Monthly Archives: June 2021

June 21: Today’s Music History

Posted by MaryO on

 

 

Be sure your student reads and listens to Today’s Daily Listening Assignment

 

 

• 1577 ~ Giovanni Del Turco, Composer

• 1732 ~ Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach, composer and 5th son of Johann Sebastian Bach

• 1790 ~ Wilhelm Speyer, Composer

• 1805 ~ Karl Friedrich Curschmann, Composer

• 1846 ~ Adolphe Sax patented the saxophone he invented in 1840

• 1862 ~ Henry Holden Huss, Composer

• 1865 ~ Albert Herbert Brewer, Composer

• 1868 ~ Wagner’s opera “Die Meistersinger von Nuernberg” premiered in Munich

• 1887 ~ Adolf Schimon, Composer, died at the age of 67

• 1892 ~ Hilding Rosenberg, Swedish composer

• 1893 ~ Alois Hába, Czech opera composer and writer

• 1900 ~ Gunnar Ek, Composer (he died on 81st birthday)

• 1900 ~ Polibo Fumagalli, Composer, died at the age of 69

• 1903 ~ Louis Krasner, violinist

• 1906 ~ Luis Maria Millet, Composer

• 1908 ~ Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Russian Composer, died at the age of 64. He was best known for his orchestral piece “Sheherezade” and the opera “The Golden Cockerel” as well as his re-orchestration of Moussorgsky’s opera “Boris Godunov.”
More information about Rimsky-Korsakov

• 1909 ~ Kurt Schwaen, Composer

• 1910 ~ Bela Tardos, Composer

• 1910 ~ Charles Jones, Composer

• 1914 ~ Jan Decadt, Composer

• 1921 ~ Frank Scott, American pianist for the Lawrence Welk Show

• 1930 ~ Helen Merrill (Milcetic), Jazz singer, Swing Journal readers’ poll: Best American Jazz Singer in 1989

• 1932 ~ Judith Raskin, American soprano

• 1932 ~ Lalo Schifrin, Composer

• 1932 ~ O.C. (Ocie Lee) Smith, Singer, vocalist for Count Basie Orchestra

• 1939 ~ Charles Boone, Composer

• 1941 ~ Wayne King and his orchestra recorded Time Was, with Buddy Clark providing the vocal accompaniment, for Victor Records.

• 1944 ~ Ray Davies, Musician, guitar, singer, songwriter with The Kinks

• 1945 ~ Chris Britton, Guitarist with The Troggs

• 1946 ~ Brenda Holloway, American singer and songwriter

• 1946 ~ Heinrich Kaminski, Composer, died at the age of 59

• 1948 ~ Columbia Records announced that it was offering a new Vinylite long-playing record that could hold 23 minutes of music on each side. One of the first LPs produced was of the original cast of the Broadway show, South Pacific. Critics quickly scoffed at the notion of LPs, since those heavy, breakable, 78 RPM, 10- inch disks with one song on each side, were selling at an all-time high. It didn’t take very long though, for the 33-1/3 RPM album — and its 7-inch, 45 RPM cousin to revolutionize the music industry and the record-buying habits of millions.

• 1951 ~ Nils Lofgren, Musician, guitar, keyboards, singer, songwriter

• 1958 ~ Splish Splash was recorded by Bobby Darin. It was his first hit and it took Darin only ten minutes to write the song.

• 1959 ~ Kathy Mattea, Singer

• 1969 ~ Dmitri Shostakovich’s Fourteenth Symphony, premiered in Moscow

• 1972 ~ Billy Preston received a gold record for the instrumental hit, Outa-Space. Preston, who played for gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, back in 1956, was also in the film St. Louis Blues as a piano player. He was a regular on the Shindig TV show in the 1960s; and recorded with The Beatles on the hits Get Back and Let It Be. Preston also performed at The Concert for Bangladesh in 1969. Many well-known artists have utilized his keyboard talents, including Sly & The Family Stone and the Rolling Stones.

