1903 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1903.
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Specific locations
    
    
Events
    
- January 1 - The French government awards the Cross of Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur to Claude Debussy
 - January 3 - Alexander Glazunov's Symphony No. 7 "Pastorale" in F major Op.70 and the orchestral suite "From the Middle Ages", suite in E major for orchestra Op.79 are premiered. The composer conducts the works at the annual Russian Symphony Concerts at Saint Petersburg.
 - January 16 - Reinhold Gliere's Symphony No 1 in E-flat major, Op. 8 premiers in Moscow
 - January 28 - Ernani, an opera by Giuseppe Verdi, receives its first New York performance at the Metropolitan Opera.
 - January - The New York Philharmonic Society dispenses with having a regular music director due to declining sales. Walter Damrosch leaves, and the next three seasons are handled by guests conductors.
 - February 11 – Anton Bruckner's unfinished 9th Symphony is posthumously premiered in Vienna. Te Deum substitutes unfinished last movement of the symphony.
 - February 23 – March 8 – George Enescu conducts the world premieres of three of his works, the Suite No. 1 for orchestra, op. 9, in C major, and the two Romanian Rhapsodies, op. 11, in A major and D major, as part of a concert at the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest.
 - March 21 - Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari's oratorio La Vita Nuova premiers in Munich
 - April 30 - Victor cuts its first Red Seal recordings. Soprano Ada Crossley records music at the Cornegie Hall studio, New York City.
 - May 5 - Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's trilogy The Song of Hiawatha receives its first American performance as Charles E. Knauss conducts the Orpheus Oratorio Society in Easton, Pennsylvania
 - September 9 - Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's sacred cantata The Atonement, Op. 53 receives its first performance at the Hereford Festival in Hereford, England.
 - September – Frederick Delius marries Jelka Rosen.
 - October 8 - Carl Nielsen's overture Helios premieres in Copenhagen, the composer conducting.
 - October 13 - Victor Herbert's Babes in Toyland premieres.
 - October 14 - The Apostles by Edward Elgar receives its world premiere at the Birmhingham Festival in England
 - November 23 - Enrico Caruso makes his debut with the Metropolitan Opera, New York, singing the role of the Duke of Manrua in Rigoletto.
 - November 25 - Soprano Olive Fremstad debuts at the Metropolitan Opera, New York, as Sieglinde in Die Walküre.
 - Enrico Caruso makes first records for the Victor Talking Machine Company.
 - Mississippi John Hurt begins performing.
 - Charles W. Clark is the first American to give a concert at the Paris National Conservatoire of Music, an honor that had not been given to an American in seventy years of those concerts.
 
