1564 Hans Leo Hassler baptized – German composer and organist (d.1612); brought the innovations of the Venetian style across the Alps, after being the first great German composer to undertake an ‘Italian Journey’, establishing the trend of German musicians finishing their education in Italy.
1685 Domenico Scarlatti – Italian composer (d.1757); spent much of his life in the service of the Portuguese and Spanish royal families; classified as a Baroque composer, although he was influential in the development of the Classical style; like his renowned father Alessandro, composed in a variety of musical forms; today he is known mainly for his 555 keyboard sonatas.
1694 Johan Helmich Roman – Swedish composer (d.1758); has been called ‘the father of Swedish music’ and ‘the Swedish Handel’.
1783 premiere of the Kyrie, Gloria and Sanctus sections of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Mass in C Minor K 427 ‘Great’ in the Church of St. Peter's Abbey, Salzburg, with the composer conducting and his wife, Constanze, the soprano soloist; the Mass was never completed and there are many performing editions edited by the likes of H. C. Robbins Landon, Richard Maunder, Robert Levin and Philip Wilby.
1873 first performance of Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 2 in Vienna with the composer conducting; completed in 1872, and revised, like most of Bruckner's other symphonies, at various points thereafter; the first revision was the version premiered on this date in 1873.
1898 Beryl Rubinstein – American pianist, composer and teacher (d. 1952); joined the faculty of the Cleveland Institute of Music in 1921 and was its Director from 1932 until his death; among the works he composed were two piano concertos, a string quartet, and numerous pieces and studies for piano solo.
1919 first performance of Sir Edward Elgar's Cello Concerto, at London's Queens Hall, conducted by the composer; first performance was a debacle due to inadequate rehearsal time; the work did not achieve wide popularity until the 1960s, when a recording by Jacqueline du Pré became a best-seller.
1930 premiere of Dmitri Shostakovich's ballet The Golden Age at the Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet (Kirov Theatre) in Leningrad; a satirical take on the political and cultural changes in 1920s Europe.
1961 premiere of Robert Ward's opera The Crucible (from the play by Arthur Miller) in New York, commissioned by New York City Opera; won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1962.