Born Today! 13.04.2024

Charles Frederick Horn (24 February 1762 – 3 August 1830) was an English musician and composer. Born in Germany, he emigrated to London with few possessions and no knowledge of the English language, yet rose to become a music teacher in the Royal Household. As an editor and arranger, he helped introduce the music of Johann Sebastian Bach to England.

Félicien-César David (13 April 1810 – 29 August 1876) was a French composer.

Sir William Sterndale Bennett (13 April 1816 – 1 February 1875) was an English composer, pianist, conductor and music educator. At the age of ten Bennett was admitted to the London Royal Academy of Music (RAM), where he remained for ten years. By the age of twenty, he had begun to make a reputation as a concert pianist, and his compositions received high praise. Among those impressed by Bennett was the German composer Felix Mendelssohn, who invited him to Leipzig. There Bennett became friendly with Robert Schumann, who shared Mendelssohn's admiration for his compositions. Bennett spent three winters composing and performing in Leipzig. In 1837 Bennett began to teach at the RAM, with which he was associated for most of the rest of his life. For twenty years he taught there, later also teaching at Queen's College, London. Among his pupils during this period were Arthur Sullivan, Hubert Parry, and Tobias Matthay. Throughout the 1840s and 1850s he composed little, although he performed as a pianist and directed the Philharmonic Society for ten years. He also actively promoted concerts of chamber music. From 1848 onward, his career was punctuated by antagonism between himself and the conductor Michael Costa. In 1858, Bennett returned to composition, but his later works, though popular, were considered old-fashioned and did not arouse as much critical enthusiasm as his youthful compositions had done. He was Professor of Music at the University of Cambridge from 1856 until 1875. In 1866 he became Principal of the RAM, rescuing it from closure, and remained in this position until his death. He was knighted in 1871. He died in London in 1875 and was buried in Westminster Abbey. Bennett had a significant influence on English music, not solely as a composer but also as a teacher, as a promoter of standards of musical education and as an important figure in London concert life. In recent years, appreciation of Bennett's compositions has been rekindled and a number of his works, including a symphony, his piano concerti, some vocal music and many of his piano compositions, have been recorded. In his bicentenary year of 2016, several concerts of his music and other related events took place.

Eduard Lassen (13 April 1830 – 15 January 1904) was a Belgian-Danish composer and conductor. Although of Danish birth, he spent most of his career working as the music director at the court in Weimar. A moderately prolific composer, Lassen produced music in a variety of genres including operas, symphonic works, piano works, lieder, and choral works among others. His most successful pieces were his fine vocal art songs for solo voice and piano which often used elements of German and Belgian folk music.

Alberto Randegger (13 April 1832 – 18 December 1911) was an Italian-born composer, conductor and singing teacher, best known for promoting opera and new works of British music in England during the Victorian era and for his widely used textbook on singing technique. His compositions included ballets, masses and other church music, operas and numerous other vocal pieces. He also edited several collections of vocal music. He began his composing and conducting career in Italy, where he knew Giuseppe Verdi, but in 1854 he moved to London, which became his base for the rest of his life. From 1857 he conducted Italian opera at the St. James's Theatre and was professor of singing at the Royal College of Music and the Royal Academy of Music, retaining both posts for the rest of his life. From 1859 to 1870 he was organist at St Paul's Church, Regent's Park. Randegger served as musical director of the Carl Rosa Opera Company from 1879 to 1885, gaining a reputation for high quality productions, and helping to revive interest in opera in England. He also became conductor of the Norwich Musical Festival, which he directed until 1905. From 1885 to 1887, he conducted Henry Leslie's Choir. In the 1890s, he conducted at Queen's Hall, the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane and the Royal Opera House, where he became known for his performances of Wagner, Verdi and Mozart operas. His most enduring legacy was a textbook titled Singing, published in 1879.

Erik Meyer-Helmund (St Petersburg, 13 April 1861 - 4 April 1932 in Berlin) was a Berlin-based composer and singer. His song "Flirtation" was recorded by John McCormack, and his "Gute Nacht, mein holdes, süßes Mädchen" by Nicolai Gedda and Fritz Wunderlich. Helen Tretbar translated several of his lieder from German into English.

Heinrich Reinhardt (1865–1922) was an Austrian composer. He died on 31 January 1922 in Vienna and is buried at the Döbling Cemetery.

Aloys Fleischmann (13 April 1910 – 21 July 1992) was an Irish composer, musicologist, professor and conductor.

Nino Sanzogno (13 April 1911 – 4 May 1983) was an Italian conductor and composer.

Siegfried Matthus (13 April 1934 – 27 August 2021) was a German composer, conductor, and festival founder and manager. Some of his operas, such as Judith, were premiered at the Komische Oper Berlin in East Berlin. In 1991, he founded the chamber opera festival Kammeroper Schloss Rheinsberg and directed it until 2018. In 2005, he composed a Te Deum for the reopening of the Dresden Frauenkirche. Matthus is considered one of Germany's most often performed contemporary composers.

Siegfried Matthus (13 April 1934 – 27 August 2021) was a German composer, conductor, and festival founder and manager. Some of his operas, such as Judith, were premiered at the Komische Oper Berlin in East Berlin. In 1991, he founded the chamber opera festival Kammeroper Schloss Rheinsberg and directed it until 2018. In 2005, he composed a Te Deum for the reopening of the Dresden Frauenkirche. Matthus is considered one of Germany's most often performed contemporary composers.

Vladimir Cosma (born 13 April 1940) is a Romanian composer, conductor and violinist, who has made his career in France and the United States. He was born into a family of musicians. His father, Teodor Cosma, was a pianist and conductor, his mother a writer-composer, his uncle, Edgar Cosma, composer and conductor, and one of his grandmothers, pianist, a student of the renowned Ferruccio Busoni.

Šimon Voseček (13 April 1978) is an Austrian-Czech composer. He is known for his opera "Biedermann und die Brandstifter" ("Biedermann and the Arsonists", (2005-2007; 2013; 2015), which was premiered in Vienna by Neue Oper Wien in 2013).