Today in classical music history August 31

Johann Paul Aegidius Martini
  • 1696 Birth of composer Johann Paul Kunzen
  • 1741 Birth of composer Johann Paul Aegidius Martini
  • 1730 Death of German composer Gottfried Finger in Mannheim. b-Olmütz, 1660.
  • 1748 Birth of German cellist Johannes JAEGER in Hesse. Father of two sons also popular cellists.
  • 1748 Birth of Henriette Adelaide Beaumesnil Soprano Born 31 Aug 1748 Paris Died 1813 Debut as Silvie in Silvie (Berton / Trail) 27 Nov 1766 Created Echo in Echo et Narcisse (Gluck)
  • 1748 Birth of composer Jean-Etienne Despreaux
  • 1755 Birth of composer Johann Ignaz Walter
  • 1769 Birth of Louisa Fontenelle Soprano Born 31 Aug 1769 London Died Oct 1799 Debut as Moggy in Highland Reel (Shield) 6 Nov 1788 (premiere)
  • 1775 Birth of Franch guitarist and composer Francois de Paule Jacques Raymond de FOSSA in Perpigan. d-Paris, 3 JUN 1849.
  • 1787 Birth of Louis Antoine Ponchard Tenor / Teacher of Singing Born 31 Aug 1787 Paris Died 6 Jan 1866 Debut in Ami de la Maison (Gretry) 1812 Teacher, Pierre-Jean Garat Pupils, Henri-Bernard Dabadie, Jean Baptiste Faure, Giovanni Mario Louis-Henri Obin, Roger, Rosine Stoltz, Jean Baptiste Weckerlin Created Georges Brown in Dame Blanche (Boieldieu) Sang in premiere of Nouveau Seigneur du Village (Boieldieu) Petit Chaperon Rouge (Boieldieu) Deux Nuits (Boieldieu) Joconde (Isouard) Leicester (Auber) Neige (Auber) Concert a la Cour (Auber) Macon (Auber) Masaniello (Carafa)
  • 1795 Death of French composer François-André Philidor in London. b-Dreux, 7 SEP 1725.
  • 1821 Birth of composer Vaclav Hugo Zavrtal
  • 1829 FP of Rossini's opera William Tell, in Paris.
  • 1834 Birth of Italian composer Amilcare PONCHIELLI, in Paderno-Cremona. d-Milan, 15 JAN 1886.
  • 1855 Birth of composer Stefan Surzynski
  • 1856 Birth of composer Nikoghayos Fadeyi Tigranyan
  • 1864 Birth of composer Max Wilhelm Zach
  • 1878 Birth of composer Albert Riemenschneider
  • 1879 Birth of composer Viktor Alexandrovich Uspensky
  • 1879 Birth of Austrian composer and writer Alma Shindler MAHLER-WERFEL in Vienna. d-NYC, 11 DEC 1964. Composer of songs and an opera.
  • 1886 FP of Liszt's Graner Mass, at the consecration of Gran Cathedral.
  • 1886 Birth of Russian-born American popular music composer Louis Wolfe GILBERT in Odessa, Russia. d-LA, 13 JUL 1970.
  • 1895 Birth of composer Joseph Moiseyevich Schillinger
  • 1899 Birth of composer Walter Muller von Kulm
  • 1902 Death of Matilda Wesendonck, the inspiration for Wagner's 'Tristan' period.
  • 1901 Birth of Karl Leiss Tenor Born 31 Aug 1901 Plzen Teachers, Josef Branzovsky, Emil Burian, Karel Burian, C Klaus
  • 1905 Death of Francesco Tamagno Tenor Born 28 Dec 1850 Turin Died 31 Aug 1905 Debut as Nearco in Poliuto (Donizetti) 1874 Teachers, Carlo Pedrotti, Luigi Vannuccini Created Otello in Otello (Verdi) Didier in Marian Delorme (Ponchelli) Azaele in Figliuol Prodigo (Ponchielli) Hellion in Messaline (De Lara) Fabiano Fabiani in Maria Tudor (Gomes)
  • 1907 Birth of Winifried Cecil Soprano Born 31 Aug 1907 Staten Island Died 13 Sep 1985 Debut as Maria in Maria Egiziaca (Respighi) 1937 Teachers, Marcella Sembrich, Elena Gerhardt, Saramae Endlich Pupil, Doris Jung
  • 1908 Birth of composer Peter Conrad Baden
  • 1910 Death of French musicologist Pierre Aubry in Dieppe of fencing accident. Authority on medieval music. b-Paris, 14 FEB 1874.
