Pick a Day

Music History Events: Song Inspirations

November 21, 1846 The literary character Sweeney Todd makes his first ever appearance, in a short story The String of Pearls: A Romance. The story later becomes a musical, complete with the song "The Ballad Of Sweeney Todd."

November 9, 1845 Elizabeth Reed Napier is born. She provides the title for the The Allman Brothers Band song "In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed" when Dickey Betts sees her headstone at Rose Hill Cemetery in Macon, Georgia.

December 8, 1828 Martha Ella Blocksom, subject of the song "Lorena," is born in Zanesville, Ohio.

November 20, 1820 Whaling ship The Essex is rammed and sunk by a whale in the South Pacific, later inspiring the song "Nantucket Sleighride."

April 27, 1810 Beethoven composes his "Bagatelle No. 25 in A minor," (better known as "Für Elise".) The piece is dedicated to Therese Malfatti, a friend and student of Beethoven's.

March 24, 1721 Johann Sebastian Bach dedicates his Brandenburg Concertos to Christian Ludwig, the margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt. Bach wrote the pieces for the margrave to gain extra support for his work.