text:
1926 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1926.

Specific locations

 * 1926 in British music
 * 1926 in Norwegian music

Specific genres

 * 1926 in country music
 * 1926 in jazz

Events

 * January – Blind Lemon Jefferson makes his first recordings.
 * April 9 – Leopold Stokowski conducts the world premiere of Edgar Varèse's Amériques, with the Philadelphia Orchestra.
 * May 12 – Dmitri Shostakovich's Symphony No. 1 premières in Leningrad. The composer is 19 years old.
 * c. May – Socialist English composer Rutland Boughton stages a performance of his Nativity opera Bethlehem (1915) at Church House, Westminster, in a staging explicitly referencing the 1926 United Kingdom general strike.
 * June 26 – Václav Talich conducts the world première of Leoš Janáček's Sinfonietta in Prague
 * October 21 – Carl Nielsen's Flute Concerto is given its world première in Paris
 * October 28 – Bing Crosby cuts his first record, a recording of "I've Got the Girl".
 * November 4 – Wanda Landowska gives the world première of Manuel de Falla's Harpsichord Concerto in Barcelona
 * November 27 – Béla Bartók's The Miraculous Mandarin is premièred in Cologne. Further performances are prohibited on moral grounds by the city's mayor, Konrad Adenauer.
 * December 18 – The Estonian National Symphony Orchestra gives its first concert.
 * December 26 – World première of Sibelius's tone poem Tapiola by Walter Damrosch and the New York Philharmonic, the last substantial composition to be made public by the composer for the remaining 30 years of his life.
 * First recordings by Jelly Roll Morton & His Red Hot Peppers.
 * Opening of the Salzburger Festspielhaus.
 * Virgilio Savona begins studying music.
 * The Société de Musique de Chambre de Genève is founded by Frank Martin.
 * The National Conservatoire is founded in Athens by composer Manolis Kalomiris and others.
 * Operatic baritone Leslie Rands marries his D'Oyly Carte co-star Marjorie Eyre.
 * American all-girl harmony singing trio Hamilton Sisters and Fordyce tour briefly with another female music group, Jerry and her Baby Grands (Geraldine Vallerie).
 * John Serry Sr. is accepted for studies at the noted Pietro Deiro accordion studio in Greenwich Village starting his education as an instrumentalist at the age of 11.