• 1972 ~ Seth Bingham, Composer, died at the age of 90

• 1975 ~ Heinz Lau, Composer, died at the age of 49

• 1978 ~ Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice’s musical “Evita” premiered in London

• 1980 ~ Bert Kaempfert passed away

• 1981 ~ Gunnar Ek, Composer, died on 81st birthday

• 1982 ~ Paul McCartney released “Take it Away”

• 1985 ~ Ron Howard directed his first music video. The TV star of The Andy Griffith Show and Happy Days also directed the film Cocoon, which included Gravity, the song used in the video. Michael Sembello, a guitarist who played on Stevie Wonder’s hits between 1974 and 1979 was responsible for Gravity.

• 1990 ~ June Christy passed away

• 1990 ~ Little Richard received a star on Hollywood’s walk of fame

• 1992 ~ Thomas Whitfield, Gospel vocalist, died of heart attack at 38

• 1993 ~ “Camelot” opened at the Gershwin Theater New York City for 56 performances

• 1997 ~ Art Prysock, Jazz musician, died at the age of 68

• 2000 ~ Alan Hovhaness, a prolific composer who melded Western and Asian musical styles, died at the age of 89.
More information about Hovhaness

• 2001 ~ Bluesman John Lee Hooker, whose foot-stompin’ and gravelly voice on songs like Boom Boom and Boogie Chillen electrified audiences and inspired generations of musicians, died of natural causes at the age of 83. He recorded more than 100 albums over nearly seven decades. He won a Grammy Award for a version of In The Mood, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 and received a Lifetime Achievement Award at last year’s Grammys. His distinctive sound influenced rhythm and blues musicians, as well as rock ‘n’ rollers including Van Morrison, the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Bruce Springsteen, Bonnie Raitt and ZZ Top. Hooker’s 1990 album “The Healer“, featured duets with Carlos Santana, Raitt and Robert Cray. It sold 1.5 million copies and won him his first Grammy Award, for a duet with Raitt on I’m in the Mood. Born in Clarksdale, Miss., August 22, 1917, Hooker was one of 11 children born to a Baptist minister and sharecropper who discouraged his son’s musical bent. In Detroit, he was discovered and recorded his first hit, Boogie Chillen, in 1948.

• 2003 ~ William Leslie died at the age of 78. He was a jazz saxophonist who toured the world with the Louis Jordan Band in the 1950s in Sellersville, Pa. He played with the Jordan Band in New York, Chicago, Las Vegas and Europe and on the television show “Your Hit Parade.” Mr. Leslie had played the saxophone since he was 12. After serving in World War II, he attended the Landis School of Music in West Philadelphia, Pa., on the GI Bill.

• 2015 ~ Gunther Schuller, American hornist and jazz composer (1994 Pulitzer Prize), died at the age of 89

Daily Listening Assignments ~ June 21, 2021

Posted by MaryO on

Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major), K. 525, is a 1787 composition for a chamber ensemble by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The German title means “a little serenade”, though it is often rendered more literally but less accurately as “a little night music.” The work is written for an ensemble of two violins, viola, and cello with optional double bass but is often performed by string orchestras and there are many arrangements for other instruments as we will see below.

Part of a full orchestral score:

 

Follow the score…

Easy piano sheet music might look like this:

 

The first movement of Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, with a graphical score.

 

One of my favorites, Barbershop-Style.  Eine Kleine Not Musik by the Gas House Gang tells the story of The Magic Flute (from June 19) to the music of Eine Kleine Nachtmusik.

 

A piano transcription

For four recorders, all played by the same person

From the Muppets: The Great Gonzo performing Eine Kleine Nachtmusik on bagpipe while sitting on a ten-foot pole!

 

When my son and I played Eine Kleine Nachtmusik by Mozart arranged for 2 pianos November 30, 2014 we were the last people to play in the old Steinway Hall.  Unfortunately, we didn’t have a good video camera 🙁

2014-08-10 12.49.02 2014-08-09 12.20.39 2014-08-09 12.16.45 2014-08-09 12.15.17

 

Find this arranged for piano in Piano Pronto: Movement 2, Movement 3, Encore, Coda and Mozart: Exploring His Life and Music.

