Deaths in Music on December 15

  • 1779 Manuel Jeronimo Romero de Avila, Spanish theorist and composer, dies at 62
  • 1792 Joseph Martin Kraus, composer, dies at 36
  • 1816 Joseph Franz Maximilian Lobkowitz, Bohemian aristocrat and composer, dies at 44
  • 1822 Ferenc Verseghy, Hungarian poet and composer, dies at 65
  • 1861 Gualtiero Sanelli, composer, dies at 45
  • 1892 Charles Balmer, German composer, dies at 75
  • 1901 Elias Alvares Lobo, composer, dies at 67
  • 1909 Francisco Tarrega y Eixea, composer, dies at 57

Person of interestFats Waller

1943 Fats Waller [Thomas Wright], American jazz singer and composer (Ain't Misbehavin', Hot Chocolate), dies at 39

Jazz Musician and Songwriter Fats Waller
Jazz Musician and Songwriter
Fats Waller

Person of interestGlenn Miller

1944 Glenn Miller, American bandleader and jazz composer (Glenn Miller Orchestra-In the Mood), dies in a suspected plane crash at 40

Big Band Leader and Jazz Composer Glenn Miller
Big Band Leader and Jazz Composer
Glenn Miller
  • 1946 Gordon Frederic Norton, composer, dies at 77
  • 1950 Robert Müller-Hartmann, German composer, dies at 66
  • 1953 Kishio Hirao, composer, dies at 46
  • 1972 Herbert Eimert, German composer (Glockenspiel), dies at 75
  • 1973 Orest Alexandrovich Evlahkov, composer, dies at 61
  • 1974 Erich Walter Sternberg, composer, dies at 83
  • 1975 Mukhtar Ashrafi, Soviet-Uzbek composer, dies at 63
  • 1984 Jan Peerce, [Perelmuth], operatic tenor, dies at 80 following a stroke
  • 1986 Serge Lifar, Russian-French dancer, choreographer (Paris Opera Ballet), dies at 81
  • 1994 Hans de Jong, musician and conductor (Amsterdams Vrouwenkoor), dies at 86
  • 1994 Harry Tobias, American songwriter, dies at 99
  • 1995 James Geoffrey Cutcliffe Hepburn, tap-dancer/socialist, dies at 88
  • 1998 Jan Meyerowitz, German-American composer, dies at 85
  • 2001 Rufus Thomas [Mr. Swing], American musician (Do the Funky Chicken), dies at 84
  • 2014 Ray Steadman-Allen, English composer, dies at 92

December in History