Published popular music

 * "(I Love You) Sweetheart of All My Dreams" w.m. Art Finch, Kay Finch, & Bert Lowe
 * "(What Can I Say) After I Say I'm Sorry" w.m. Walter Donaldson & Abe Lyman
 * "Alabama Stomp" w. Henry Creamer m. James P. Johnson
 * "All Alone Monday" w. Bert Kalmar m. Harry Ruby
 * "Am I Wasting My Time On You?" w.m. Irving Bibo & Howard Johnson
 * "Baby Face" w. Benny Davis m. Harry Akst
 * "Barcelona" w. Gus Kahn m. Tolchard Evans
 * "Because I Love You" w.m. Irving Berlin
 * "Big Butter And Egg Man" w.m. Sidney Clare, Cliff Friend & Joseph H. Santly
 * "The Birth Of The Blues" w. B. G. De Sylva & Lew Brown m. Ray Henderson. Introduced by Harry Richman in the revue George White's Scandals of 1926
 * "Black Bottom" w. B. G. De Sylva & Lew Brown m. Ray Henderson. Introduced by Ann Pennington, The McCarthy Sisters, Frances Williams and Tom Patricola in the revue George White's Scandals of 1926
 * "Black Bottom Stomp" m. Jelly Roll Morton
 * "The Blue Room" w. Lorenz Hart m. Richard Rodgers. Introduced by Eva Puck and Sammy White in the musical The Girl Friend
 * "Blue Skies" w&m Irving Berlin from Broadway musical "Betsy," published 1926. Written to commemorate the birth of Berlin's first born, Mary Ellin Barrett
 * "Breezin' Along With The Breeze" w.m. Haven Gillespie, Seymour Simons & Richard Whiting
 * "Bridget O'Flynn" King, Sterling
 * "Bring Back Those Minstrel Days" w. Ballard MacDonald m. Martin Broones
 * "But I Do – You Know I Do" w. Gus Kahn m. Walter Donaldson
 * "By The Tamarisk" m. Eric Coates
 * "Bye Bye Blackbird" w. Mort Dixon m. Ray Henderson
 * "The Chant" m. Mel Stitzel
 * "Charmaine" w. Lew Pollack m. Erno Rapee
 * "Cherie, I Love You" w.m. Lillian Rosedale Goodman
 * "Clap Yo' Hands" w. Ira Gershwin m. George Gershwin
 * "Climbing Up The Ladder Of Love" w. Raymond Klages m. Jesse Greer
 * "Cossack Love Song" Harbach, Hammerstein, Stothart & Gershwin
 * "Crazy Words, Crazy Tune" w. Jack Yellen m. Milton Ager
 * "Cross Your Heart" w. B. G. De Sylva m. Lewis E. Gensler
 * "'Deed I Do" w. Walter Hirsch m. Fred Rose
 * "The Desert Song" w. Otto Harbach & Oscar Hammerstein II m. Sigmund Romberg. Introduced by Vivienne Segal and Robert Halliday in the operetta The Desert Song
 * "The Devil Is Afraid Of Music" w.m. Willard Robison
 * "The Dicky Bird Hop" w. Leslie Sarony m. Ronald Gourley
 * "Do, Do, Do" w. Ira Gershwin m. George Gershwin. Introduced by Gertrude Lawrence and Oscar Shaw in the musical Oh, Kay!
 * "Doctor Jazz" w. Walter Melrose m. Joe "King" Oliver
 * "Don't Have Any More, Mrs Moore" Castling, Walsh
 * "East St. Louis Toodle-Oo" m. Bubber Miley & Duke Ellington
 * "Everything's Gonna Be All Right" w. Benny Davis m. Harry Akst
 * "Falling in Love with You" w.m. w. Benny Davis m. Joseph Meyer
 * "Fidgety Feet" w. Ira Gershwin m. George Gershwin
 * "Flapperette" m. Jesse Greer
 * "The Gang That Sang Heart Of My Heart" w.m. Ben Ryan
 * "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" w.m. Irving Berlin
 * "Georgia Grind" w.m. Spencer Williams
 * "Get Away, Old Man, Get Away" w.m. Frank Crumit
 * "Gimme A Little Kiss, Will Ya, Huh?" w. Roy Turk & Jack Smith m. Maceo Pinkard
 * "The Girl Friend" w. Lorenz Hart m. Richard Rodgers. Introduced by Eva Puck & Sammy White in the musical The Girl Friend
 * "The Girl Is You And The Boy Is Me" w. B. G. De Sylva & Lew Brown m. Ray Henderson
 * "Half A Moon" w. Eddie Dowling & Herbert Reynolds m. James F. Hanley
 * "Hawaiian Wedding Song" (originally "Ke Kali Nei Au") w. Al Hoffman & Dick Manning m. Charles E. King (Words written 1959.)
 * "Heebie Jeebies" w.m. Boyd Atkins
 * "Hello Bluebird" w.m. Cliff Friend
 * "Hello, Aloha, How Are You?" w. L. Wolfe Gilbert m. Abel Baer
 * "Hello, Baby" w. Seymour Simons m. Richard A. Whiting
 * "Here I Am" w. B. G. De Sylva & Lew Brown m. Ray Henderson
 * "Hesitation Blues" w.m. Billy Smythe, Scott Middleton, & Art Gillham – The Whispering Pianist
 * "Hey Gypsy (Play Gypsy)" w.m. Emmerich Kalman, Clifford Grey, "N. Foley"
 * "Hi-Diddle-Diddle" w.m. Hal Keidel & Carleton A. Coon
 * "Horses" w. Byron Gay m. Richard A. Whiting
 * "How Could Red Riding Hood (Have Been So Very Good)?," w.m. A.P. Randolph
 * "How Many Times?" w.m. Irving Berlin
 * "I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me" w. Clarence Gaskill m. Jimmy McHugh
 * "I Know That You Know" w. Anne Caldwell m. Vincent Youmans
 * "I Never See Maggie Alone" w. Harry Tilsley m. Everett Lynton
 * "I Parted My Hair In The Middle" David, Murphy
 * "I Want a Big Butter and Egg Man" w.m. Percy Venable & Louis Armstrong
 * "I'd Climb The Highest Mountain" w.m. Lew Brown & Sidney Clare
