Composer of the Day

I’ve had this app for almost 8 yrs. now and still enjoy opening it two or three times a week to learn about composers, some new to me, and others are old friends. Especially useful is the link to the iTunes Store so that you can browse their recorded works. Because many composers have names with difficult spelling, it is so much easier to press a button, than to remember the exact spelling and to type it exactly right.

I've always wanted a way to gain knowledge about composers across the world without having to take a college course. This app provides just that in a nice interface. Also, when I asked for a possible feature implementation, the creator of the app quickly replied with a thoughtful response. I'm very pleased.

response required

Wittenberg University's Composer of the Day, is a clean, relatively well designed utility (it could use a swipe feature, an archive, and "year of death" dates) that gives a one sentence blurb of 365 composers, one for each day of the year, complete with birth year. It comes complete with a link to Apple's iTunes store that directs to the featured composer's music. The supervising developer of this app. is Prof. Daniel Kazez of Wittenberg University. The apps' major flaw is its' incorrect grammar and poor use of English. For example: "America Stephen Foster...was born on *this* 4th of July in 1826". For example "this" should be "the". I wouldn't mention this but for the fact that the application is riddled with these kind of errors. The developer's bizarre use of English - given in the several entries I read - could create significant error in comprehension for students and laymen and needs to be corrected. Another error from July 5th: "American George Rochberg, who used *Romantic* and modern styles" - in this case, "romantic" isn't capitalized. Prof. Kazez can check the Chicago Manual of Style here. Why, on the whole, grammatical abnormality plagues this app. is a mystery - it should have been professionally proofchecked. I wrote to the supervising developer, who unhelpfully disputed me - incorrectly - this is an authentic let down. Not recommended at present.

Happy to find this app for my iPhone. Just one more tool to ad-lib from in my classical DJ work. Gave it 4 stars because it does not yet allow you to look ahead of “today”. However, the developer promised me he intends to add that feature soon. Recommended app for introducing kids and anyone to classical music in small doses.. planting a seed. Wish teachers would make a habit of referring to this nice app in their classrooms to foster an appreciation of this genre.

I check this app everyday! I even wrote an email to the app's developer, Daniel, about Beethoven's birth date not being included. He responded very quickly and told me what I had already suspected. We have a christening date & an estimation on his birth, but nothing exact. I appreciated their diligence to accuracy.