Musicians and Composers/Invention

The month of October is the celebration of some of the most special composers and musicians on the planet. Pavarotti, Horowitz and John Lennon were born in this month. Read on…

October 1, 1904 - Vladimir Horowitz, the great Russian-American piano virtuoso, was born in Berdichev. He married Wanda Toscanini, the daughter of Arturo Toscanini.

October 6, 1820 - Jenny Lind, known as the "Swedish Nightingale", was born in Stockholm, Sweden. She was known to have the most beautiful soprano voice.

October 7, 1746 - William Billings, one of America's earliest composers, was born in Boston. In 1770 he published one of the first song-books, The New England Psalm Singer.

October 8, 1930 - Toru Takemitsu, the Japanese composer, was born in Tokyo.

October 9, 1835 - Camille Saint-Saens, the French composer, pianist was born in Paris. He was only two and one-half years old when he began playing the piano. Saint-Saens first piece was composed at the age of four. This child prodigy studied at the Paris Conservatory. He composed The Carnival of the Animals for two pianos and orchestra.

October 9, 1940 - John Lennon, the English pop singer, composer was born in Liverpool. He was a member of the famous "Beatles".

October 11, 1882 - Robert Nathaniel Dett - American composer, pianist, teacher and compiler of Negro spirituals, was born in Drummondville, Quebec.

October 12, 1872 - Ralph Vaughan Williams, the English composer and folksong compiler, was born in London.

October 12, 1935 - Luciano Pavarotti, the great Italian tenor, was born in Modena. A member of the Metropolitan Opera staff, he is one of the greatest opera singers of our day.

October 13, 1909 - Art Tatum, the jazz pianist who was nearly blind, was born in Toledo, Ohio. He developed his own unique style of playing. Tatum learned to read Braille music notation.

October 17, 1978 - Marian Anderson was presented a Congressional Gold Medal on this day by President Carter at a White House ceremony in Washington D.C.

October 19, 1916 - Emil Gileis, Soviet pianist, was born in Odessa.

October 20, 1874- Charles Ives, America's innovative composer was born in Danbury, Connecticut. Besides music, Ives formed the successful insurance company of Ives and Myrick. He died in New York City in 1954.

October 22, 1811 - Franz Liszt, the great Hungarian composer, pianist, virtuoso was born in Raiding.

October 23, 1923 - Ned Rorem, the American composer, teacher and music writer was born in Richmond, Indiana.

October 24, 1825 - Johann Strauss, Jr. the Austrian composer was born in Vienna. He was known as "The Waltz King".

October 25, 1838 - George Bizet, the composer of many operas was born in Paris, France.

October 25, 1864 - Alexander Gretchaninoff, the Russian-American composer was born in Moscow. He composed many piano solos and under the teaching of Rimski-Korsakov, composed a prize winning string quartet. He became a US citizen in 1939 after moving to New York. On his 90th birthday Gretchaninoff was honored at Town Hall in New York City and heard a program of his works performed.