 * "If I Could Be With You One Hour Tonight" w. Henry Creamer m. James P. Johnson
 * "If You Can't Land Her On The Old Verandah" w.m. Silver
 * "I'm A One-Man Girl" w. Leo Robin m. Richard Myers
 * "I'm Coming, Virginia" w. Will Marion Cook & Donald Heywood
 * "I'm Just Wild About Animal Crackers" w.m. Fred Rich, Sam Coslow & Harry Link
 * "I'm Lonely Without You" w. Bud Green m. Harry Warren
 * "In A Little Spanish Town" w. Sam M. Lewis & Joe Young m. Mabel Wayne
 * "It All Depends On You" w. B. G. De Sylva & Lew Brown m. Ray Henderson
 * "I've Got The Girl" w.m. Walter Donaldson
 * "Jack In The Box" m. Zez Confrey
 * "Jersey Walk" w. Eddie Dowling & Henry Creamer m. James F. Hanley
 * "Katinka" w. Benee Russell m. Henry Tobias
 * "The Kinkajou" w. Joseph McCarthy m. Harry Tierney
 * "Lay Me Down To Sleep In Carolina" w. Jack Yellen m. Milton Ager
 * "Like He Loves Me" w. Anne Caldwell m. Vincent Youmans
 * "A Little Birdie Told Me So" w. Lorenz Hart m. Richard Rodgers
 * "The Little White House" w. Eddie Dowling m. James F. Hanley
 * "Lonesome And Sorry" w. Benny Davis m. Con Conrad
 * "Look At The World And Smile" w. Anne Caldwell m. Raymond Hubbell
 * "Looking At The World Through Rose Coloured Glasses" w.m. Tommy Malie & Jimmy Steiger. Introduced by Jack Osterman in the revue A Night in Paris
 * "Lucky Day" w. B. G. De Sylva & Lew Brown m. Ray Henderson
 * "Mary Lou" w. Abe Lyman & George Waggner m. J. Russel Robinson
 * "Maybe" w. Ira Gershwin m. George Gershwin
 * "Me Too" w. Charles Tobias & Al Sherman m. Harry M. Woods
 * "Moonlight On The Ganges" w. Chester Wallace (pseudonym for Huntley Trevor) m. Sherman Myers (pseudonym for Montague Ewing (de); 1890–1957)
 * "The More We Are Together" w.m. Jimmy Campbell & Reg Connelly
 * "Mountain Greenery" w. Lorenz Hart m. Richard Rodgers. Introduced by Sterling Holloway and Bobbie Perkins in the revue The Garrick Gaieties.
 * "Muddy Water" w. Jo Trent m. Peter DeRose & Harry Richman
 * "Muskrat Ramble" m. Edward "Kid" Ory
 * "My Cutie's Due At Two To Two Today" w.m. Albert Von Tilzer, Irving Bilbo & Leo Robin
 * "My Dream Of The Big Parade" w. Al Dubin m. Jimmy McHugh
 * "My Pretty Girl" m. Charles Fulcher
 * "One Alone" w. Otto Harbach & Oscar Hammerstein II m. Sigmund Romberg
 * "Our Director" m. F. E. Bigelow
 * "Passing Shadows" m. Raymond Loughborough
 * "Play Gypsies, Dance Gypsies" w. Harry B. Smith m. Emmerich Kalman
 * "Poor Papa" w. Billy Rose m. Harry M. Woods
 * "The Rangers' Song" w. Joseph McCarthy m. Harry Tierney
 * "Reaching For The Moon" w.m. Benny Davis & Jesse Greer
 * "The Riff Song" w. Otto Harbach & Oscar Hammerstein II m. Sigmund Romberg
 * "Rio Rita" w. Joseph McCarthy m. Harry Tierney
 * "Romance" w. Otto Harbach & Oscar Hammerstein II m. Sigmund Romberg
 * "Say It Again" by Harry Richman
 * "Scatter Your Smiles" w.m. Max Kortlander & Pete Wendling
 * "She Knows Her Onions" Ager, Yellen, Pollack
 * "Shut The Door" w.m. Billy Mann, Wally Ives, Dick Howard & Jim Kern
 * "Sleepy Head" w. Benny Davis m. Jesse Greer
 * "Snag It" m. Joseph "King" Oliver
 * "So This Is Spring" Sarony
 * "Somebody's Lonely" Davis, Gold
 * "Someone To Watch Over Me" w. Ira Gershwin m. George Gershwin
 * "Song Of The Wanderer" w. Gus Kahn m. Neil Moret
 * "Static Strut" m. Jack Yellen & Phil Wall
 * "Sunday" w.m. Chester Conn, Ned Miller, Jule Styne & Bennie Krueger
 * "Sunny Disposish" w. Ira Gershwin m. Philip Charig
 * "Tamiami Trail" w.m. Cliff Friend & Joseph H. Santly
 * "There Ain't No Maybe In My Baby's Eyes" w. Gus Kahn & Raymond B. Egan m. Walter Donaldson
 * "There's A New Star In Heaven Tonight – Rudolph Valentino" w. J. Keirn Brennan & Irving Mills m. Jimmy McHugh
 * "Thinking Of You" w. Paul Ash m. Walter Donaldson
 * "Ting-A-Ling" w. Andy Britt m. Jack Little
 * "Tonight You Belong To Me" w. Billy Rose m. Lee David
 * "A Tree In The Park" w. Lorenz Hart m. Richard Rodgers
 * "Up And At 'Em" w.m. Jack Pettis & Al Goering
 * "Valencia" w. Lucien Jean Boyer & Jacques Charles (Fr) Clifford Grey (Eng) m. José Padilla
 * "When Day Is Done" w. B. G. De Sylva m. Robert Katscher
 * "When Do We Dance?" w. Ira Gershwin m. George Gershwin
 * "When the Red, Red Robin (Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin' Along)" w.m. Harry M. Woods
 * "Where Do You Work-A, John?" w. Mortimer Weinberg & Charley Marks m. Harry Warren
 * "Where'd You Get Those Eyes?" w.m. Walter Donaldson
 * "Why Do I" w. Lorenz Hart m. Richard Rodgers. Introduced by Francis X. Donegan & June Cochran in the musical The Girl Friend
 * "Wistful And Blue" Davidson, Etting
 * "Ya Gotta Know How To Love" w. Bud Green m. Harry Warren

