1920 in music

Events

• January 19 - The Salzburg Festival is revived.
• 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.
• 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 (the Group of Three) along with Louis Emié and Jean-Marcel Lizotte.
• 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.

Published popular music

The Japanese Sandman

• "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 Rose" w. Eugene West m. Martin Fried & Otis Spencer
• "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
• "Do You Ever Think Of Me?" w. John Cooper & Harry D. Kerr m. Earl Burtnett
• "Down By The O-HI-O (I've Got The Sweetest Little O, My ! 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
• "Great Camp Meeting Day" w. Noble Sissle
• "He Went In Like A Lion (And Came Out Like A Lamb)" 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 Never Knew I Could Love Anybody Like I'm Loving You" w.m. Tom Pitts, Raymond B. Egan & Roy Marsh
• "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

Jellybean

• "Kalua" w. Anne Caldwell m. Jerome Kern
• "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. (Eng) Channing Pollock (Fr) 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
• "Ritual Fire Dance" m. Manuel de Falla
• "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
• "Tell Me Little Gypsy" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "That Old Irish Mother Of Mine" w. William Jerome m. Harry Von Tilzer
• "La Veeda" w. Nat Vincent m. John Alden
• "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
• "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 hits on record

• "Crazy Blues" by Mamie Smith
• "Dardanella" by Ben Selvin's Novelty Orchestra
• "I've Got My Captain Working For Me Now" by Al Jolson
• "Love Nest" by John Steel
• "Whispering" by Paul Whiteman's Orchestra

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 (for soprano and chamber orchestra)
• Ernest Bloch - Violin Sonata No. 1
• Ferruccio Busoni - Piano Sonatina No. 6 (Fantasia da camera super Carmen), Divertimento for flute and orchestra
• Carlos Chávez - Symphony, Piano Sonata No. 1
• Frederick Delius - Hassan
• Gabriel Fauré - Masques et Bergamasques
• Johan Halvorsen - Norwegian Rhapsody No. 2
• Gustav Holst - The Planets
• Arthur Honegger
  • Pastorale d'été
  • Viola Sonata
  • Cello Sonata
• Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov - An Episode from the Life of Schubert, op. 61
• Leoš Janáček - symphonic poem Ballad of Blanik
• Darius Milhaud - Le Boeuf sur le toit (ballet), Ballade (for piano and orchestra)
• Francis Poulenc - Five Impromptus for Piano, Suite in C Major for Piano
• Sergei Prokofiev - Five Songs without Words (for voice and piano)
• Maurice Ravel
  • La Valse
  • Sonata for violin and cello
• Erik Satie - La Belle excentrique
• Dmitri Shostakovich - Five Preludes for Piano
• Igor Stravinsky - Pulcinella, Concertino for string quartet, Symphonies of Wind Instruments
• Ralph Vaughan Williams - The Lark Ascending, Mass in G minor, London Symphony

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
• Michael Tippett - The Knot Garden

Musical theatre

• Afgar Broadway production opened at the Central Theatre on November 8 and ran for 168 performances
• Always You Broadway
• As You Were Broadway production opened at the Central Theatre on January 27 and ran for 143 performances. Starring Sam Bernard, Irene Bordoni, Clifton Webb and Hugh Cameron.
• The Beggar's Opera London production opened at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith on June 5 and ran for 1463 performances
• Die Blaue Mazur (The Blue Mazurka) (Music by Franz Lehár), Vienna
• Cherry London production opened at the Apollo Theatre on July 22 and ran for 76 performances
• George White's Scandals Of 1920 Broadway revue opened at the Globe Theatre on June 7 and ran for 134 performances
• Irene London production opened at the Empire Theatre on April 7 and ran for 399 performances
• Jimmy Broadway
• Johnny Jones London production opened at the Alhambra Theatre on June 1 and ran for 349 performances
• Jumble Sale London revue opened at the Vaudeville Theatre on December 16 and ran for 176 performances
• Just Fancy London production opened at the Vaudeville Theatre on March 26 and ran for 332 performances
• Kissing Time Broadway production opened at the Lyric Theatre on October 11 and ran for 65 performances
• Der letzte Walzer (The Last Waltz) (Music by Oscar Straus), Berlin
• A Little Dutch Girl opened at the Lyric Theatre on December 1 and ran for 207 performances
• The Midnight Rounders Broadway revue opened at the Century Promenade Theatre on July 12 and ran for 120 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 performances
• Sally Broadway production opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre on December 21 and ran for 570 performances
• The Shop Girl London revival opened at the Gaiety Theatre on March 25 and ran for 327 performances
• Tickle Me ( Music: Herbert P. Stothart) 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 performances
• What's In A Name Broadway production opened at Maxine Elliott's Theatre on March 19 and ran for 87 performances
• Ziegfeld Follies of 1920 Broadway revue opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre on June 22 and ran for 123 performances

