Musical Leap Year Babies
Thursday, February 27, 2020
Famous Leap Year Day babies are rare, but among the composers, Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868) is probably the best known. But the RISM database has even more people who celebrate their birthdays on February 29.
The English composer Humphrey Bralesford (1658-1733) has almost only manuscripts for services in RISM, which are kept at the library of Canterbury Cathedral.
Adolf Schimon (1820-1887) is a true European: Born in Vienna, he studied in Paris and later lived and worked in Florence, London, Leipzig, and Munich.
Fernand Mertens (1872-1957) was born in Belgium but spent almost his whole life in Luxemburg.
The life of Wladimir Vogel (1896-1984) was marked by both world wars. He was born in Moscow and during the First World War his family fled to Berlin. Due to his political activities and his mother’s Jewish faith, he emigrated to Switzerland after a long odyssey through Europe.
In addition, the French music publisher Gustave Legouix (1844-1916), the Czech writer Josef Svatopluk Machar (1864-1942), and Pope Paul III (1468-1549) were all born on February 29. The pope is in RISM as a dedicatee in the second book of masses by Cristobal Morales.
There are also some people in RISM who died on February 29:
- Pehr Olof von Asp (1745-1808)
- Carlos Baguer (1768-1808)
- Pietro Castrucci (1679-1752)
- Thomas O. Chisholm (1866-1960)
- Johann Joachim Eschenburg (1743-1820)
- Hermann Werner Finke (1911-1988)
- Josef Greif (1871-1954)
- Carl Haffner (1804-1876)
- Cecil William Henslowe (1841-1928)
- Tae-Ho Kwon (1903-1972)
- King Ludwig I of Bavaria (1786-1868)
- Philippe Rogier (ca. 1561-1596)
- Alessandro Striggio (ca. 1536-1592)
Image: Gioachino Rossini, Lieder, lithographic print by C. Constans, 19th century
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