Top Popular Recordings 1926
The following songs achieved the highest positions in Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954 and record sales reported on the "Discography of American Historical Recordings" website during 1926: Numerical rankings are approximate, they are only used as a frame of reference.

Other important recordings

 * "East St. Louis Toodle-Oo" by Duke Ellington
 * "Heebie Jeebies" by Louis Armstrong & His Hot 5
 * "Black Bottom Stomp" by Jelly Roll Morton & His Red Hot Peppers
 * "Sidewalk Blues" by Jelly Roll Morton & His Red Hot Peppers
 * "Snag It" by King Oliver & His Dixie Syncopators
 * "Early Morning Blues" – Blind Blake
 * "Jack O' Diamond Blues" – Blind Lemon Jefferson

Classical music

 * George Antheil – Ballet mécanique
 * Béla Bartók – Piano Concerto No. 1
 * Arnold Bax – Symphony No. 2
 * Aaron Copland – Piano Concerto
 * Jens Laursen Emborg – Concerto for violin and orchestra
 * Manuel de Falla – Concerto for harpsichord
 * Louis Glass – Symphony No. 6, Op. 60, "Skjoldungeaet"
 * Jakov Gotovac – Simfonijsko kolo, Op. 12
 * Ferde Grofé – Theme and Variations on Music from a Garage
 * Paul Hindemith – Klaviermusik, Op. 37, Second book
 * Leoš Janáček
 * Říkadla (Nursery Rhymes), Introduction and 18 Songs for Chamber Choir and Chamber Ensemble (JW V/17)
 * Sinfonietta
 * Violin Concerto “Putování dušičky” (“Pilgrimage of the Soul”)
 * Nikolai Myaskovsky
 * Symphony No. 9, Op. 28
 * Symphony No. 10, Op. 30
 * Carl Nielsen
 * Flute Concerto (Nielsen)
 * Willem Pijper
 * Symphony No. 3
 * De Boufon, Het Patertje Langs den Kant, Scharmoes for piano solo
 * Harald Sæverud – Symphony in B-flat minor
 * Jean Sibelius – Tapiola
 * Igor Stravinsky – Pater Noster
 * Gerald Tyrwhitt – The Triumph of Neptune (ballet)
 * Peter Warlock – Capriol Suite

