1903 in music explained
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1903.
Specific locations
Events
- January 1 - The French government awards the Cross of Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur to Claude Debussy
- January 3 - Alexander Glazunov's Symphony No. 7 "Pastorale" in F major Op.70 and the orchestral suite "From the Middle Ages", suite in E major for orchestra Op.79 are premiered. The composer conducts the works at the annual Russian Symphony Concerts at Saint Petersburg.
- January 16 - Reinhold Gliere's Symphony No 1 in E-flat major, Op. 8 premiers in Moscow
- January 28 - Ernani, an opera by Giuseppe Verdi, receives its first New York performance at the Metropolitan Opera.
- January - The New York Philharmonic Society dispenses with having a regular music director due to declining sales. Walter Damrosch leaves, and the next three seasons are handled by guests conductors.
- February 11 – Anton Bruckner's unfinished 9th Symphony is posthumously premiered in Vienna. Te Deum substitutes unfinished last movement of the symphony.
- February 23 – March 8 – George Enescu conducts the world premieres of three of his works, the Suite No. 1 for orchestra, op. 9, in C major, and the two Romanian Rhapsodies, op. 11, in A major and D major, as part of a concert at the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest.
- March 21 - Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari's oratorio La Vita Nuova premiers in Munich
- April 30 - Victor cuts its first Red Seal recordings. Soprano Ada Crossley records music at the Cornegie Hall studio, New York City.
- May 5 - Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's trilogy The Song of Hiawatha receives its first American performance as Charles E. Knauss conducts the Orpheus Oratorio Society in Easton, Pennsylvania
- September 9 - Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's sacred cantata The Atonement, Op. 53 receives its first performance at the Hereford Festival in Hereford, England.
- September – Frederick Delius marries Jelka Rosen.
- October 8 - Carl Nielsen's overture Helios premieres in Copenhagen, the composer conducting.
- October 13 - Victor Herbert's Babes in Toyland premieres.
- October 14 - The Apostles by Edward Elgar receives its world premiere at the Birmhingham Festival in England
- November 23 - Enrico Caruso makes his debut with the Metropolitan Opera, New York, singing the role of the Duke of Manrua in Rigoletto.
- November 25 - Soprano Olive Fremstad debuts at the Metropolitan Opera, New York, as Sieglinde in Die Walküre.
- Enrico Caruso makes first records for the Victor Talking Machine Company.
- Mississippi John Hurt begins performing.
- Charles W. Clark is the first American to give a concert at the Paris National Conservatoire of Music, an honor that had not been given to an American in seventy years of those concerts.
Published popular music
Recorded popular music
- "Always In The Way" (w.m. Charles K. Harris)
– Byron G. Harlan on Edison Records
- "Any Rags?" (w.m. Thomas S. Allen)
– Arthur Collins on Edison
- "The Arrow And The Song" (w. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow m. Michael William Balfe)
– Herbert Goddard on Victor Records
- "Badinage" (m. Victor Herbert)
– Edison Grand Concert Band on Edison
- "Bedelia" (w. William Jerome m. Jean Schwartz)
– George J. Gaskin on Columbia Records
– Edward M. Favor on Columbia
– Billy Murray on Edison
- "The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous" (w.m. Dan McAvoy)
– Edward M. Favor on Edison
– Dan W. Quinn on Victor
- "Blaze Away" (m. Abe Holzmann)
