Born Today! 31.05.2025

Marin Marais (French: [maʁɛ̃ maʁɛ]; 31 May 1656, in Paris – 15 August 1728, in Paris) was a French composer and viol player. He studied composition with Jean-Baptiste Lully, often conducting his operas, and with master of the bass viol Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe for six months. In 1676 he was hired as a musician to the royal court of Versailles and was successful there, being appointed in 1679 as ordinaire de la chambre du roy pour la viole, a title he kept until 1725. He was the father of the composer Roland Marais (c. 1685 – c. 1750).

Cesare Pugni (Italian pronunciation: [ˈtʃeːzare ˈpuɲɲi, ˈtʃɛː-]; Russian: Цезарь Пуни, romanized: Cezar' Puni; 31 May 1802, in Genoa – 26 January [O.S. 14 January] 1870) was an Italian composer of ballet music, a pianist and a violinist. He studied composition with Bonifazio Asioli and violin with Alessandro Rolla. In his early career he composed operas, symphonies, and various other forms of orchestral music. Pugni is most noted for the ballets he composed for Her Majesty's Theatre in London (1843–1850), and for the Imperial Theatres in St. Petersburg, Russia (1850–1870). The majority of his ballet music was composed for the works of the ballet master Jules Perrot, who mounted nearly every one of his ballets to scores by Pugni. In 1850 Perrot departed London for Russia, having accepted the position of Premier maître de ballet of the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres at the behest of Carlotta Grisi, who was engaged as Prima ballerina. Cesare Pugni followed Perrot and Grisi to Russia, and remained in the imperial capital even after Grisi's departure in 1853 and Perrot's departure in 1858. Pugni went on to compose for Perrot's successors Arthur Saint-Léon and Marius Petipa, serving as the Imperial Theatre's official composer of ballet music until his death in 1870. Cesare Pugni was renowned for the speed with which wrote, often composing the music for a multi-act Grand ballet in just a few days. Pugni was perhaps the most prolific composers of ballet music, having composed over 100 known original scores for the ballet and adapting or supplementing many other works. He composed myriad incidental dances such as divertissements and variations, many of which were added to countless other works. Of Pugni's original scores for the ballet, he is best known today for Ondine, ou La Naïade, (also known as La Naïade et le pêcheur) (1843); La Esmeralda (1844); Catarina, ou La Fille du Bandit (1846); The Pharaoh's Daughter (1862); and The Little Humpbacked Horse (1864). Of his incidental dances, etc., he is most noted for the Pas de Six from La Vivandière (also known as Markitenka) (1844); the Pas de Quatre (1845); La Carnival de Venise pas de deux (1859); the Diane and Actéon Pas de Deux (1868); and his additional music for the ballet Le Corsaire (1863 and 1868). In his private life, Cesare Pugni was considered a kind and ebullient man, with a passion for gambling and wine. From his two marriages, Pugni was the father of some 15 children, many of whom had large families of their own. Today there are hundreds of Russians descended from the Italian composer. Among his grandchildren was the artist Ivan Puni, and the dancer and pedagogue Alexander Shiryaev, who also created the earliest known stop motion films and was the first to film ballet dancers

Rafael José Maria Hernando y Palomar (31 May 1822, in Madrid – 10 July 1888, in Madrid) was a Spanish composer of zarzuelas, being that his contributions to the genre lead to the development of the zarzuela grande. His body of work consists of 17 operettas and some religious works. None of his zazuelas has been in the repertoire of today.

Louis Varney (French: [vaʁnɛ]; 30 May 1844, New Orleans, Louisiana – 20 August 1908, Cauterets, France) was a French composer.

Vladimir Ivanovich Rebikov (Russian: Влади́мир Ива́нович Ре́биков, Vladi'mir Iva'novič Re'bikov); born May 31 [OS May 19] 1866 - Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, Russia — died October 1, 1920 - Yalta, Crimea) was a late romantic 20th-century Russian composer and pianist.

Attilio Enrico Paparella, known professionally as Attilio Parelli (31 May 1874 – 26 December 1944) was an Italian conductor and composer. Born in the village of Monteleone d'Orvieto, about 35 km southwest of Perugia, he studied with Cesare de Sanctis at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome between 1891 and 1899. He started work as a conductor in Italy and Paris, before moving to the United States. From 1906 he collaborated with Cleofonte Campanini at the Manhattan Opera House and the Chicago Grand Opera Company. His most important opera, I dispettosi amanti (The Lovers' Quarrel), received its premiere at the Metropolitan Opera House, Philadelphia, in March 1912. In 1925 Parelli returned to Italy and became artistic director of the newly formed Unione Radiofonica Italiana (Italian Radio Union; now RAI) in Milan. In 1926, I dispettosi amanti became the first opera to be broadcast in its entirety on Italian radio. Parelli married his student Isolina Rapalli. They had no children. He died in Monteleone d'Orvieto on 26 December 1944 and lies buried in the cemetery of his native village.

Italo Montemezzi (August 4, 1875 – May 15, 1952) was an Italian composer. He is best known for his opera L'amore dei tre re (The Love of the Three Kings), once part of the standard repertoire. It is now seldom performed.

Erich Walter Sternberg (Hebrew: אריך ולטר שטרנברג; May 31, 1891, in Berlin – December 15, 1974, in Tel Aviv) was a German-born Israeli composer. He was one of the founders of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

Raphaël Marie Paul Fumet (31 May 1898 – 1979) was a 20th-century French composer and organist.

Constantin-Nicolae Silvestri (Romanian pronunciation: [konstanˈtin silˈvestri] ; 31 May 1913, Bucharest – 23 February 1969, London) was a Romanian conductor and composer.

Akira Ifukube (伊福部 昭, Ifukube Akira, 31 May 1914 – 8 February 2006) was a Japanese composer. He is best known for composing several entries in the Godzilla franchise as well as developing the titular monster's roar.