1908 in music

Events

• January 26 - Sergei Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2 is premiered.
• March 15 - Maurice Ravel's Rapsodie espagnole is premiered in Paris.
• April 11 - Spyridon Samaras's opera Rhea is premiered in Florence (Teatro Verdi)
• September 19 - Premiere of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 7 in Prague.
• December 3 - Edward Elgar's Symphony No. 1 is premiered in Manchester.
• December 18 - Claude Debussy's Children's Corner is premiered in Paris.
• Anthony Maggio publishes a dance band orchestration of early Blues "I Got The Blues" in New Orleans.
• Opera singer Amelita Galli marries the Marchese Luigi Curci, and acquires the name by which she becomes best-known.
• Claude Debussy marries Emma Bardac.

Published popular music

• "The ABCs of the U.S.A." w.m. George M. Cohan from the musical The Yankee Prince
• "All For Love Of You" w. Dave Reed m. Ernest R. Ball
• "Any Old Port In A Storm" w. Arthur J. Lamb m. Kerry Mills
• "Black And White Rag" w.m. George Botsford
• "Call Round Any Old Time" w.m. Charles Moore & E. W. Rogers
• "Consolation" by Edward Madden
• "Cuddle Up A Little Closer, Lovey Mine" w. Otto Harbach m. Karl Hoschna
• "Daisies Won't Tell" w.m. Anita Owen
• "Down Among The Sugar Cane" w. Avery & Charles Hart m. Cecil Mack & Chris Smith
• "Down In Jungle Town" w. Edward Madden m. Theodore F. Morse
• "Dusty Rag" m. May Aufderhelde
• "The Fairest Of The Fair" w.m. John Philip Sousa
• "Feed The Kitty" w. Ed Moran m. J. Fred Helf
• "Fig Leaf Rag" by Scott Joplin
• "Gee But There's Class To A Girl Like You" w.m. W. R. Williams
• "Golliwog's Cake Walk" m. Claude Debussy
• "Good Evening, Caroline" by Albert Von Tilzer & Jack Norworth
• "Ham And !" by Arthur Marshall
• "Has Anybody Here Seen Kelly?" w.m. C. W. Murphy & Will Letters. With new lyrics by William McKenna it was performed by Nora Bayes in the 1910 Broadway production of the musical The Jolly Bachelors
• "Hoo-oo Ain't You Calling Me" w.m. Herbert Ingraham
• "I Hear You Calling Me" w.m. Harold Herford & Charles Marshall
• "I Want To Be Loved Like A Leading Lady" w. Paul West m. Herman Avery Wade
• "If I Had A Thousand Lives To Live" w. Sylvester Maguire m. Alfred Solman
• "If You Cared for" Me by E. Rose
• "I'm A Yiddish Cowboy" w. Edgar Leslie m. Al Piantodosi & Halsey K. Mohr
• "I'm Glad I'm Married" w. Jack Norworth m. Albert Von Tilzer
• "I'm Looking For The Man That Wrote "The Merry Widow Waltz"" w. Edgar Selden m. Seymour Furth
• "In The Garden Of My Heart" w. Caro Roma m. Ernest R. Ball
• "It's Moonlight All The Time On Broadway" Wenrich
• "It's The Pretty Things You Say" w. Alfred Bryan m. Ted Snyder
• "I've Taken Quite A Fancy To You" w. Edward Madden m. Theodore F. Morse
• "Kerry Mills' Barn Dance" w. Thurland Chattaway m. Kerry Mills
• "The Longest Way 'Round Is The Sweetest Way Home" w. Ren Shields m. Kerry Mills
• "Love Is Like A Cigarette" w. Glen MacDonough m. Victor Herbert
• "Love Me Like I Want To Be Loved" w. Earle C. Jones & Alfred Bryan m. George W. Meyer
• "Love's Roundelay" w. Joseph Herbert m. Oscar Straus
• "Make A Noise Like A Hoop And Roll Away" w. Ren Shields m. J. Fred Helf
• "Meet Me In Rose-Time, Rosie" w. William Jerome m. Jean Schwartz
• "Mephisto Rag" by Anthony J. Stasny
• "Mother Hasn't Spoken To Father Since" w. William Jerome m. Jean Schwartz
• "My Brudda Sylvest'" w. Jesse Lasky m. Fred Fisher
• "My Girl's A Yorkshire Girl" w.m. C. W. Murphy & Dan Lipton
• "Now I Have To Call Him Father" w.m. Charles Collins & Fred Godfrey
• "The Old Time Rag" w. Edward Madden m. Theodore Morse
• "Pine Apple Rag" by Scott Joplin
• "Roses Bring Dreams Of You" w.m. Herbert Ingraham
• "She Sells Sea-Shells" w. Terry Sullivan m. Harry Gifford
• "Shine On Harvest Moon" w. Jack Norworth m. Nora Bayes & Jack Norworth
• "A Singer Sang A Song" w. Will Heelan m. Seymour Furth
• "Smarty" w. Jack Norworth m. Albert Von Tilzer
• "Somebody Lied" w.m. Jeff T. Branen & Evans Lloyd
• "Sun Bird m. Kerry Mills
• "Sweetest Gal In Town" w.m. Bob Cole & J. Rosamond Johnson
• "Sweetest Maid Of All" w. Joseph Herbert m. Oscar Straus
  

