composers biography : O - Oz
 



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NameBornDiedInformation
Obadiah the proselyte
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Oberstadt, Karl
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Oberthur, Karl
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Obertus, Jacobus (see Obrecht, Jacob)   
Obouchov, Nicolas
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Oboussier, Robert
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Obradors, Fernando
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Obradovic, Alexander
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Obrecht, Jacob
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22 Nov. 1458
Ghent, Brussels
late Jul. 1505
Ferrara, Italy
Flemish composer of the Renaissance. He was the most famous composer of masses in Europe in the late 15th century, only being eclipsed by Josquin Desprez after his death, and in addition wrote many motets and songs
O'Brien Butler, T (see Butler, T O'Brien)   
Obrovac, Tamara
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Obst, Michael
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1955
Frankfurt, Germany
 pianist and composes for electroacoustic, instrumental and movie music and also improvises
Obukhov (or Obouhov, Oboukhov, Obuchow, Obuchov, Oboukov, Obukhof, Obouhow), Nikolay22 Apr. 1892
Kursk, Russia
13 Jun. 1954
Paris, France
Russian-born composer
O'Carolan, Turlough
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Ochoa, Amparo
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Ochoa, Pedro
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Ochs, Siegfried
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Ochs, Volker
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Ockeghem, Johannes (Jan or Jean)
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c.1410
Saint-Ghislain, Belgium
6 Feb. 1497
Tours, France
the leading composer of the second generation of the Franco-Flemish School. Ockeghem is often considered the most important composer between Dufay and Josquin Des Prez
O'Connor, Mark
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Odak, Krsto18881961important Croatian composer of sacral music, in particular church music inspired with old Croatian glagolitic texts
Odo of Cluny
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c.878
nr. Le. Mans, France
18 Nov. 942
Cluny, France
a saint of the Roman Catholic Church, was the second abbot of Cluny. He enacted various reforms in the Cluniac monastery system of France and Italy. Among his writings are: a biography of St Gerald of Aurillac, three books of Collationes (moral essays, severe and forceful). a few sermons, an epic poem on the Redemption (Occupatio) in several books (ed. Swoboda, 1900), and twelve choral antiphons in honour of St Martin of Tours
Odo of Arezzo
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fl. late 10th century Medieval composer and theorist who worked in Arezzo
O'Donnell, Percy S.G
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18821945brother of Walton and Rudolph, Percy, after service as an Army bandmaster with the Black Watch and the Royal Artillery in Gibraltar, was appointed Director of Music at Plymouth (1916-28), then at Chatham (1928-37), then Senior Director of Music to the R.M. from 1937, and succeeded Walton as Conductor of the BBC Military Band in 1937, remaining with the BBC after the Band was dissolved in 1943. Both Percy and Rudolph composed
O'Donnell, Rudolph
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  brother of Walton and Percy, Rudolph was Bandmaster to the 7th Hussars, (in which the young Walton O'Donnell served for a short time), then after a time with the Marines at Portsmouth (1919-1931) went into the R.A.F. He is thought to be a unique example of bandmaster/musical director serving in all three services. Both Percy and Rudolph composed
O'Donnell, (Bertram) Walton
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1887
Madras, India
20 Aug 1939
Northern Ireland
brother of Rudolph and Percy, Walton trained at the Royal Academy of Music, one John Barbirolli being a contemporary there. His service in the Royal Marines after some time as an Army bandmaster, was as Director of Music at Portsmouth, from 1917 (he was commissioned in 1921); he moved to Deal in 1923, his band there accompanying the Prince of Wales on a tour of Africa with such success that its Director of Music was made a Member of the Victorian Order. (He taught the Prince to play the ukelele). He then retired from the Royal Marines went to the BBC and formed the Wireless Military Band (the "Wireless" was later dropped in favour of "BBC") in August 1927. This quickly became a fine ensemble (its opening concert was in September 1927) and it did much to raise standards in the military, or concert, band world. Its repertoire excluded musical comedy and other light selections and "novelty" items. It was exclusively a studio ensemble and apparently never appeared in public. O'Donnell was on record as saying that the microphone was the sternest possible taskmaster. Its basic strength of 26 players - which could be augmented as required - was the same and with the same instrumental distribution as "true military" bands of that day. Walton O'Donnell composed considerably for the military band. Walton left the Band (and his professorship of harmony, composition and military music at the RAM) in 1937 to take up a position as head of the BBC's Northern Ireland Region which included the conductorship of the then Northern Ireland Orchestra
Oehring, Helmut
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Oesterle, Michael
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Oestreich, Carl
