer and cartoonist Jan Lenica (1928-2001), printed by lithography, and issued by Poland on December 10, 1993, Scott No. 3183, plus a YouTube link to a trailer for a 2015/16 performance of Wozzeck at the Opernhaus Zürich.

- nethryk

Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Swiss cleric, composer and choir director Abbé Joseph Bovet (1879-1951), designed and engraved by Max Boegli, and issued by Switzerland on September 14, 1978, Scott No. 662, plus an image of a photograph of Bovet which may have been the model for this stamp's design, and a YouTube link to a performance of Joseph Bovet's La fanfare du printemps by Melos-Chor Bern.

- nethryk

Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Soviet composer and pianist Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich (1906-1975), designed by Karel Svolinský (1996-1986), combined engraved by Miloš Ondrácek (1936- ) and photogravure, and issued by Czechoslovakia on March 10, 1981, Scott No. 2353, plus a photograph of Dmitri Shostakovich in 1925, and a YouTube link to a performance by the USSR Cinema Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Emin Khachaturian, of the "Romance" from Shostakovich's composition The Gadfly Suite, Op. 97a, which was originally used as the score for the 1955 Soviet film The Gadfly, and again as the main theme for Reilly, Ace of Spies, a superb 1983 British television miniseries starring Sam Neill.

- nethryk

František Jan Škroup (1801-1862) was a Czech composer and conductor. Here is an image of a stamp honoring Škroup, designed by Hana Cápová (1956- ), combined engraved by Vaclav Fajt (1952- ) and photogravure, and issued by Czech Republic on May 30, 2001, Scott No. 3147, plus an image of a portrait of František Jan Škroup by Czech artist Jan Vilímek (1860-1938), and a YouTube video link to a recording of František Jan Škroup's Overture to the opera Dráteník ("The Tinker," 1825), performed by the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Karel Sejna conducting.

- nethryk

Here are images of the two stamps in a set featuring a portrait of Norwegian composer and pianist Edvard Hagerup Grieg (1843-1907), and a springtime landscape, designed and combined engraved by Sverre Morken (1945- ) and photogravure, and issued by Norway on April 23, 1993 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the composer's birth, Scott Nos. 1038 & 1039, Facit Nos. 1171 & 1172, plus a YouTube link to a performance of Edvard Grieg's Til våren ("Ode To Spring"), Op. 43 No. 5 by Bulgarian-Norwegian pianist Iskra Mantcheva. Bonuses: Waterfall, signatures.

- nethryk

Happy Birthday to American singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole (1919-1965). Here is an image of a stamp honoring Cole, printed by photogravure (Delrieu), and issued by Gabon on September 1, 1972, Scott No. 295, plus a photograph of the musician at the keyboard, and a YouTube link to a performance by Nat King Cole of one of his greatest hit songs, "Unforgettable," written by Irving Gordon in 1951.

- nethryk

Happy Birthday to Enrique Santos Discépolo (1901-1951), an Argentine tango and milonga musician and composer, film actor, director and screenwriter. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a caricature portrait of Discépolo, printed by lithography, and issued by Argentina on August 4, 2001, Scott No. 2159, plus an image of a photograph of the musician, and a YouTube link to a recording of one of Enrique Santos Discépolo's most famous tangos, "Cambalache" (1935).

- nethryk

Happy Birthday to Paul Leroy Robeson (1898-1976) an American singer, actor and civil rights activist. Here is an image of a stamp honoring Robeson, designed by Berthold Lindner, printed by lithography, and issued by East Germany (DDR) on March 22, 1983, Scott No. 2330, Michel No. 2781, plus an image of a photograph of the singer in 1942, and a YouTube link to a clip of Paul Robeson singing "Ol' Man River," the most famous song from the 1936 film Show Boat, adapted from the 1927 musical of the same name, music by Jerome Kern, and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II.

- nethryk

Arrigo Boito (1842-1918) was an Italian poet, journalist, novelist, librettist and composer, best known today for his libretti, including those for Giuseppe Verdi's operas Otello and Falstaff, Amilcare Ponchielli's La Gioconda, and his own opera Mefistofele (1868). Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Boito and "Mephistopholes," designed by C. Pontani, printed by photogravure, and issued by Italy on June 10, 1968 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the librettist's death, Scott No. 982, plus an image of a photograph of Arrigo Boito, age 42, which was a model for this stamp's design, and a YouTube link to a video of American operatic bass-baritone Samuel Ramey (1942- ) singing "Son lo spirito" from Mefistofele.

- nethryk

Happy Birthday to Ruggero Leoncavallo (1857-1919), an Italian opera composer and librettist best known for his two-act work Pagliacci (1892), one of the most popular works in the repertory. Here is an image of a stamp illustrating the "Prologue" from Pagliacci, designed by Italian artist and engraver Tranquillo Marangoni (1912-1992), printed by photogravure, and issued by Italy on July 10, 1958 to commemorate the composer's birth centenary, Scott No. 745, plus an image of a postcard photographic portrait of Ruggero Leoncavallo, and a YouTube link to a performance of the Prologue by American operatic baritone Robert Merrill (1917-2004). Note: Some reference sources give Ruggero Leoncavallo's birth date as either March 8, 1857 or March 8, 1858.

- nethryk

Here is a image of an engraved stamp featuring a portrait of Estonian composer Aleksander Kunileid (born Aleksander Saebelmann, 1845-1875), best known as a founding figure of Estonian choral music, designed by Lembit Lõhmus (1947- ), and issued by Estonia on November 1, 1995 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the composer's birth, Scott No. 296, plus an image of a photograph of Aleksander Kunileid which was the model for this stamp's design, and a YouTube link to a video of the Cantus vocal ensemble performing Kunileid's choral composition Mu isamaa on minu arm ("Land of my Fathers").

- nethryk