2006 brings .....

A very happy New Year to all my readers and fellow bloggers. 2006 brings some important musical anniversaries. The 'biggie' is the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of Mozart's birth in January, but let's not forget the hundredth anniversary of Shostakovich's birth as well. There have been howls of outrage because there is no Mozart Fest on BBC Radio 3, but not a single call for a broadcast of the complete Shostakovich opus.

Other birthdays include composer and conductor Antal Dorati (100) and Sir Malcolm Arnold (85 - a real birthday for the only living composer with a major anniversary), while deaths include composer of the sublime 'Dies Natalis' Gerald Finzi (50) - if you do not know Finzi's wonderful songs follow this path to an online Finzi jukebox, Benjamin Britten (30), Edmund Rubbra (20), Robert Schumann (150), and Michael Haydn (200), younger brother of Joseph and friend of Mozart.

Here is a more complete, but fallible, list of the musical anniversaries that 2006 brings ....

Christian Sinding born 11 January 1856
Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari born 12 January 1876
Morton Feldman born 12 January 1926
Francesco Cavalli died 14 January 1676
Amilcare Ponchielli died 16 January 1886
Léo Delibes born 21 February 1836
Wilhelm Furtwängler born 25 January 1886
Wolfgang Amadéus Mozart born 27 January 1756
Havergal Brian born 29 January 1876

Vicente Soler died 11 February 1806
Francesco Cavalli died 14 January 1676
Martin Luther died 14 February 1546
Edmund Rubbra died 14 February 1986
John Dowland died 20 February 1626
Samuel Wesley born 24 February 1766
Anton Arensky died 25 February 1906

Carlo Gesualdo died 8 March 1566
Carl Ruggles born 11 March 1876
Giovanni Battista Pergolesi died 16 March 1736
Alexander Glazunov died 21 March 1936

Ferruccio Busoni born 1 April 1866
Antal Dorati born 9 April 1906
Ottorino Respighi died 18 April 1936
Samuel Wesley died 19 April 1876
Dag Wirén died 19 April 1986 (links to a decent biography welcome)

Max Reger died 11 May 1916

David Munrow died 15 May 1976
Erik Satie born 17 May 1866
Johann Froberger born 19 May 1616
John Stanley died 19 May 1786
Clara Schumann died 20 May 1896
Marcel Dupré born 3 May 1886
Marin Marais born 31 May 1656

Carl Maria von Weber died 5 June 1826
Thomas Tomkins died 9? June 1656
Maurice Duruflé died 16 June 1986
Michel Richard de Lalande died 18 June 1726
Reinhold Glière died 23 June 1956

Elisabeth Lutyens born 6 July 1906
Franz Berwald born 23 July 1796
Robert Schumann died 29 July 1856
Franz Liszt died 31 July 1886

George Butterworth died 5 August 1916
Michael Haydn died 10 August 1806

Dimitri Shostakovich born 25 September 1906

Roberto Gerhard born 25 September 1896
Gerald Finzi died 27 September 1956

Anton Bruckner died 11 October 1896
Berthold Goldschmidt died 17 October 1996
Sir Malcolm Arnold born 21 October 1921
Howard Hanson born 28 October 1896

Manuel de Falla born 23 November 1876, died 14 November 1946
Carl Maria von Weber born 18 November 1786
Virgil Thomson born 25 November 1896

Benjamin Britten died 4 December 1976
Roger Sessions born 28 December 1896

Report broken links, missing images and other errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk
Image credits: Shostakovich from Music from the Movies, Reger, Schumann and Bruckner linked from
The Classical Music Pages, Furtwängler from Bach Cantatas, and Malcolm Arnold from Faber Music.
Image owners - if you do not want your picture used in this article please contact me and it will be removed. If bandwidth is a problem with your permission I will host your image.
If you enjoyed this post take An Overgrown Path to Music history rewritten

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