Stefan Wolpe

Stefan Wolpe was a German-born American composer. He was associated with interdisciplinary modernism, with affiliations ranging from the Bauhaus, Berlin agitprop theater and the kibbutz movement to the Eighth Street Artists' Club, Black Mountain College, and the Darmstadt Summer Courses for New Music. He lived and worked in Berlin (1902–1933) until the Nazi seizure of power forced him to move first to Vienna (1933–34) and Jerusalem (1934–38) before settling in New York City (1938–72). In works such as Battle Piece (1942/1947) and "In a State of Flight" in Enactments for Three Pianos (1953), he responded self-consciously to the circumstances of his uprooted life, a theme he also explored extensively in voluminous diaries, correspondence, and lectures. His densely eclectic music absorbed ideas and idioms from diverse artistic milieus, including post-tonality, bebop, and Arab classical musics.

25 August 1902

Born on the same birth day (25 August): Adrian Lam • Andy McDonald (ice hockey) • Billy Ray Cyrus • Bryce Mackasey • Daniel Hulet • Des Renford • George C. Magoun • Ian Falconer • Jeff Tweedy • Jim Smith (cricketer, born 1906) • Kurban Berdyev • Louis I of Spain • Ludwig II of Bavaria • Marlon Harewood • Monty Hall • Nikolay Zinin • Philippe van Lansberge • Ricardo Rodriguez (footballer) • Shock G • Takeshi Ueda • Wilhelm von Homburg

Born in the same month (August 1902): Alfredo Binda • Angel Karaliychev • Carlo Gambino • Christian de Castries • Curt Siodmak • Edward Rowe Snow • Fernand Braudel • Georgette Heyer • Leni Riefenstahl • Margaret Murie • Mina Rees • Ogden Nash • Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria • Regina Jonas