Classical Music History
Classical: Composers - National Anthems - Orchestras
Events in Music
- 1888-06-29 First (known) recording of classical music made, Handel's Israel in Egypt on wax cylinder
Music Concert
1990-07-07 First Three Tenors concert featuring Plácido Domingo, José Carreras and Luciano Pavarotti at Baths of Caracalla in Rome - recording of is world's best-selling classical record
Birthdays in Music
- 1775-08-31 Francois de Paule Jacques Raymond de Fossa, French classical guitarist and composer, born in Perpignan, France (d. 1849)
- 1800-12-23 Marco Aurelio Zani de Ferranti, Italian classical guitarist and composer, born in Bologna, Italy (d. 1878)
- 1885-06-29 André Gailhard, French classical music composer, born in Paris (d. 1966)
- 1885-12-22 Joseph Deems Taylor, American composer (Peter Ibbetson) and promoter of classical music, born in NYC, New York (d. 1966)
- 1893-02-21 Andres Segovia, Spanish classical guitarist, born in Linares, Spain (d. 1987)
Howard Hanson
1896-10-28 Howard Hanson, American classical music composer and conductor (Nordic), born in Wahoo, Nebraska (d. 1981)
Howard Hanson
- 1903-01-06 Maurice Abravanel, American classical music conductor, born in Thessaloniki, Greece (d. 1993)
- 1904-09-18 Vladimir Horowitz, Russian-American classical pianist (Carmen), born in Kiev, Ukraine, Russian Empire (d. 1989) [N.S. Oct 1]
- 1908-10-19 [Nils] Geirr Tveitt, Norwegian classical pianist and composer, born in Bergen, Norway (d. 1981)
- 1911-10-07 Shura Cherkassky, Ukrainian classical pianist (d. 1995)
- 1913-05-21 Gina Bachauer, Greek classical pianist of Austrian heritage, born in Athens, Greece (d. 1976)
- 1917-02-01 Edward Simons, American classical violinist and conductor (Rockland Symphony, 1962-2017), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 2018)
- 1917-03-19 Constantin "Dinu" Lipatti, Romanian classical pianist and composer, born in Bucharest, Kingdom of Romania (d. 1950)
- 1919-04-02 Ian Hunter, British impresario of classical music, born in Hadley Wood, Middlesex (d. 2003)
Ravi Shankar
1920-04-07 Ravi Shankar [Chowdhury], Bengali Brahmin sitar master and Indian classical music composer (West Meets East; Concert for Bangladesh), born in Benares, British, India (d. 2012)
Ravi Shankar
- 1921-07-07 Stanislaw Wislocki, Polish conductor of classical music, born in Rzeszów, Poland (d. 1998)
- 1921-10-01 Héctor Campos Parsi, Puerto Rican classical music composer, born in Ponce, Puerto Rico (d. 1997)
- 1922-04-14 Ali Akbar Khan, Indian classical musician, born in Comilla, East Bangladesh (d. 2009)
- 1922-05-29 Iannis Xenakis, Romanian-born, Greek-French composer, music theorist, and architect who helped revolutionize 20th century classical music (Metastaseis), born in Brăila, Romania (d. 2001)
- 1922-06-18 Claude Helffer, French classical pianist and composer, born in Paris (d. 2004)
- 1923-02-21 Zvi Zeitlin, Russian-American classical violinist and music professor (Eastman School, 1967-2012), born in in Dubroŭna, Russia (now Belarus) (d. 2012)
- 1923-05-28 Gyorgy Ligeti, Hungarian classical composer (Le Grand Macabre), born in Transylvania, Romania (d. 2006)
- 1923-07-10 Rudolf Kehrer, Soviet classical pianist of German heritage, born in Tiflis, Georgia (d. 2013)
- 1926-10-31 (Moisés) "Mario" Abramovich, Argentinian tango and classical violinist (Sexteto Major, 1974-2014), born in Buenos Aires, Argentina (d. 2014)
- 1927-10-01 Márta Kurtág [née Kinsker], Hungarian classical pianist, born in Esztergom, Hungary (d. 2019)
- 1928-12-02 Jörg Wolfgang Demus, Austrian classical pianist and composer, born in St. Pölte, Austria (d. 2019)
- 1929-06-21 Alexandre Lagoya, Greek-Italian classical guitarist and composer, born in Alexandria, Egypt (d. 1999)
- 1930-10-08 Tōru Takemitsu, Japanese classical music and film score composer (November Steps; Ran), born in Tokyo, Japan (d. 1996)
- 1931-10-14 Nikhil Banerjee, Indian classical musician, born in Calcutta, India (d. 1986)
- 1932-09-25 Glenn Gould, Canadian classical pianist (Bach's Goldberg Variations) and broadcaster (Solitude Trilogy), born in Toronto, Ontario (d. 1982)
