MANA ZUCCA CASSEL - USA
BORN 25 DECEMBER
Mana-Zucca was an American actress, singer, pianist and composer.
Mana-Zucca was interested in music when she was very young. As Mana-Zucca approached her early teens, she sailed to Europe with her elder sister Beatrice, better known as Bess. They settled in Berlin, Germany, and she soon became part of that city's busy and exciting cultural milieu. Mana-Zucca's debut in Berlin, at the Bechstein Saal, was highly acclaimed and opened doors for other engagements throughout Europe. Given the opportunity to play with famous Spanish violinist Juan Manén, she performed with him in several successful concerts before signing a contract to play sixty concerts with him over a three-year period; they appeared together throughout Germany and Russia.
While in Berlin, Mana-Zucca studied the works of Brahms with the eminent pedagogue Josef Weiss, and later she was accepted for study in the master classes of the great Ferruccio Busoni, which she attended for eight months. She received private instruction from Leopold Godowsky and also attended master classes that he conducted for selected students. In addition, while in Berlin she studied voice with a Fraülein van Gelder, and later, in London, she studied with Raimond von zur Mühlen, a famous singer of lieder and a much-sought-after voice teacher.
Mana-Zucca and her sister stayed in London for several years after leaving Berlin. In England and later in the United States, she was accepted as a singer in several musical comedies, including 'The Count of Luxembourg, The Rose Maid' and 'The Geisha.'
A new phase in Mana-Zucca's life began when she accepted the marriage proposal of Irwin M. Cassel, a gentleman she had known since her youth. The couple eloped on 21 September 1921. Cassel promised his new wife that they would spend seven months of each year in New York City and the remaining five months in Miami, Florida, where he made his home. Cassel supported Mana-Zucca's musical career and even wrote the lyrics to the then-famous song "I Love Life" (1923), which was performed by celebrated singers such as John Charles Thomas and Lawrence Tibbett. Ultimately, and especially after the birth of her only child, a son, in 1926, Miami became her permanent residence. She spent many happy hours there composing and presenting musicales in her home, "Mazica Hall." She was the teacher of pianist and pioneer Ruth W. Greenfield. She died in Miami.
Mana-Zucca had three distinct but interconnected careers: as a concert pianist of great renown, as a singer who performed leading roles in musical comedy, and as a prolific composer. Her brochure of published music totals more than four hundred works. These include music for piano, orchestra, and voice. In addition, she also composed music for young students.
The University of Miami awarded Mana-Zucca an honorary Doctor of Music on May 19, 1974.
Mana-Zucca died in Miami on March 8, 1981. Her papers including copies of her compositions are housed at Florida International University.
Mana-Zucca composed over 1,000 works, including two operas (Hypatia and Queue of Ki-Lu), orchestral works, a ballet, three choral works, more than 20 chamber works and solo works, including the piano concerto Op. 49, a collection of 366 piano pieces called “My Musical Calendar” and the violin concerto Op. 224 for the American violinist Joan Field. Her compositions are best known through popular songs, including "There's Joy in My Heart", "Big Brown Bear", "Honey Lamb" and "Time and Time Again", with the lyrics by her husband Irwin M. Cassel.
♫ LISTEN
Sonata Op 27 by Mana Zucca Cassel
Sonata Op 27 by Mana Zucca Cassel
FERNANDE DECRUCK - FRANCE
BORN 25 DECEMBER
Fernande Decruck (née Breilh) (25 December 1896 – 6 August 1954) was a French composer who composed over 40 works for the saxophone. Most well-known is her Sonata in C sharp minor for alto saxophone or viola, dedicated to Marcel Mule.
Her studies in improvisation on organ led her to travel to America where she gave her first organ recitals in New York. Her husband, Maurice Decruck, a clarinetist, saxophonist and double-bassist played both bass and saxophone with the New York Philharmonic. Maurice Decruck later became a music publisher, opening the company Les Editions de Paris. They married in 1924 and had three children, Jeannine Decruck (born 1925), Michel Decruck (born 1926) and Alain Decruck (born 1937). She moved to the United States with her family in 1928.
In 1932, Maurice Decruck returned to Paris and began a publishing company ‘’Les Editions de Paris’’ that would go on to publish Fernande Decruck’s compositions. Fernande Decruck later rejoined her husband in Paris in 1933. When Fernande returned to France, she began teaching harmony at the Conservatoire de Toulouse. Between 1937 and 1942 she lived in Toulouse with her children apart from her husband in Paris. During this period she continued to teach, compose and perform. In 1942 she moved back to Paris and many of her works were premiered between 1943 and 1947 including her Sonata in C# minor.
Fernande and Maurice Decruck divorced in 1950 after several years of separation. She died of a stroke on 6 August 1954.
♫ LISTEN
Pieces Françaises by Fernande Decruck
Pieces Françaises by Fernande Decruck
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