1904 in music explained

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1904.

Specific locations

• 1904 in Norwegian music

Events

• January 9 – Estampes by Claude Debussy, receives its initial performance at the Societe Nationale de Musique in Paris.
• January 13 – Béla Bartók's symphonic poem Kossuth is premiered in Budapest, becoming his first major work to be performed.
• January 21 – The Deutsches Nationaltheater in Brno premiers Leoš Janáček's opera Její pastorkyňa (later known as Jenůfa), with Czech libretto by the composer.
• January 28 – The Russian Symphony Orchestra formed by conductor Modest Altschuler gives its first concert at Cooper Union in New York City. (The orchestra is an American one with a Russian name, not a Russian orchestra touring the United States.)
• February 1 – Enrico Caruso records the aria "Vesti la giubba" from Ruggero Leoncavallo's Pagliaci for the Victor Company, his first recording in the United States.
• February 4 – Jules Massenet's ballet La Cigale is performed for the first time at the Opera-Comique in Paris.
• February 8 – Jean Sibelius conducts the premiere of his Violin Concerto in D minor, Op.47 in Helsinki, Finland; Viktor Nováček is soloist.
• February 17 – Puccini's opera Madama Butterfly debuts at La Scala in Milan to no great acclaim.
• February 18 – Camille Saint-Saëns's opera Helene premieres at Monte Carlo.
• February 28 – Vincent d'Indy's Symphony No.2 in B-flat Major, Op.57 is performed for the first time by the Lamoureux Orchestra in Paris.
• February 29 – Bela Bartok's Scherzo Burlesque for Piano and Orchestra, Op.2, premieres in Budapest.
• March 2 – Emma Calve sings Carmen at the New York Metropolitan Opera. This is her farewell performance with this opera company.
• March 5 – Maurice Ravel's String Quartet in F major receives its first performance in Paris, given by the Societe Nationale de Musique; it is the only quartet by the composer.
• March 16 – The Hallé Orchestra of Manchester gives the first performance of the concert overture In the South, by Edward Elgar, conducted by the composer.
• March 18 – Anatoly Liadov's symphonic poem Baba-Yaga premieres in Saint Petersburg.
• March 21 – Tone poem Symphonia domestica by Richard Strauss receives its premiere at Carnegie Hall, New York City, conducted by the composer on his first visit to the United States.
• March 25 – Antonín Dvořák's last opera, Armida, is produced in its original Czech version in Prague.
• March 30 – The first opera of English composer Frederick Delius, Koanga, premieres at the Stadttheater in Elberfeld, Germany.
• April 25 – Jean Sibelius' Valse triste premieres in Helsinki, Finland, the composer conducting.
• May 10 – Hugo Alfven's rhapsody for orchestra Midsommervaka premieres in Stockholm.
• May 16 – The Diamond Jubilee of violinist Joseph Joachim's first appearance in England is celebrated at Queen's Hall, London.
• May 17
  • Maurice Ravel's Sheherezade and Albert Roussel's Resurrection are premiered on the same program at a concert of the Societe Nationale de Musique in Paris.
  • Vincent d'Indy's Choral varie Op.55, a composition featuring the saxophone as solo instrument, premieres in Paris
• May 28 – A revised three-act version of Giacomo Puccini's Madama Butterfly is performed in Brescia with enormous praise.
• June 9 – The Queen's Hall Orchestra, under Sir Henry Wood, plays its first concert under its new name of the London Symphony Orchestra.
• June 15 – The first transmission of wireless telegraphy featuring music and dialogue takes place in Salzburg with Otto Nußbaumer making the transmission.^[1]
