In The Key Of Pisces: Seal
Pisces, ruled as it is by Neptune, the planet of pure music, is a sign stuffed full of singers, composers, songwriters and probably maraca players and backing singers too. Starting today, I’ll try and find a Pisces for each day of this sign this year and see if we can hear a silvery fishy sound threading through.
With Pisces you don’t necessarily get the big voices of Capricorn, or the mellow sounds of Taurus, or the precise wordsmithing of Virgo or Gemini. What you get is a feeling — sometimes quite a vague one, and sometimes overwhelming, as you’ll hear later in the month.
There are so many Piscean musicians, we can have one (or several) for every day of Pisces.
Here is soul singing Seal, born on February 19, 1963 with his Sun just barely in Pisces. He actually has Mercury and Saturn in Aquarius and, of course, and here is that smooth vocal over an electronic (Aquarian) sound. This song Crazy (1991) was written partly in response to the fall of the Berlin Wall and Tiananmen Square.
Hi Christina. Pisces composers are the perfect craftspeople of the zodiac, the jewellers, the great imaginative orchestrators. They’re formally brilliant too, though not ground-breaking iconoclasts or establishing formalists like e.g. Aries (Bach, Haydn, Bartok, Boulez). Along with the Chinese Pig Year, which luxuriates similarly in exuberant orchestration, you’ll find so many composers Ravel 7 3 1875 is Pisces Pig. Handel is 21 2 1685, Pisces Ox – a month before Bach and 6 before Domenico Scarlatti, Ox being the great founding fathers and mothers, of schools of music etc, nations. That’s another topic. Pisces are often prolific, like Handel, and Vivaldi 4 3 1678, and Telemann 14 3 1681 (I’m sure that’s new style, Germany changing in 1700). Villa-Lobos too 5 3 1887, another Pisces/Pig, playing as I write. Reger 19 3 1873 shows the sheer technical adriotness and again prolific nature of these comspoers- shadow opposites to Virgo whose craft is very different. (though milhaud resembles Villa-Lobos). Mussorgsky was at the edge, 20 3 1839, a Pig all right and seems Piscean from the charts I could draw up. Rimsky-Korsakov of course with his glittering orchestration learned a day ahead of his pupils, 18 3 1844. There are others, like Bernard Stevens, 2 3 1916, also a Marxist ‘in the field of chamber music he and Britten are equal’ – Hans Keller. And the great pacifist and formalist composer Robert Simpson, 2 3 1921. I return to J S Bach, born on the cusp, who owns some Piscean traits, and certainly Ox ones. He’s prolific, conservative formally in some ways, and technically brilliant, but these aren’t entirely Pisces preserves! I’m sure I can think of more, but those are just off the top of my emerging head…. Wonderful postings, do please keep our sanity up with more. All best Simon
Thank you so much for this list Simon — and the chinese year connection. I wonder if we looked into it, whether we’d find a consistent Jupiter-Saturn signature. I think I’ll check.
Very interesting! I would just add Smetana-his perhaps most well known symphonic poem Vltava beautifully sound-paints Bohemia’s great rivers. It’s an amazing piece with this great orchestration you would expect from Ravel or Korsakov. And of course Chopin was a Pisces (Christina wrote an article about him too).
I’ve always liked Pisces people and being a musician myself I’m a bit jealous haha. At least I’ve got Neptune on my ascendant, so perhaps I might have some of these musical traits despite being a Sagittarius. I’m new to astrology and I love Christina’s articles so much. Thanks.
Oh but Neptune on the Ascendant makes you part-fish anyway. Liz Greene, in her book Neptune, lists a huge number of composers with strong Neptune’s like that.
Thanks Christina. I could never identify with the magazine-column type of horoscope and now I know why! Always felt I should have been a Pisces or at least a Cancer and not really a Sagittarius. I’m so glad I’ve started educating myself on astrology, but I guess it was unavoidable as I’ve got Uranus conjunct Ascendant too (apparently people interested in astrology often have this?).
It has really helped me with battling my depression ( I would say more than taking antidepressants ), understanding myself more and even appreciating the good qualities I’ve got more than ever before. Astrology is truly amazing. Btw, thanks for the piscean musicians series, it’s a great idea and I will definitely follow each article.
My husband is a natural musician – Gemini Sun/Mercury trine Neptune Libra – and Mars in Pisces. I’ve noticed some guitarists/songwriters have Mars in Pisces… Bob Dylan for one..some well known drummers have Cancer strong in chart – Keith Moon had Moon in Cancer; Ringo Starr Cancer Sun (Pisces Asc); Neil Peart (Cancer Moon); young female drummer in band with my husband and daughter is Cancer Sun… since the drummer provides the background rhythm for the band, that seems perfect.. water & music both fluid
Cancer holding the band together! I think Cancer can really make a band — wonder if we could do that in June/July.
Please add CHOPIN to the Pisces list.
Of course, I wrote a piece about Chopin and various pianists here. http://www.oxfordastrologer.com/2014/08/inspired-night.html
Thanks. Enjoyed it very much!