– banjos Vess L. Ossman & Bill Farmer on Victor
- "Blaze Away" (m. Abe Holzmann)
– Kendle's Band on Victor
- "By The Sycamore Tree" (w. George V. Hobart m. Max Hoffmann)
– Harry Macdonough on Edison
– Bob Roberts on Columbia
– Billy Murray on Victor
- "Come Down Ma' Evenin' Star" (w. Robert B. Smith m. John Stromberg)
– Mina Hickman on Victor
- "Congo Love Song" (w.m. Bob Cole & J. Rosamond Johnson)
– Harry Macdonough on Edison
– Mina Hickman on Victor
- "Could You Be True To Eyes Of Blue If You Looked Into Eyes Of Brown?" (w.m. Will D. Cobb & Gus Edwards)
– Harry Macdonough on Victor
- "The Country Girl" (w. Stanislaus Stange m. Julian Edwards)
– Vesta Victoria on Gramophone Records
- "Didn't Know Exactly What To Do" (w. Frank Pixley m. Gustav Luders)
– Edward M. Favor on Edison
- "Down On The Farm" (w. Raymond A. Browne m. Harry Von Tilzer)
– Franklyn Wallace on Edison
- "Flowers Of Dixieland" (w. Edgar Smith m. J. Rosamond Johnson)
– Franklyn Wallace on Edison
- "The Gambling Man(1)" (w. William Jerome m. Jean Schwartz)
– Silas Leachman on Victor
- "Good-bye, Eliza Jane" (w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Harry Von Tilzer)
– Arthur Collins on Edison
- "Hamlet Was A Melancholy Dane" (w. William Jerome m. Jean Schwartz)
– Edward M. Favor on Edison
- "He Ought To Have A Tablet In The Hall of Fame" (w. Arthur L. Robb m. John Walter Bratton)
– Edward M. Favor on Edison
- "He Was A Sailor" (w. William Jerome m. Jean Schwartz)
– Collins & Harlan on Edison
- "Heidelberg Stein Song" (w. Frank Pixley m. Gustav Luders)
– Harry Macdonough on Edison & Victor
- "Hiawatha" (w. James O'Dea m. Neil Moret)
– Edison Grand Concert Band on Edison
– Harry Macdonough on Edison
– Metropolitan Orchestra on Victor
– Sousa's Band on Victor
- "Hurrah For Baffin's Bay" (w. Vincent Bryan m. Theodore F. Morse)
– Collins & Harlan on Edison
– Dan W. Quinn on Victor
- "I Could Love You In A Steam Heat Flat" (w. Vincent Bryan m. J. B. Mullen)
– Harry West on Edison
- "I Like You, Lil, For Fair" (Ade, Loraine)
– Billy Murray on Victor
- "I Never Could Love Like That" (Bowman, Johns)
– Billy Murray on Victor
- "I Want To Be A Lidy" (w. George Dance m. George Dee)
– Clarke's Band Of Providence on Victor
- "I Wonder Why Bill Bailey Don't Come Home" (w.m. Frank Fogerty, Matt C. Woodward & William Jerome)
– Arthur Collins on Victor & Edison
- "I'll Wed You In The Golden Summertime" (w. Alfred Bryan m. Stanley Crawford)
– John H. Bieling & Harry Macdonough on Victor
- "I'm A Jonah Man" (w.m. Alex Rogers)
– Dan W. Quinn on Victor
– Arthur Collins on Edison & Victor
- "I'm Thinking Of You All The While" (Reed Jnr)
– Billy Murray on Victor
- "I'm Wearing My Heart Away For You" (w.m. Charles K. Harris)
– Harry Macdonough & John H. Bieling on Victor
- "In Silence" (w. Sydney Rosenfeld m. A. Baldwin Sloane)
– Arthur Clifford on Edison
- "In The City Of Sighs And Tears" (w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Kerry Mills)
– J. W. Myers on Victor
- "In the Good Old Summer Time" (w. Ren Shields m. George "Honey Boy" Evans)
– Haydn Quartet on Victor
– S. H. Dudley & Harry Macdonough with Sousa's Band on Victor
– Harry Macdonough on Victor
- "In The Sweet Bye And Bye" (w. Vincent P. Bryan m. Harry Von Tilzer)
– J. Aldrich Libbey on Edison
- "In The Village By The Sea" (w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Stanley Crawford)
– Byron G. Harlan on Edison
- "It Takes The Irish To Beat The Dutch" (w. Edward Madden m. Theodore F. Morse)
– Billy Murray on Victor Monarch
- "It Was The Dutch" (w. Vincent Bryan m. J. B. Mullen)
– Collins & Harlan on Edison
- "Juanita" (w. Caroline Norton m. trad Sp.)