• June 27 – Raoul Laparra is awarded the first Grand Prix de Rome by the Academie des Beaux-Arts in Paris with his cantata Alyssa. Maurice Ravel was a contestant.
• July 5 – Composer Edward Elgar is knighted in Great Britain by King Edward VII.
• July 15 – Soprano Agnes Nicholls marries conductor Hamilton Harty.^[2]
• July – The Act of Touch in All Its Diversity by pianist Tobias Matthay is published in London by Longmans, Green and Co.
• September 7 – Sir Hubert Parry's choral work The Love that Casteth Out Fear premieres at the Gloucester Music Festival. This work, about the passion of Christ, has a text by the composer.
• September 12 – Pianist Ignacy Jan Paderewski gives a concert in Wellington, New Zealand.
• October
  • Alban Berg begins his studies under Arnold Schoenberg.
  • The Gramophone Company records the Bach-Gounod Ave Maria (G.C. 03033) performed by Dame Nellie Melba with Jan Kubelík on violin.
• October 16 – Pan Voyevoda, a four-act opera by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, receives its first performance in Saint Petersburg.
• October 18 – Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 5 is premiered by the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne under the composer's baton; it is also first published this year.
• November 4 – Franco Alfano's four-act opera Risurrezione based on Tolstoy's novel receives its first performance in Turin
• November 5 – Emil Oberhoffer conducts the first concert of the newly established Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra.
• November 10
  • Ferruccio Busoni gives the world premiere of his Piano Concerto at the Beethoven-Saal in Berlin.
  • Arthur Nikisch and the Berlin Philharmonic record Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No.5 in C minor for the Gramophone Company, the first recording of a complete symphony.
• November 13 – Caprice andalou by Camille Saint-Saëns, scored for violin and orchestra, receives its initial performance in Paris
• November 16 – Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, in his first trip to the United States, conducts the first American performance of his The Song of Hiawatha.
• November 20 – The Hague Philharmonic Orchestra gives its inaugural concert, conducted by Henri Viotta.
• November 22 – Pope Pius X issues his Motu proprio Tra le sollecitudini a papal document in which he puts forth rules for performance and interpretation of Gregorian chant.
• November 29 – Ernst von Dohnanyi's 4 Rhapsodies for Piano, Op.11, are premiered in Vienna, the composer performing.
• December 10 – Serge Rachmaninoff, Sergei Taneyev and Alexander Scriabin are among the winners of the first annual Glinka Award for best composition by Russian composers.
• December 13 – Ruggero Leoncavallo's opera Der Roland von Berlin premieres at Berlin. The opera is a failure.
• December 24
  • Theodore Thomas conducts his final concert with the Chicago Orchestra.
  • The Metropolitan Opera in New York City gives the first performance outside Bayreuth of Richard Wagner's Parsifal, despite copyright objections raised by Cosima and Siegried Wagner.
• December 26 – Dancer Isadora Duncan makes her Russian debut in Saint Petersburg to music by Frédéric Chopin.
• December 29 – The Seattle Symphony Orchestra gives its first concert, conducted by Harry West at Christensen's Hall.
• Heckelphone introduced from Wilhelm Heckel's workshop.
• Claudio Monteverdi's opera L'Orfeo is given a modern debut in concert version in Paris.