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Offenbach, Jacques
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20 Jun 1819
Cologne, Germany
5 Oct 1880
Paris, France
the creator of the Stage productions which are known as Bouffes Parisiens, Offenbach, in his youth, occupied himself zealously but ultimately unsuccessfully as a cellist. He was to become one of the most influential composers of popular music in Europe in the 19th century, and many of his works remain in the repertory
Offermans, Wil
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O'Flynn, Liam
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Ogdon, John
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Ogermann, Claus
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Ogiermann, Christoph
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Oginski, Michal Kazimierz
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17281800Lithuanian general and composer, cousin of Michael Kleofas Oginski, who was an aristocrat with a private opera company and an orchestra at his service. Charles Groell (1770-1857) brought his idea of building a harp with a double-action pedal mechanism to the attention of Polish Count Michal Kazimierz Oginski. Oginski, who had long been a great promoter of art and a music lover, also tried to improve the harp mechanism, and it has been suggested that he was the first to think about adding pedals to the harp
Oginski, Michal Kleofas
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25 Sep. 1765
Guzów, nr. Warsaw, Poland
15 Oct. 1833
Florence, Italy
pianist, violinist and composer of numerous polonaises for piano solo (ca. 20 for 2, 3, 4 hands), published in Lwow, Warsaw, Berlin, Vienna, Dresden, Prague, Paris, and London. The most famous of these is the Polonaise in A minor, Pozegnanie Ojczyzny (Farewell to the Homeland), also known as Les Adieux or Polonaise tres favorite and published throughout Europe in numerous copies, transcriptions, variants. Oginski is credited with transforming the brilliant court dance into a melancholy, salon composition: his polonaises are among the earliest instances of romantic piano miniatures, called "character pieces for the piano" and expressing a particular mood or stylizing a dance form
Ohana, Maurice
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O'Hara, Geoffrey
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Öhrbom, Anna Catharina  resident in Naantali, Finland, she probably tried her hand at composition: she may well have composed some of the clavichord pieces in a music-book copied by her, dated 1759
Ojeda, Bob
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Ojeda, Ricardo
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Ojima, Yoshio
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Okayasu, Kosaburo
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Okeghem, Johannes (Jean) (de) (see Ockeghem, Johannes)   
Okma, Barbara
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Okosun, Sonny
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1 Jan. 1947
Enugu, Nigeria
24 May 2008
Washington, DC, USA
Nigerian singer, songwriter, producer and preacher
Olafsson, Kjartan
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Olague, Bertolomeu de
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Olague, Martinho Garcia
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Olah, Tiberiu
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Olan, David
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Olander, Per August
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Olavide, Gonzalo de
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Olbrisch, Franz Martin
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Olczak, Krzystof
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Oldham, Arthur
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O'Leary, David
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O'Leary, Jane
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Olenin, Alexander13 Jun. 1865
Istomino, Russia
15 Feb. 1944
Moscow, Russia
Russian composer
Oler, Kim
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Oley, Johann Christoph
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Olin, Elisabeth17401812as the result of composing a very politically correct ode [at the age of 28] for King Gustav 111 of Sweden, this soprano and composer was appointed 'Diva for Life' to the Royal Swedith Opera, a position she held until well past the age of 60
Olivadoti, Joseph
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Oliveira, Babi de
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Oliveira, Joao Pedro
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Oliveira, Manoel Diaz de
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Oliver, John
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Oliver, Sy
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Olivero, Betty
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Oliveros, Pauline
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Ollone, Max d'
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Olofsson, Kent
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Olsen, Ole
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18501927attended the Leipzig Academy Music in Germany and on his return to his native Norway he became the conductor of a local community band in Oslo. In 1884 he was appointed the director of the 2nd Brigade band. In 1899 he became the superintendent of all Army bands in Norway. He traveled extensively around Norway researching folk music and interviewing army buglers . He then developed several marches and calls from his resources. He retired from the Norwegian army in 1919. His works are rarely played today but he did provide some great material for Norwegian heritage including the Honor March and Fanfare. he also composed three operas and music for orchestra and male choir