Published popular music
    

- "Always In The Way" w.m. Charles K. Harris
 - "Always Leave Them Laughing When You Say Goodbye" w.m. George M. Cohan
 - "Are We To Part Like This?" w.m. Harry Castling & Charles Collins
 - "Anona" w.m. Vivian Grey
 - "Bedelia" w. William Jerome m. Jean Schwartz
 - "The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous" w.m. Dan McAvoy
 - "The Burning of Rome" by E. T. Paull
 - "By The Sycamore Tree" w. George V. Hobart m. Max Hoffmann
 - "Congo Love Song" w.m. Bob Cole & J. Rosamond Johnson
 - "Daisy Donahue" w. James O'Dea m. Robert J. Adams
 - "Dear Old Girl" w. Richard Henry Buck m. Theodore F. Morse
 - "Dear Sing Sing" Schwartz
 - "Down At The Old Bull And Bush" w.m. Florrie Forde
 - "Flowers Of Dixieland" w. Edgar Smith m. J. Rosamond Johnson
 - "General Hardtack On Guard" w.m. Dave Reed Jr
 - "Good-bye, Eliza Jane" w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Harry Von Tilzer
 - "Hamlet Was A Melancholy Dane" w. William Jerome m. Jean Schwartz
 - "Hannah!" by Joseph Farrell
 - "He Was A Sailor" w. William Jerome m. Jean Schwartz
 - "Hurrah For Baffin's Bay" w. Vincent Bryan m. Theodore F. Morse
 - "I Can't Do The Sum" w. Glen MacDonough m. Victor Herbert
 - "I Could Love You In A Steam Heat Flat" w. Vincent Bryan m. J. B. Mullen
 - "I Never Could Love Like That" Bowman, Johns
 - "Ida, Sweet As Apple Cider" w. Eddie Leonard m. Eddie Munson
 - "I'm A Jonah Man" w.m. Alex Rogers
 - "I'm On The Water Wagon Now" w. Paul West m. John Walter Bratton
 - "I'm Thinking Of You All The While" Reed Jnr
 - "I'm Wearing My Heart Away For You" w.m. Charles K. Harris
 - "In The Village By The Sea" w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Stanley Crawford
 - "Indolence" Jason Mathews
 - "Is Your Mother In, Molly Malone?" w.m. A. J. Mills & George Everard
 - "It Takes the Irish to Beat the Dutch" w. Edward Madden m. Theodore F. Morse
 - "It Was The Dutch" w. Vincent Bryan m. J. B. Mullen
 - "It's The Man In The Sailor Suit" w. Fred C. Farrell m. Theodore F. Morse
 - "Jack Tar March" by John Philip Sousa
 - "Julie" w. William Jerome m. Jean Schwartz
 - "Lazy Moon" w. Bob Cole m. J. Rosamond Johnson
 - "Like A Star That Falls From Heaven" w. Arthur Lamb m. Kerry Mills
 - "Little Yellow Bird" w.m. C. W. Murphy & William Hargreaves
 - "The Maid Of Timbucktoo" w. James Weldon Johnson m. Bob Cole
 - "The March Of The Toys" m. Victor Herbert
 - "Main Gazebo" Chris Praetorius
 - "Mary Ellen" Bryan, Lemonier
 - "Melody Of Love" w. Tom Glazer m. H. Engelmann
 - "The Military Band" m. Victor Herbert
 - "Moriaty" w. Charles Horwitz m. Fred V. Bowers
 - "Mother O' Mine" w. Rudyard Kipling m. Frank E. Tours
 - "My Cosy Corner Girl" w. Charles Noel Douglas m. John Walter Bratton
 - "My Hula Lula Girl" by Jean Schwartz & William Jerome
 - "My Little Coney Isle" w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Harry Von Tilzer
 - "My Little Creole Babe" w.m. Maude Nugent
 - "My Little 'Rang Outang" w. Edward Madden m. Theodore F. Morse
 - "Navajo" w. Harry H. Williams m. Egbert Van Alstyne
 - "An Old Man's Darling" w.m. Fred Murray & George Everard
 - "Only a Dream of the Golden Past" w. Alfred Bryan m. Stanley Crawford
 - "Out Where the Breakers Roar" w. Harlow Hyde m. H. W. Petrie
 - "Over the Pilsner Foam" w. Vincent Bryan m. J. B. Mullen
 - "Palm Leaf Rag" by Scott Joplin
 - "Please Mother, Buy Me a Baby" w.m. Will D. Cobb & Gus Edwards
 - "The Saftest of the Family" w. Harry Lauder & Bobry Beaton m. Harry Lauder
 - "Save It for Me" w. James Weldon Johnson m. Bob Cole
 - "Spring Beautiful Spring" m. Paul Lincke
 - "Summer Breeze March & Two-Step" by James Scott
 - "There's a Little Street in Heaven That They Call Broadway" w. Jack T. Waldron & A. Baldwin Sloane m. A. Baldwin Sloane
 - "Toyland" w. Glen MacDonough m. Victor Herbert
 - "The Toymaker's Shop" m. Victor Herbert
 - "Two Eyes Of Blue" w. George H. Taylor m. Leslie Stuart
 - "Two Eyes Of Brown" w. Edward Madden m. Stephen Howard
 - "Under A Panama" w. Vincent Bryan m. J. B. Mullen
 - "Under the Anheuser Bush" w.m. Andrew B. Sterling & Harry Von Tilzer
 - "Up In A Coconut Tree" w. Edward Madden m. Theodore F. Morse
 - "Upper Broadway After Dark" w. Edward Gardinier m. Maurice Levi
 - "When I'm Away From You Dear" w.m. Paul Dresser
 - "The Woodchuck Song" w. Robert Hobart Davis m. Theodore F. Morse
 - "The Wreck Of The Old '97" w.m. Henry C. Work
 - "Your Dad Gave His Life For His Country" w. Harry J. Breen m. T. Mayo Geary
 - "You're The Flower Of My Heart, Sweet Adeline" w. Richard H. Gerard m. Henry W. Armstrong
 
