A composer’s birthday is an easy reason to play their music. This calendar lists the birthdays of 25 composers, month by month, with one piece to play on each day. Mozart’s is January 27, Bach’s is March 31, and Beethoven was baptized on December 17. Put the dates on the family calendar and let the year bring a new composer every few weeks.
The calendar
| Month | Composer and birthday | A piece to play |
|---|---|---|
| January | Mozart, January 27, 1756 | Eine kleine Nachtmusik |
| January | Schubert, January 31, 1797 | “The Trout” |
| February | Felix Mendelssohn, February 3, 1809 | Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream |
| February | Handel, February 23, 1685 | “Hornpipe” from Water Music |
| March | Chopin, March 1, 1810 | “Minute” Waltz |
| March | Vivaldi, March 4, 1678 | “Spring” from The Four Seasons |
| March | Ravel, March 7, 1875 | “The Fairy Garden” from Mother Goose |
| March | Bach, March 31, 1685 | Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 |
| March | Haydn, March 31, 1732 | “Surprise” Symphony, second movement |
| April | Florence Price, April 9, 1887 | “Juba Dance” from Symphony No. 1 |
| April | Prokofiev, April 23, 1891 | Peter and the Wolf |
| May | Brahms, May 7, 1833 | Hungarian Dance No. 5 |
| May | Tchaikovsky, May 7, 1840 | “Waltz of the Flowers” |
| June | Grieg, June 15, 1843 | “Morning Mood” |
| June | Stravinsky, June 17, 1882 | Finale from The Firebird |
| July | Carl Orff, July 10, 1895 | “O Fortuna” from Carmina Burana |
| August | Debussy, August 22, 1862 | “Clair de lune” |
| September | Dvořák, September 8, 1841 | Humoresque No. 7 |
| September | Clara Schumann, September 13, 1819 | Three Romances for violin and piano |
| September | Holst, September 21, 1874 | “Jupiter” from The Planets |
| October | Saint-Saëns, October 9, 1835 | “The Swan” |
| November | Fanny Mendelssohn, November 14, 1805 | “November” from Das Jahr |
| November | Copland, November 14, 1900 | “Hoe-Down” from Rodeo |
| November | Britten, November 22, 1913 | The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra |
| December | Beethoven, baptized December 17, 1770 | “Ode to Joy” |
Notes on the dates
Bach. When Bach was born, his part of Germany used an older calendar, and the date was written as March 21. In the calendar used today, the day is March 31.
Beethoven. No record of his birth survives. He was baptized on December 17, 1770, and was most likely born the day before.
Chopin. He gave his birthday as March 1. The church record of his baptism gives February 22.
Prokofiev. He gave his birthday as April 23. Some records give a date a few days later.
Two pairs share a day. Brahms and Tchaikovsky were both born on May 7. Fanny Mendelssohn and Copland were both born on November 14. Bach and Haydn share March 31.
July. None of the 24 composers on this site was born in July, so the calendar borrows Carl Orff. He is the composer behind the Orff approach to teaching music.
How to hold a composer birthday
It takes ten minutes.
Play the piece at breakfast. Say whose birthday it is and how old they would be.
Read the life story. Each composer page has a short one to read aloud.
Print the fact sheet. The composer fact sheets have room to write and draw.
Find them in time. Look up the composer on the composer timeline and see who else was alive that year.
Add a treat. A cupcake with one candle makes it a party. Sing “Happy Birthday” and then play one more piece. To play the song, read Happy Birthday on piano.
A composer of the month
For a slower plan, pick one birthday composer each month and play their music all month long.
| Month | Composer of the month |
|---|---|
| January | Mozart |
| February | Handel |
| March | Bach |
| April | Prokofiev |
| May | Tchaikovsky |
| June | Grieg |
| July | Your child’s pick |
| August | Debussy |
| September | Dvořák |
| October | Saint-Saëns |
| November | Copland |
| December | Beethoven |
Print the composer of the month poster for the wall. There is one page for each month, with the composer’s dates, a fact, three pieces to hear, and a box to color for each day of listening. The July page is blank for your child’s pick.
This fits well with a homeschool plan. See composer study for homeschool and the composer study planner.
Your own family’s dates
Add your own birthdays to the list. Find the composer born closest to each person in your family, and make that composer theirs for the year.
For all the composers by period, see the guide to composers by era.
For a full plan, read composer of the month ideas for home and classroom.
More from this guide
This article is part of Classical composers for kids: a guide by era, from Vivaldi to Britten.
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Use it with your kids
Print a listening page, a practice chart, or a composer fact sheet. Or try a tool, such as the composer timeline or the piece picker.