October 20
1973 – The Sydney Opera House opens.
Births:
1874 – Charles Ives, American composer (d. 1954)
1958 – Ivo Pogorelić, Croatian pianist
Deaths:
1870 – Michael William Balfe, Irish violinist, singer, and composer (b. 1808)
October 21
Births:
1775 – Giuseppe Baini, Italian priest, composer, and critic (d. 1844)
1921 – Malcolm Arnold, English composer (d. 2006)
Deaths:
1662 – Henry Lawes, English pianist and composer (b. 1595)
1991 – Lorenc Antoni, Albanian composer, conductor, and musicologist (b. 1909)
October 22
Births:
1811 – Franz Liszt, Hungarian pianist and composer (d. 1886)
1905 – Joseph Kosma, Hungarian-French composer (d. 1969) Relative of Georg Solti, studied with Bartok
1906 – Kees van Baaren, Dutch composer and educator (d. 1970)
1967 – Salvatore Di Vittorio, Italian composer and conductor
Deaths:
1859 – Louis Spohr, German violinist and composer (b. 1784)
1973 – Pablo Casals, Catalan cellist and conductor (b. 1876)
1979 – Nadia Boulanger, French composer and educator (b. 1887)
2013 – Marylou Dawes, Canadian pianist and educator (b. 1933)
October 23
Births:
1654 – Johann Bernhard Staudt, Austrian composer (d. 1712)
1923 – Ned Rorem, American composer and author
Deaths:
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October 24
Births:
1811 – Ferdinand Hiller, German composer and conductor (d. 1885)
1925 – Luciano Berio, Italian composer (d. 2003)
1929 – George Crumb, American composer
1931 – Sofia Gubaidulina, Russian composer
1935 – Malcolm Bilson, American pianist, musicologist, and educator; fortepianist, to be exact…
1937 – Miguel Ángel Coria, Spanish composer
1951 – George Tsontakis, American composer and conductor
Deaths:
1633 – Jean Titelouze, French organist and composer (b. 1562/3)
1725 – Alessandro Scarlatti, Italian composer (b. 1660) Domenico’s father
1799 – Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf, Austrian violinist and composer (b. 1739) Yup, that’s a real name.
1971 – Carl Ruggles, American composer (b. 1876) What is this, like Contemporary composers’ day?
1974 – David Oistrakh, Ukrainian violinist (b. 1908)
2011 – Sansan Chien, Taiwanese composer (b. 1967)
October 25
1938 – The Archbishop of Dubuque, Francis J. L. Beckman, denounces swing music as “a degenerated musical system… turned loose to gnaw away at
the moral fiber of young people”, warning that it leads down a “primrose path to hell“. His warning is widely ignored. (Just because I thought the statement and the last comment on it were funny).
Births:
1825 – Johann Strauss II, Austrian composer (d. 1899)
1838 – Georges Bizet, French composer (d. 1875)
1864 – Alexander Gretchaninov, Russian-American composer (d. 1956)
1971 – Midori Gotō, Japanese-American violinist
Deaths:
1895 – Charles Hallé, German-English pianist and conductor (b. 1819)
1963 – Roger Désormière, French conductor (b. 1898)
2003 – Robert Strassburg, American conductor and composer (b. 1915)
October 26
1921 – The Chicago Theatre opens.
Births:
1564 – Hans Leo Hassler German organist and composer (d. 1612)
1685 – Domenico Scarlatti, Italian composer (d. 1757)
1694 – Johan Helmich Roman, Swedish composer (d. 1758)
1747 – Ivan Mane Jarnović, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1804)
1795 – Nikolaos Mantzaros, Greek composer (d. 1872)
Deaths:
1956 – Walter Gieseking, French-German pianist and composer (b. 1895)
Fugue for Thought 