NOVEMBER 22 IS THE FEAST OF ST. CECILIA, THE PATRON SAINT OF MUSIC.

November 22 is the birthday of English composer BENJAMIN BRITTEN (1913-1976). He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other vocal music, orchestral and chamber pieces. His best-known works include the opera Peter Grimes (1945), the War Requiem (1962) and the orchestral showpiece The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (1945).

Britten’s music is featured very prominently and effectively in Wes Anderson’s film, Moonrise Kingdom.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY: On November 22, 1928, the first performance of Maurice Ravel's BOLERO took place. It was danced by the Paris Opéra Ballet Company with choreography by Bronislava Nijinska. According to a possibly apocryphal story from the premiere performance, a woman was heard shouting that Ravel was mad. When told about this, Ravel is said to have remarked that she had understood the piece.

November 22 is the birthday of German painter CHRISTIAN ROHLF (1913-1976). He was a German painter and printmaker, one of the important representatives of German expressionism. To see samples of his work, CLICK HERE.

November 22 is the birthday of American singer-songwriter HOAGY CARMICHAEL (1899-1981). He composed several hundred songs, including 50 that achieved hit record status. He is best known for composing four of the most-recorded American songs of all time: "Stardust" (lyrics by Mitchell Parish), "Georgia on My Mind" (lyrics by Stuart Gorrell), "The Nearness of You" (lyrics by Ned Washington), and "Heart and Soul" (lyrics by Frank Loesser). He also collaborated with lyricist Johnny Mercer on "Lazybones" and "Skylark." Carmichael's "Ole Buttermilk Sky" was an Academy Award nominee in 1946, from Canyon Passage, in which he co-starred as a musician riding a mule. "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening," with lyrics by Mercer, won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1951. Carmichael also appeared as a character actor and musical performer in 14 films, hosted three musical-variety radio programs, performed on television, and wrote two autobiographies.

November 22 is the birthday of Spanish composer and guitarist JOAQUIN RODRIGO (1901-1999).His most famous work, Concierto de Aranjuez, was composed in 1939 in Paris for the guitarist Regino Sainz de la Maza. In later life, he and his wife, Victoria, declared that the work was written as a response to the miscarriage of their first child. The composition is a concerto for guitar and orchestra. The central adagio movement is one of the most recognizable in twentieth-century classical music, featuring the interplay of guitar with cor anglais. This movement was later adapted by the jazz arranger Gil Evans for the 1960 album "Sketches of Spain" by Miles Davis.