Published popular music

• "Abraham" w. Sterling m. Von Tilzer
• "Absinthe Frappe" w. Glen MacDonough m. Victor Herbert
• "Ain't It Funny What a Difference Just a Few Hours Make" w. Henry Blossom m. Alfred G. Robyn. Introduced by Raymond Hitchcock in the Broadway show The Yankee Consul
• "Al Fresco" w. Glen MacDonough m. Victor Herbert
• "Alexander" w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Harry Von Tilzer
• "All Aboard For Dreamland" w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Harry Von Tilzer
• "Back, Back To Baltimore" w. Harry H. Williams m. Egbert Van Alstyne
• "Big Indian Chief" w. Bob Cole m. J. Rosamond Johnson
• "Billy" w. Edgar Malone m. Ted S. Barron
• "Blue Bell" w. Edward Madden, Dolly Morse m. Theodore F. Morse
• "By The Old Oak Tree" w. George V. Hobart m. Max Hoffmann
• "Come Back To Sorrento" (Original title "Torna A Surriento") w.m. Ernesto de Curtis & Claude Aveling
• "Come Down From The Big Fig Tree" w. Edward Madden m. Theodore Morse
• "Come Take A Trip In My Airship" w. Ren Shields m. George Evans
• "Cordalia Malone" Jerome, Schwartz
• "The Countess Of Alagazam" w.m. Bob Cole
• "The Day That You Grew Colder" w.m. Paul Dresser
• "Don't Cry, Katie, Dear" Mills
• "Down In The Subway" Jerome, Schwartz
• "Down On The Brandywine" w. Vincent P. Bryan m. J. B. Mullen
• "Fascination" w. Dick Manning m. F. D. Marchetti Words 1932.
• "Fishing" w. James Weldon Johnson m. J. Rosamond Johnson
• "Following In Father's Footsteps" w.m. E. W. Rogers
• "Fu' The Noo" w. Harry Lauder & Gerald Grafton m. Harry Lauder
• "The Ghost That Never Walked" w. William Jerome m. Jean Schwartz
• "Gimme De Leavins" w. James Weldon Johnson m. Bob Cole
• "Give My Regards to Broadway" w.m. George M. Cohan
• "Good-bye Flo" w.m. George M. Cohan
• "Goodbye, Little Girl, Goodbye" w. Will D. Cobb m.. Gus Edwards
• "Goodbye, My Lady Love" w.m. Joseph E. Howard
• "The Goo-Goo Man" Stoddard, Schindler, Jerome
• "Hannah, Won't You Open That Door" w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Harry von Tilzer
• "Have You Seen Maggie Riley?" Von Tilzer
• "He Done Me Wrong" w.m. Hughie Cannon
• "Heinie" Rose, Snyder
• "I Love You All The Time" w.m. Will R. Anderson
• "I Want To Be A Soldier" w.m. William Cahill
• "I'm Longing For My Old Kentucky Home" w. Vincent Bryan m. J. B. Mullen
• "In The Days Of Old" w. Henry Blossom m. Alfred G. Robyn
• "In Zanzibar – My Little Chimpanzee" w. Will D. Cobb m. Gus Edwards
• "Just An Ever-Loving Girl" w. Vincent Bryan m. J. B. Mullen
• "Just For The Sake Of Society" w. Alfred Bryan m. Kerry Mills
• "Kiss Me Good Night, Dear Love" w.m. Malcolm Williams & Israel Zangwill
• "Let's All Go Up To Maud's" w. Joseph C. Farrell m. Kerry Mills
• "Life's a Funny Proposition After All" w.m. George M Cohan
• "A Little Boy Called "Taps"" w. Edward Madden m. Theodore F. Morse
• "The Man Behind" w. Vincent Bryan m. J. B. Mullen
• "The Man With The Ladder And Hose" w.m. T. Mayo Geary
• "La Mattinata" m. Ruggiero Leoncavallo
• "Maureen Of Ballinasloe" w. J. Francis Barron m. J. Airlie Dix
• "Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis" w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Kerry Mills
• "Mexico" w. James Weldon Johnson & Bob Cole m. Bob Cole
• "Mister Wilson, That's All" w. Henry Williams m. Egbert Van Alstyne
• "My Honey Lou" w.m. Thurland Chattaway
• "My Kangaroo" Farrell & Kohlman
• "Nan! Nan! Nan!" by Edward Madden
• "Oh Bliss! Oh Joy!" Mullen
• "Oh Gee! It's Great To Be Crazy" Carle, Bowers
• "Oh! Oh! Sallie" Hartlett
• "On The Warpath" Raymond A. Browne (composer)
• "One Fine Day" (Original title "Un Bel Di") w. L. Illica & G. Giacosa m. G. Puccini
• "Please Come And Play In My Yard" w. Edward Madden m. Theodore F. Morse
• "Preacher and the Bear" w.m. George Fairman
• "Saint Louis Rag" m. Tom Turpin
• "Scissors To Grind" w.m. Thomas S. Allen
• "Seminole" w. Harry Williams m. Egbert Van Alstyne
• "Shame On You" Larkin, Smith
• "She Went to the City" by Paul Dresser
• "Since Little Dolly Dimples Made A Hit" w. William Jerome m. Jean Schwartz
• "St. Louis Tickle" m. Barney & Seymore
• "The Story Of A Clothes Line" m. James W. Tate w. Frank Clifford Harris
• "Sweet Thoughts Of Home" w. Stanislaus Stange m. Julian Edwards
• "Teasing" w. Cecil Mack m. Albert Von Tilzer
• "Those Songs My Mother Used To Sing" w.m. H. Wakefield Smith
• "Three Green Bonnets" w. Harris m. Guy d'Hardelot
• "Tippecanoe" w. Harry Williams m. Egbert Van Alstyne
• "The Trumpeter" by Francis Barron
• "What The Brass Band Played" Drislane, Morse
• "Why Adam Sinned" w.m. Alex Rogers
• "Won't You Fondle Me" w.m. James Kendis & Herman Paley
• "The Yankee Doodle Boy" w.m. George M. Cohan
• "Your Mother Wants You Home Boy" w.m. Paul Dresser