– Haydn Quartette on Victor
- "Julie" (w. Wiliam Jerome m. Jean Schwartz)
– Edward M. Favor on Edison
- "Just For Tonight(1)" (w.m. Frank O. French)
– Albert C. Campbell on Edison
- "The Leader Of The Frocks And Frills" (w. Robert B. Smith m. Melville Ellis)
– Clarke's Band of Providence on Victor
- "Like A Star That Falls From Heaven" (w. Arthur Lamb m. Kerry Mills)
– Joe Natus on Victor
- "The Maid Of Timbucktoo" (w. James Weldon Johnson m. Bob Cole)
– Harry Macdonough on Edison
- "Massa's In De Cold Ground" (w. m. Stephen Collins Foster)
– Edison Male Quartette on Edison
- "Meet Me When The Sun Goes Down" (w. Vincent Bryan m. Harry von Tilzer)
– William H. Thompson (singer) on Victor
- "Melody Of Love" (w. Tom Glazer m. H. Engelmann)
– Edison Symphony Orchestra on Edison
- "The Message Of The Rose" (w. Will A. Heelan m. Leo Edwards)
– George Seymour Lenox on Edison
- "The Message Of The Violet" (w. Frank Pixley m. Gustav Luders)
– J. W. Myers on Victor
- "Mighty Lak' A Rose" (w. Frank Lebby Stanton m. Ethelbert Nevin)
– Arthur Clifford on Edison
- "Moriaty" (w. Charles Horwitz m. Fred V. Bowers)
– Collins & Harlan on Edison
- "My Cosy Corner Girl" (w. Charles Noel Douglas m. John Walter Bratton)
– Henry Burr on Columbia
– Harry Macdonough on Edison
- "My Little Coney Isle" (w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Harry von Tilzer)
– Harry Tally on Edison
- "My Little 'Rang Outang" (Madden, Morse)
– Billy Murray on Victor
- "My Own United States" (w. Stanislaus Stange m. Julian Edwards)
– J. W. Myers on Victor
- "My Sulu Lulu Loo" (w. George Ade m. Nat D. Mann)
– Clarke's Band Of Providence on Victor
- "Only A Dream Of A Golden Past" (w. Alfred Bryan m. Stanley Crawford)
– Franklyn Wallace on Edison
- "Out Where The Breakers Roar" (w. Harlow Hyde m. H. W. Petrie)
– Frank C. Stanley on Edison
- "Please Mother, Buy Me A Baby" (w.m. Will D. Cobb & Gus Edwards)
– Byron G. Harlan on Victor & Edison
- "Pretty Little Dinah Jones" (w.m. J. B. Mullen)
– Harry Macdonough on Edison
- "R-E-M-O-R-S-E" (w. George Ade m. Alfred G. Wathall)
– Joe Natus on Victor
- "Sal" (w.m. Paul Rubens)
– Madge Crichton with piano Landon Ronald on Gramophone & Typewriter Records
- "Sammy" (w. James O'Dea m. Edward Hutchinson)
– Harry Macdonough on Edison
- "Sammy" (w. James O'Dea m. Edward Hutchinson)
– Henry Burr on Columbia
- "Sly Musette" (w. Sydney Rosenfeld m. A. Baldwin Sloane)
– Harry Macdonough on Edison
- "Tell Me Dusky Maiden" (w. James Weldon Johnson & Bob Cole m. J. Rosamond Johnson)
– S. H. Dudley & Harry Macdonough on Victor
- "Then I'd Be Satisfied With Life" (w.m. George M. Cohan)
– Edward M. Favor on Edison
- "There's One In A Million Like You" (w. Grant Clarke m. Jean Schwartz)
– Walter Van Brunt on Edison
- "Two Eyes Of Blue" (w. George H. Taylor m. Leslie Stuart)
– Harry Macdonough on Victor
– Mina Hickman on Victor
- "Under The Bamboo Tree" (w.m. Bob Cole & J. Rosamond Johnson)
– Mina Hickman on Victor
- "Up In A Coconut Tree" (Madden, Morse)
– Billy Murray on Victor Monarch
- "Upper Broadway After Dark" (w. Edward Gardinier m. Maurice Levi)
– Edward M. Favor on Edison
- "The Vacant Chair" (w. Henry S. Washburne m. George Frederick Root)
– Byron G. Harlan on Edison
- "Wait At The Gate For Me" (w. Ren Shields m. Theodore F. Morse)
– J. W. Myers on Victor
- "What's The Matter With The Moon Tonight?" (w. Sydney Rosenfeld m. A. Baldwin Sloane)
