Mary, Mary, quite contrary...

Welcome back Dear Readers.

Riddle me this...

What do 

the painter 

Georgia O'Keefe,

author

Louisa May Alcott, 

naturalist

Charles Darwin,

and author

Frank McCourt,

have in common?

They all suffered from,

but survived,

typhoid. 

One brilliant artist 

who wasn't so lucky...

the very talented 

young composer

Guillaume Lekeu,

whose birthday we celebrate today.

He died 

one day after his 24th birthday

in 1894. 

Born January 20, 1870 

in Belgium,

and later moving to Paris,

Lekeu studied with 

Cesar Franck

and Vincent d"Indy.

Lekeu wrote a number of wonderful pieces,

and in 1891

won a second Second

Prix de Rome.

I stumbled upon Lekeu's works

many, many 

years ago. 

The first recording that I picked up was 

by Quatuor Kandinsky.

It paired 

the Chausson Piano Quartet in A Major, Op. 30

with 

Lekeu's

Quatour Inacheve

Dans un emportemente douloureux

A number of fine recordings of his works 

have become available in recent years,

including this one of the 

Violin Sonata in G

 that he wrote for Ysaye,

a recording of his award winning 

cantata Andromede,

music for

Piano Trio,

and for

Piano Quartet.

You will enjoy paying tribute 

to this fine young composer.

Make a point 

of exploring the works 

of this great talent,

who left us 

way too soon.

Happy Birthday Guillaume!