Daily Listening Assignments ~ June 20, 2021

Posted by MaryO on

 

Today’s listening assignment is  Can-can from “Orpheus in the Underworld” by Jacques Offenbach.  This piece is very often in early method books because of the descending C Major scale.  Can you find it?

The can-can (or cancan as in the original French) is a high-energy, physically demanding dance that became a popular music hall dance in the 1840s, continuing in popularity in French cabaret to this day. Originally danced by both sexes, it is now traditionally associated with a chorus line of female dancers. The main features of the dance are the vigorous manipulation of skirts and petticoats, along with high kicks, splits, and cartwheels.

Many composers have written music for the cancan. Today’s selection is the most famous of these.

A ‘follow-along” video.  This key has 6 flats, so the scale will be in what key?

 

Flute ensemble:

The original, for full orchestra

An animation

 

A dog barking the can-can?

 

Find this in many student books including Piano Pronto: Movement 1

Have you ever noticed the rug by the piano?

 

June 20: Today’s Music History

Posted by MaryO on

 

First-Day-Of-Summer-snoopy

 

 

 

Be sure your student reads and listens to Today’s Daily Listening Assignment

 

• 1585 ~ Lazaro Valvasensi, Composer

• 1743 ~ Anna L Barbauld, Composer of hymns

• 1756 ~ Joseph Martin Kraus, Composer

• 1819 ~ Jacques Offenbach, German-born French conductor, cellist and composer of operettas
Read quotes by and about Offenbach
More information about Offenbach

• 1833 ~ Philip Knapton, Composer, died at the age of 44

• 1837 ~ Giovanni Furno, Composer, died at the age of 89

• 1842 ~ Michael Umlauf, Composer, died at the age of 60

• 1861 ~ Arthur Battelle Whiting, Composer

• 1883 ~ Giannotto Bastianelli, Composer

• 1888 ~ Cesare Dominiceti, Composer, died at the age of 66

• 1899 ~ Anthon van der Horst, Dutch organist and composer

• 1900 ~ Ernest White, Composer

• 1906 ~ Bob Howard, American singer and pianist

• 1910 ~ Fanny Brice, born Fannie Borach, debuted in the New York production of the Ziegfeld Follies

• 1914 ~ Friedrich Zipp, Composer

• 1922 ~ Vittorio Monti, Composer, died at the age of 54

• 1923 ~ Joseph Leopold Rockel, Composer, died at the age of 85

• 1924 ~ Chet Atkins (Chester Burton), Grammy Award-winning guitarist, made over 100 albums and elected to Country Music Hall of Fame in 1973.

• 1925 ~ Wilhelm Posse, Composer, died at the age of 72

• 1927 ~ John M Dengler, Jazz bass sax, trumpet, trombone

• 1928 ~ Robert Satanowski, Composer

• 1929 ~ Ingrid Haebler, Austrian pianist

• 1931 ~ Arne Nordheim, Norwegian conductor and composer

• 1934 ~ Cornel Taranu, Composer

• 1938 ~ Nikolay Avksentevich Martinov, Composer

• 1939 ~ first TV broadcast of an operetta, “The Pirates of Penzance” by Gilbert and Sullivan W2XBS (later WCBS-TV) in New York City televised Pirates of Penzance. It was presented to a very small viewing audience since television was a new, experimental medium at the time.

• 1936 ~ Billy Guy, Singer with The Coasters

• 1937 ~ Jerry Keller, Singer

• 1940 ~ Jehan Alain, French organist and composer, died in battle at 29

• 1942 ~ Brian Wilson, Bass player, singer with The Beach Boys, inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988

• 1945 ~ (Morna) Anne Murray, Grammy Award-winning singer

• 1946 ~ André Watts, American pianist, Chicago Symphony Orchestra

• 1948 ~ George Frederick Boyle, Composer, died at the age of 61

• 1949 ~ Lionel Richie, Tenor sax, songwriter, singer with the Commodores

• 1951 ~ Peter Gordon, Composer

• 1953 ~ Cyndi Lauper, Singer

• 1953 ~ Alan Longmuir, Musician, bass with Bay City Rollers

• 1955 ~ Michael Anthony, Musician, bass with Van Halen

• 1955 ~ “Almost Crazy” opened at Longacre Theater New York City for 16 performances

• 1960 ~ John Taylor, Musician: guitar, bass with Duran Duran

• 1963 ~ The Beatles formed “Beatles Ltd” to handle their income

• 1969 ~ Guitarist Jimi Hendrix earned the biggest paycheck ever paid (to that time) for a single concert appearance. Hendrix was paid $125,000 to appear for a single set at the Newport Jazz Festival.

