1731 Frantisek Dusek baptized – Czech composer (d.1799); one of the most important harpsichordists and pianists of his time; his wife Josepha was a famous pianist and soprano; Mozart's concert aria Bella mia fiamma K 528 was written for her.
1813 first performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 in Vienna, conducted by the composer; the orchestra was led by Beethoven's friend Ignaz Schuppanzigh and included some of the finest musicians of the day including violinist Ludwig Spohr, bassoonist Anton Romberg and the Italian double bass virtuoso Domenico Dragonetti, whom Beethoven himself described as playing "with great fire and expressive power"; it is also said that the Italian guitar virtuoso Mauro Giuliani played cello at the premiere.
1844 first performance of Robert Schumann's Piano Quartet Op 47, with Clara Schumann, piano, Ferdinand David, violin & Niels Gade, viola; composed in 1842, during the composer’s ‘Chamber Music Year’ during which he wrote three string quartets and a piano quintet in addition to the piano quartet.
1865 Jean Sibelius – Finnish composer (d.1957); his music (especially Finlandia) played an important role in the formation of the Finnish national identity; after completing his Seventh Symphony (1924), the incidental music to The Tempest (1926), and the tone poem Tapiola (1926), he produced no large scale works for the remaining thirty years of his life; since 2011, Finland has celebrated a Flag Day on the composer's birthday, also known as the 'Day of Finnish Music'.
1882 Manuel Ponce – Mexican composer, music educator and scholar of Mexican music (d.1948); his best-known work is Estrellita (1912).
1890 Bohuslav Martinu – Czech composer (d.1959); prolific composer of 6 symphonies, 15 operas, 14 ballet scores and a large body of orchestral, chamber, vocal and instrumental works; his symphonic career began when he emigrated to the United States in 1941, fleeing the German takeover of Europe, to compose his 6 symphonies, which were performed by all the major US orchestras.
1911 first subscription concert of the San Francisco Symphony; a program of Wagner, Tchaikovsky and Liszt was conducted by Henry Hadley in a city still recovering from the devastating 1906 earthquake.
1939 James Galway – Irish flutist (84 years old); nicknamed ‘The Man with the Golden Flute,’ he followed in the footsteps of Jean-Pierre Rampal to become one of the first flute players to establish an international career as a soloist.
1974 Julian Rachlin – Lithuanian violinist, violist and conductor (49 years old); the youngest soloist ever to play with the Vienna Philharmonic, under the direction of Riccardo Muti; in 2014, he was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the Royal Northern Sinfonia in Gateshead, England.