Classical music

• Béla Bartók
  • Piano Quintet
  • Rhapsody, Op. 1
• Hakon Børresen – Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in G major
• František Alois Drdla – Souvenir in D major
• Edward Elgar
  • In the South
  • Pomp and Circumstance March No. 3 in C minor
• Alexander Glazunov – Violin Concerto in A minor
• Enrique Granados – Allegro de concierto
• Hamilton Harty – An Irish Symphony
• Gustav Mahler – Kindertotenlieder (Songs of the Death of Children) (song-cycle)
• Erkki Melartin – Sleeping Beauty, Op.22
• Selim Palmgren – Piano Concerto No.1 in G minor
• Max Reger – Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Hiller
• Alexander Scriabin – Symphony No. 3
• Cyril Scott
  • Scherzo, Op.25
  • 2 Pierrot Pieces, Op.35
  • 2 Piano Pieces, Op.37
• Petar Stojanović – Violin Concerto No. 1
• Igor Stravinsky – Piano Sonata in F-sharp minor

Opera

• Franco Alfano – Risurrezione
• Frederick Delius – Koanga
• Antonín Dvořák – Armida
• Leoš Janáček – Jenůfa (Její pastorkyňa)
• Ruggero Leoncavallo – Der Roland von Berlin
• Giacomo Puccini – Madama Butterfly
• Sergei Rachmaninoff – The Miserly Knight
• Nikolai Rimski-Korsakov – Pan Voyevoda
• Camille Saint-Saëns – Helene
• Amedeo Vives – Bohemios

Operetta

• A rátartós királykisasszony (The Haughty Princess) by Victor Jacobi. First performed on December 17 at Budapest.

Ballet

• La Cigale by Jules Massenet's is performed for the first time at the Opera-Comique in Paris (Feb.4)

Musical theater

• The Catch of the Season London production opened at the Vaudeville Theatre on September 9 and ran for 621 performances
• The Cingalee (Lionel Monckton, Adrian Ross and Percy Greenbank) – London production opened at Daly's Theatre on March 5 and ran for 365 performances
• It Happened in Nordland Broadway production opened at the Lew M. Fields Theatre on December 5 and ran for 254 performances
• Little Johnny Jones (book, music, lyrics, direction and featuring George M. Cohan) Broadway production opened at the Liberty Theatre on November 7 and ran for 52 performances
• Paris by Night (Music: Alfred Solmon Book: Harry Marshall) Broadway production opened at the Madison Square Roof Garden on July 2 and ran for 50 performances. Starring Ben Welch.
• The Rogers Brothers In Paris Broadway production opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre on September 5 and ran for 72 performances
• Sergeant Brue London production opened at the Strand Theatre on June 14
• The Yankee Consul Broadway production opened at the Broadway Theatre on February 22 and ran for 115 performances

