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.

May 12

  • 1739Johann Baptist Wanhal was born — Czech-Austrian organist and composer. source 287 years ago
  • 1754Franz Anton Hoffmeister was born — German composer and publisher. source 272 years ago
  • 1755Giovanni Battista Viotti was born — Italian violinist and composer. source 271 years ago
  • 1792Charles Simon Favart died — French playwright and composer. source 234 years ago
  • 1814Adolf von Henselt was born — German pianist and composer. source 212 years ago
  • 1829Pavlos Carrer was born — Greek composer and educator. source 197 years ago
  • 1845Gabriel Fauré was born. 181 years ago
  • 1865Eduardo Di Capua was born. 161 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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