EXTREMES
– The composer represented in the Living Composers Project ('LCP') who was born the earliest is Leo Ornstein, who was born in or near 1893. He is also the only composer to have lived in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. The composer represented in the LCP with a confirmed birth date who was born the earliest is Jenő Takács, who was born in September 1902.
– The composers represented in the LCP who were born the latest are currently Nicholas Ma, Emre Şener and Zihan Wu, all of whom were born in 2001, plus Sasha Scott, born in 2002, and Aidan Vass, who was born in 2003. Apart from Leo Ornstein, these five are the only composers represented not born in the 20th century (1901–2000 inclusive) and thus the only composers born after the database was begun.
– The composer represented in the LCP who lived the longest is probably also Leo Ornstein, but among composers with a confirmed birth date, it is Elliott Carter. However, H. Owen Reed, Jenő Takács and Julien-François Zbinden all also celebrated their 103rd birthday.
– The composer represented in the LCP who lived the shortest is Andrew Yin Svoboda.
– The composer represented in the LCP who is currently the oldest is Kirke Mechem, who is 100 years old. Until his death in 2021, Julien-François Zbinden was, at 103 years old, the only composer in the LCP older than 100.
– The composer who was first to be represented in the LCP was either Beth Anderson or Arnold Rosner. Each one 'joined' the database several months before the website existed.
– The country that has the most number of composers represented in the LCP is the USA, with the UK in second place and Germany in third place.
– The countries that have the least number of composers represented in the LCP are Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Congo (Kinshasa), Guatemala, Jamaica, Montenegro, Morocco, Nigeria, and the Sudan, all tied at one composer per country. Of course, several countries have no composer yet represented.
– The letter with the most number of composers represented in the LCP is S, with B in second place and M in third place.
– The letter with the least number of composers represented in the LCP is X.
– The surname with the most number of occurrences among composers represented in the LCP is Lee, with fifteen. Right behind are Chen, with twelve, Smith, with eleven (or twelve, if one counts the double-barrelled name Smith Brindle) and García/Garcia, with ten. The next runner-up is Baker, with nine. Following are Brown, Kim, Wang, and Williams, all with eight; Hall, Tan and Young, all of which have seven; and Chan, Davis, Gibson, Harrison, Lewis, López/Lopez, Taylor, and Wilson, each of which has six. However, because Chan and Chen often have the same hanzi, Chan/Chen as a combined surname may be the most common.
– The year of birth among composers represented in the LCP that recurs most often is currently 1980, with 133 occurrences. Second place is 1956, right behind with 129 composers. 1971, with 125, is next, then 1953, with 122, is in fourth place and 1961 has 121 in fifth place. 1960, with 119, and 1954, with 118, follow in sixth and seventh place.
– For the first quarter of the 20th century (1901–25), 1925 is the most frequent year of birth among composers represented in the LCP. For the second quarter of the 20th century (1926–50), 1949 occurs most often. For the third quarter of the 20th century (1951–75), the most populous quarter among composers represented in the LCP, the least-frequent year of birth is 1966.
– The year of birth of one composer, Steve Martland, has changed posthumously, from 1958 or sometimes 1959 in his lifetime to 1954 now.
– In similar fashion, the year of birth of Gloria Coates changed to 1933 after having been 1938 in her lifetime, and that of Diana McIntosh underwent a similar shift, from 1937 to 1932.
– The year with the greatest number of deaths among composers represented in the LCP is 2021, with 51. 2022, with 44, then 2018, with 42, and 2019, 2020 and 2024, all with 41, are directly behind. Following is 2017, with 37, and not far behind is 2016, with 33.
– The year with the least number of deaths among composers represented in the LCP is currently 2001, with 12, though 2004 has 14.
– Though composers born in all years from 1904–2003 are represented in the LCP, there are two exceptions: no composer represented was born in 1907 and 1914.
FAMILIES
– Four sets of siblings are represented in the LCP: Marcin Łukaszewski and Paweł Łukaszewski; Daniel Luzko and Nancy Luzko; Colin Matthews and David Matthews; and Mohammed Uthman Sidiq and Zaid Uthman Sidiq, plus three sets of twins: Ferran Cruixent and Oriol Cruixent; Hannes Pohlit and Stefan Pohlit; and Hibiki Mukai and Wataru Mukai, the first two pairs of twins born, by chance, only one month apart.
– 22 pairs of parent and child are represented in the LCP: John Adams and Samuel Adams; Jacob Avshalomov and David Avshalomov; Vytautas Barkauskas and Vytautas V. Barkauskas; George Crumb and David Crumb; Norman Dello Joio and Justin Dello Joio; Jack Gallagher and Ryan Gallagher; Marin Goleminov and Michail Goleminov; Henryk Mikołaj Górecki and Mikołaj Górecki; Vytautas Jurgutis and Vytautas V. Jurgutis; György Ligeti and Lukas Ligeti; Jing-Jing Luo and Jonah Haven; Henri Pousseur and Denis Pousseur; Gwyn Pritchard and Alwynne Pritchard; John Ritchie and Anthony Ritchie; Doina Rotaru and Diana Rotaru; Rafet Rudi and Donika Rudi; Karlheinz Stockhausen and Simon Stockhausen; Anatoliy Varelas and Dmitriy Varelas; Peter Wettstein and Martin Wettstein; Felix Yanov-Yanovsky and Dmitri Yanov-Yanovsky; Alexander Zhurbin and Lev Zhurbin; and Ramon Zupko and Mischa Zupko.
– Two composers have both parents represented in the LCP: Alissa Firsova (Dmitri N. Smirnov and Elena Firsova); and Roman Vlad (Ulpiu Vlad and Marina-Marta Vlad).
MISCELLANEOUS
– Two sets of composers represented in the LCP are known professionally by the same name, Emily Hall (b. 1976, Canada) and Emily Hall (b. 1978, UK) and John Hawkins (b. 1944 – d. 2007, Canada) and John Hawkins (b. 1949, UK). Note, also, the similarity between Michael Hersch and Michael Hirsch.
More tidbits to follow!