Olsen, Sparre
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Olshanetsky, Alexander
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Olson, James
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Olson, Judith1940 received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Sacramento State University and also studied composition at Indiana University with Thomas Beversdorf and Bernhard Heiden. She has served as keyboardist for the Paint Branch Unitarian Universalist Church in Beltsville, Maryland, and composed choral works for the choir there. She also teaches piano and harpsichord and has composed children’s piano pieces
Olsson, Emil
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Olsson, Otto
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Olthuis, Kees
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Oltowski, Maciej
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Oltra, Manuel
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Omura, Kumiko
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Ona, Erik
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Onégin, Eugene B.10 Oct. 1883
St. Petersburg, Russia
12 Nov. 1919
Stuttgart, Germany
Russian pianist and composer. He married Lilly Hoffman (1889-1943), the Franco-German operatic contralto, who became famous under her married name Sigrid Onégin, and who was said to have the finest contralto voice since Ernestine Schumann-Heink, notably for the richness of its tone and for her remarkable technique
O'Neill, Charles
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1882
Scotland
1964studied organ and cornet in England before emigrating to Boston in 1901. In 1903 he joined the newly formed Royal Canadian Horse Artillery band in Kingston, Ontario. In 1907 he was selected to attend Kneller Hall and on his graduation he replaced George Vezina as director of the Royal Canadian garrison Artillery band in Quebec City. He added to his laurels by graduating from McGill University in 1914 with a Doctor of Music in 1924. He was promoted to Captain in 1919 and in 1924 was appointed as Director of Music of the newly formed Royal 22nd Regiment band. Under his leadership the band became a world class organization performing throughout Canada and the USA. The band appeared on numerous occasions on the cross Canada network of the Canadian Broadcasting system. He was guest conductor for several band and orchestra concerts in the USA and in Canada. He retired from the Army in 1937 and he taught at the University of Wisconsin and at the State Teachers College in Potsdam New York. He wrote several compositions for band including the Souvenir de Québec. He wrote several marches for band including the RCMP march past and the march the Emblem. His march Mon Ami remains one of the most popular marches ever written in Canada
O'Neill, Norman
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Onna, Peter van
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22 Jan. 1966
Henglo, The Netherlands
 Dutch composer
Ono, Seigen
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Ono, Yoko
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Onslow, Georges
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Ontrop, Lodewijk
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14 Dec. 1875
Anvers, Belgium
18 Nov. 1941
Anvers, Belgium
composer, conductor, teacher and writer on music
Oorebeek, Christina Viola
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Oortmerssen, Jacques van
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Oost, Arthur van
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12 Sep. 1870
Louvain, Belgium
23 Apr. 1942
Anvers, Belgium
Belgian composer and teacher
Oost, Gert
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Oosten, Roel van
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Oosterveld, Ernst
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Opitiis, Benedictus de
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fl. 1500-1525 Flemish composer
Oppermann, Rudiger
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Opsomer, Jaak
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5 Nov. 1873
Lierre, Belgium
28 Oct. 1952
Lokeren, Belgium
composer, organist and teacher
Opstal, Arie van
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Orbán, György
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1947
Cluj-Napoca, Hungary
 composer who has written a Suite pour piano, a Wind quintet (1984) and several masses
Orban, Marcel
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13 Nov. 1884
Liège, Belgium
7 Nov. 1958
Wimereux (Pas-de-Calais)
composer and music critic
Orbeck, Anne-Marie
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Orbison, Roy
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Orbon de Soto, Julian
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Ord, Boris
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Ord-Hume, James
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  the second son of a British Army bandmaster He and his brothers all became military musicians. He joined the North Staffordshire Regiment in 1875 at age 12 and his first task was to guard the band room., He began to hone his composing skills while occupied in this job. He soon developed into a first class cornet player and eventually received an invitation to join the Royal Scots Grays Regiment band when he was sixteen. In 1889 he left the army to pursue a career in composition and also became the military band editor of the Boosey and Hawkes journals in 1913. He was the co-author with Alfred Zeally of the book Famous Bands of the British Empire. He wrote over 200 marches for military band including The BB and CF (British bandsman and Contest Field). The march Brilliant is a excellent example of good march writing. He arranged a dazzling array of regimental marches some of which are still in use today including the march Soldiers of the Queen
