Born Today! 29.07.2024

Johann Theile (29 July 1646 – 24 June 1724) was a German composer of the Baroque era, famous for the opera Adam und Eva, Der erschaffene, gefallene und aufgerichtete Mensch, first performed in Hamburg on 2 January 1678.

Sophie Menter (29 July 1846 – 23 February 1918) was a German pianist and composer who became the favorite female student of Franz Liszt. She was called l'incarnation de Liszt in Paris because of her robust, electrifying playing style and was considered one of the greatest piano virtuosos of her time. She died at Stockdorf, near Munich.

Niccola Spinelli (29 July 1865 – 17 October 1909) was an Italian composer of operas. Born in Turin, the son of a jurist, he studied composition at the Naples Conservatory under Paolo Serrao. His opera Labilia won the second-place prize in an 1890 opera competition organized by Milanese music publisher Edoardo Sonzogno, and premiered in Rome on 9 May 1890; the first prize went to Pietro Mascagni for Cavalleria rusticana. His most well-known work is A basso porto (At the Lower Harbor), which premiered in Cologne on 18 April 1894 to great popular acclaim. A basso porto was first performed in England by the Carl Rosa Co. in March 1899 at Brighton, and by the Queen's Hall Orchestra on 11 October 1900, under Henry Wood. The opera focuses on the slums of Naples, where Spinelli used mandolins and guitars in several places in his orchestral score. The mandolinists were Florimond and Cesare Costers. The mandolins were an important part of the opera, accompanying the tenor song of the second act, and the finale of the third act. More importantly, Spinelli composed an intermezzo for mandolins and orchestra, as a prelude to the third and last act, a departure from the customary instrumentation. Philip J. Bone said that the audience reaction to the intermezzo "was extraordinary". Bone, a music historian, added more detail about the use of mandolins by Spinelli, saying, "Spinelli makes good use of the mandolins, writing an elaborate cadenza in double stopping and rapid chromatic passages, which evidences a practical acquaintance with the instrument." He also said that the parts of the intermezzo that were written for mandolins were the sections most striking feature of the intermezzo, along with the melody written for cello. Spinelli died in Rome, aged 44.

William Henry Reed MVO (29 July 1875 – 2 July 1942; his birth year is often given in error as 1876) was an English violinist, teacher, composer, conductor and biographer of Edward Elgar. He was leader of the London Symphony Orchestra for 23 years (1912–1935), but is best known for his long personal friendship with Elgar (1910–1934) and his book Elgar As I Knew Him (1936), in which he goes into great detail about the genesis of the Violin Concerto in B minor. The book also provides a large number of Elgar's sketches for his unfinished Third Symphony, which proved invaluable sixty years later when Anthony Payne elaborated and essentially completed the work, although Reed wrote that in his view the symphony could not be completed. His name appears in various forms: William Henry Reed, W. H. Reed, W. H. "Billy" Reed, Billy Reed and Willie Reed. He was known to his friends as Billy.

Boris Vladimirovich Asafyev (Russian: Бори́с Влади́мирович Аса́фьев; 29 July [O.S. 17 July] 1884 – 27 January 1949) was a Russian and Soviet composer, writer, musicologist, musical critic and one of founders of Soviet musicology. He is the dedicatee of Prokofiev's First Symphony. He was born in Saint Petersburg. Asafyev had a strong influence on Soviet music. His compositions included ballets, operas, symphonies, concertos and chamber music. His ballets included Flames of Paris, based on the French Revolution, and The Fountain of Bakhchisarai, which was first performed in 1934, and was performed at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg in 2006. His writings, under the name Igor Glebov, included The Book about Stravinsky and Glinka (for which he was awarded the Stalin Prize in 1948).

Rudi Stephan (29 July 1887 – 29 September 1915) was a German composer of great promise who was considered one of the leading talents of his generation. He was killed in action during World War I.

Sofía Cancino de Cuevas (July 29, 1897 – December 16, 1982) was a Mexican composer, pianist, opera promoter, singer, and her country's first woman symphonic conductor.

Ján Cikker (29 July 1911 – 21 December 1989) was a Slovak composer, a leading exponent of modern Slovak classical music. He was awarded the title National Artist in Slovakia, the Herder Prize (1966) and the IMC-UNESCO International Music Prize (1979).