Recorded popular music
    
- "Always In The Way" (w.m. Charles K. Harris) 
– Byron G. Harlan on Edison Records - "Any Rags?" (w.m. Thomas S. Allen) 
– Arthur Collins on Edison - "The Arrow And The Song" (w. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow m. Michael William Balfe) 
– Herbert Goddard on Victor Records - "Badinage" (m. Victor Herbert) 
– Edison Grand Concert Band on Edison - "Bedelia" (w. William Jerome m. Jean Schwartz) 
– George J. Gaskin on Columbia Records
– Edward M. Favor on Columbia
– Billy Murray on Edison - "The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous" (w.m. Dan McAvoy) 
– Edward M. Favor on Edison
– Dan W. Quinn on Victor - "Blaze Away" (m. Abe Holzmann) 
– banjos Vess L. Ossman & Bill Farmer on Victor - "Blaze Away" (m. Abe Holzmann) 
– Kendle's Band on Victor - "By The Sycamore Tree" (w. George V. Hobart m. Max Hoffmann) 
– Harry Macdonough on Edison
– Bob Roberts on Columbia
– Billy Murray on Victor - "Come Down Ma' Evenin' Star" (w. Robert B. Smith m. John Stromberg) 
– Mina Hickman on Victor - "Congo Love Song" (w.m. Bob Cole & J. Rosamond Johnson) 
– Harry Macdonough on Edison
– Mina Hickman on Victor - "Could You Be True To Eyes Of Blue If You Looked Into Eyes Of Brown?" (w.m. Will D. Cobb & Gus Edwards) 
– Harry Macdonough on Victor - "The Country Girl" (w. Stanislaus Stange m. Julian Edwards) 
– Vesta Victoria on Gramophone Records - "Didn't Know Exactly What To Do" (w. Frank Pixley m. Gustav Luders) 
– Edward M. Favor on Edison - "Down On The Farm" (w. Raymond A. Browne m. Harry Von Tilzer) 
– Franklyn Wallace on Edison - "Flowers Of Dixieland" (w. Edgar Smith m. J. Rosamond Johnson) 
– Franklyn Wallace on Edison - "The Gambling Man(1)" (w. William Jerome m. Jean Schwartz) 
– Silas Leachman on Victor - "Good-bye, Eliza Jane" (w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Harry Von Tilzer) 
– Arthur Collins on Edison - "Hamlet Was A Melancholy Dane" (w. William Jerome m. Jean Schwartz) 
– Edward M. Favor on Edison - "He Ought To Have A Tablet In The Hall of Fame" (w. Arthur L. Robb m. John Walter Bratton) 
– Edward M. Favor on Edison - "He Was A Sailor" (w. William Jerome m. Jean Schwartz) 
– Collins & Harlan on Edison - "Heidelberg Stein Song" (w. Frank Pixley m. Gustav Luders) 
– Harry Macdonough on Edison & Victor - "Hiawatha" (w. James O'Dea m. Neil Moret) 
– Edison Grand Concert Band on Edison
– Harry Macdonough on Edison
– Metropolitan Orchestra on Victor
– Sousa's Band on Victor - "Hurrah For Baffin's Bay" (w. Vincent Bryan m. Theodore F. Morse) 
– Collins & Harlan on Edison
– Dan W. Quinn on Victor - "I Could Love You In A Steam Heat Flat" (w. Vincent Bryan m. J. B. Mullen) 