- 1933-07-15 Julian Bream, English classical guitarist and lutenist, born in London, England (d. 2020)
- 1934-10-26 Jacques Loussier, French pianist and composer who created jazz arrangements of Bach and other classical music, born in Angers, France (d. 2019)
- 1937-09-28 Edward Applebaum, American classical music composer (The Princess In The Garden), born In Los Angeles, California
- 1937-10-24 Miguel Ángel Coria, Spanish composer of classical music, born in Madrid (d. 2016)
- 1939-08-09 Max Neuhaus, American classical musician and experimental percussionist (sound sculptures), born in Beaumont, Texas (d. 2009)
- 1941-04-24 John Williams, Australian classical guitarist, born in Melbourne, Victoria
- 1942-01-05 Maurizio Pollini, Italian classical pianist, born in Milan, Italy
- 1944-04-17 John Lill, British classical pianist, born in London
- 1945-05-08 Keith Jarrett, American jazz and classical pianist and composer (The Köln Concert), born in Allentown, Pennsylvania
- 1949-06-08 Emanuel Ax, Polish American classical pianist, born in Lviv, Ukraine
- 1950-01-02 David Shifrin, American classical clarinetist, born in Queens, New York
- 1950-03-05 Eugene Fodor, American classical violinist (1974 Tchaikovsky Award), born in Denver, Colorado (d. 2011)
- 1952-01-22 Teresa Kaban, Polish classical pianist and co-director of the International Festival of Rediscovered and Forgotten Music, born in Gliwice, Poland
- 1952-06-05 Daniel Katzen, American classical musician
- 1952-12-23 Hans Abrahamsen, Danish classical music composer (Left, Alone), born in Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
- 1953-07-26 Robert Phillips, American classical guitarist, born in NYC, New York
- 1953-12-28 Roberto Cacciapaglia, Italian pianist and composer of electronic and classical music, born in Milan, Italy
- 1954-05-28 Youri Egorov, Soviet classical pianist (d. 1988)
- 1954-08-11 Sinan Savaskan, Turkish-British contemporary classical music composer and educator (The Age of Analysis; Octandre Ensemble), born in Istanbul, Turkey
- 1955-10-19 Roland Dyens, French classical guitarist, composer, and arranger (Libra Sonatine), born in French Tunisia. (d. 2016)
- 1958-07-26 Angela Hewitt, Canadian classical pianist, born in Ottawa, Canada
- 1960-01-29 Cho-Liang Lin, American classical violinist (Queen Sophia prize, 1977), and teacher (Juilliard, 1991-present) born in Hsinchu, Taiwan [1]
- 1960-12-21 Louis Demetrius Alvanis, English classical pianist, born in London, United Kingdom
- 1961-02-22 Lowell Liebermann, American classical pianist and composer (Gargoyles), born in New York City
- 1961-11-23 Nicolas Bacri, Frenck classical music composer, born in Paris
- 1962-12-31 Jennifer Higdon, American classical music composer (2010 Pulitzer; 3 Grammy Awards) and educator (Curtis Institute of Music, 1994 - present), born in Brooklyn, New York
- 1964-09-18 Luca Belcastro, Italian classical music composer, born in Como, Italy
- 1965-05-13 Tasmin Little, English classical violinist, born in London, England
- 1969-07-12 Kumiko Ida, Japanese classical pianist (d. 2007)
- 1969-08-30 Dimitris Sgouros, Greek classical pianist, born in Athens, Greece
- 1969-11-07 Hélène Grimaud, French classical pianist, born in Aix-en-Provence, France
- 1975-04-16 Joanna Ławrynowicz, Polish classical pianist, born in Warsaw, Poland [1]
- 1976-01-09 Svitlana Azarova, Ukrainian-Dutch contemporary classical music composer (Momo and the Time Thieves), born in the Ukrainian SSR
- 1977-03-07 Bartosz Kowalski, Polish classical music composer, born in Warsaw, Poland
- 1977-10-20 Leila Josefowicz, Canadian classical violinist
- 1979-11-27 Hilary Hahn, American classical violinist, born in Lexington, Virginia
- 1980-11-08 Ana Vidovic, Croatian classical guitarist, born in Karlovac, Croatia
- 1980-12-10 Sarah Chang, Korean-American classical violinist child prodigy, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- 1982-10-07 Li Yundi, Chinese classical pianist, born in Chongqing, China
- 1985-06-30 Rafal Blechacz, Polish classical pianist
- 1987-07-20 Nicola Benedetti, Scottish classical violinist, born in West Kilbride, North Ayrshire