Births

• January 10 – Ray Bolger, singer and dancer (d. 1987)
• January 13 – Richard Addinsell, composer (d. 1977)
• January 15
  • Eddie DeLange, bandleader and lyricist (d. 1949)
  • Leonid Jacobson, Russian dancer, choreographer and ballet master (d. 1975)
• January 18 – Anthony Galla-Rini, accordionist, composer and conductor (d. 2006)
• January 22 – George Balanchine, Russian choreographer (d. 1983)
• February 3 – Luigi Dallapiccola, composer (d. 1975)
• February 23 – Allan Gray, film composer (d. 1973)
• February 29 – Jimmy Dorsey, bandleader (d. 1957)
• March 1 – Glenn Miller, trombonist and bandleader (m. 1944)
• March 4 – Joseph Schmidt, Austrian-Hungarian tenor and actor (d. 1942)
• March 8 – Nikos Skalkottas Greek composer (d.1949)
• April 9 – Sharkey Bonano, jazz musician (d. 1972)
• April 16 – Fifi D'Orsay, actress and singer (d. 1983)
• April 18 – Pigmeat Markham, all-round entertainer (d. 1981)
• April 29
  • Russ Morgan, orchestra leader (d. 1969)
  • Pedro Vargas, Mexican singer and actor (d. 1989)
• May 21 – Fats Waller, American pianist and comedian (d. 1943)
• May 23 – Libby Holman, US singer and actress (d. 1971)
• May 25 – Kurt Thomas, German choral conductor (d.1973)
• May 26 – George Formby, English music hall performer, singer, actor and songwriter (d. 1961)
• May 28 – Margaret Harris, opera costume and set designer (d. 2000)
• May 29 – León Zuckert, conductor, composer and arranger (d. 1992)
• June 3 – Jan Peerce, American tenor (d. 1984)^[3]
• June 6 – Raymond Burke, clarinettist (d. 1986)^[4]
• June 7 – Don Murray, clarinettist (d. 1929)^[5]
• June 11 – Pinetop Smith, jazz pianist (d. 1929)^[6]
• June 15 – Anna Mahler, musician and sculptor (d. 1988)^[7]
• June 21 – Mack Gordon, Polish-born US lyricist (d. 1959)
• June 24 – Phil Harris, jazz musician (d. 1995)^[8]
• July 9 – Robert Whitney, British conductor (d. 1986)
• July 14 – Nadia Reisenberg, Litvian pianist (d. 1983)
• July 15
  • Dorothy Fields, librettist and lyricist (d. 1974)
  • Vladimir Bourmeister, Russian dancer and choreographer (d.1971)
• July 16
  • Goffredo Petrassi, composer (d. 2003)
  • Mabel Wayne – US composer (d. 1978)
• July 18 – Harold Spivacke, music librarian and administrator (d. 1977)
• July 24
  • Leo Arnaud – film composer (d. 1991)
  • Anton Dolin – English dancer and choreographer (d.1983)
• July 26 – Jack Westrup, musicologist (d. 1975)
• August 13 – Charles "Buddy" Rogers, actor and singer (d. 1989)
• August 17 – Leopold Nowak, Austrian musicologist (d. 1991)
• August 21 – Count Basie, pianist and bandleader (d. 1984)
• September 2 – Set Svanholm, Swedish operatic tenor (d.1964)
• September 17 – Sir Frederick Ashton, dancer and choreographer (d. 1988)
• October 11 – Tita Merello, tango singer, dancer and actress (d. 2002)
• October 20 – Anna Neagle, actress and singer (d. 1986)
• October 24 – Moss Hart, musical theatre director (d. 1961)
• October 26 – Boris Khaykin, Russian conductor (d.1978)
• October 29 – Vivian Ellis, English composer (d. 1996)
• November 1 or November 14 – Aleksey Zhivotov, composer (d. 1964)
• November 11 – Joseph Lockwood, record company executive (d. 1991)
• November 14 – Dick Powell, actor and singer (d. 1963)
• November 18 – Masao Koga, Japanese composer (d. 1978)
• November 20 – Alexandra Danilova, Russian dancer and teacher (d.1997)
• November 21 – Coleman Hawkins, saxophonist (d. 1969)
• November 25 – Toni Ortelli, Italian composer and alpinist (d. 2000)
• December 9 – Elsie Randolph, English actress, dancer and singer (d. 1982)
• December 18 – Wilf Carter, country singer (d. 1966)
• December 26 – Alejo Carpentier, musicologist (d. 1980)
• December 30 – Dmitry Kabalevsky, Soviet pianist and composer (d.1987)
• December 31
  • Umm Kulthum, Egyptian singer and actress (d. 1975)
  • Nathan Milstein, Russian violinist (d.1992)