– Arthur Clifford on Edison
- "When The Fields Are White With Cotton" (w. Robert F. Roden w. Max S. Witt)
– Franklyn Wallace on Edison
- "When We Were Two Little Boys" (w. Edward Madden m. Theodore F. Morse)
– Billy Murray on Victor
Classical music
- Hakon Borresen – Romance for Cello and Piano/Orchestra
- Vincent d'Indy - Choral varié, for saxophone/viola and orchestra, Op. 55,
- Frederick Delius – Sea Drift
- Edward Elgar – The Apostles (oratorio)
- George Enescu –
- Piano Suite No. 2 in D major, Op. 10 ("Des cloches snores")
- Sérénade lointaine for piano, violin, and cello
- Joseph Holbrooke – The Bells
- Joseph Jongen – Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1
- Carl Nielsen – Helios Overture
- Ludolf Nielsen – Symphony No.1, Op.3
- Vítězslav Novák – Slovak Suite
- Maurice Ravel – String Quartet in F
- Max Reger – Variations and Fugue on an Original Theme, Op.73
- Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov – Christmas Eve (suite)
- Albert Roussel - Résurrection, Prelude for orchestra Op. 4
- Charles Villiers Stanford – String Quintet No.1, Op.85 (dated April 21, Malvern)
- Richard Strauss - Symphonia domestica
- Francesco Paolo Tosti – Seconda mattinata
- Ángel Gregorio Villoldo – El Choclo
- Alexander von Zemlinsky – Die Seejungfrau
Musical theater
Published Writings
Births
- January 4 – Carroll Gibbons, bandleader and composer (d. 1954)
- January 6 - Maurice Abravanel - Greek conductor (d. 1993)
- January 10 - Jean Paul Morel - French conductor (d. 1975)
- January 19
- January 22 – Robin Milford, English composer and educator (d. 1959)
- February 6 – Claudio Arrau, pianist (d. 1991)
- February 10 – Abel Meeropol ('Lewis Allan'), American lyricist (d. 1986)
- February 12 – Todd Duncan, American baritone, first Porgy in Porgy and Bess (d. 1998)
- February 15 – Marie-Thérèse Gauley, French opera singer prominent at the Opéra-Comique (d. 1992)
- March 10 – Bix Beiderbecke, jazz musician (d. 1931)
- March 28 – Rudolf Serkin, Czech pianist of Russian parents (d. 1991)
- April 3 – Bubber Miley, jazz trumpeter (d. 1932)
- April 5 – Jimmy Campbell, songwriter (died 1967)
- April 10 – Herbert Graf, Austrian opera producer (d. 1958)
- April 17
- April 21 – Issy Bonn, singer and actor (d. 1977)
- May 3 – Bing Crosby, US singer and actor (d. 1977)
- May 20 – Jerzy Fitelberg, composer (d. 1951)
- May 26 – Bob Hope, English-born US actor, comedian and singer (d. 2003)
- May 28 – Walter Goehr, German composer (d. 1960)
- June 4 – Yevgeny Mravinsky, Russian conductor and pianist (d. 1988)
- June 6 – Aram Khachaturian, Armenian composer and conductor (d. 1978)
- June 18 – Jeanette MacDonald, US singer and actress (d. 1965)
- June 26 – St. Louis Jimmy Oden, blues singer (d. 1977)
- July 3
- July 4 – Peeters, Belgian composer and organist (d. 1986)
- July 10 – Helen Pickens of the Pickens Sisters US singing group
- July 16 – Carmen Lombardo, Canadian singer, composer and saxophonist (d. 1971)
- August 4 – Helen Kane, US singer (d. 1966)
- August 17 – Abram Chasins, American composer and pianist (d. 1987)
- August 20 – António Fortunato de Figueiredo, conductor (d. 1981)
- August 23 – William Primrose, Scottish violinist (d. 1982)
- September 6 – Pál Kadosa, Hungarian composer and pianist (d. 1983)
- September 11 – Theodor Adorno, German musician and philosopher (d. 1969)