– Harry West on Edison - "I Like You, Lil, For Fair" (Ade, Loraine) 
– Billy Murray on Victor - "I Never Could Love Like That" (Bowman, Johns) 
– Billy Murray on Victor - "I Want To Be A Lidy" (w. George Dance m. George Dee) 
– Clarke's Band Of Providence on Victor - "I Wonder Why Bill Bailey Don't Come Home" (w.m. Frank Fogerty, Matt C. Woodward & William Jerome) 
– Arthur Collins on Victor & Edison - "I'll Wed You In The Golden Summertime" (w. Alfred Bryan m. Stanley Crawford) 
– John H. Bieling & Harry Macdonough on Victor - "I'm A Jonah Man" (w.m. Alex Rogers) 
– Dan W. Quinn on Victor
– Arthur Collins on Edison & Victor - "I'm Thinking Of You All The While" (Reed Jnr) 
– Billy Murray on Victor - "I'm Wearing My Heart Away For You" (w.m. Charles K. Harris) 
– Harry Macdonough & John H. Bieling on Victor - "In Silence" (w. Sydney Rosenfeld m. A. Baldwin Sloane) 
– Arthur Clifford on Edison - "In The City Of Sighs And Tears" (w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Kerry Mills) 
– J. W. Myers on Victor - "In the Good Old Summer Time" (w. Ren Shields m. George "Honey Boy" Evans) 
– Haydn Quartet on Victor
– S. H. Dudley & Harry Macdonough with Sousa's Band on Victor
– Harry Macdonough on Victor - "In The Sweet Bye And Bye" (w. Vincent P. Bryan m. Harry Von Tilzer) 
– J. Aldrich Libbey on Edison - "In The Village By The Sea" (w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Stanley Crawford) 
– Byron G. Harlan on Edison - "It Takes The Irish To Beat The Dutch" (w. Edward Madden m. Theodore F. Morse) 
– Billy Murray on Victor Monarch - "It Was The Dutch" (w. Vincent Bryan m. J. B. Mullen) 
– Collins & Harlan on Edison - "Juanita" (w. Caroline Norton m. trad Sp.) 
– Haydn Quartette on Victor - "Julie" (w. Wiliam Jerome m. Jean Schwartz) 
– Edward M. Favor on Edison - "Just For Tonight(1)" (w.m. Frank O. French) 
– Albert C. Campbell on Edison - "The Leader Of The Frocks And Frills" (w. Robert B. Smith m. Melville Ellis) 
– Clarke's Band of Providence on Victor - "Like A Star That Falls From Heaven" (w. Arthur Lamb m. Kerry Mills) 
– Joe Natus on Victor - "The Maid Of Timbucktoo" (w. James Weldon Johnson m. Bob Cole) 
– Harry Macdonough on Edison - "Massa's In De Cold Ground" (w. m. Stephen Collins Foster) 
– Edison Male Quartette on Edison - "Meet Me When The Sun Goes Down" (w. Vincent Bryan m. Harry von Tilzer) 
– William H. Thompson (singer) on Victor - "Melody Of Love" (w. Tom Glazer m. H. Engelmann) 
– Edison Symphony Orchestra on Edison - "The Message Of The Rose" (w. Will A. Heelan m. Leo Edwards) 
– George Seymour Lenox on Edison - "The Message Of The Violet" (w. Frank Pixley m. Gustav Luders) 