  
• "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" w. Jack Norworth m. Albert Von Tilzer
• "Up In A Balloon" w. Ren Shields m. Percy Wenrich
• "A Vision Of Salome" m. J. Bodewalt Lampe
• "When Highland Mary Danced The Highland Fling" w. Jack Mahoney m. Harry Von Tilzer
• "When It's Moonlight On The Prairie" w. Robert F. Roden m. S. R. Henry
• "When We Are M-A-Double-R-I-E-D" w.m. George M. Cohan from the musical Fifty Miles From Boston
• "The Whitewash Man" w. William Jerome m. Jean Schwartz
• "The Yama Yama Man" w. George Collin Davis m. Karl Hoschna
• "Yip-I-Addy-I-Ay!" w. Will D. Cobb m. John H. Flynn
• "You Tell Me Your Dream" w. Seymour A. Rice & Albert H. Brown m. Neil Moret
• "You Will Have To Sing An Irish Song" w. Jack Norworth m. Albert Von Tilzer
• "You're In The Right Church, But The Wrong Pew" w. Cecil Mack m. Chris Smith

Hit recordings

• " The Small Town Gal" - George M. Cohan
• "All She Gets from the Iceman Is Ice" - Ada Jones

Classical music

• Kurt Atterberg - Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra
• Béla Bartók - finishes his First Violin Concerto
• Alban Berg - Piano Sonata, Op.1
• York Bowen - Viola concerto in C minor
• Henry Walford Davies - Solemn Melody for organ
• Reinhold Glière - Second symphony, op. 25
• Hamilton Harty - Violin Concerto
• Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov - Symphony No. 1
• John Ireland - Phantasy Piano Trio
• Toivo Kuula - Piano Trio
• Erkki Melartin - Third String Quartet (by 1908)
• Max Reger - Symphonischer Prolog zu einer Tragödie in A minor, opus 108
• Xaver Scharwenka - Piano Concerto No. 4 in F minor
• Arnold Schoenberg - String Quartet No. 2 - premiered in Vienna
• Alexander Scriabin - The Poem of Ecstasy
• Igor Stravinsky - Fireworks
• Anton Webern - Passacaglia for orchestra

Opera

• Paul Le Flem - Aucassin et Nicolette

Musical theater

• Algeria Broadway production opened at The Broadway Theatre on August 31 and ran for 48 performances
• The Dollar Princess Manchester production
• Fifty Miles from Boston Broadway production opened on February 3 at the Garrick Theatre and ran for 40 performances
• The King of Cadonia London production opened at the Prince of Wales Theatre on September 3 and ran for 333 performances
• Mr. Hamlet of Broadway Broadway production opened at the Casino Theatre on December 23 and ran for 54 performances
• My Mimosa Maid London production opened at the Prince Of Wales Theatre on April 21 and ran for 83 performances
• Der Tapfere Soldat (The Chocolate Soldier) (Rudolf Friml) Vienna production opened at the Theater an der Wien on November 14 and ran for 62 performances
• The Three Twins opened at the Herald Square Theatre on June 15 and moved to the Majestic Theatre on January 18, 1909 for a total run of 289 performances
• A Waltz Dream London production opened at the Hicks Theatre on March 7 and ran for 146 performances.
• A Waltz Dream Broadway production opened at the Broadway Theatre on January 27 and ran for 111 performances
• The Yankee Prince Broadway production opened at the Knickerbocker Theatre on April 20 and ran for 112 performances
• Ziegfeld Follies Broadway revue opened at the Jardin de Paris on June 15 and ran for 120 performances

