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.

August 2

  • 1445Oswald von Wolkenstein died — Austrian poet and composer. source 581 years ago
  • 1891Arthur Bliss was born — English composer and conductor. source 135 years ago
  • 1905Karl Amadeus Hartmann was born — German composer. source 121 years ago
  • 1924Joe Harnell was born — American pianist and composer. source 102 years ago
  • 1929Roy Crimmins was born — English trombonist and composer. source 97 years ago
  • 1936Anthony Payne was born — English composer and author. source 90 years ago
  • 1945Pietro Mascagni died — Italian composer and educator. source 81 years ago
  • 1947Ruth Bakke was born — Norwegian organist and composer. source 79 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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