1904 in music

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, 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.
• 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 is premiered in Stockholm, Sweden.
• May 16 – The Diamond Jubilee of violinist Joseph Joachim's first appearance in the UK 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.
• 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.
• 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 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" 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
• "One Fine Day" 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
• 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
• 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]

[Ballet]

[Musical theater]

Births

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

Deaths

• January 2 – Peter Jurgenson, Russian music publisher
• January 4 – Mitrofan Belyayev, music publisher
• January 10 – Antoinette Sterling, singer
• January 15 – Eduard Lassen, Danish-born composer and conductor
• January 20 – Maria Louisa Bustill, mother of Paul Robeson
• February 8 – Malvina Garrigues, soprano and composer
• March 10 – Giovanni Cesari, castrato singer
• March 11 – Charles Grisart, opera composer
• March 20 – Louisa Pyne, operatic soprano and opera company manager
• March 31 – Sophia Karp, actress and singer
• February 8 – Malwine Schnorr von Varolsfeld, German soprano
• April 29 – Nellie Farren, burlesque actress and singer
• May 1 – Antonín Dvořák, Czech composer
• May 14 – Morrison Foster, editor and brother to Stephen Foster
• May 19 – Korla Awgust Kocor, conductor and composer
• May 29 – Maria Paulina Åhman, Swedish harpist
• May 30 – Laura Joyce Bell, contralto singer and actress
• June 28 – Dan Emmett, founder of the Virginia Minstrels
• July 13 – Giulia Warwick, operatic soprano and actress
• July 20 – Arthur Lloyd, music hall entertainer and songwriter
• August 6 – Eduard Hanslick, music critic
• September 26 – Patrick Lafcadio Hearn, translator
• October 31 – Dan Leno, English music hall comedian, clog dancer and singer
• November 30 – Aldine Silliman Kieffer, music teacher and publisher date unknown – Antonio Galassi, operatic baritone