Births

• January 7 - Red Allen, jazz musician (d. 1967)
• January 14 - Russ Columbo, singer, bandleader, composer (d. 1934)
• January 26 - Stéphane Grappelli, musician, composer (d. 1997)
• January 27 - Oran "Hot Lips" Page, jazz trumpet (d. 1954)
• February 20 - Ruby Elzy, US soprano, first Serena in Porgy and Bess (d. 1943)
• April 2 - Buddy Ebsen, US actor and singer (d. 2003)
• April 5 - Herbert von Karajan, Austrian conductor (d. 1989)
• April 7 - Percy Faith, composer, musician (d. 1976)
• April 15 - eden ahbez, hermit, musician (d. 1995)
• April 20 - Lionel Hampton, jazz musician, bandleader (d. 2002)
• May 6 - Necil Kâzım Akses, Turkish composer (d. 1999)
• May 8 - Cristian Vasile, Romanian tango singer (d. 1985)
• May 15 - Lars-Erik Larsson, Swedish composer (d. 1986)
• May 27 - Harold Rome, US songwriter (d. 1993)
• June 24 - Hugo Distler, organist and composer (d. 1942)
• June 29 - Leroy Anderson, US composer and conductor (d. 1975)
• July 8 - Louis Jordan, bandleader (d. 1975)
• July 25 - Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Carnatic vocalist (d. 2003)
• August 1 - Miloslav Kabelac, composer (d. 1979)
• August 4 - Kurt Eichhorn, conductor (d. 1994)
• August 12) - Nina Makarova, composer (d. 1976)
• September 7 - Max Kaminsky, US jazz trumpeter (d. 1961)
• September 13 - Mae Questel, US singer (d. 1998)
• September 16 - Chick Bullock, US singer
• September 25 - Eugen Suchoň, Slovak composer (d. 1993)
• September 30 - David Oistrakh, violinist (d. 1974)
• October 14 - Allan Jones, actor, singer (d. 1992)
• October 20 - Stuart Hamblen, US singer, actor and songwriter (d. 1989)
• October 21 – Harry Stewart, comedian, singer, and songwriter (d. 1956)
• December 10 - Olivier Messiaen, composer (d. 1992)
• December 11 - Elliott Carter, composer
• December 16 - Frances Day, US actress and singer (d. 1984)

Deaths

• January 22 - August Wilhelmj, German violinist (b. 1845)
• January 23 - Edward MacDowell, American composer (b. 1860)
• February 28 - Pauline Lucca, operatic soprano (b. 1842)
• March 12 - Clara Novello, soprano (b. 1818)
• March 26 - Louis Chauvin, ragtime musician (b. 1881)
• May 7 - Ludovic Halévy, lyricist (b. 1834)
• May 12 - Melisio Morales, composer (b. 1838)
• June 5 - Josef Wagner, composer (b. 1856)
• June 21 - Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, composer (b. 1844)
• July 10 - Phoebe Knapp, composer of hymns (b. 1839)
• July 14 - William Mason, pianist and composer (b. 1829)
• July 20 - Federico Chueca, zarzuela composer (b. 1846)
• August 13 - Ira D. Sankey, gospel singer and composer (b. 1840)
• August 20 - Louisa Bassano, opera singer (b. 1818)
• August 26 – Tony Pastor, vaudeville founder & theater impresario (b. 1837)
• September 20 - Pablo de Sarasate, violinist (b. 1844)
• November 15 - Katti Lanner, ballet dancer and choreographer (b. 1829)
• November 20 - Albert Dietrich, conductor and composer (b. 1829)
• date unknown - Alois Kaiser, cantor and composer (b. 1840)

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