  • 1912 Birth of Ramon Vinay Tenor / Baritone Born 31 Aug 1912 Chile Died 4 Jan 1996 Debut as Alfonso in Favorita (Donizetti) 1931 Teachers, Rene Maison, Pierson, Ettore Verna
  • 1918 Birth of composer Lucrecia Roces Kasilag
  • 1923 Death of Ernst Van Dyck Tenor Born 2 Apr 1861 Antwerp Died 31 Aug 1923 Debut as Lohengrin in Lohengrin (Wagner) 1887 Teachers, Saint-Yves Bax, Emmanuel Chabrier, Jules Massenet Created Patrice in Moina (De Lara) Werther in Werther (Massenet)
  • 1924 Birth of composer Klaus Hashagen
  • 1928 FP of Kurt Weill's Threepenny Opera in Berlin. Libretto by Bertolt Brecht.
  • 1929 Birth of Cornell Stavru Tenor Born 31 Aug 1929 Costanza Debut as Manrico in Trovatore (Verdi) 1958 Teachers, Alexander Colfescu, Aurel Costescu-Duca
  • 1930 Birth of Welsh horn player Ifor JAMES.
  • 1938 Birth of Belgian violist Wieland KUIJKEN in Dilbeck, nr. Brussels.
  • 1941 - Birth of composer Emanuel Nunes
  • 1945 Birth of Israeli-American violinist and conductor Itzhak PERLMAN in Tel Aviv.
  • 1951 Birth of Israeli-Swedish composer and percussionist Dror FEILER in Tel Aviv.
  • 1952 Birth of American composer Lee HYLA in Niagara Falls, NY.
  • 1953 Birth of American composer Peter Scott LEWIS in San Rafael, CA.
  • 1961 Birth of English pianist and tenor Neil ARCHER in Northampton Debut as Tamino in Zauberflote (Mozart) 1987 Teacher :- Eduardo Asquez Created Servant & Captain in Terrible Mouth (Osborne). M. Berger in Belle Vivette (Offenbach)
  • 1964 Death of Desire Defrere Tenor Born 1888 Liege Died 31 Aug 1964 Sang in premiere of Love of 3 Oranges (Prokofiev)
  • 1965 Death of Antonin Trantoul Tenor Born 1886 Toulouse Died 31 Aug 1965 Debut as Des Grieux in Manon (Massenet) 1911 Pupil :- Jean Lafont Created Gherardo in Fra Gherardo (Pizzetti) Rodrigue in Nerto (Widor)
  • 1966 Death of Hans Grahl Tenor / Teacher of Singing Born 1895 Died 31 Aug 1966 Pupils :- Ludwig Suthaus, Ernst Krukowski, Margarete Klose
  • 1969 Death of American composer William Flanagan in NYC of a drug overdose at age 46. b-Detroit, 14 AUG 1923.
  • 1970 FP of H. Birtwistle's Verses for Ensembles in London.
  • 1975 Death of Jonny Born Baritone Born 1906 Magdeburg Died 31 Aug 1975 Debut 1946 Sang in preniere of Doctor Fausts Hollenfahrt (Engelmann)
  • 2000 FP of Philip Glass' opera In the Penal Colony from a Franz Kafka novel, by A Contemporary Theatre (ACT) in Seattle, WA.
  • 2003 Death of Dutch composer Jaap Geraedts. b-12 JUL 1924.