Ore, Cecilie
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Ore, Harry (Bruno Johannes)1885
St. Petersburg, Russia
 Russian composer
Orefice, Giuseppe Dell'
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22 Aug. 1848
Fara, Abruzzio Chietino
3 Jan. 1889
Naples, Italy
Italian composer
O'Reilly, Paul
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Orff, Carl
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10 Jul. 1895
Munich, Germany
29 Mar. 1982
Munich, Germany
a German composer, most famous for Carmina Burana (1937). A major composer of the 20th century, he was also successful and influential in the field of music education
Orgad, Ben Zion
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Organi, Bartolomeo degli
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24 Dec. 1474
Florence, Italy
12 Dec. 1539
Florence, Italy
an Italian composer, singer and organist of the Renaissance. Living in Florence, he was closely associated with Lorenzo de' Medici, and was music teacher both to the Florentine composer Francesco de Layolle and Guido Machiavelli, the son of the famous writer
Orger, Caroline 1818
England
1892among her composition was a cello sonata that was first performed at a concert of the Society of British Musicians
O'Riada, Sean
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Oriola, Pietro
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Orlov (or Orloff), Vasili Michailovich (or Sergeyevich)1858
Moscow, Russia
1901
Moscow, Russia
Russian composer
Orlov, Vladimir
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Ornstein, Leo2 (or 11) Dec. 1892
Kremenchug, Ukraine
24 Feb. 2002
Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA
after a highly active career as a composer (writing over 175 works in a variety of instrumental and vocal forms) related to the Futurist School and as a brilliant piano soloist, he retired from concert life and with his wife founded the Ornstein School of Music in Philadelphia. Vivian Perlis, in her research of twentieth-century American music, brought Ornstein and his music back to the mainstream of concert life
Orologio, Alessandro1550
Italy
1633
Vienna, Austria
trumpeter in the Prague orchestra from 1580. He left Prague in about 1594/95. His canzonets, published in Venice, were dedicated in 1593 to the Czech nobleman Miskovsky of Mirov. To Emperor Rudolf II, Orologio dedicated the five-voice madrigals which he finished writing in Prague in May 1588 and which he published in Venice in the same year. A year later he received in recompense 60 gold pieces from the Emperor
O'Rourke, Jim
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Orozco, Keyla
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Orr, Charles Wilfred
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Orr, Robin
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Orsini (de), Leonora Duchess of Segnic. 1560
Italy
1634
Italy
her mother was murdered in 1574 by her father; however her childhood in the Medici court provided her with many opportunities for education denied to other females of her time, and resulted, most notably, in her musical prowess. After the failure of her marriage, Orsini founded the monastery of Santa Chiara delle Cappuccine in Santa Fiora
Orsomando, Giovanni
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Ortega, Ginesa
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Orthel, Leon
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Ortho, Marbrianus (or Marbriano) de (see Orto (or Ortho), Marbrianus de)   
Ortiz, Alfredo
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Ortiz, Diego
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c. 1510
Spain
1580Spanish viol player, musicologist and composer, whose treatise Tratado de glosas sobre cláusulas y otros géneros de puntos en la música de violones (1553) is one of the most important sources of Renaissance ornamentation and improvisational practice
Ortiz, Guadalupefl. 1688-1692
Oaxaca
 composer
Orto (or Ortho), Marbrianus (Marbriano) de
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c.1460
Doornik, Flanders
Feb. 1529
Nivelles, Flanders
Flemish composer who worked alongside Bertrandus Vaqueras, Josquin Desprez and others in the Sistine Chapel in Rome
Ostijn, Willy
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8 Jul. 1913
Kachtem, Belgium
29 Mar. 1993
Roulers, Belgium
composer, organist, pianist and teacher
Ory, Kid
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Orzaio, Susanna Horatiofl. 17th century composer
Osborne, Nigel
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Oscheit, Max
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Osiander, Lucas
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Osieck, Hans
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Østby, Klaus
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1865
Norway
1945he joined a military band at an early age. He studied clarinet but as was the custom in European bands he also had to master the bugle to play military calls and the parade drum. He spent a great deal of time studying several band instruments and also became a piano student. He was transferred to the military band in Oslo in about 1890 and not long afterward became interested in the work of Salvation army bands eventually becoming a leader. In 1904 he was selected to help organize Salvation army bands in Scandinavia. During the war he continued his work in Sweden. He wrote several military marches as well as marches for the Salvation army his best known work is the Kabelvåg March, a march commemorating rough seas
