1920 in music

Specific locations

• 1920 in British music
• 1920 in Scandinavian music

Specific genres

• 1920 in country music
• 1920 in jazz

Events

• January 19 – The Salzburg Festival is revived.
• September 4 – City of Birmingham Orchestra first rehearses. Later this month, its first concert, conducted by Appleby Matthews, opens with Granville Bantock's overture Saul; in November it gives its "First Symphony Concert" when Edward Elgar conducts a programme of his own music in Birmingham Town Hall.
• November 15 – First complete public performance of Gustav Holst's suite The Planets given in London by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Albert Coates.
• December 4 – Première of the opera Die tote Stadt by 23-year-old Erich Wolfgang Korngold. It later becomes known that the librettist, "Paul Schott", is Korngold's father Julius.
• December 30 – Pearl Hamilton, plays piano with small jazz ensemble to appreciative audience at the Star Theater in New York City.
• Mamie Smith's first blues recordings become a hit, alerting record companies to the African American market.
• Hamilton Harty is appointed resident conductor of the Hallé Orchestra.
• Henri Sauguet forms Groupe des Trois along with Louis Emié and Jean-Marcel Lizotte.
• The Central Band of the Royal Air Force is formed in Britain.
• The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra launches its Mahler festival.
• Gabriel Fauré retires from the Paris Conservatoire, and is awarded the Grand-Croix of the Légion d'Honneur.

Publications

• Stewart Macpherson – Melody and Harmony, Book 1. London: Stainer & Bell.

Published popular music

• "After You Get What You Want, You Don't Want It" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "All She'd Say Was "Umh Hum"" w.m. King Zany, Mac Emery, Gus Van & Joe Schenck
• "All The Boys Love Mary" Gus Van & Joe Schenck
• "Aunt Hagar's Blues" w.m. W. C. Handy
• "Avalon" w.m. B. G. DeSylva, Al Jolson & Vincent Rose
• "Blue Jeans" w. Harry D. Kerr, m. Lou Traveller
• "Bright Eyes" w. Harry B. Smith m. Otto Motzan & M. K. Jerome
• "Broadway Blues w. Arthur Swanstrom m. Carey Morgan
• "Chanson" m. Rudolf Friml
• "Chili Bean" w. Lew Brown m. Albert Von Tilzer
• "Crazy Blues" w.m. Percy Bradford
• "The Cuckoo Waltz" w. Arthur Kingsley m. J. E. Jonasson
• "Daddy, You've Been A Mother To Me" w.m. Fred Fisher
• "Down By The O-HI-O " w. Jack Yellen m. Abe Olman
• "Feather Your Nest" w.m. James Kendis, James Brockman & Howard Johnson
• "The Gipsy Warned Me" w.m. R. P. Weston & Bert Lee
• "He Went In Like A Lion " w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Harry von Tilzer
• "Home Again Blues" w.m. Harry Akst & Irving Berlin
• "I Belong to Glasgow" w.m. Will Fyffe
• "I Used To Love You, But It's All Over Now" w. Lew Brown m. Albert Von Tilzer
• "I'd Love To Fall Asleep And Wake Up In My Mammy's Arms" w. Sam M. Lewis & Joe Young m. Fred E. Ahlert
• "I'll Be With You In Apple Blossom Time" w. Neville Fleason m. Albert Von Tilzer
• "I'll See You In C-U-B-A" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "In a Persian Market" m. Albert William Ketèlbey
• "The Japanese Sandman" w. Raymond B. Egan m. Richard A. Whiting
• "Jellybean" by Jimmie Dupre, Sam Rosen, and Joe Verges
• "Kalua" w. Anne Caldwell m. Jerome Kern
• "La Veeda" w. Nat Vincent m. John Alden
• "Left All Alone Again Blues" w. Anne Caldwell m. Jerome Kern
• "Little Town In The Ould County Down" w. Richard Pascoe m. Monte Carlo & Alma Saunders
• "Look for the Silver Lining" w. B. G. DeSylva m. Jerome Kern
• "The Love Boat" by Gene Buck
• "Love Nest" w. Otto Harbach m. Louis A. Hirsch
• "Margie" w. Benny Davis m. Con Conrad & J. Russel Robinson
• "Mary" w. Otto Harbach m. Louis A. Hirsch
• "My Little Bimbo Down On A Bamboo Isle" w. Grant Clarke w. Walter Donaldson
• "My Mammy" w. Sam M. Lewis & Joe Young m. Walter Donaldson
• "My Man" w. Channing Pollock Albert Willemetz & Jacques Charles m. Maurice Yvain
• "O'er The Hills To Ardentinny" w.m. Harry Lauder
• "Old Pal Why Don't You Answer Me" w. Sam M. Lewis & Joe Young m. M. K. Jerome
• "Pale Moon" w. Jesse Glick m. Frederick Knight Logan
• "Palesteena" w.m. Con Conrad & J. Russell Robinson
• "Polly" w. Leo Wood m. Jack Richmond
• "Pretty Kitty Kelly" w. Harry Pease m. Ed G. Nelson
• "Rose Of Washington Square" w. Ballard MacDonald m. James F. Hanley
• "San" w.m. Lindsay McPhail & Walter Michels
• "So Long, Oo Long" w. Bert Kalmar m. Harry Ruby
• "That Old Irish Mother Of Mine" w. William Jerome m. Harry Von Tilzer
• "Wang Wang Blues" w. Leo Wood m. Gus Mueller, Buster Johnson & Henry Busse
• "When My Baby Smiles At Me" w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Billy Munro
• "Where Do They Go When They Row, Row, Row?" w. Bert Kalmar & George Jessel, m. Harry Ruby
• "Whispering" w. Malvin Schonberger m. John Schonberger
• "White Army, Black Baron" w. Pavel Grigor'ev, m. Samuel Pokrass
• "Whose Baby Are You?" w. Anne Caldwell m. Jerome Kern
• "Wild Rose" w. Clifford Grey m. Jerome Kern
• "A Young Man's Fancy" w. John Murray Anderson & Jack Yellen m. Milton Ager

