We mark the birth on September 14, 1737 – 283 years ago today – of the composer, organist, and violinist Johann Michael Haydn.

We mark the birth on September 7, 1726 – 294 years ago today – of the composer and chess master (properly, the “unofficial” world chess champion!) François-André Danican Philidor.

On August 31, 2006, the Times of London ran an article on the sometimes outright whacko-crazy demands made by rock stars when on tour.

It was on August 24, 1975, that Queen began recording Bohemian Rhapsody at Rockfield Studio No. 1 in Monmouth, Wales, and finished three weeks later…

On August 17, 1876, Richard Wagner’s music drama Götterdämmerung received its premiere in his newly-opened “Festival Theater” in Bayreuth, Germany.

We mark the completion, on August 10, 1788 – 232 years ago today – of Mozart’s Symphony in C major, catalogued by Ludwig Köchel as K. 551 and nicknamed the “Jupiter”.

We mark the opening on August 3, 1778 of the Teatro alla Scala, or “La Scala.” The inaugural performance was the premiere of Antonio Salieri's Europe Rewarded.

We mark the death on July 27, 1924 of the composer and pianist Ferruccio Busoni, a figure almost unique in Western music, a man and musician impossible to pigeon-hole.

July 20th was a very important date in the life of the Soviet composer Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich. On July 20, 1942 – 78 years ago today – he appeared on the cover of Time magazine, wearing his Leningrad firefighter’s helmet and becoming,

Two disparate events on this date provide our framework - the 1951 death of Arnold Schoenberg and the 1999 opening of Paul McCartney's painting gallery exhibition.