– J. W. Myers on Victor - "Mighty Lak' A Rose" (w. Frank Lebby Stanton m. Ethelbert Nevin) 
– Arthur Clifford on Edison - "Moriaty" (w. Charles Horwitz m. Fred V. Bowers) 
– Collins & Harlan on Edison - "My Cosy Corner Girl" (w. Charles Noel Douglas m. John Walter Bratton) 
– Henry Burr on Columbia
– Harry Macdonough on Edison - "My Little Coney Isle" (w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Harry von Tilzer) 
– Harry Tally on Edison - "My Little 'Rang Outang" (Madden, Morse) 
– Billy Murray on Victor - "My Own United States" (w. Stanislaus Stange m. Julian Edwards) 
– J. W. Myers on Victor - "My Sulu Lulu Loo" (w. George Ade m. Nat D. Mann) 
– Clarke's Band Of Providence on Victor - "Only A Dream Of A Golden Past" (w. Alfred Bryan m. Stanley Crawford) 
– Franklyn Wallace on Edison - "Out Where The Breakers Roar" (w. Harlow Hyde m. H. W. Petrie) 
– Frank C. Stanley on Edison - "Please Mother, Buy Me A Baby" (w.m. Will D. Cobb & Gus Edwards) 
– Byron G. Harlan on Victor & Edison - "Pretty Little Dinah Jones" (w.m. J. B. Mullen) 
– Harry Macdonough on Edison - "R-E-M-O-R-S-E" (w. George Ade m. Alfred G. Wathall) 
– Joe Natus on Victor - "Sal" (w.m. Paul Rubens) 
– Madge Crichton with piano Landon Ronald on Gramophone & Typewriter Records - "Sammy" (w. James O'Dea m. Edward Hutchinson) 
– Harry Macdonough on Edison - "Sammy" (w. James O'Dea m. Edward Hutchinson) 
– Henry Burr on Columbia - "Sly Musette" (w. Sydney Rosenfeld m. A. Baldwin Sloane) 
– Harry Macdonough on Edison - "Tell Me Dusky Maiden" (w. James Weldon Johnson & Bob Cole m. J. Rosamond Johnson) 
– S. H. Dudley & Harry Macdonough on Victor - "Then I'd Be Satisfied With Life" (w.m. George M. Cohan) 
– Edward M. Favor on Edison - "There's One In A Million Like You" (w. Grant Clarke m. Jean Schwartz) 
– Walter Van Brunt on Edison - "Two Eyes Of Blue" (w. George H. Taylor m. Leslie Stuart) 
– Harry Macdonough on Victor
– Mina Hickman on Victor - "Under The Bamboo Tree" (w.m. Bob Cole & J. Rosamond Johnson) 
– Mina Hickman on Victor - "Up In A Coconut Tree" (Madden, Morse) 
– Billy Murray on Victor Monarch - "Upper Broadway After Dark" (w. Edward Gardinier m. Maurice Levi) 
– Edward M. Favor on Edison - "The Vacant Chair" (w. Henry S. Washburne m. George Frederick Root) 
– Byron G. Harlan on Edison - "Wait At The Gate For Me" (w. Ren Shields m. Theodore F. Morse) 
– J. W. Myers on Victor - "What's The Matter With The Moon Tonight?" (w. Sydney Rosenfeld m. A. Baldwin Sloane) 
– Arthur Clifford on Edison - "When The Fields Are White With Cotton" (w. Robert F. Roden w. Max S. Witt) 
– Franklyn Wallace on Edison - "When We Were Two Little Boys" (w. Edward Madden m. Theodore F. Morse) 
– Billy Murray on Victor 
Classical music
    