Top Popular Recordings 1920

Classical music

• Granville Bantock – Arabian Nights
• Béla Bartók – Eight Improvisations on Peasant Songs
• Arnold Bax – Phantasy for viola and orchestra
• Arthur Bliss – The Tempest, overture and interludes;
• *Concerto for piano, tenor voice, strings and percussion
• *Rout
• Ernest Bloch – Violin Sonata No. 1
• Max Bruch - String Octet
• Ferruccio Busoni – Piano Sonatina No. 6,
• *Divertimento for flute and orchestra
• Frederick Delius – Hassan
• George Enescu – String Quartet No. 1 in E-flat major, Op. 22, No. 1
• Gabriel Fauré – Masques et Bergamasques
• Johan Halvorsen – Norwegian Rhapsody No. 2
• Arthur Honegger – Pastorale d'été
• *Viola Sonata
• *Cello Sonata
• Leoš Janáček – Ballad of Blanik
• Darius Milhaud – Ballade
• *Le Boeuf sur le toit,
• Francis Poulenc – Five Impromptus for Piano, Suite in C Major for Piano
• Sergei Prokofiev – Five Songs without Words
• Maurice Ravel – La Valse
• *Sonata for violin and cello
• Camille Saint-Saëns - Odelette in D major Op. 162
• Erik Satie – La Belle excentrique
• Dmitri Shostakovich – Five Preludes for piano
• Igor Stravinsky – Concertino for string quartet,
• *Pulcinella
• *Symphonies of Wind Instruments
• Ralph Vaughan Williams – The Lark Ascending
• *Mass in G minor
• Heitor Villa-Lobos – Symphony No. 5, "A paz"

Opera

• Vincent D'Indy – The Legend of St. Christoper
• Clemens Freiherr von Franckenstein – Li-Tai-Pe
• Henry Hadley – Cleopatra's Night
• Leoš Janáček – The Excursions of Mr. Broucek on the Moon and in the 15th Century
• Erich Korngold – Die tote Stadt
• Ruggiero Leoncavallo – ''Edipo Re''

[Musical theatre]

