Jean-Philippe Rameau was born otd, 25 September 1683 and became one of the most important composers of the 18th century. Known today above all for his operas, he only came to the genre in his fifties, having previously established a reputation as a music theorist.

Andrzej Panufnik was born otd, 24 September 1914, in Warsaw. He studied music in Warsaw, Vienna and Paris and became one of Poland’s leading composers. His career was disrupted by the Second World War when he returned to Warsaw, but he continued composing despite the German occupation.

Vincenzo Bellini died otd, 23 September 1835, just short of his 34th birthday. He came from a musical family in Sicily and showed an early aptitude for music.

Roger Quilter died on 21 September 1953, in London. He was one of the leading English composers of art song in the early 20th century, writing more than a hundred songs.

Gustav Holst was born otd, 21 September 1874. He came from a musical family and studied composition at the Royal College of Music, where he developed a lifelong friendship with Ralph Vaughan Williams.

In November I’m running a special class on Britten’s War Requiem. It’s 50 years since Britten’s death so I’m marking that, and trying to land as near to Remembrance Sunday as my diary allows. It’s one of the most powerful musical and political statements of the twentieth century.

Looking forward to this morning’s on-line Music Appreciation class on Shostakovich’s Second Piano Concerto. He wrote it in 1957 for his 19-year-old son Maxim’s graduation at the end of his piano studies at Moscow Conservatoire.

Francesca Caccini was born otd, 18 September 1587, in Florence. She came from an impressively musical family: her father Giulio was a composer and singer, her mother was a singer, and her younger sister Settimia also became a composer and performer.

Hildegard of Bingen died otd, 17 September 1179. She was a remarkable woman living in a world in which women had very limited access to education or opportunity of any sort. Enclosed in a monastery from the age of eight, she eventually became an abbess - and a highly influential one at that.

Nadia Boulanger was born otd, 16 September 1887, in Paris. She entered the Paris Conservatoire at the age of 9, and went on to become a composer, pianist, organist and conductor. But it was as an international teacher that she had her greatest influence.

Louise Farrenc died otd, 15 September 1875, in Paris. She was a composer, pianist, teacher and editor and for 30 years she was Professor of Piano at the Paris Conservatoire.

Luigi Cherubini was born in September 1760, in Florence. He moved to Paris in the late 1780s and became one of the most respected composers in France.

Clara Schumann was born otd, 13 September 1819, in Leipzig. She was one of the great pianists of the nineteenth century, as well as a composer, although her composing gradually became less central to her life as her responsibilities as a wife and mother grew.

Mahler’s Eighth Symphony premiered otd, 12 September 1910, in Munich, with Mahler himself conducting. It was an unmitigated triumph - unusual for a Mahler symphony.

Arvo Pärt was born otd, 11 September 1935 in Estonia. His career as a composer has seen two stages, with early work dominated by film music and experiments with various techniques including serialism until he hit a creative block.

Dora Pejačević was born otd, 10 September 1885, in Budapest. She came from a Croatian aristocratic family and grew up in a castle in Našice, in what is now eastern Croatia. Her mother was a pianist and singer, and Dora received her first musical inspiration from her.

I went to the most wonderful concert last night to hear Víkingur Ólafsson. The whole programme was remarkable - and I loved his continuous presentation, never letting the sound die from one piece to the next and avoiding applause, but I was particularly moved by his playing of Bach’s Partita No 6.

My goodness. Just been to the most astounding piano recital at Bristol Beacon by Vikingur Ólafsson. If you ever get the chance to hear him play live, jump at it. His dynamic control blew me away - especially the ppp. Never heard anything like it and the Bach was a revelation. Incredible.

Antonín Dvořák was born otd, 8 September 1841, in a small village in Bohemia. He eventually became one of the most celebrated composers in Europe, but his route there was far from straightforward. He grew up in modest family circumstances, learning the violin and playing in the village band.

Madeleine Dring was born otd, 7 September 1923. She was a multi-talented musician who seemed to excel at both composing and preforming, and her love of theatre found its way into much of her music.

Yesterday, I started a new term of Discover Music classes with Valse triste by Sibelius. What began as incidental music for a play about death, was subsequently revised by Sibelius as a short standalone concert piece which became one of his best-loved works.

The entrepreneurial composer and publisher Anton Diabelli was born otd, 5 September 1781. A chorister in Salzburg, he moved to Vienna where he made a successful career, writing across many genres incl piano, guitar, songs, chamber music & church music. He also established a publishing house. 1/5

A new term of online music appreciation classes starts tomorrow with two lovely orchestral waltzes by Sibelius. Music is one of the ways I make sense of the world - its joy, beauty, grief, excitement and humanity. The classes are for people who love music, whether or not they read music. 1/2

The Austrian composer Anton Bruckner was born otd, 4 September 1824. He was a peculiar jumble of apparent contradictions: profoundly humble, and deferential to the opinions of others, yet ultimately possessing a quiet belief in the value of his own music. 1/6

Otd in 1912, Henry Wood conducted the prem of Schoenberg’s Five Pieces for Orchestra at the London Proms. I think it’s fair to say it didn’t go down well. One account reported that a third of the audience hissed, another third laughed, and the remaining third were too baffled to do either. 1/5

The German baroque composer, Georg Böhm, was born otd, 2 September 1661. Perhaps his name is unfamiliar to many of us, but his influence on one man in particular is crucial. That man was JS Bach. 1/5

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor died OTD, 1 September 1912, aged just 37. His father was born in Sierra Leone and was descended from African-American slaves. Samuel grew up in Croydon and won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music, where he studied composition with Charles Villiers Stanford. 1/4

Alma Mahler was born otd, 31 Aug 1879. She was intelligent, beautiful, highly educated & charismatic, and consequently became one of the most admired women in Viennese cultural life. Her circle of composers, artists, writers & intellectuals was striking, and many of them fell in love with her. 1/5

The composer Bohuslav Martinů died otd, 28 August 1959. Bohemian by birth, he spent much of his life elsewhere: Paris in the 1920s & 30s, The US during WWII, and finally Switzerland. His music absorbed a wide array of influences - Czech folk music, jazz, French modernism, Stravinsky, Bach. 1/4

Rebecca Clarke was born otd, 27 August 1886. She was Stanford’s first female composition student at the Royal College of Music ands an impressive violist. She was one of the 1st women to work as a professional orchestral musician & she built a remarkable international career in chamber music. 1/4