• 1970 ~ The Long and Winding Road, by The Beatles, started a second week in the number one spot on the pop music charts. The tune was the last one to be released by The Beatles.

• 1975 ~ Daniel Ayala Perez, Composer, died at the age of 68

• 1980 ~ Gustaf Allan Pettersson, Composer, died at the age of 68

• 1987 ~ Whitney Houston’s album, Whitney, debuted on Billboard magazine’s album chart at number one. Houston became the first female to have an LP debut at the top. The singer, daughter of Cissy Houston and cousin of Dionne Warwick, began her singing career at age 11 with the New Hope Baptist Junior Choir in New Jersey. Houston first worked as a backup vocalist for Chaka Khan and Lou Rawls; entered modeling in 1981, appearing in Glamour magazine and on the cover of Seventeen. Whitney married soul singer, Bobby Brown, in the late 1980s.

• 1997 ~ Lawrence Payton, singer with the Four Tops, died at the age of 59

Daily Listening Assignments ~ June 19, 2021

Posted by MaryO on

 

Today’s piece is one of those that piano students often try to learn on their own – or a friend will teach them the first 9 notes.  It’s usually played too fast and, often in the wrong octave, or the first couple notes are repeated too many times.

This is one of two pieces that are so often played incorrectly that they have the distinction of being banned from competition in Northern Virginia Piano Teacher competitions.

Stay tuned for the other one!

Für Elise was not published during Beethoven’s lifetime, having been discovered by Ludwig Nohl 40 years after the composer’s death. The identity of “Elise” is unknown.

The very basic melody:

 

 

The actual beginning is a little more involved.

 

And, there’s more!

 

If you’d like to learn to play this piece correctly, find the sheet music at IMSLP, Beethoven: Exploring His Life and Music, and countless compilations of classical music available at the O’Connor Music Studio.

Follow along:

By Valentina Lisitsa:

 

Ragtime!

 

 

 

The Big Piano at FAO Schwartz in NYC:

 

Glass harp:

 

The Mystery Behind Für Elise:

 

Youtube has many, many more versions.  Beethoven would probably go nuts!

June 19: Today’s Music History

Posted by MaryO on

 

 

Be sure your student reads and listens to Today’s Daily Listening Assignment

 

• 1618 ~ Christian de Placker, Composer

• 1708 ~ Johann Gottlieb Janitsch, Composer

• 1717 ~ Johann Wenzel Anton Stamitz, Bohemian violist, conductor and composer

• 1730 ~ Jean-Baptiste Loeillet, Composer, died at the age of 49

• 1747 ~ Alessandro Marcello, Composer, died at the age of 77

• 1759 ~ Charles-Joseph-Balthazar Sohier, Composer, died at the age of 31

• 1762 ~ Johann Ernst Eberlin, Composer, died at the age of 60

• 1766 ~ Edmund Weber, Composer

• 1782 ~ John Bray, Composer

• 1825 ~ Ferdinand David (1810) Violist and composer

• 1815 ~ John William Glover, Composer

• 1822 ~ John Bray, Composer, died on his 40th birthday

• 1825 ~ Gioacchino Rossini’s “Il viaggio a Reims,” premiered

• 1842 ~ Carl Johann Adam Zeller, Composer

• 1843 ~ Charles Edouard Lefebvre, Composer

• 1854 ~ Alfredo Catalani, Italian composer

• 1885 ~ Stevan Hristic, Composer

• 1886 ~ Robert Herberigs, Flemish Composer and writer

• 1898 ~ Paul Muller-Zurich, Composer

• 1902 ~ Guy (Gaetano) Lombardo, Canadian-born American bandleader with The Royal Canadians: “The most beautiful music this side of heaven.”

