1585 Heinrich Schütz – German composer (d.1672); regarded as the greatest German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach; not only was Bach’s music influenced by Schütz, but so was that of Johannes Brahms, who is known to have studied Schütz’s works.
1870 Louis Vierne – French organist and composer (d.1937); one of the greatest musical improvisers of his day; his few improvisations preserved on early phonograph recordings sound like finished, polished compositions.
1903 first performance of Carl Nielsen's Helios Overture in the large hall of the Odd Fellows Mansion in Copenhagen; the composer's stay in Athens gave him the inspiration for this work depicting the sun rising and setting over the Aegean Sea.
1930 Toru Takemitsu – Japanese composer and writer on aesthetics and music theory (d.1996); possessed consummate skill in the subtle manipulation of instrumental and orchestral timbre; famed for combining elements of Eastern and Western philosophy to create a sound uniquely his own, and for fusing opposites together such as sound with silence and tradition with innovation.