Aram Khachaturian was born on June 6th in 1903 in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. He would have known his birthday as two dates - the 24th of May under the Julian Calendar and the 6th of June under the Gregorian Calendar.

When I was a scruffy eight-year-old in 1975 I fell in love with the theme song of a television drama called The Onedin Line. The show came on - I think Tuesday nights - right at my bedtime, so I'd plead with Mum for just a couple more minutes, sit close in front of our black and white tele, turn up the sound, and let myself be carried away by the magical theme. It never occurred to me then that someone actually composed the music. And certainly not that the composer was at that time a 70 year old Soviet Armenian living in Moscow, sadly with only four more years to live, as he passed away aged 74 in 1978. I didn't know the piece was called Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia from Khachaturian's ballet Spartacus, which I would be lucky enough to see in 2018 when it was presented by The Australian Ballet.

Khachaturian's most famous piece is something most people would recognise, although they may not know it by its name: The Sabre Dance. Fans of cartoon cat and mouse chases might find it very familiar! If Khachaturian was alive today he would be more than 120 years old. He is one of the most famous composers of the 20th Century, and his music continues to be much loved and appreciated all over the world.