Born Today! 02.12.2023

Francisco Javier García Fajer El Españoleto (Nalda, Logroño 2 December 1730 – Zaragoza 1809) was a Spanish composer of the Italianate galante school.He studied at the choir school at Zaragoza Cathedral. As a young man he moved to Italy, where he was chapelmaster of the see of Terni 1754-56 and gained his Italian epiphet Lo Spagnoletto, which he retained even back in Spain as El Españoleto. The Italian musical environment during the 1750s was characterised by composers on the threshold between galante and early classical such as Niccolò Jommelli and Giovanni Battista Pergolesi. García Fajer returned home as maestro de capilla of la Seo in Zaragoza 1756 till his death during the French siege of Zaragoza in 1809. As part of his Italianate reforms the Spanish villancico was supplanted by the Latin responsory.García Fajer was out of favour for many years in Spain due to his promotion of Italianate musical idiom, however in recent years he has been rehabilitated and taken on his own merits as a galante composer. A conference dedicated to rehabilitation of his reputation and work was held at the University of La Rioja, Spain, in April 2007.

Jakob Rosenhain (Jacob, Jacques) (2 December 1813 – 21 March 1894) was a German Jewish pianist and composer. Rosenhain was born in Mannheim made his debut at the age of 11. During their 1837 season, he was a soloist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra (on 17 April), which in 1854 (also in April) programmed one of his symphonies.He was a friend of Felix Mendelssohn at least from 1839. He worked with Johann Baptist Cramer on a published school of piano-playing. From 1849 he made his home in Paris.Rosenhain died in Baden-Baden.

Robert Kajanus (2 December 1856 – 6 July 1933) was a Finnish conductor, composer, and teacher. In 1882, he founded the Helsinki Orchestral Society, Finland's first professional orchestra. As a conductor, he was also a notable champion and interpreter of the music of Jean Sibelius.

Charles Rudolf Friml (December 7, 1879 – November 12, 1972) was a Czech-born composer of operettas, musicals, songs and piano pieces, as well as a pianist. After musical training and a brief performing career in his native Prague, Friml moved to the United States, where he became a composer. His best-known works are Rose-Marie and The Vagabond King, each of which enjoyed success on Broadway and in London and were adapted for film.

Charles Rudolf Friml (December 7, 1879 – November 12, 1972) was a Czech-born composer of operettas, musicals, songs and piano pieces, as well as a pianist. After musical training and a brief performing career in his native Prague, Friml moved to the United States, where he became a composer. His best-known works are Rose-Marie and The Vagabond King, each of which enjoyed success on Broadway and in London and were adapted for film.

Jean Robert Talbot (2 December 1893 – 24 August 1954) was a Canadian conductor, violinist, violist, composer, and music educator. For more than 25 years, he was the conductor of the Société symphonique de Québec (now the Quebec Symphony Orchestra). A member of the Société française de musicologie, the International Musicological Society, the Musical Association of London, and the Diocesan Commission for Sacred Music, he was the author of several books on music theory. He also contributed music articles to a variety of periodicals. His compositional output includes one symphony, a string quartet, several songs, many pieces for solo organ, the oratorio Évangéline, the opera Celle qui voit, and several other orchestral works. Many of his manuscripts, writings, and personal papers are part of the collection at the library of the Université Laval.

Georges Édouard Dandelot (2 December 1895 – 17 August 1975) was a French composer and teacher.

Gaziza Akhmetkyzy Zhubanova (Kazakh: Ғазиза Ахметқызы Жұбанова, Ǵazıza Ahmetqyzy Jubanova; Russian: Газиза Ахметовна Жубанова with middle name "Akhmetovna"; December 2, 1927 – December 13, 1993) was a Soviet and Kazakh composer and pedagogue. People's Artist of the USSR (1981).

Jörg Wolfgang Demus (2 December 1928 – 16 April 2019) was an Austrian classical pianist who appeared internationally and made many recordings. He was also a composer and a lecturer at music academies. In composition and playing, he focused on chamber music and lieder. He played with singers such as Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, as a piano duo with Paul Badura-Skoda, and with string players such as Josef Suk and Antonio Janigro. Demus was instrumental in bringing the historic fortepiano to concert podiums. He was a member of the Legion of Honour, among many awards. He is regarded as one of the leading Austrian pianists of the immediate post-World War II era.