1852 Francisco Tárrega – Spanish composer and guitarist (d.1909); composed 78 original pieces and more than one hundred transcriptions, mostly for his own use; known as the ‘Sarasate of the guitar.’
1877 Sigfrid Karg-Elert – German organist and composer (d.1933); wrote mostly for small ensembles or solo instruments such as organ, piano and harmonium.
1896 first performance of Antonín Dvorák's symphonic poem The Noonday Witch in London; inspired by a Karel Jaromír Erben poem about the demon ‘Lady Midday’ of Slavic mythology.
1937 first performance of Dmitri Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5 by the Leningrad Philharmonic led by Yevgeny Mravinsky; a huge success, the work received an ovation that lasted well over half an hour; but this question may never be answered: "Is it a Stalinist victory hymn or a parody of one?"
1939 first performance of Dmitri Shostakovich's Symphony No. 6 by Leningrad Philharmonic led by Yevgeny Mravinsky; a successful premiere, and the finale was encored, but later criticized by Soviet authorities for its "ungainly structure" and "jarring juxtaposition of moods."
1941 first performance of Paul Hindemith's Symphony in E-Flat by the Minneapolis Symphony, Dimtri Mitropoulos conducting; written right after composer's arrival in US, and one critic said the work was "among the best American symphonies written by a German composer."
1977 Pablo Heras-Casado – Spanish conductor (46 years old); won the Lucerne Festival Conductors' Competition in 2007; principal guest conductor of the Teatro Real in Madrid; has conducted commercial recordings for the Harmonia Mundi and Archiv labels.
1986 premiere of John Harbison's cantata The Flight into Egypt at the New England Conservatory of Music; won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1987.