• 1904 ~ Balis Dvarionas, Composer

• 1905 ~ Taneli Kuusisto, Composer

• 1910 ~ Edwin Gerschefski, Composer

• 1910 ~ Father’s Day was observed for the first time at Spokane, Wash., at the request of the the local YMCA and the Spokane Ministerial Association to earmark a Sunday to “honor thy father.” The idea originated in the mind of a Ms. John Bruce Dodd, a local housewife who was inspired by her admiration for the great job her father, William Smart, had done in raising his 6 children after his wife’s untimely and early death.

• 1912 ~ Jerry Jerome, American saxophonist

• 1913 ~ Sergey Ivanovich Taneyev, Russian Composer, died at the age of 58

• 1926 ~ DeFord Bailey was the first black to perform on Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry

• 1927 ~ Karel Kupka, Composer

• 1930 ~ Jul Levi, Composer

• 1932 ~ First concert performed in San Francisco’s Stern Grove

• 1936 ~ Tommy DeVito, Singer with The Four Seasons

• 1939 ~ Al Wilson, Musician, drummer, singer with Show and Tell

• 1940 ~ Maurice Jaubert, Composer, died at the age of 40

• 1942 ~ Spanky (Elaine) McFarlane, Singer with Spanky and Our Gang

• 1943 ~ Shiek Of Araby by Spike Jones & City Slickers peaked at #19

• 1951 ~ Ann Wilson, Singer with Heart

• 1953 ~ Larry Dunn, Musician, keyboards with Earth, Wind & Fire

• 1956 ~ Doug Stone, Singer

• 1960 ~ Loretta Lynn recorded Honky Tonk Girl

• 1961 ~ Little Egypt (Ying-Yang) by Coasters peaked at #23

• 1962 ~ Paula Abdul, Singer

• 1965 ~ I Can’t Help Myself, by The Four Tops, topped the pop and R&B charts. The Tops, who had no personnel changes in their more than 35 years together were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.

• 1966 ~ Marjan Kozina, Composer, died at the age of 59

• 1984 ~ Wladimir Rudolfovich Vogel, Composer, died at the age of 88

• 1988 ~ Zdenek Blazek, Composer, died at the age of 83

• 1994 ~ “She Loves Me” closed at Atkinson Theater New York City after 294 performances

• 1994 ~ “Twilight – Los Angeles 1992” closed at Cort New York City after 72 performances

• 1995 ~ Murray Dickie, Opera singer/director, died at the age of 71

• 1996 ~ Alan Ande Anderson, Opera director, died at the age of 78

• 1996 ~ Vivian Ellis, Composer, died at the age of 91

• 1997 ~ Bobby Helms, singer (Jingle Bell Rock), died at the age of 63

• 1997 ~ “Forever Tango!” opened at Walter Kerr Theater New York City

Daily Listening Assignments ~ June 18, 2021

Posted by MaryO on

 

‘The Magic Flute’ (German name: Die Zauberflöte) is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s final opera, and it contains one of the most well-known arias in music. But what is ‘The Magic Flute’ all about?

 

An animated version:

Played as a piano/organ duo:

 

Arranged by Ferruccio Busoni for 2 pianos:

 

Why Mozart’s Magic Flute is a masterpiece – an introduction (The Royal Opera)

 

The accordion version:

Find this in Piano Pronto: Movement 3, Encore, Mozart: Exploring His Life and Music

June 18: Today’s Music History

Posted by MaryO on

today

 

 

Be sure your student reads and listens to Today’s Daily Listening Assignment

 

 

