I never had much truck with astrology. Otherwise, how do you explain Anton Bruckner and Darius Milhaud being born on the same date?

Bruckner (b. 1824), socially awkward and profoundly devout, always aspiring to the sublime in his music, mostly through grand forms such as the symphony and the mass; and Milhaud (b. 1892), bon vivant, a member of Les Six, churning out hundreds of pieces, against the better judgment of classical greybeards embracing a wide variety of often “lowly” influences (café music, jazz, folk song).

These are generalizations, of course – Bruckner dabbled in piano quadrilles and Milhaud wrote some pieces inspired by the Jewish liturgy – but by the most casual assessment, the men and artists were opposites. And thank goodness for it. The world of music would be a colorless place, if it were all church pews or boeufs-sur-les-toits.

Artistic temperament, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.

Happy birthday, Anton Bruckner and Darius Milhaud.

Barenboim’s brassy Bruckner in Chicago

Buoyant, bearded Bernstein conducts “Le boeuf sur le toit”