- Hakon Borresen – Romance for Cello and Piano/Orchestra
 - Vincent d'Indy - Choral varié, for saxophone/viola and orchestra, Op. 55,
 - Frederick Delius – Sea Drift
 - Edward Elgar – The Apostles (oratorio)
 - George Enescu – 
- Piano Suite No. 2 in D major, Op. 10 ("Des cloches snores")
 - Sérénade lointaine for piano, violin, and cello
 
 - Joseph Holbrooke – The Bells
 - Joseph Jongen – Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1
 - Carl Nielsen – Helios Overture
 - Ludolf Nielsen – Symphony No.1, Op.3
 - Vítězslav Novák – Slovak Suite
 - Maurice Ravel – String Quartet in F
 - Max Reger – Variations and Fugue on an Original Theme, Op.73
 - Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov – Christmas Eve (suite)
 - Albert Roussel - Résurrection, Prelude for orchestra Op. 4
 - Alexander Scriabin 
- 8 Études for piano, Op. 42
 - Le divin poème (The Divine Poem), Symphony No. 3 in C minor
 
 - Charles Villiers Stanford – String Quintet No.1, Op.85 (dated April 21, Malvern)
 - Richard Strauss - Symphonia domestica
 - Francesco Paolo Tosti – Seconda mattinata
 - Ángel Gregorio Villoldo – El Choclo
 - Alexander von Zemlinsky – Die Seejungfrau
 
Opera
    
- Eugen d'Albert – Tiefland premiered on 15 November at the Neues Deutsches Theater, Prague
 - Thomas O'Brien Butler – Muirgheis (first Irish opera) produced in Dublin on 7 December
 - Ernest Chausson – Le roi Arthus, first performance at the Theatre de la Monnaie, Brusseles on 30 November
 - César Cui – Mam'zelle Fifi premiers in Moscow on 17 January
 - Vincent d'Indy – L'étranger, premiers at the Theatre de la Monnaie in Brussels on 7 January
 - Edmund Eysler – Bruder Straubinger premiered on 20 February at the Theater an der Wien, Vienna
 - Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari – Le donne curiose premiers at the Residenztheater in Munich on 27 November
 - Umberto Giordano – Siberia premiers at Teatro alla Scala in Milan on 19 December
 - Alexander Gretchaninov – Dobrynya Nikitich premiered on 27 October at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscov
 - Scott Joplin – A Guest of Honor (lost)
 - Mykola Lysenko – Taras Bulba premiers on 20 December in Kiev
 - Juan Manén – Giovanni di Napoli
 - Emile Pessard – L'Épave premiered on 17 February at the Bouffes-Parisiens, Salle Choiseul, Paris
 - Sergei Vassilenko – Skazaniye o grade velikom Kitezhe i tikhom ozere Svetoyare ("Tale of the Great City of Kitezh and the Quiet Lake Svetoyar") first staged version is produced in Moscow (originally a cantata, Op. 5)
 
Dance
    
- January 12 - The Devil's Forge is produced by the Alhambra Ballet, London. Choreography by Lucia Cormani, the new prima ballerina, and music by George Byng.
 - May 7 - Carmen, a new ballet by Alhambra Ballet premiers in London. Lucia Cormani choreographs music by Georges Bizet.
 
Musical theater
    
- Babes In Toyland Broadway production opened at the Majestic Theatre on October 13 and ran for 192 performances
 - The Cherry Girl London production opened at the Vaudeville Theatre on December 29 and ran for 215 performances
 - The Duchess of Dantzig London production opened at the Lyric Theatre on October 17 and ran for 236 performances
 - The Earl and the Girl London production opened at the Adelphi Theatre on December 10 and transferred to the Lyric Theatre on September 12, 1904, for a total run of 371 performances
 - The Fisher Maiden (Music: Harry von Tilzer) Broadway production opened at the Victoria Theater on October 5 and ran for 32 performances. Starring Al Shean, George A. MacFarlane, Edna Bronson, Bessie Tannehill, Dorothy Jardon and Frances Cameron.
 - In Dahomey Broadway production opened at the New York Theatre on February 18 and ran for 53 performances
 - In Dahomey London production opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre on May 16 and ran for 251 performances
 - The Jersey Lily Broadway production opened at the Victoria Theater on September 14 and ran for 24 performances
 - Madame Sherry Vienna production
 - Madame Sherry London production opened at the Apollo Theatre on December 23
 - The Medal and the Maid London production opened at the Lyric Theatre on April 25
 - My Lady Molly London production opened at Terry's Theatre on March 14
 - The Orchid London production opened at the Gaiety Theatre on October 26 and ran for 559 performances
 - A Princess of Kensington London production opened at the Savoy Theatre on January 22 and ran for 115 performances
 - The Rogers Brothers In London Broadway production opened at the Knickerbocker Theatre on September 7 and ran for 64 performances
 - The School Girl London production opened on May 9 at the Prince of Wales Theatre and ran for 333 performances.
 - Three Little Maids Broadway production opened at Daly's Theatre on September 1 and ran for 130 performances
 - The Wizard of Oz Broadway production opened at the Majestic Theatre on January 21 and ran for 293 performances
 
