A couple of years ago, we celebrated the 100th birthday of the iconic American composer Leonard Bernstein. Bernstein was quite possibly one of the most significant influences on American music in the 20th century. However, when we look at what other composers were born in August, it’s a pretty special month for some of music’s most innovative creators. The following is a list of just a few musical game-changers with birthdays to celebrate this month.
August 1, 1982 - Caroline Shaw. Shaw is a favorite composer of the current era, and she is the youngest person to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music at 30 years old in 2013. Today, not yet 40, her star is rising, and it’s hard to imagine that history won’t look kindly on her already stellar career. A couple of pieces to listen for on CapRadio are the string quartet, Plan and Elevation, and selections from her recent collaboration with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Is a Rose and The Listeners.
August 15, 1875 - Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. Coleridge-Taylor was an English composer who was raised by his mother and her father. However, Taylor’s grandfather was an adept violinist and one of the earliest inspirations of the aspiring composer. Taylor’s music often drew from his African roots, similar to how Brahms integrated Hungarian music or Dvorak used Czech music to coincide with the traditional classical style. His Petite Suite de Concert is in heavy rotation on CapRadio. Listeners may also enjoy his lyric and romantic African Dances for Piano and Violin.
August 18, 1957 - Tan Dun. Dun is an Academy and Grammy Award-winning composer with a flair for theatrics. His music is visceral and dramatic, fusing elements of both Eastern and Western culture. He garnered worldwide acclaim for his original score to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. You may also enjoy his Debussy-esque piano cycle Eight Memories in Watercolor, or if you’re feeling adventurous, take a listen to his Guitar Concerto, Yi2 featuring renowned soloist Sharon Isbin.
August 22, 1862 - Claude Debussy. Debussy was a French composer who was not only associated with the onset of impressionism in late 19th-century France, but also proved to be one of the significant influences in all of the early 20th-century music, including jazz, popular music and Hollywood. Alex Ross of the New Yorker says, “When both the severe [Pierre] Boulez and the suave Duke Ellington cite you as a precursor, you have done something singular.” Clair de Lune, Images for Orchestra, and Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun are all a great place to start with Debussy.
August 27, 1886 - Rebecca Clarke. Clarke was a British viola virtuoso and one of the first women to play in a professional orchestra. In 1918, while living in New York, Clarke gave a recital of her compositions and penned one of the pieces under the pseudonym Anthony Trent. The Trent work got all of the attention from the press, furthering Clarke’s resolve that women weren’t taken seriously in the music world. Though not prolific, Clarke’s music is held in high esteem today and gaining traction since the beginning of the 21st century thanks to the founding of the Rebecca Clarke Society. | 