• Die Blaue Mazur, ViennaGeorge White's Scandals Of 1920 Broadway revue opened at the Globe Theatre on June 7 and ran for 134 performancesThe Gingham Girl Broadway production at the Central Theatre ran for 322 performancesIrene London production opened at the Empire Theatre on April 7 and ran for 399 performancesJohnny Jones London production opened at the Alhambra Theatre on June 1 and ran for 349 performancesJumble Sale London revue opened at the Vaudeville Theatre on December 16 and ran for 176 performancesJust Fancy London production opened at the Vaudeville Theatre on March 26 and ran for 332 performancesDer letzte Walzer, BerlinA Little Dutch Girl opened at the Lyric Theatre on December 1 and ran for 207 performances
• The Night Boat Broadway production opened at the Liberty Theatre on February 2 and ran for 318 performances. Jeanette MacDonald made her first Broadway appearance as a member of the chorus.A Night Out London production opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on September 18 and ran for 309 performancesSally Broadway production opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre on December 21 and ran for 570 performancesThe Shop Girl London revival opened at the Gaiety Theatre on March 25 and ran for 327 performancesTickle Me Broadway production opened at the Selwyn Theatre on August 17 and ran for 207 performances. Starring Louise Allen, Allen Kearns and Frank Tinney.Tip Top Broadway production opened at the Globe Theatre on October 5 and ran for 241 performancesZiegfeld Follies of 1920 Broadway revue opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre on June 22 and ran for 123 performances, but ran most years until 1927.

Births

• January 1
• *José Antonio Bottiroli, Argentine composer and poet
• *Virgilio Savona, Italian singer and songwriter
• *Mahmoud Zoufonoun, Iranian-American violinist
• January 3 – Renato Carosone, Italian musician and singer
• January 5 – Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, pianist
• January 8 - Josef Josephi, Polish-born singer and actor
• January 14
• * Cris Alexander, American actor, singer, dancer, designer, and photographer
• * Salvador Flores Rivera, Mexican composer and singer
• January 16 – Claude Abadie, French jazz clarinetist
• January 18 – Jan Van Halen, musician, father of Eddie and Alex Van Halen
• January 24 – Hilario González, Cuban composer, pianist, musicologist, music educator, and music critic
• February 2
• * Heikki Suolahti, Finnish composer
• * Yuriko Amemiya, American dancer and choreographer
• February 7 – Oscar Brand, Canadian-born American folk singer, songwriter and author
• February 12 – Yoshiko Yamaguchi, Chinese-Japanese actress and singer
• February 13
• *Boudleaux Bryant, American songwriter
• *Eileen Farrell, American soprano
• February 14 – Albert J. McNeil, American choral conductor, ethnomusicologist and author
• February 18 – Rolande Falcinelli, organist, pianist and composer
• February 23 – Hall Overton, composer, jazz pianist and music teacher
• February 26 – Henri Crolla, jazz guitarist and film composer
• February 28 – Albert Elms, light music composer
• March 10 – Boris Vian, French writer, poet, singer and musician
• March 16 – John Addison, British film composer
• March 17 – John La Montaine, American composer
• March 22 – Fanny Waterman, pianist and music educator
• March 23 – Geoffrey Bush, British composer, writer and broadcaster
• April 7 – Ravi Shankar, Indian sitarist
• April 12
• *The Cox Twins, music hall entertainers
• *Anita Ellis, Canadian-American singer and actress
• April 21 – Bruno Maderna, conductor and composer
• April 23 – Louis Barron, film composer
• April 27 - Guido Cantelli, Italian conductor
• April 29 – Harold Shapero, composer
• May 2
• *Jean-Marie Auberson, violinist and conductor
• *Joe "Mr Piano" Henderson, Scottish pianist and composer
• May 4 – Ronald Chesney, harmonica player and comedy scriptwriter
• May 13 – Gareth Morris, flautist
• May 18 – Lucia Mannucci, Italian singer
• May 20 – Betty Driver, British singer and actress
• May 21 – Bill Barber, jazz musician
• May 23 – Helen O'Connell, American big band singer
• May 26 – Peggy Lee, singer and songwriter
• June 6
• *Dino Asciolla, violinist
• *Jan Rubeš, Czech-Canadian bass opera singer, actor
• *Robert Turner, composer
• June 10 – Bonnie Davis, R&B singer
• June 11 – Hazel Scott, jazz/classical pianist and singer
• June 19 – Johnny Douglas, film composer and conductor
• June 20 – Danny Cedrone, American guitarist and bandleader
• June 25 – Ozan Marsh, American concert pianist
• June 26 – Leonid Hambro, pianist
• July 1 – Amália Rodrigues, Portuguese singer and actress
• July 13
• * Anna Halprin, American dancer
• * Don Ralke, American music arranger
• July 14 – Marijohn Wilkin, American country and gospel songwriter
• July 19 – Robert Mann, American violinist
• July 20
• *Carmen Carrozza, Italian-born American accordionist
• *Thanga Darlong, Indian folk musician
• July 21
• *Isaac Stern, Ukrainian-born violinist
• *Manuel Valls, Spanish composer
• July 23 – Amália Rodrigues, Portuguese fado singer and actress
• July 31 – Walter Arlen, Austrian-born American composer
• August 7 – Françoise Adret, French ballet dancer, choreographer
• August 8
• *Leo Chiosso, Italian lyricist
• *Jimmy Witherspoon, blues singer
• August 26 – Emil Cadkin, film composer
• August 29 – Charlie Parker, jazz musician
• September 3 – Chabuca Granda, Peruvian singer and composer
• September 7 – Al Caiola, American guitarist, composer, arranger
• September 14 – Cascarita, Cuban music singer
• September 17 – Jean Perrin, composer
• September 23
• *Alexander Arutiunian, Armenian composer
• *Mickey Rooney, actor and entertainer
• September 25 - Anne Triola, American actress, singer and musician
• September 27 – Alan A. Freeman, English record producer
• September 28 – Irma Baltuttis, singer and entertainer
• October 5 – Vincent DeRosa, American musician
• October 9 – Yusef Lateef, American jazz musician and composer
• October 12 – Steve Conway, British singer
• October 13 – Albert Hague, songwriter
• October 27 – Nanette Fabray, actress and singer
• October 31 – Joseph Gelineau, French composer
• November 23 – Enrico De Angelis, Italian singer and entrepreneur
• December 6 – Dave Brubeck, jazz pianist
• December 13 – Teo Usuelli, Italian film composer
• December 14 – Clark Terry, American jazz musician and composer
• December 19 – Little Jimmy Dickens, American country music singer-songwriter
• December 31 - Rex Allen, American actor, singer and songwriter