Births

• January 1 - Virgilio Savona, Italian singer and songwriter (Quartetto Cetra)
• January 3 - Renato Carosone, Italian musician and singer (d. 2001)
• January 5 - Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, pianist (d. 1995)
• February 13
  • Eileen Farrell, soprano (d. 2002)
  • Boudleaux Bryant, American songwriter (d. 1987)
• April 7 - Ravi Shankar, Indian sitarist
• April 12 - The Cox Twins, music hall entertainers
• April 29 - Harold Shapero, composer
• May 2 - Jean-Marie Auberson, violinist and conductor (d. 2004)
• May 13 - Gareth Morris, flautist (d. 2007)
• May 18 - Lucia Mannucci, Italian singer (Quartetto Cetra)
• May 21 - Bill Barber, jazz musician (d. 2007)
• May 26 - Peggy Lee, singer and songwriter (d. 2002)
• June 6 - Dino Asciolla, violinist (d. 1994)
• June 10 - Bonnie Davis, R&B singer (d. 1976)
• June 19 - Johnny Douglas, film composer and conductor (d. 2003)
• June 25 -Ozan Marsh, American concert pianist (d. 1992)
• June 26 - Leonid Hambro, pianist (d. 2006)
• July 1 - Amália Rodrigues, Portuguese singer and actress (d. 1999)
• July 11 - Yul Brynner, actor, star of The King and I (d. 1985)
• August 8
  • Leo Chiosso, Italian lyricist (d. 2006)
  • Jimmy Witherspoon, blues singer (d. 1997)
• August 17 - Georgia Gibbs, singer (d. 2006)
• August 29 - Charlie Parker, jazz musician (d. 1955)
• September 23 - Mickey Rooney, actor and entertainer
• September 28 - Irma Baltuttis, singer and entertainer (d. 1958)
• October 27 - Nanette Fabray, actress and singer
• December 6 - Dave Brubeck, jazz musician
• December 24 - Dave Bartholomew, bandleader, composer and arranger
• date unknown - Carmen Carrozza, accordionist

Deaths

• January 8 - Maud Powell, violinist (b. 1867)
• January 16 - Reginald De Koven, US music critic and composer (b. 1859)
• January 18 - Giovanni Capurro, poet, co-writer of "O Sole Mio" (b. 1859)
• January 21 - John Henry Maunder, composer (b. 1858)
• January 24 - William Percy French, songwriter (b. 1854)
• February 2 - Theo Marzials, singer and composer (b. 1850)
• February 11 - Gaby Deslys, dancer and actress (b. 1881)
• April 4 - Carl Bohm, songwriter (b. 1844)
• April 8 - Charles Tomlinson Griffes, composer (b. 1884)
• May - Hardwicke Rawnsley, hymn-writer (b. 1851)
• May 25 - Georg Jarno, composer of operettas (b. 1868)
• June 27 - Adolphe-Basile Routhier, lyricist (b. 1839)
• July 17 - Dorothy Goetz, first wife of Irving Berlin (b. 1892) (typhoid)
• July 26 - Carlos Troyer, composer (b. 1837)
• August 29 - Gustav Jenner, composer and conductor (b. 1865)
• October 2 - Max Bruch, composer (b. 1838)
• October 16 - Alberto Nepomuceno, composer and conductor (b. 1864)
• date unknown
  • George J. Gaskin, singer (b. c. 1850)
  • Paloke Kurti, Albanian composer (b. 1860)
• probable - Eva Mylott, operatic contralto (b. 1875) (domestic accident)

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