Year 1896 in Music History

Events in Music

Music Premiere

Feb 1 Giacomo Puccini's Opera "La Boheme" premieres in Turin

Composer Giacomo Puccini — Composer
Giacomo Puccini

Mar 23 Umberto Giordano's opera "Andrea Chénier" premieres in Milan
Mar 28 Umberto Giordano's opera "Andrea Chenier" premieres at La Scala, Milan with Giuseppe Borgatti singing the title role

Event of Interest

Apr 13 John Philip Sousa's "El Capitan" premieres at the Tremont Theatre in Boston

Composer John Philip Sousa — Composer
John Philip Sousa

Apr 20 1st public film showing in US John Philip Sousa's "El Capitan" premieres in NYC
Apr 23 Vitascope system of movie projection 1st shown at Koster & Bial's Music Hall (NYC)
Apr 25 Fight in Central Dance Hall starts fire at Cripple Creek, Colorado
Apr 25 Sidney Jones & Harry Greenbacks musical premieres in London
May 20 The six ton chandelier of the Palais Garnier opera house in Paris falls on the crowd resulting in the death of one and the injury of many others

Event of Interest

Nov 27 "Also Sprach Zarathustra" (Thus Spake Zarathustra) by Richard Strauss, inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophical novel, debuts in Frankfurt

Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche — Philosopher
Friedrich Nietzsche

Composer and Conductor Richard Strauss — Composer and Conductor
Richard Strauss

Dec 25 "Stars & Stripes Forever" written by John Philip Sousa

Birthdays in Music

Jan 1 Maurice Jacobson, composer
Jan 1 Yitzhak Edel, composer
Jan 2 Ernst-Lothar von Knorr, German composer, and music educator, born in Eitorf, Germany (d, 1973)
Jan 8 Jaromir Weinberger, composer (Bird's Opera), born in Prague, Czechoslovakia
Jan 9 Warwick Braithwaite, New Zealand-British conductor, primarily of opera, born in Dunedin, New Zealand (d. 1971)
Jan 15 Jacobo Ficher, Argentine composer, born in Odesa, Ukraine (d. 1978)
Jan 17 Harry Reser, American banjo player and bandleader (Sammy Kaye Show), born in Piqua, Ohio (d. 1965)
Jan 20 Elmer R Diktonius, Finnish poet and composer (Janne Kubik), born in Helsinki (d. 1961)
Jan 20 George Burns [Nathan Birnbaum], American actor, comedian and singer (Oh God; Burns and Allen), born in NYC, New York (d. 1996)
Feb 16 Alexander Brailowsky, Russian pianist (Chopin)
Feb 22 Nacio Herb Brown, American composer (Singin' In The Rain), born in Deming, New Mexico (d. 1964)
Feb 26 Eduard Flipse, Dutch conductor and composer
Feb 29 Wladimir Rudolfovich Vogel, Swiss composer, born in Zurich (d. 1984)
Mar 1 Dimitri Mitropoulos, Athens Greece, conductor/composer
Mar 7 Erwin Bodky, German-American composer, born in Ragnit, East Prussia (d. 1958)
Mar 12 Jesse "Lone Cat" Fuller, San Francisco Blues Great
Mar 26 Richard Flury, Swiss composer, born in Biberist, Switzerland (d. 1967)
Apr 8 Karl Hermann Pillney, composer
Apr 8 Yip Harburg [Isidore Hochberg], American lyricist (Somewhere Over The Rainbow), born in NYC, New York; (d. 1981)
Apr 29 Jacques Wolfe, Romanian-American composer, born in Botoşani, Romania (d. 1973)
Apr 30 [Reverend] Gary Davis, American blues and folk guitarist (A Little More Faith), born in Laurens, South Carolina (d. 1972)
May 11 Josip Slavenski, Croatian composer and pedagogue, born in Čakovec, Croatia-Slavonia, Austria-Hungary (d. 1955)
May 17 Brasílio Itiberê da Cunha Luz, Brazilian composer, born in Curitiba, State of Paraná, Brazil (d. 1967)
May 28 Marius Monnikendam, Dutch choir composer, born in Haarlem, Netherlands (d. 1977)
Jun 18 George Thalben-Ball, Australian-English organist (Birmingham City Organist, 1949-83), and composer (Elegy), born in Sydney, Australia (d. 1987)
Jun 20 Wilfred Pelletier, Canadian conductor (Voice of Firestone), born in Montreal, Quebec (d. 1982)
Jul 4 Adolph Hallis, South African pianist and composer, born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa (d. 1987)
Aug 2 Lorenzo Herrera, Venezuelan singer and composer, born in Caracas, Venezuela (d. 1960)
Aug 6 Cyril Mockridge, British composer for film and television (Miracle On 34th Street; The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance), born in London (d. 1979)
Aug 9 Leonide Massine, Russian ballet dancer and choreographer (Diaghilev Ballet Russe 1914-20), born in Moscow, Russian Empire (d. 1979)
Aug 13 Leo Pappenheim, Dutch conductor, born in Amsterdam (d. 1982)
Aug 19 Eino Mauno Aleksanteri Linnala, composer
Aug 19 Walter Lang, Swiss composer, born in Basel, Switzerland (d. 1966)
Aug 26 Richard Pindle Hammond, American composer, born in Kent, England (d. 1980)
Aug 27 Leon Theremin, Russian-Soviet electronic musical instruments inventor, born in St. Petersburg, Russia (d. 1993)
Sep 4 Antonin Artaud, French songwriter and director (Theatre Seraphin), born in Marseille, France (d. 1948)
Sep 8 Howard Dietz, American lyricist and librettist ("Dancing In The Dark"; "I Guess I'll Have To Change My Plans"), born in NYC, New York (d. 1983)
Sep 9 Fritz Reutter, German composer (d. 1963)
Sep 10 Adele Astaire [Lady Charles Cavendish], American dancer and entertainer, sister of Fred Astaire (Last Man on Earth, Millie), born in Omaha, Nebraska (d. 1981)
Sep 13 Tadeusz Szeligowski, Polish composer (The Peacock and the Girl), born in Lemberg, Austro-Hungarian Galicia (now L'vov, Ukraine) (d. 1963)
Sep 25 Roberto Gerhard, Spanish Catalan composer, born in Valls, Catalonia, Spain (d. 1970)
Sep 29 Štefan Németh-Šamorínsky, Slovak organist, choirmaster, composer and pedagogue (Birch Trees), born in Šamorín, Slovakia, Kingdom of Hungary (d. 1975)
Oct 6 Frutuoso de Lima Viana, Brazilian pianist and composer, born in Itajubá, Brazil (d. 1976)
Oct 6 Otto Siegl, Austrian composer, born in Graz (d. 1978)

