1683 Jean-Philippe Rameau – French composer (d.1764); one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the Baroque era; replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera and, with François Couperin, is considered the leading French composer of his time for the harpsichord.
1741 Václav Pichl – Czech (Bohemian) composer, violinist, music director and writer (d.1805); died as the result of a stroke while playing a violin concerto at the Palais Lobkowitz in Vienna.
1862 Léon Boëllmann – French organist and composer (d.1897); best known for his Suite gothique (1895).
1906 Dmitri Shostakovich – Soviet-Russian composer and pianist (d.1975); prominent figure of 20th-century music; musicologist David Fanning in Grove's Dictionary: "Amid the conflicting pressures of official requirements, the mass suffering of his fellow countrymen, and his personal ideals of humanitarian and public service, he succeeded in forging a musical language of colossal emotional power."
1907 first performance of Jean Sibelius's Symphony No. 3 in Helsinki, with the composer conducting; his suite from the incidental music to Belshazzar's Feast Op 51 was premiered at the same concert.
1911 Lionel Nowak – Cleveland-born composer (d.1995); from 1948 to 1993 was on the faculty of Bennington College in Vermont.
1932 Glenn Gould – Canadian pianist, writer, composer, conductor and broadcaster (d.1982); well known for various eccentricities, from his unorthodox musical interpretations and mannerisms at the keyboard to aspects of his lifestyle and personal behavior; stopped giving concerts at the age of 31 to concentrate on studio recording and other projects.
1936 first performance of Ralph Vaughan Williams's choral suite Five Tudor Portraits in Norwich, England, conducted by the composer.
1997 first performance of John Adams's Piano Concerto 'Century Rolls', at Severance Hall, with pianist Emanuel Ax and the Cleveland Orchestra conducted by Christoph von Dohnányi.