Osten-Sacken, Maximilian d'
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nineteenth centuryc.1920noble-born composer of a Berceuse, a contribution to the Vendredis, Friday musicales organized in St. Petersburg by the music publisher Mitrofan Petrovich Belaiev (1836-1904). Belaiev established a music publishing enterprise devoted exclusively to the publication of works by Russian composers (the printing was done in Leipzig); he also established concerts of Russian music in St. Petersburg (ten symphonic concerts and four concerts of chamber music each season) and provided funds for prizes awarded for the best compositions. The Belaiev Editions became an important ingredient in the development of Russian national music
Ostendorf, Jens-Peter
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20 Jul. 1944
Hamburg, Germany
7 Mar. 2006
Ottensen, Germany
&German composer much involved in music for the theatre
Østergaard, Edvin1959
St. Louis, Mo, USA
 Norwgian composer
Osterling, Fredrik
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1966
Gallivare, Sweden
 Swedish composer
Österreich, Georg
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bap. 17 Mar. 1664
Germany
6 Jun. 1735
Germany
German violinist and composer whose collection of music forms the basis of the Sammlung Bokemeyer which is now housed in the Staatsbibliothek in Berlin and is considered one of the most important music collections of the late 17th and early 18th century
Ostertag, Bob
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19 Apr. 1957
Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
 experimental audio artist based in San Francisco
Ostijn, Willy
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13 Jul. 1913
Kachtem, Belgium
30 Mar. 1993
Roeselare, Belgium
church organist, pianist and composer whose dated romantic style brought a successful career as a composer prematurely to an end in about 1975
[entry prompted by Jean Ostyn]
Ó Súilleabháin, Mícheál
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1950
Ireland
 Irish pianist, composer, recording artist and academic, who holds the Professorship of Music at the Irish World Music Centre of the University of Limerick
Oswald, Henrique
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Oswald, James
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  one of Scotland's bright lights in the 18th century, making a career first in his hometown of Dunfermline and in Edinburgh before moving to London in 1741. Appointed chamber composer to George III in 1761, and a member of the Society of the Temple of Apollo, he worked as a musician, composer, teacher and music editor. His Caledonian Pocket Companion was a multi-volume collection of Scots tunes for violin or flute solo published between about 1742 and 1759
Oswald, John
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Othegraven, August von
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2 Jun. 1864
Cologne, Germany
11 Mar. 1946
Wermelskirchen/Eifel, Germany
German composer and teacher
Othmayr, Caspar
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Otradovic, Adam Michna
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Ots, Charles
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13 May 1776
Brussels, Belgium
1845
Brussels, Belgium
composer
Otsling
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c.17501814
Maastricht, Belgium
Belgian composer
Ott, David
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Ott, Lorentz Justinian
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Otte, Hans
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Otterloo, Willem van
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Otto, Luigi
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Otto, Valerius
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Oubradous, Fernand Robert (called Oubradous fils)
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19 Feb. 1903
Paris, France
Jan. 1986French bassoonist, composer of chamber music and author of a method, Enseignement complet du basson (1938-39). Son of the bassoonist François Oubradous (1878-1953)
Ouseley, Frederick Gore
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12 Aug. 1825
London, England
6 Apr. 1889
Hereford, England
English composer, organist and musicologist
[entry prompted by Terry L. Mueller]
Ovalle, Jayme
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Ovchinnikov, Vyacheslav
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29 May 1936
Voronezh
 Russian conductor and composer who scored Sergei Bondarchuk's film of War and Peace for which eleven hours of music was required. His music can be characterized generally as neoclassic with expressionistic passages
Overton, Hall
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23 Feb. 1920
Bangor, Michigan, USA
 upon his discharge from the army he pursued his musical studies at The Juilliard School of Music, studying composition with Vincent Persichetti. He graduated in 1951 with an M.S. degree, and then became a member of the faculty there. In later years he also taught at The Yale School of Music and The New School of Social Research
Owen, Wilfred
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Oyamada, Keigo
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Ozdil, Sidika
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Ozi, Etienne
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