Famous lines from two extraordinary, charismatic poets b otd: Dylan Thomas (1914): "Do not go gentle into that good night but rage, rage against the dying of the light." Sylvia Plath (1932): “I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead; I lift my eyes and all is born again.”

I didn't know that - interesting!

Domenico Scarlatti b otd 1685! What an endlessly fascinating composer - his music glitters, sparkles, dances, seduces with its pathos, makes us laugh - a completely unique talent, a one-off in musical history. And so distinguished-looking!

Georges Bizet b otd 1838 - what a wonderful composer. And he understood the power of opera so well (of course!): “As a musician I tell you that if you were to suppress adultery, fanaticism, crime, evil, the supernatural, there would no longer be the means for writing one note.”

I hope he just moved - or was moved - to a different seat. Sounds like an airline mistake - presumably he wouldn't have been allowed to bring the cello onboard unless he had bought a ticket?

Oh, I think there is - primeval…

Positive thoughts from composer George Crumb (b otd 1929): “Perhaps many of the perplexing problems of the new music could be put into a new light if we were to reintroduce the ancient idea of music being a reflection of nature.” “I am optimistic about the future of music.”

Wise (if unlikely to be heeded!) words from St Ignatius (b otd 1491): Be slow to speak, and only after having first listened quietly, so that you may understand the meaning, leanings, and wishes of those who do speak. Thus you will better know when to speak and when to be silent.

Two of my all-time favourite musicians d otd: Pablo Casals (1973) & Nadia Boulanger (1979). Casals: “Music is the divine way to tell beautiful, poetic things to the heart.” Boulanger: “Nothing is better than music...It has done more for us than we have the right to hope for.”

Alas, Bernard Haitink d otd 2021. On rehearsing: "I want to create a communication in a way which you have to do during a concert...Words don’t help then...I come with a perception of how I want it, but I leave something open because I don’t know what will come to me." Wonderful!

Thought from Charles Ives (b otd 1874): Beauty in music is too often confused with something that lets the ear lie back in an easy chair...Frequently, if a new work is accepted as beautiful on its first hearing, its fundamental quality is one that tends to put the mind to sleep.