Music history, daily

On This Day in Music

Composers born, composers lost, and pieces that met the world for the first time — and every name here is playable in the library.

January 4

  • 1710Giovanni Battista Pergolesi was born — Italian composer, violinist, and organist. source 316 years ago
  • 1720Johann Friedrich Agricola was born — German organist and composer. source 306 years ago
  • 1874Josef Suk was born — Czech violinist and composer. source 152 years ago
  • 1916Lionel Newman was born — American pianist and composer. source 110 years ago
  • 1924Alfred Grünfeld died — Austrian pianist and composer. source 102 years ago
  • 1956Tom Borton was born — American jazz saxophonist, songwriter and composer. source 70 years ago
  • 1969Paul Chambers died — American bassist and composer. source 57 years ago
  • 1994R. D. Burman died — Indian film composer and music director. source 32 years ago

Every entry is drawn from our source-cited composer biographies and piece notes — dates come from published references, not from memory. Browse any composer to read the full biography, or the library to play their music.

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