Opera

 * Paul Hindemith – Cardillac, 9 November, Dresden
 * Leoš Janáček – The Makropulos Affair
 * Zoltán Kodály – Háry János
 * Giacomo Puccini – Turandot, 25 April, Teatro alla Scala, Milan
 * Karol Szymanowski – King Roger

Film

 * William Axt, David Mendoza – Don Juan (1926 film)
 * Ernesto Halffter – Carmen (1926 film)
 * Werner Richard Heymann – Faust (1926 film)
 * Richard Strauss – Der Rosenkavalier (1926 film)

Musical theater

 * Americana Broadway revue opened at the Belmont Theatre on July 26 and ran for 224 performances
 * Bare Facts of 1926 ( Music: Charles M. Schwab Lyrics: Henry Myers Book: Stuart Hamill) Broadway revue opened at the Triangle Theatre on July 16 and ran for 107 performances.
 * Blackbirds London production opened at the Pavilion on September 11 and ran for 279 performances.
 * By the Way London production opened at the Apollo Theatre on January 22 and ran for 45 performances
 * Countess Maritza Broadway production opened at the Shubert Theatre on September 18 and ran for 321 performances
 * The Desert Song (Sigmund Romberg) – Broadway production opened at the Casino Theatre on November 30 and ran for 471 performances
 * The Girl Friend Broadway production opened at the Vanderbilt Theatre on March 17 and ran for 301 performances
 * The Great Temptations Broadway revue opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on May 18 and ran for 223 performances. Starring Hazel Dawn, Miller and Lyles, Florenz Ames, Jay C. Flippen and Jack Benny.
 * Honeymoon Lane Broadway production opened at the Knickerbocker Theatre on September 20 and ran for 364 performances
 * Just a Kiss London production opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre on September 8
 * Lady, Be Good! (George and Ira Gershwin) – London production opened at the Empire Theatre on April 14 and ran for 326 performances
 * Lido Lady London production opened at the Gaiety Theatre on December 1 and ran for 259 performances
 * A Night in Paris Broadway revue opened at the Casino de Paris on January 5 and ran for 208 performances. Starring Jack Osterman, Jack Pearl, Norma Terris and Yvonne George.
 * No Foolin' Broadway revue opened at the Globe Theatre on June 24 and ran for 108 performances
 * Oh, Kay! Broadway production opened at the Imperial Theatre on November 8 and ran for 256 performances
 * Peggy-Ann Broadway production opened at the Vanderbilt Theatre on December 27 and ran for 333 performances
 * Princess Charming London production opened at the Palace Theatre on October 21 and ran for 362 performances
 * Queen High (Music: Lewis E. Gensler, Lyrics: B.G. DeSylva, Book: Laurence Schwab & B.G. DeSylva adapted from A Pair of Sixes by Edward Peple). Broadway production opened at the Ambassador Theatre on September 8 and ran for 367 performances
 * The Student Prince (Sigmund Romberg) -London production opened at His Majesty's Theatreon February 3 and ran for 96 performances
 * Sunny London production opened at the Hippodrome on October 7 and ran for 363 performances
 * Tip-Toes London production opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on August 31 and ran for 182 performances
 * Wildflower London production opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre on February 17 and ran for 114 performances
 * Vaudeville Vanities London revue opened at the Vaudeville Theatre on November 16. Starring Bobby Howes.
 * Yvonne London production opened at Daly's Theatre on May 22 and ran for 280 performances

