Born Today! 20.07.2023

Ignaz Schuppanzigh (20 July 1776 – 2 March 1830) was an Austrian violinist, friend and teacher of Beethoven, and leader of Count Razumovsky's private string quartet. Schuppanzigh and his quartet premiered many of Beethoven's string quartets, and in particular, the late string quartets. The Razumovsky quartet, which Schuppanzigh founded in late 1808, is considered to be the first professional string quartet. Until the founding of this quartet, quartet music was played primarily by amateurs or by professional musicians who joined together on an ad hoc basis.

Ignaz Schuppanzigh (20 July 1776 – 2 March 1830) was an Austrian violinist, friend and teacher of Beethoven, and leader of Count Razumovsky's private string quartet. Schuppanzigh and his quartet premiered many of Beethoven's string quartets, and in particular, the late string quartets. The Razumovsky quartet, which Schuppanzigh founded in late 1808, is considered to be the first professional string quartet. Until the founding of this quartet, quartet music was played primarily by amateurs or by professional musicians who joined together on an ad hoc basis.

Witold Maliszewski (Russian: Витольд Осипович Малишевский, Ukrainian: Вітольд Йосифович Малішевський; 20 July 1873 – 18 July 1939) was a Polish composer, founder of Odessa Conservatory, and a professor of Warsaw Conservatory.

He Luting (traditional: 賀綠汀; simplified: 贺绿汀; pinyin: Hè Lùtīng; July 20, 1903 – April 27, 1999) was a Chinese composer of the early 20th century. He composed songs for Chinese films beginning in the 1930s, some of which remain popular.During the 1930s, He studied at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music under Huang Tzu and Russian composer Alexander Tcherepnin. Tcherepnin named him winner of a piano composition contest in 1934 for his work Buffalo Boy's Flute (Mu Tong Duan Di,《牧童短笛》), which made him famous nationwide. His best-known compositions are "Song of the Four Seasons" (Si Ji Ge,《四季歌》) and "The Wandering Songstress" (Tianya Ge Nü,《天涯歌女》), with lyrics by Tian Han), both composed for the 1937 film Street Angel and sung by Zhou Xuan.He Luting had a complicated relationship with the Chinese Communist Party. He became a member after moving to Shanghai, and during the Second Sino-Japanese War he wrote several songs for the "mass song movement", most famously the "Guerrillas' Song". After the Communist victory in the Civil War, he was appointed director of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. But during the Cultural Revolution, He Luting became a target due to his association with Western music and particularly his defence of Claude Debussy. He refused to confess despite being subjected to physical abuse and interrogation on public television. Alex Ross claimed that no composer had ever made a braver stand against totalitarianism. After the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976, He Luting returned to his position as Director of the Shanghai Conservatory and was allowed to travel overseas, visiting Australia in 1979. In 1984 he retired from his position, retaining the title of honorary director. The main concert hall at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music is named after He.

Per Gunnar Fredrik de Frumerie (20 July 1908, in Nacka, Stockholm County – 9 September 1987, in Täby, Stockholm County) was a Swedish composer and pianist. He was the son of architect Gustaf de Frumerie and Maria Helleday. After studying piano in Stockholm and Vienna, he studied under Alfred Cortot in Paris. He then studied at the Royal College of Music, Stockholm from 1923–1928. Frumerie later taught the piano at the same college, from 1945 to 1974. His compositions covered a wide area, from grand opera to piano miniatures, but he is best remembered for his piano works. His works possess a Brahmsian complexity mixed with an impressionistic elegance. One can relate his music to such composers as Lars-Erik Larsson or Wilhelm Peterson-Berger. Although not noted for his theatre work, he did write an opera, Singoalla (1940). He wrote many songs, often to words by Pär Lagerkvist. The cello concerto (1984) has an interesting history. It was adapted from his second cello sonata. He then adapted it into a trombone concerto, and was his last completed work. It was specifically written for the Swedish trombone virtuoso Christian Lindberg. His pupils included Laci Boldemann. The Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter is related to Frumerie, as she is descended from the Frumerie family. They were both members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. The soprano Nina Stemme is also a Frumerie relative.

Vilém Tauský CBE (20 July 1910, Přerov, Moravia – 16 March 2004, London) was a Czech conductor and composer who, from the advent of the Second World War, lived and worked in the UK, one of a significant group of émigré composers and musicians who settled there.

Michael Andreas Gielen (20 July 1927 – 8 March 2019) was an Austrian conductor and composer known for promoting contemporary music in opera and concert. Principally active in Europe, his performances are characterized by precision and vivacity, aiding his ability to interpret the complex contemporary music he specialized in. Raised in Argentina, he first worked in Vienna and was Generalmusikdirektor (GMD) of the Royal Swedish Opera. He conducted notable world premieres such as György Ligeti's Requièm, Karlheinz Stockhausen's Carré, and Bernd Alois Zimmermann's opera Die Soldaten and his Requiem für einen jungen Dichter. He directed the Oper Frankfurt from 1977 to 1987, installing more contemporary operas, winning stage directors such as Hans Neuenfels and Ruth Berghaus, and reviving operas such as Schreker's Die Gezeichneten. During his era, the company became one of the leading operas. Gielen was also principal conductor of the National Orchestra of Belgium (1969–1973), the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (1980–1986) and the Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra (1986–1999). As a composer, he worked in the tradition of the Second Viennese School, often setting modern literature to music. His works were premiered with performers such as Joan Carroll, Siegfried Palm, Aloys Kontarsky and the LaSalle Quartet.