Published Writings
    
- Hermann Abert – Robert Schumann
 - Hector Berlioz – Lettres inédites de Hector Berlioz à Thomas Gounet
 - Vsevolod Cheshikhin – History of Russian Opera from 1674 to 1903
 - Theodor von Frimmel – Ludwig van Beethoven
 - Francis Williams Galpin – The Whistles and Reed Instruments of the American Indians
 - George Grove – The Life and Letters of George Grove
 - Rupert Hughes – Music Lovers' Encyclopedia (final version published 1912)
 - Tobias Matthay – The Act of Touch in All its Diversity (piano practice)
 - Alphonse Mustel – L'Orgue-Expressif ou Harmonium
 - Julius Friedrich Sachse – The Music of the Ephrata Cloister
 - G. Schirmer – The Piano Teacher's Guide
 - Auguste Tolbecque – L'art du luthier
 
Births
    
- January 4 – Carroll Gibbons, bandleader and composer (d. 1954)
 - January 6 - Maurice Abravanel - Greek conductor (d. 1993)
 - January 10 - Jean Paul Morel - French conductor (d. 1975)
 - January 19
- Boris Blacher - Chinese conductor (d. 1975)
 - Ervin Nyiregyházi - Jungarian pianist (d. 1987)
 
 - January 22 – Robin Milford, English composer and educator (d. 1959)
 - February 6 – Claudio Arrau, pianist (d. 1991)
 - February 10 – Abel Meeropol ('Lewis Allan'), American lyricist (d. 1986)
 - February 12 – Todd Duncan, American baritone, first Porgy in Porgy and Bess (d. 1998)
 - February 15 – Marie-Thérèse Gauley, French opera singer prominent at the Opéra-Comique (d. 1992)
 - March 10 – Bix Beiderbecke, jazz musician (d. 1931)
 - March 28 – Rudolf Serkin, Czech pianist of Russian parents (d. 1991)
 - April 3 – Bubber Miley, jazz trumpeter (d. 1932)
 - April 5 – Jimmy Campbell, song writer (died 1967)
 - April 10 – Herbert Graf, Austrian opera producer (d. 1958)
 - April 17
- Nicolas Nabokov, Russian composer (d. 1978)
 - Gregor Piatigorsky, Russian cellist (d. 1976)
 
 - April 21 – Issy Bonn, singer and actor (d. 1977)
 - May 3 – Bing Crosby, US singer and actor (d. 1977)
 - May 12 – Lennox Berkeley, composer (d. 1989)
 - May 20 – Jerzy Fitelberg, composer (d. 1951)
 - May 26 – Bob Hope, English-born US actor, comedian and singer (d. 2003)
 - May 28 – Walter Goehr, German composer (d. 1960)
 - June 4 – Yevgeny Mravinsky, Russian conductor and pianist (d. 1988)
 - June 6 – Aram Khachaturian, Armenian composer and conductor (d. 1978)
 - June 18 – Jeanette MacDonald, US singer and actress (d. 1965)
 - June 26 – St. Louis Jimmy Oden, blues singer (d. 1977)
 - July 3
- Dick Robertson, US singer (d. 1944?)
 - Daid Webster, Scottish opera administrator (d.1971)
 
 - July 4 – Peeters, Belgian composer and organist (d. 1986)
 - July 10 – Helen Pickens of the Pickens Sisters US singing group
 - July 16 – Carmen Lombardo, Canadian singer, composer and saxophonist (d. 1971)
 - August 4 – Helen Kane, US singer (d. 1966)
 - August 17 – Abram Chasins, American composer and pianist (d. 1987)
 - August 20 – António Fortunato de Figueiredo, conductor (d. 1981)
 - August 23 – William Primrose, Scottish violinist (d. 1982)
 - September 6 – Pál Kadosa, Hungarian composer and pianist (d. 1983)
 - September 11 – Theodor Adorno, German musician and philosopher (d. 1969)
 - September 15 – Roy Acuff, Country and Western singer (d. 1992)
 - October 1 (probable) – Vladimir Horowitz, pianist (d. 1989)
 - October 10 – Vladimir Dukelsky aka Vernon Duke, composer (d. 1969)
 - October 16
- Lena Machado, singer (d. 1974)
 - Big Joe Williams, blues guitarist (d. 1982)
 