• 1686 ~ Johann Quirsfeld, Composer, died at the age of 43

• 1726 ~ Giuseppe Scarlotti (1723) Composer

• 1726 ~ Michel-Richard Delalande, Composer, died at the age of 68

• 1726 ~ August Holler (1744) Composer

• 1726 ~ Ignaz Joseph Pleyel (1757) Composer

• 1780 ~ Michael Henkel, Composer

• 1799 ~ Johann André, Composer, died at the age of 58

• 1821 ~ Charles Hague, Composer, died at the age of 52

• 1821 ~ Opera “Der Freischütz” by Carl Maria von Weber was produced in Berlin

• 1822 ~ Henry David Leslie, Composer

• 1850 ~ Richard Heuberger, Composer

• 1850 ~ Antoni Weinert, Composer, died at the age of 99

• 1859 ~ Joseph Hartmann Stuntz, Composer, died at the age of 65

• 1876 ~ August Rockel, Composer, died at the age of 61

• 1892 ~ Edward Steuermann, Composer

• 1901 ~ Jeanette MacDonald, Singer with Nelson Eddy

• 1902 ~ Louis Alter, Composer

• 1904 ~ Manuel Rosenthal, French composer

• 1905 ~ Eduard Tubin, Composer

• 1906 ~ Kaye Kyser, Bandleader Kay Kyser and His Kollege of Musical Knowledge
More information about Kyser

• 1907 ~ Benny Payne, American pianist for the Billy Daniels Show

• 1909 ~ Learmont Drysdale, Composer, died at the age of 42

• 1934 ~ Ray McKinley (1910) Musician, drummer, led Glenn Miller Band for the estate from 1956 until 1966.

• 1911 ~ Franjo Zaver Kuhac, Composer, died at the age of 76

• 1913 ~ Sammy Cahn, Composer and lyricist
More information about Cahn

• 1915 ~ Victor Legley, Composer

• 1917 ~ Akhmet Jevdet Ismail Hajiyev, Composer

• 1918 ~ Bob Carroll, Singer and actor

• 1923 ~ Herman Krebbers, Dutch violist and concertmaster

• 1925 ~ Herman “Ace” Wallace, Blues guitarist and singer

• 1927 ~ Simeon Pironkov, Composer

• 1933 ~ Tommy Hunt, American singer

• 1934 ~ Francisco Lacerda, Composer, died at the age of 65

• 1935 ~ August Reusner, Composer, died at the age of 64

• 1941 ~ Lamont Dozier, Composer

• 1942 ~ Hans Vonk, Dutch conductor

• 1942 ~ Arthur Willard Pryor, Composer, died at the age of 71

• 1942 ~ Paul McCartney, British rock singer, songwriter and guitarist
More information about McCartney

• 1944 ~ Paul Lansky, Composer

• 1944 ~ Douglas Young, Composer

• 1948 ~ Eva Marton, Hungarian soprano

• 1949 ~ “Along Fifth Avenue” closed at Broadhurst Theater NYC after 180 performances

• 1953 ~ Jerome Smith, Musician, guitarist with KC & The Sunshine Band

• 1955 ~ Walter Rein, Composer, died at the age of 61

• 1955 ~ Willy Burkhard, Composer, died at the age of 55

• 1962 ~ Volkmar Andreae, Swiss conductor and Composer, died at the age of 82

• 1964 ~ Alexander Shamil’yevich Melik-Pashayev, Composer, died at the age of 58

• 1965 ~ George Melachrino, Composer, died at the age of 56

• 1973 ~ Fritz Mahler, Composer, died at the age of 71

• 1977 ~ Fleetwood Mac worked Dreams to the number one spot on the pop music charts this day. It would be the group’s only single to reach number one. Fleetwood Mac placed 18 hits on the charts in the 1970s and 1980s. Nine were top-ten tunes.

Daily Listening Assignments ~ June 17, 2021

Posted by MaryO on

 

 

Today’s assignment is a very popular piece by Johann Pachelbel called Canon in D.

A canon is a technique that employs a melody with one or more imitations of the melody played after a given duration (e.g., quarter rest, one measure, etc.). The initial melody is called the leader, while the imitative melody, which is played in a different voice, is called the follower. The follower must imitate the leader, either as an exact replication of its rhythms and intervals or some transformation thereof. Repeating canons in which all voices are musically identical are called rounds—”Row, Row, Row Your Boat” and “Frère Jacques” are popular examples.

The original version:

 

 

Can you see why the cellist is bored?

Here’s what his music looks like

And that repeats over and over for the whole piece!

