1810 Otto Nicolai – German composer, conductor, and founder of the Vienna Philharmonic (d.1849); best known for his operatic version of Shakespeare's comedy The Merry Wives of Windsor (1849).
1840 Franz Liszt gave a solo performance at the Hanover Square Rooms in London billed as Recitals; this was the first time the term ‘recital’ was used to describe a public musical performance, causing much debate at the time; Liszt is credited with both inventing and naming the now-common solo piano recital.
1860 first performance of Schumann's Cello Concerto by the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, at a concert commemorating the late composer's 50th birthday anniversary (June 8); the work had been completed in 1850.
1865 Albéric Magnard – French composer (d.1914); became a national hero in 1914 when he refused to surrender his property to German invaders and died defending it.
1865 Carl Nielsen – Danish composer, conductor and violinist (d.1931); widely recognized as Denmark's greatest composer.
1891 Cole Porter – American composer and songwriter (d.1964); his most successful musical Kiss Me, Kate was an adaptation of Shakespeare; it represented a comeback in 1948 and won the first Tony Award for best musical.
1902 premiere of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 3 in Krefeld, Germany, conducted by the composer; the longest symphony in the standard repertoire, with a typical performance lasting around 90 to 100 minutes.
1904 the London Symphony gave its first concert, with Hans Richter conducting.
1912 Ingolf Dahl – German-born American composer, pianist, conductor and educator (d.1970); among his students, Michael Tilson Thomas, Morten Lauridsen and Lawrence Moss; Tilson Thomas said: "Dahl was an inspiring teacher; over and above the subject matter, he showed his students about the practical value of humanism. That is, how to let humanistic concerns infuse your daily existence."
1938 Charles Wuorinen – American composer (d. 2020); awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1970.
1939 first performance of Sir Arnold Bax’s Symphony No. 7 (“dedicated to The People of America”) at Carnegie Hall by the New York Philharmonic, with Sir Adrian Boult conducting; commissioned by the British Council as part of the British Exhibition at 1939 World's Fair, along with Arthur Bliss's Piano Concerto in B-Flat, and Ralph Vaughan Williams' Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus.
1940 first performance of Aaron Copland's Our Town orchestral suite (from the film score), on a CBS radio broadcast; a revised version of the suite was given its first public performance by the Boston Pops conducted by Leonard Bernstein on May 7, 1944.
1951 James Newton Howard – American film/TV composer, conductor, and music producer (73 years old); has won a Grammy, Emmy and been nominated for eight Academy Awards.