- 1995-03-23 Jan Lisiecki, Canadian classical pianist, born in Calgary, Alberta
- 1996-10-26 Onutė Gražinytė, Lithuanian classical pianist, born in Vilnus, Lithuania
Deaths in Music
- 1849-06-03 Francois de Paule Jacques Raymond de Fossa, French classical guitarist and composer, dies at 73
- 1878-11-28 Marco Aurelio Zani de Ferranti, Italian classical guitarist and composer, dies at 78
- 1950-12-02 Constantin "Dinu" Lipatti, Romanian classical pianist and composer, dies of Hodgkins disease complications at 33
- 1966-07-03 André Gailhard, French classical music composer, dies at 81
- 1966-07-03 Joseph Deems Taylor, American composer (Peter Ibbetson) and promoter of classical music, dies at 80
- 1976-08-22 Gina Bachauer, Greek classical pianist of Austrian heritage, dies at 63
Howard Hanson
1981-02-26 Howard Hanson, American classical music composer and conductor (Nordic), dies at 84
Howard Hanson
- 1982-10-04 Glenn Gould, Canadian classical pianist (Bach's Goldberg Variations) and broadcaster (Solitude Trilogy), dies after suffering a stroke at 50
- 1988-04-15 Youri Egorov, Soviet classical pianist, dies at 33
- 1989-05-22 Steven DeGroote, South African classical pianist (b. 1953)
- 1989-11-05 Vladimir Horowitz, Russian-American classical pianist (Carmen), dies at 85
- 1990-10-16 Jorge Bolet, Cuban-born American pianist known for his performances of the work of Franz Liszt, dies at 75
- 1992-11-13 Maurice Ohana, French classical pianist and composer, dies at 79
- 1995-12-27 Shura Cherkassky, American classical pianist, dies at 86
- 1996-02-20 Tōru Takemitsu, Japanese classical music and film score composer (November Steps; Ran), dies of pneumonia while being treated for bladder cancer at 65
- 1997-01-30 Héctor Campos Parsi, Puerto Rican classical music composer, dies at 75
- 1997-05-03 Narciso Yepes, Spanish classical guitarist (b. 1927)
- 1998-05-31 Stanislaw Wislocki, Polish conductor of classical music, dies at 76
- 1999-08-24 Alexandre Lagoya, Greek-Italian classical guitarist and composer, dies at 70
- 2001-02-04 Iannis Xenakis, Romanian-born, Greek-French composer, music theorist, and architect who helped revolutionize 20th century classical music (Metastaseis), dies after several years of serious illness at 78
- 2004-10-27 Claude Helffer, French classical pianist and composer, dies at 82
- 2007-10-18 Kumiko Ida, Japanese classical pianist, dies of meningitis at 38
- 2009-02-03 Max Neuhaus, American classical musician and experimental percussionist (sound sculptures), dies of cancer at 69
- 2009-06-19 Ali Akbar Khan, Indian classical musician, dies at 87
- 2011-02-26 Eugene Fodor, American classical violinist (1974 Tchaikovsky Award), dies from cirrhosis at 60
- 2011-11-27 Sultan Khan, Indian classical musician, dies at 71
- 2011-11-28 Andrew Kazdin, classical record producer, dies at 77
- 2011-12-31 Omus Hirshbein, classical music impresario and music director, dies at 77
- 2012-05-02 Zvi Zeitlin, Russian-American classical violinist and music professor (Eastman School, 1967-2012), dies at 90
Ravi Shankar
2012-12-11 Ravi Shankar [Chowdhury], Bengali Brahmin sitar master and Indian classical music composer (West Meets East; Concert for Bangladesh), dies at 92
Ravi Shankar
- 2013-10-29 Rudolf Kehrer, Soviet classical pianist of German heritage, dies at 90
- 2014-12-01 (Moisés) "Mario" Abramovich, Argentinian tango and classical violinist (Sexteto Major, 1974-2014), dies at 88
- 2016-02-24 Miguel Ángel Coria, Spanish composer of classical music, dies at 78
- 2016-10-29 Roland Dyens, French classical guitarist, composer, and arranger (Libra Sonatine), dies at 61
- 2018-06-26 Edward Simons, American classical violinist and conductor (Rockland Symphony, 1962-2017), dies at 101
- 2019-03-05 Jacques Loussier, French pianist and composer who created jazz arrangements of Bach and other classical music, dies at 84
- 2019-04-16 Jörg Wolfgang Demus, Austrian classical pianist and composer, dies at 90
- 2019-10-17 Márta Kurtág [née Kinsker], Hungarian classical pianist, dies at 92
- 2020-08-14 Julian Bream, English classical guitarist and lutenist, dies at 87