A bit of humor from a past cellist:

Variations on the theme:

 

Find it in Piano Pronto Finale and Coda

June 17: Today’s Music History

Posted by MaryO on

today

 

 

Be sure your student reads and listens to Today’s Daily Listening Assignment

 

 

• 1672 ~ Orazio Benevoli, Italian Composer, died at the age of 67

• 1725 ~ Joseph Anton Bauer, Composer

• 1750 ~ Michel Woldemar, Composer

• 1818 ~ Charles Gounod, French composer, conductor and organist
Read quotes by and about Gounod
More information about Gounod

• 1855 ~ Fritz Steinbach, Composer

• 1882 ~ Igor Stravinsky, Russian-born American composer Stravinsky’s Firebird is featured in Fantasia 2000 and his The Rite of Spring was featured in the original Fantasia
Read quotes by and about Stravinsky
More information about Stravinsky
Grammy winner

• 1883 ~ Alexandre Cellier, Composer

• 1888 ~ Bernhard van den Sigtenhorst Meyer, Composer

• 1900 ~ Hermann Reuter, Composer

• 1902 ~ Sammy Fain (Samuel Feinberg), Oscar-winning musician, composer
More information about Fain

• 1908 ~ John Verrall, Composer

• 1910 ~ Red (Clyde Julian) Foley, Songwriter, singer

• 1910 ~ Herbert Owen Reed, Composer

• 1916 ~ Einar Englund, Composer

• 1917 ~ Dean Martin, Entertainer

• 1922 ~ Herbert Kelsey Jones, Composer

• 1926 ~ Manuel Enriquez, Composer

• 1941 ~ Johan Wagenaar, Dutch Composer (Cyrano de Bergerac), died at the age of 78

• 1930 ~ Romuald Twardowski, Composer

• 1932 ~ Mignon Dunn, American mezzo-soprano

• 1933 ~ Christian Ferras, French violinist/conductor

• 1939 ~ Dickie Doo (Gerry Granahan), Singer with Dickie Doo and The Don’ts

• 1942 ~ Norman Kuhlke, Musician, drummer with The Swinging Blue Jeans

• 1943 ~ Christopher Brown, Composer

• 1943 ~ Barry Manilow, , American singer/pianist (Mandy, I Write the Songs)

• 1951 ~ Carl Vogler, Composer, died at the age of 77

• 1952 ~ Alberto Williams, Argentine Composer (Etrerno Reposo), died at the age of 89

• 1953 ~ Walter Niemann, Composer, died at the age of 76

• 1957 ~ So Rare by Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra peaked at #2

• 1967 ~ “Somebody To Love” by Jefferson Airplane peaked at #5

• 1967 ~ Barbra Streisand: A Happening in Central Park performed

• 1968 ~ Ohio Express’ Yummy Yummy Yummy went gold

• 1969 ~ Jazz musician Charles Mingus came out of a two-year, self-imposed retirement to make a concert appearance at the Village Vanguard in New York City.

• 1972 ~ Long Haired Lover From Liverpool by Little Jimmy Osmond peaked at #38

• 1978 ~ Shadow Dancing, by Andy Gibb, reached the number one spot on the pop music charts for the first of seven weeks. Gibb had two other number one hits: I just want to Be Your Everything and (Love is) Thicker than Water. Gibb, the youngest of the Gibb brothers who made up the Bee Gees, hosted TV’s Solid Gold in 1981-82. Andy scored nine hits on the pop music charts in the 1970s and 1980s. He died of an inflammatory heart virus in Oxford, England in 1988.

• 1978 ~ Cheeseburger In Paradise by Jimmy Buffett peaked at #32

• 1983 ~ Peter Mennin(i), American Composer (Moby Dick), died at the age of 60

• 1986 ~ Kate Smith died in Raleigh North Carolina at 78

• 1991 ~ Country entertainer Minnie Pearl suffered a stroke at 78

• 1992 ~ Dewey Balfa, Bayou fiddler, died at the age of 65

• 1995 ~ The Who’s “Tommy” closed at St James Theater NYC after 899 performances

• 2008 ~ Cyd Charisse [Tula Finklea], American dancer and actress (Singin’ in the Rain), died at the age of 86