Births

 * January 1 – Claudio Villa, Italian singer (d. 1987)
 * January 3 – Sir George Martin, record producer for The Beatles (d. 2016)
 * January 4 – Eddie Cusic, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2015)
 * January 9 – Bucky Pizzarelli, American jazz guitarist (d. 2020)
 * January 11 – Giusto Pio, Italian musician, songwriter (d. 2017)
 * January 12 – Morton Feldman, composer (d. 1987)
 * January 21 – Brian Brockless, English organist, composer and conductor (d. 1995)
 * January 29 – Franco Cerri, guitarist (d. 2021)
 * February 10 – Nico Carstens, South African accordionist and songwriter (d. 2016)
 * February 17 – Friedrich Cerha, composer (d. 2023)
 * February 19
 * Michael Kennedy, writer on music (d. 2014)
 * György Kurtág, composer
 * March 9 – Jerry Ross, lyricist and composer (d. 1955)
 * March 15 – Ben Johnston, American composer (d. 2019)
 * March 24 – Ventsislav Yankov, Bulgarian pianist (d. 2022)
 * April 6 – Sergio Franchi, tenor/actor (d. 1990)
 * April 10 – Jacques Castérède, French composer (d. 2014)
 * April 11 – Gervase de Peyer, English classical clarinetist and conductor (d. 2017)
 * April 28 – Blossom Dearie, jazz singer and pianist (d. 2009)
 * May 16 – Mordechai Rechtman, Israeli bassoonist and conductor (d. 2023)
 * May 25 – Miles Davis, American jazz trumpeter, composer and bandleader (d. 1991)
 * June 1 — Marilyn Monroe, US actress and singer (d. 1962)
 * June 8 – Anatol Vieru, composer (d. 1998)
 * July 1 – Hans Werner Henze, composer (d. 2012)
 * August 3 – Tony Bennett, singer (d. 2023)
 * August 7 – Stan Freberg, comedy singer and actor (d. 2015)
 * August 10
 * Marie-Claire Alain, organist (d. 2013)
 * Edwin Carr, composer and conductor (d. 2003)
 * August 12 – Joe Jones, singer (d. 2005)
 * August 14 – Buddy Greco, US pop singer (d. 2017)
 * August 21 – Carolyn Leigh, US lyric writer (d. 1983)
 * September 5 – Carmen Petra Basacopol, Romanian musician (d. 2023)
 * September 6 – Arthur Oldham, English composer and choirmaster (d. 2003)
 * September 17 – Bill Black, American musician (d. 1965)
 * September 23 – John Coltrane, American saxophonist, bandleader and composer (d. 1967)
 * September 26 – Julie London, American singer and actress (d. 2000)
 * October 5 – Gottfried Michael Koenig, German-Dutch composer (d. 2021)
 * October 13 – Ray Brown, jazz bassist (d. 2002)
 * October 18
 * Chuck Berry, guitarist, singer and songwriter (d. 2017)
 * John Morris, film and TV composer (d. 2018)
 * October 25 – Galina Vishnevskaya, operatic soprano (d. 2012)
 * October 29 – Jon Vickers, Canadian operatic tenor (d. 2015)
 * November 7 – Joan Sutherland, Australian operatic soprano (d. 2010)
 * December 11 – Big Mama Thornton, blues singer (d. 1984)
 * December 21 – Freddie Hart, American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2018)
 * December 25 – Enrique Jorrín, Cuban violinist and composer (d. 1987)
 * December 26
 * Earle Brown, American composer (d. 2002)
 * Champ Butler, American singer (d. 1992)
 * December 30 – Stan Tracey, jazz pianist and composer (d. 2013)