Michail "Mikis" Theodorakis (Greek: Μιχαήλ "Μίκης" Θεοδωράκης [ˈmicis θeoðoˈɾacis]; 29 July 1925 – 2 September 2021) was a Greek composer and lyricist credited with over 1,000 works. He scored for the films Zorba the Greek (1964), Z (1969), and Serpico (1973). He was a three-time BAFTA nominee, winning for Z. For the score in Serpico , he earned Grammy nominations. Furthermore, for the score to Zorba the Greek, with its 'Zorba's Dance', he was Golden Globe nominated. He composed the "Mauthausen Trilogy", also known as "The Ballad of Mauthausen", which has been described as the "most beautiful musical work ever written about the Holocaust" and possibly his best work. Up until his death, he was viewed as Greece's best-known living composer. He was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize. Politically, he was associated with the left because of his long-standing ties to the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). He was an MP for the KKE from 1981 to 1990. Despite this however, he ran as an independent candidate within the centre-right New Democracy party in 1989, in order for the country to emerge from the political crisis that had been created due to the numerous scandals of the government of Andreas Papandreou. He helped establish a large coalition between conservatives, socialists and leftists. In 1990 he was elected to the parliament (as in 1964 and 1981), became a government minister under Konstantinos Mitsotakis, and fought against drugs and terrorism and for culture, and education. He continued to speak out in favour of leftist causes, Greek–Turkish–Cypriot relations, and against the War in Iraq. He was a key voice against the 1967–1974 Greek junta, which imprisoned him and banned his songs.

Bidzina Kvernadze (Georgian: ბიძინა კვერნაძე), (29 July 1928, Sighnaghi, Georgia, – 8 July 2010, Tbilisi), was a famous Georgian composer. Bidzina was born in Sighnaghi, the Kakheti region of former Soviet Georgia to Alexander Kvernadze, a pharmacist, and Nino Nadirashvili, a music teacher. In 1948, Bidzina presented his musical works to Examination Commission, and he was accepted to the Tbilisi State Conservatoire with the highest score. He finished the composition class in 1958, taught by Andria Balanchivadze. In the same year he was accepted as a member of the Union of Soviet Composers. Among his honors are the title of "People's Artist of the USSR" (1979), the "Z. Paliashvili Prize" (1981, for My Entreaty, Old Georgian Inscriptions and Vocal-Symphonic Poem) and the "Shota Rustaveli State Prize" (1985, Opera "And it was in the eighth year"). He was also named an Honorary Citizen of Tbilisi (1995).

Alfred Roubenovich "Avet" Terterian (also Terteryan) (Armenian: Ալֆրեդ "Ավետ" Տերտերյան, July 29, 1929 – December 11, 1994) was an Armenian composer, awarded the Konrad Adenauer Prize. Terterian composed eight (completed) symphonies, several of which are recorded, an opera and several chamber works. Terterian was a friend and colleague of Giya Kancheli, Konstantin Orbelyan, and Tigran Mansurian. Dmitri Shostakovich praised Terterian as "very talented" and "with great future" in one of his letters, published by his friend Isaak Glikman, having heard a recording of Terterian's works at Armenia's "House of Composers" summer resort in Dilijan, Armenia. He studied at the Music Academy in Baku from 1948, and moved to the Romanos-Melikian Music Academy in 1951. He studied composition at the Komitas State Conservatory in Yerevan from 1952. He was Executive Secretary of the Armenian Composers’ Union from 1960 to 1963. He was Chairman of the Music Department at the Armenian Cultural Ministry from 1970 and 1974. He joined Yerevan Conservatory as a professor in 1985. In 1989, he moved to the village of Ayrivank, located on the western shore of Lake Sevan, Gegharkunik region of Armenia. Yekaterinburg's annual music festival is named after Terterian. Giya Kancheli's work Styx, written for solo viola, chorus, and orchestra is a farewell to his friends Terterian and Alfred Schnittke, whose names are sung by the choir during the work. Terterian's son, Dr. Ruben Terterian, was a professor of music in Samborondón, Ecuador, until his death in January 2020; and former prorector at the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan. His most notable student is Vache Sharafyan.

Peter Schreier (29 July 1935 – 25 December 2019) was a German tenor in opera, concert and lied, and a conductor. He was regarded as one of the leading lyric tenors of the 20th century. Schreier was a member of the Dresdner Kreuzchor conducted by Rudolf Mauersberger, performing as an alto soloist. He became a tenor, focused on concert and lieder singing, well known internationally for the Evangelist parts in Bach's Christmas Oratorio and Passion. A member of the Berlin State Opera from 1963, he appeared in Mozart roles such as Belmonte in Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, and in the title role of Pfitzner's Palestrina, among others. He appeared at the Vienna State Opera and the Metropolitan Opera, among others, as one of few singers from the German Democratic Republic to perform internationally. Schreier made many recordings, especially of Bach's works as both a singer and a conductor, even simultaneously. He recorded many lieder including the song cycles by Schubert and Schumann. He was known for intelligent understanding of texts and their musical expression with intensity. Schreier received awards including the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize, Léonie Sonning Music Prize.

Frans Geysen (born 29 July 1936) is a Belgian composer and a writer on music topics.