Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji (1892–1988) was an English composer, music
critic, pianist and writer whose music, written over a period of seventy
years, ranges from sets of miniatures to works lasting several hours.
One of the most prolific 20th-century composers, he is best known for
his piano pieces, notably nocturnes such as Gulistān, and large-scale,
technically intricate works like Sequentia cyclica. He had a lifelong
tendency to seclusion and felt alienated from English society by reason
of his homosexuality and ancestry; his mother was English and his father
a Parsi businessman and industrialist from India. After playing his
music publicly between 1920 and 1936, Sorabji imposed restrictions on
its performance, which he lifted in 1976. He has been likened to the
composer-pianists he admired, including Franz Liszt and Charles-Valentin
Alkan, and his harmonic language and complex rhythms anticipated works
from the mid-20th century onwards.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaikhosru_Shapurji_Sorabji>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1888:
George Lusk, the chairman of the Whitechapel Vigilance
Committee in London, received a letter allegedly from Jack the Ripper.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_Hell_letter>
1917:
Dutch exotic dancer Mata Hari was executed by a firing squad
for spying for Germany.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mata_Hari>
1954:
Hurricane Hazel made landfall in the Carolinas in the United
States before moving north to Toronto in Canada later the same day,
killing a total of 176 people in both countries.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Hazel>
2011:
Global demonstrations against economic inequality, corporate
influence on government, and other issues, were held in more than 950
cities in 82 countries.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/15_October_2011_global_protests>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
beg to differ:
1. (idiomatic) To offer an opposing opinion humbly.
2. (idiomatic) To differ (strongly) in interpretation or opinion.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/beg_to_differ>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The best way to win was to not need to win. The best performances
are accomplished when you are relaxed and free of doubt.
--Abdul Kalam
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Abdul_Kalam>
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