Deaths

 * January 4 – Franz Stockhausen, choral conductor (b. 1839)
 * January 6 – Émile Paladilhe, composer, 81
 * January 23 – Joseph Carl Breil, American lyric tenor, stage director, composer and conductor, 55 (heart disease)
 * January 26 – Franz Kneisel, violinist, 61
 * January 31 – Arthur Ivan Allin, violinist, 78
 * February 5 – André Gedalge, composer and music teacher, 69
 * March 3
 * Julius Epstein, pianist, 93
 * Eugenia Mantelli, operatic contralto, 65
 * March 15 – Aglaja Orgeni, coloratura soprano, 84
 * March 26 – Franz Kneisel, violinist, 61
 * May 8 – Rida Johnson Young, songwriter and librettist (b. 1869)
 * May 16 - Joe Slater (composer) Songwriter and vaudeville artist
 * May 21 – Georgy Catoire, composer (b. 1861)
 * May 23 – Hans von Koessler, composer (b. 1853)
 * May 29 – Antonín Bennewitz, violinist, 93
 * June 4 – Carolina Ferni, violinist and operatic soprano, 79
 * June 6 – Henry Tate, poet and musician, 52
 * June 11 – Louis Fleury, flautist (b. 1878)
 * June 22 – Hermann Suter, conductor and composer, 56
 * July 12 – Charles Wood, composer, 60
 * July 26 – Ella Adayevskaya, pianist, composer and ethnomusicologist, 80
 * September 27 – Marcelle Lender, French singer-dancer and entertainer, 64
 * October 15 – Mathilde Bauermeister, opera singer, 77
 * November 2 – John Le Hay, singer and actor, 72
 * November 4 – Robert Newman, co-founder of the Proms, 68
 * December 25 – Pablo Valenzuela, Cuban cornet player and bandleader, 67
 * December 27 – Amalia Riégo, operatic soprano, 76
 * date unknown
 * Edmund Jenkins, composer (b. 1894)
 * Veene Sheshanna, Veena player (b. 1852)

title: 1926 in music


text:
1924 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1924.

Specific locations

 * 1924 in British music
 * 1924 in Norwegian music

Specific genres

 * 1924 in country music
 * 1924 in jazz

Events

 * February 12 – An Experiment In Modern Music concert at Aeolian Hall (Manhattan) – première of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue.
 * February 15 – The inaugural concert of microtonal music in Mexico City by the Grupo Sonido 13, directed by Julián Carrillo, including the premiere of Preludio a Colón and four other of Carrillo's compositions, along with several works by his students, Rafael Adame, Elvira Larios, and Soledad Padilla.
 * February 18 – First recordings by Bix Beiderbecke.
 * March 24 – Jean Sibelius conducts the world première of his Symphony No. 7 in Stockholm.
 * April – Jimmy Blythe's recording of "Chicago Stomps", sometimes called the first complete boogie-woogie piano solo record.
 * May 8
 * The revised version of Sergei Prokofiev's Piano concerto No.2 in G minor is performed in Paris with Serge Koussevitzky conducting.
 * Arthur Honegger's Pacific 231 is also premiered at this concert
 * June – Alexander von Zemlinsky's Lyric Symphony is premiered in Prague.
 * Summer – American all-girl harmony singing trio Hamilton Sisters and Fordyce formed by Pearl B. Hamilton and departs on a 'Stars of the Future' tour.
 * October 17 – Leoš Janáček's String Quartet No. 1, Kreutzer Sonata, is premièred in Prague
 * Richard Terry resigns as organist of Westminster Cathedral.
 * First recordings by George Olsen.
 * First national anthem of Mongolia introduced.