 - October 19 – Vittorio Giannini, neoromantic American composer (d. 1966)
 - October 29 – Yvonne Georgi, ballet dancer and choreographer (d. 1975)
 - November 6 – Asaf Messerer, Soviet dancer and ballet master (d. 1992)
 - December 5 – Johannes Heesters, all-round entertainer (d. 2011)
 - December 12 – Francisco Curt Lange, German musicologist
 - December 17 – Ray Noble, bandleader, composer and arranger (d. 1978)
 - date unknown – Caterina Jarboro, operatic soprano (d. 1986)
 
Deaths
    
- January 28
- Augusta Holmès, French composer, 55[1]
 - Robert Planquette, French composer, 54[2]
 
 - January 31 – Meyer Lutz, conductor and composer, 73[3]
 - February 2 – Marc Burty, music teacher and composer, 75
 - February 17 – Joseph Parry, organist and composer, 61[4]
 - February 22 – Hugo Wolf, Austrian composer, 62 (syphilis)[5]
 - February 23 – Friedrich Grützmacher, cellist, 70
 - March – Eugène Cormon, French librettist, 92
 - March 5 – Thomas Ryan, viola and clarinet player, 75[6]
 - March 14 – Ernest Legouvé, opera librettist (born 1907)
 - March 19 – Pista Dankó, "gypsy" bandleader and composer, 44
 - April 1 – Amelia Chambers Lehmann, songwriter (born 1838)
 - April 10
- Heinrich Bellermann, music theorist, 71
 - Enderby Jackson, pioneer of the British brass band, 76
 
 - May 1 – Luigi Arditi, violinist, conductor and composer, 80[7]
 - May 9 – Giuseppe Cremonini, operatic tenor, 36[8]
 - May 15 – Sibyl Sanderson, operatic soprano, 38 (pneumonia)[9]
 - June – Constance Bache, pianist, composer and music teacher, 57[10]
 - June 29 – Rentarō Taki, Japanese pianist and composer, 23 (tuberculosis)
 - July 27 – Lina Sandell, Swedish poet and hymn-writer 70[11]
 - July 28 – Rosine Stoltz, French mezzo-soprano 88
 - September 4 – Hermann Zumpe, conductor and composer, 53[12]
 - September 28 – Samuel A. Ward, organist and composer, 55
 - December 12 – Christian Johansson, ballet dancer and teacher, 86
 - December 20 – Kornél Ábrányi, pianist and composer, 81
 
References
    
- Rollo Myers: "Augusta Holmès: A Meteoric Career", in: The Musical Quarterly 53 (1967) 3, pp. 365–76
 - Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 21 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 725.
 - Gänzl, Kurt. "Lutz, (Wilhelm) Meyer (1829–1903)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, Retrieved on 8 July 2008
 - "Death of Dr. Joseph Parry". The Cambrian News and Merionethshire Standard. 20 February 1903. p. 6. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
 - Sams, Eric and Susan Youens, 'Hugo Wolf', Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy, (subscription access) Archived 2008-05-16 at the Wayback Machine
 - Theodore Baker and Alfred Remy, ed. (1919). "Ryan, Thomas". Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians (3rd ed.). p. 798.
 - Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 451.
 - Leo Riemens (1969). A concise biographical dictionary of singers; from the beginning of recorded sound to the present. Chilton Book Co.
 - Sibyl Sanderson Dead: Singer Passes Away in Paris, New York Times, May 16, 1903.
 - Who Was Who 1897-1916 gives her date of death as June 30; the Musical Times obituary gives June 28
 - Scandinavian Hymnody ccel.org. Retrieved: 8 May 2013
 - Fuller Maitland, J. A. (1910). "Zumpe, Hermann". Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Vol. V (second ed.). New York: Macmillan and Co. OCLC 5000207.
 
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