Born #OTD in 1765: Étienne Méhul, French composer and pianist. Méhul has the distinction of being the first composer to called a "Romantic". #classicalmusic

Born #OTD in 1860: Gustave Charpentier, French composer. Charpentier is best known for his opera Louise (1900), which is still occasionally performed today. #classicalmusic

Born #OTD in Napoléon Coste, French composer and classical guitarist. Coste was one of the first composers to transcribe 17th century guitar music the into modern musical notation. #ClassicalMusic

Born #OTD in 1893: Aarre Merikanto, Finnish composer. Merikanto is perhaps best known for his opera Juha (1963). #classicalmusic

Born #OTD in 1836: Antônio Carlos Gomes, Brazilian composer. Gomes was the first composer from the New World to have their work accepted by Europe. Verdi, for example, described Gomes' first opera as an expression of "true musical genius". #classicalmusic

Born #OTD in 1892: Léo-Pol Morin, Canadian composer and pianist. Morin, who composed under the name James Callihou, is perhaps best known for his Suite canadienne (1945) and Three Eskimos for piano. #classicalmusic

Born #OTD in 1858: Eugène Ysaÿe, Belgian composer and violinist. Ysaÿe was known during his lifetime as "The King of the Violin". #classicalmusic

Born #OTD in 1013: Hermann of Reichenau, Benedictine monk and composer. Several well-know sacred compositions are attributed to Hermann, including the Salve Regina, Veni Sancte Spiritus, and Alma Redemptoris Mater. #classicalmusic

Born #OTD in 1866: Francesco Cilea, Italian composer. Cilea is perhaps best known for his operas L'arlesiana (1897) and Adriana Lecouvreur (1902). #classicalmusic

Born #OTD in 1654: Agostino Steffani, Italian composer and bishop. In 1724, the Academy of Vocal Music in London elected Steffani as its honorary president for life. #classicalmusic

Born #OTD in 1872: Stanislav Binički, Serbian composer. Binički is best known for his "March on the Drina" to commemorate the Serbian victory at the Battle of Cer during the First World War. #classicalmusic

Born #OTD in 1846: Sophie Menter, German composer and pianist. Menter was Liszt's favourite female piano student, describing her as "my only piano daughter". #classicalmusic

Born #OTD in 1854: Hans Rott, Austrian composer. During a train journey in October 1880, Rott is said to have brandished a revolver and threatened a fellow passenger, claiming that Johannas Brahms had secretly rigged the train with dynamite. #classicalmusic

Born #OTD in 1619: Barbara Strozzi, Italian composer. Strozzi had more secular music in print than any other composer of her era, despite having no support from the Catholic Church or consistent patronage. #classicalmusic

Born #OTD in 1857: Cécile Chaminade, French composer. Chaminade was the first woman to be awarded France's prestegious, the Légion d'Honneur. #classicalmusic

Born #OTD in 1865: Alexander Glazunov, Russian composer. Glazunov is perhaps best known for his ballets, The Seasons (1899) and Raymonda (1898). #classicalmusic

Born #OTD in 1644: Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber, Bohemian-Austrian composer and violinist. Biber is perhaps best known for Mystery Sonatas. #classicalmusic

Born #OTD in 1875: Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, British composer and conductor. He is perhaps best known for his three cantatas on Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's epic 1855 poem "The Song of Hiawatha". #classicalmusic

Born #OTD in 1686: Nicola Porpora, Italian composer and music teacher. Among Porpora's many students, the most illustrious include the composer Joesph Haydn and the castrati Farinelli and Caffarelli. #classicalmusic

Born #OTD in 1881: George Enescu, Romanian composer and pianist. He is regarded as one of Romania's greatest composers. #classicalmusic