Deaths

• January 8 – Maud Powell, violinist
• January 16 – Reginald De Koven, US music critic and composer
• January 18 – Giovanni Capurro, poet, co-writer of "O Sole Mio"
• January 21 – John Henry Maunder, composer
• January 24 – William Percy French, songwriter
• February 2 – Theo Marzials, singer and composer
• February 11 – Gaby Deslys, dancer and actress
• February 12 – Émile Sauret, violinist and composer
• February 14 – Louis C. Elson, American music critic, writer on music, editor, journalist, composer, and professor of music theory
• February 23 – Alexander Ilyinsky, music teacher and composer
• March 20 – Eva Mylott, operatic contralto
• April 4 – Carl Bohm, pianist and composer
• April 8 – Charles Griffes, composer
• April 19 – Mathilde Mallinger, lyric soprano
• May 6 – Hortense Schneider, operatic soprano
• May 25 – Georg Jarno, composer of operettas
• May 28 – Hardwicke Rawnsley, hymn-writer
• June 27 – Adolphe-Basile Routhier, lyricist
• June 28 – Pauline Rita, singer and actress
• July 17 – Dorothy Goetz, first wife of Irving Berlin
• July 26 – Carlos Troyer, composer
• August 10 – Clara Lachmann, Danish-Swedish patron of the arts
• August 13 – Carlos Hartling, German-born composer of the Honduras national anthem
• August 29 – Gustav Jenner, composer and conductor
• October 1 – Vladimir Rebikov, Russian pianist and composer
• October 2 – Max Bruch, composer
• October 16 – Alberto Nepomuceno, composer and conductor
• October 31 – Joachim Neergaard, Danish composer
• November 6 – Maria Waldmann, operatic mezzo-soprano associated with Verdi
• December 14 – George J. Gaskin, singer
• December 31 – Paloke Kurti, Albanian composer