Deaths

• January 2 – Peter Jurgenson, Russian music publisher (b.1836)
• January 4 – Mitrofan Belyayev, music publisher (b. 1836)
• January 10 – Antoinette Sterling, singer
• January 15 – Eduard Lassen, composer (b. 1830)
• January 20 – Maria Louisa Bustill, mother of Paul Robeson (b. 1853) (domestic accident)
• February 8 – Malvina Garrigues, soprano and composer (b. 1825)
• March 10 – Giovanni Cesari, castrato singer (b. 1843)
• March 11 – Charles Grisart, opera composer (b. 1837)
• March 20 – Louisa Pyne, operatic soprano and opera company manager (b. 1832)
• March 31 – Sophia Karp, actress and singer (b. 1861)
• February 8 – Malwine Schnorr von Varolsfeld, German soprano (b.1825)
• April 29 – Nellie Farren, burlesque actress and singer (b. 1848)
• May 1 – Antonín Dvořák, Czech composer (b. 1841)
• May 14 – Morrison Foster, editor and brother to Stephen Foster (born 1823)
• May 19 – Korla Awgust Kocor, conductor and composer (b. 1822)
• May 30 – Laura Joyce Bell, contralto singer and actress (b. 1854)
• June 28 – Dan Emmett, founder of the Virginia Minstrels (b. 1815)
• July 13 – Giulia Warwick, operatic soprano and actress (b. 1857)
• July 20 – Arthur Lloyd, music hall entertainer and songwriter (b. 1839)^[9]
• August 6 – Eduard Hanslick, music critic (b. 1825)
• September 26 – Patrick Lafcadio Hearn, translator (born 1850)
• October 31 – Dan Leno, English music hall comedian, clog dancer and singer (b. 1860)
• November 30 – Aldine Silliman Kieffer, music teacher and publisher (b. 1840)
• date unknown – Antonio Galassi, operatic baritone (b. 1845)

Notes and References

1. Web site: Nußbaumer, Otto . . Biographien . de . 9 March 2017 . 8 August 2022.
2. Book: Greer, David Clive . Hamilton Harty: his life and music . 1978 . . 978-0-306-76015-0 . Google Books.
3. Web site: Jan Peerce – Broadway Cast & Staff . . . 9 August 2022.
4. Book: Notice de personne "Burke, Ray (1904-1986)" . Person notice "Burke, Ray (1904-1986)" . . fr . 24 May 2018 . 8 August 2022.
5. Web site: Don Murray . Senior . Andy . The Syncopated Times . 28 May 2021 . 8 August 2022.
6. Book: Notice de personne "Smith, Pine Top (1904-1929)" . Person notice "Smith, Pine Top (1904-1929)" . Bibliothèque nationale de France . fr . 31 March 2017 . 9 August 2022.
7. Book: Notice de personne "Mahler, Anna (1904-1988)" . Person notice "Mahler, Anna (1904-1988)" . Bibliothèque nationale de France . fr . 16 May 2014 . 8 August 2022.
8. News: Benny Show's Phil Harris Dies at 89. Los Angeles Times. August 13, 1995. July 27, 2022. Phil Harris, the bandleader who became famous by portraying himself as a flashy, hard-drinking musician on the old Jack Benny radio show, died. … He was 89..
9. Book: Richard Anthony Baker. British Music Hall: An Illustrated History. 31 May 2014. Pen and Sword. 978-1-4738-3718-8. 25–.