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.

April 26

  • 1697Adam Falckenhagen was born — German lute player and composer. source 329 years ago
  • 1921Jimmy Giuffre was born — American clarinet player, saxophonist, and composer. source 105 years ago
  • 1932Francis Lai was born — French accordion player and composer. source 94 years ago
  • 1984Count Basie died — American pianist, composer, and bandleader. source 42 years ago
  • 1987Shankar died — Indian composer and conductor. source 39 years ago
  • 1991Leo Arnaud died — French-American composer and conductor. source 35 years ago
  • 1991Carmine Coppola died — American composer and conductor. source 35 years ago
  • 2022Klaus Schulze died — German composer and musician. source 4 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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