- September 15 – Roy Acuff, Country and Western singer (d. 1992)
- October 1 (probable) – Vladimir Horowitz, pianist (d. 1989)
- October 10 – Vladimir Dukelsky aka Vernon Duke, composer (d. 1969)
- October 16
- October 19 – Vittorio Giannini, neoromantic American composer (d. 1966)
- October 29 – Yvonne Georgi, ballet dancer and choreographer (d. 1975)
- November 6 – Asaf Messerer, Soviet dancer and ballet master (d. 1992)
- December 5 – Johannes Heesters, all-round entertainer (d. 2011)
- December 12 – Francisco Curt Lange, German musicologist
- December 17 – Ray Noble, bandleader, composer and arranger (d. 1978)
- date unknown – Caterina Jarboro, operatic soprano (d. 1986)
Deaths
- January 28
- January 31 – Meyer Lutz, conductor and composer, 73[4]
- February 2 – Marc Burty, music teacher and composer, 75
- February 17 – Joseph Parry, organist and composer, 61[5]
- February 22 – Hugo Wolf, Austrian composer, 62 (syphilis)[6]
- February 23 – Friedrich Grützmacher, cellist, 70
- March – Eugène Cormon, French librettist, 92
- March 5 – Thomas Ryan, viola and clarinet player, 75[7]
- March 14 – Ernest Legouvé, opera librettist (born 1807)
- March 19 – Pista Dankó, "gypsy" bandleader and composer, 44
- April 1 – Amelia Chambers Lehmann, songwriter (born 1838)
- April 10
- May 1 – Luigi Arditi, violinist, conductor and composer, 80[8]
- May 9 – Giuseppe Cremonini, operatic tenor, 36[9]
- May 15 – Sibyl Sanderson, operatic soprano, 38 (pneumonia)[10]
- June – Constance Bache, pianist, composer and music teacher, 57[11]
- June 29 – Rentarō Taki, Japanese pianist and composer, 23 (tuberculosis)
- July 27 – Lina Sandell, Swedish poet and hymn-writer 70[12]
- July 28 – Rosine Stoltz, French mezzo-soprano 88
- September 4 – Hermann Zumpe, conductor and composer, 53[13]
- September 28 – Samuel A. Ward, organist and composer, 55
- December 12 – Christian Johansson, ballet dancer and teacher, 86
- December 20 – Kornél Ábrányi, pianist and composer, 81
Notes and References
- News: Verna Osborne -- opera singer, vocal coach, 102. San Francisco Chronicle. Marianne Costantinou. April 30, 2006.
- Rollo Myers: "Augusta Holmès: A Meteoric Career", in: The Musical Quarterly 53 (1967) 3, pp. 365–76
- Planquette, Robert. 21 . 725.
- Gänzl, Kurt. "Lutz, (Wilhelm) Meyer (1829–1903)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, Retrieved on 8 July 2008
- News: Death of Dr. Joseph Parry. The Cambrian News and Merionethshire Standard. 20 February 1903. 6. 31 May 2016.
- Sams, Eric and Susan Youens, 'Hugo Wolf', Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy, (subscription access)
- Encyclopedia: Ryan, Thomas . . Theodore Baker and Alfred Remy . 3rd . 1919 . 798 .
- Arditi, Luigi . 2 . 451.
- Book: A concise biographical dictionary of singers; from the beginning of recorded sound to the present. Leo Riemens. Leo Riemens. 1969. Chilton Book Co.
- https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1903/05/17/101999030.pdf Sibyl Sanderson Dead: Singer Passes Away in Paris, New York Times, May 16, 1903.
- Who Was Who 1897-1916 gives her date of death as June 30; the Musical Times obituary gives June 28
- http://www.ccel.org/ccel/ryden/hymnstory.txt Scandinavian Hymnody
- Book: Fuller Maitland, J. A.
. Zumpe, Hermann. John Alexander Fuller Maitland. Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians. second. V. New York. Macmillan and Co.. 1910. 5000207.