1680 death of Marco Uccellini – Italian composer and violinist (age c. 77); one of the distinguished violinist-composers in the first half of the 17th century.
1822 César Franck – Belgian-French composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher (d.1890); fame rests on a small number of works written in his later years, particularly his Symphony in D minor, Symphonic Variations for piano & orchestra, Violin Sonata in A Major and Piano Quintet in F minor; the Symphony was especially influential among the younger generation of French composers and was highly responsible for reinvigorating the French symphonic tradition.
1854 premiere of the Berlioz: oratorio L'Enfance du Christ (The Childhood of Christ) in Paris, conducted by the composer; unlike many other Berlioz premieres, an almost unqualified success.
1886 first performance of George W. Chadwick’s Symphony No. 2 by the Boston Symphony, with the composer conducting.
1908 Olivier Messiaen – French composer, organist and ornithologist (d.1992); drew on his Roman Catholic faith for his pieces; his innovative use of color, his conception of the relationship between time and music, and his use of birdsong are among the features that make Messiaen's music distinctive.
1910 premiere of Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West (The Girl of the Golden West) in New York at the Metropolitan Opera, with a cast including soprano Emmy Destinn and tenor Enrico Caruso, Arturo Toscanini conducting.
1913 Morton Gould – American composer, conductor, arranger, and pianist (d.1996); had his first composition published at the age of six; studied at the Institute of Musical Art (now the Juilliard School), and was the first staff pianist at Radio City Music Hall; in 1994, received the Kennedy Center Honor in recognition of lifetime contributions to American culture and in 1995, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music for Stringmusic, commissioned by the National Symphony Orchestra.
1932 Stephen Griebling – self-taught northeastern Ohio composer (d. 2020), he studied chemistry at Mount Union College and worked in the rubber industry in Akron for 40 years; has written a great deal of chamber music as well as orchestral compositions that have been performed by the Akron Symphony and the Springfield Symphony.
1980 Sarah Chang – Korean American violinist (44 years old); appointed by President Obama to the Presidential Commission on Russian Relations and is a State Department Special Cultural Envoy; has promoted childhood musical education for many years.