Howard Hanson

Oct 28 Howard Hanson, American classical music composer and conductor (Nordic), born in Wahoo, Nebraska (d. 1981)

Oct 30 Anatoly Novikov, Soviet composer (d. 1984)
Oct 31 Ethel Waters, American actress (Beulah), singer (Stormy Weather), born in Chester, Pennsylvania (d. 1977)
Nov 9 Mykhaylo Verikivsky, Ukrainian composer, born in Kremenets, Ukraine (d. 1962)
Nov 16 Lawrence Tibbett, American baritone (Metropolitan 1923-50), born in Bakersfield, California (d. 1960)
Nov 22 Mario Labroca, Italian composer, born in Rome (d. 1973)
Nov 23 Joris Vriamont, Flemish author/music publisher
Nov 23 Ruth Etting, American dancer, singer and actress (Roman scandals), born in David City, Nebraska (d. 1978)
Nov 25 Rex Maupin, American orchestra leader (Tin Pan Alley TV), born in St Joseph, Missouri (d. 1966)
Nov 25 Virgil Thomson, American composer and music critic (Four Saints in Three Acts; Louisiana Story), born in Kansas City, Missouri (d. 1989)
Nov 28 Lilia Skala, Austrian actress (House of Games, Flashdance, Charly), born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary (d. 1994)
Dec 1 Petko Staynov, composer
Dec 3 Bolesław Szabelski, Polish organist and composer, born in Radoryż (d. 1979)
Dec 4 Larry Stock, American singer-songwriter (Blueberry Hill), born in NYC, New York (d. 1984)
Dec 6 Arnold Foster, English composer, born in Sheffield, England (d. 1963)
Dec 6 Ira Gershwin, American lyricist ('S Wonderful, I Got Rhythm), born in NYC, New York (d. 1983)
Dec 7 Juan María Thomas Sabater, Spanish composer, born in Palma de Mallorca, Spain (d. 1966)
Dec 21 Leroy Robertson, American composer & music educator, born in Fountain Green, Utah (d. 1971)
Dec 23 Alberto Hemsi, Turkish composer (Sephardic Melodies), born in Turgutlu, Ottoman Empire (d. 1975)
Dec 28 Roger Huntington Sessions, composer (Black Masks), born in Brooklyn, New York

Deaths in Music

Jan 28 Joseph Barnby, composer, dies at 57
Feb 4 Henry David Leslie, composer, dies at 73
Feb 12 Ambrose Thomas, French opera composer (Mignon), and music professor, dies at 84
Feb 13 Carl Martin Reinthaler, German composer, dies at 73
Apr 5 John Rogers Thomas, American composer, dies at 66
Apr 12 Alexander Ritter, German composer, dies at 62
Apr 30 Antonio Cagnoni, Italian opera composer, dies at 68
May 12 Juan Morel Campos, composer, dies at 38
May 20 Clara Schumann, German pianist and composer of the Romantic era, dies of a stroke at 76
Jun 7 Pavlos Carrer, Greek composer (Isabella d'Aspeno), dies at 67
Jun 11 Friedrich Gottlieb Schwencke, German organist and composer, dies at 72
Jul 6 Alexander Sergeyevich Famintsin, Russian composer, dies at 54
Aug 18 Frederick Nichols Crouch, composer, dies at 88
Sep 1 Johannes Habert, composer, dies at 62
Sep 16 Antônio Carlos Gomez, Brazilian opera composer, 1st from New World to be successful in Europe, dies at 60
Sep 20 Gottfried Conradi, Norwegian composer, dies at 76
Sep 23 Gilbert Duprez, French composer, dies at 89

Anton Bruckner

Oct 11 Anton Bruckner, Austrian composer (Te Deum, Wagner Symphony), Wagner disciple and "monumental bore", dies at 72

Nov 12 Spyridon Xyndas, Greek composer, dies at 84
Nov 13 Antonio Peña y Goñi, Spanish composer, dies at 50
Nov 22 Leon Leopold Lewandoski, Polish composer, dies at 65