Published popular music

 * "Adoring You" w. Joseph McCarthy m. Harry Tierney
 * "Alabamy Bound" w. Buddy DeSylva & Bud Green m. Ray Henderson
 * "All Alone" w.m. Irving Berlin. Introduced by Grace Moore and Oscar Shaw in The Music Box Revue of 1924
 * "Amapola" w. Joseph M. Lacalle (Sp) Albert Gamse (Eng) m. Joseph M. Lacalle
 * "At The End of The Road" w. Ballard MacDonald m. James F. Hanley
 * "Bagdad" w. Jack Yellen m. Milton Ager
 * "Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)" w. Jack Yellen m. Milton Ager
 * "Big Boy" m. Milton Ager
 * "The Blues Have Got Me" Silver, Turk
 * "California, Here I Come" w.m. Al Jolson, Buddy DeSylva and Joseph Meyer. Introduced by Al Jolson in the musical Bombo
 * "The Call Of The South" w.m. Irving Berlin
 * "Charley, My Boy" w.m. Gus Kahn & Ted Fio Rito
 * "Copenhagen" w. Walter Melrose m. Charlie Davis
 * "Cover Me Up With The Sunshine Of Virginia" w. Sam M. Lewis & Joe Young m. George W. Meyer
 * "Deep In My Heart, Dear" w. Dorothy Donnelly m. Sigmund Romberg. Introduced by Howard Marsh and Ilse Marvenga in the operetta The Student Prince in Heidelberg
 * "Does The Spearmint Lose Its Flavour On The Bedpost Over Night" w. Billy Rose & Marty Bloom m. Ernest Breuer
 * "Doo Wacka Doo" w. Clarence Gaskill & Will Donaldson m. George Horther
 * "Doodle Doo Doo" w.m. Art Kassel & Mel Stitzel
 * "Drinking Song (Drink! Drink! Drink!)" w. Dorothy Donnelly m. Sigmund Romberg
 * "The End Of The Road" w.m. Harry Lauder & William Dillon
 * "Everybody Loves My Baby" w.m. Jack Palmer & Spencer Williams
 * "Fascinating Rhythm" w. Ira Gershwin m. George Gershwin. Introduced by Cliff Edwards and Fred and Adele Astaire in the musical Lady, Be Good!
 * "Follow The Swallow" w. Billy Rose & Mort Dixon m. Ray Henderson
 * "Golden Days" w. Dorothy Donnelly m. Sigmund Romberg. Introduced by Greek Evans and Howard Marsh in the  operetta The Student Prince in Heidelberg
 * "The Half Of It, Dearie, Blues" w. Ira Gershwin m. George Gershwin. Introduced by Fred Astaire and Kathlene Martyn in the musical Lady, Be Good!
 * "Hard Hearted Hannah (The Vamp Of Savannah)" w.m. Jack Yellen, Bob Bigelow, & Charles Bates
 * "He's The Hottest Man In Town" Owen Murphy, Jay Gorney
 * "Honest And Truly" w. Leo Wood m. Fred Rose
 * "How Come You Do Me Like You Do?" w.m. Gene Austin & Roy Bergere
 * "I Want To Be Happy" w. Irving Caesar m. Vincent Youmans. Introduced by Charles Winniger and Louise Groody in the musical No, No, Nanette
 * "I Wonder What's Become Of Sally" w. Jack Yellen m. Milton Ager
 * "I'll See You In My Dreams" w. Gus Kahn m. Isham Jones
 * "I'm A Little Blackbird Looking For A Bluebird" w. Grant Clarke & Roy Turk m. George W. Meyer & Arthur Johnson
 * "I'm Coming At Your Call" w. Dorothy Donnelly m. Sigmund Romberg
 * "In Shadowland" w. Sam W. Lewis & Joe Young m. Ruth Brooks & Fred E. Ahlert
 * "Indian Love Call" (first published as "The Call") w. Otto Harbach & Oscar Hammerstein II m. Rudolf Friml
 * "It Had To Be You" w. Gus Kahn m. Isham Jones
 * "Jealous" w. Tommy Malie & Dick Finch m. Jack Little
 * "Jimtown Blues" w.m. Fred Rose
 * "June Brought The Roses" w. Ralph Stanley m. John Openshaw
 * "June Night" w. Cliff Friend m. Abel Baer
 * "Just We Two" w. Dorothy Donnelly m. Sigmund Romberg
 * "Keep Smiling At Trouble" w. Al Jolson & Buddy DeSylva m. Lewis E. Gensler
 * "King Porter Stomp", Jelly Roll Morton
 * "Lazy" w.m. Irving Berlin
 * "Let Me Linger Longer In Your Arms" w. Cliff Friend m. Abel Baer
 * "Little Jazz Bird" w. Ira Gershwin m. George Gershwin
 * "Mama's Gone, Goodbye" w.m. A. J. Piron & Peter Bocage
 * "The Man I Love" w. Ira Gershwin m. George Gershwin
 * "Mandalay" w.m. Earl Burtnett, Abe Lyman & Gus Arnheim
 * "Mandy Make Up Your Mind" w. Grant Clarke & Roy Turk m. George W. Meyer
 * "Memory Lane" w. Buddy DeSylva m. Larry Spier & Con Conrad
 * "The Mounties" w. Otto Harbach & Oscar Hammerstein II m. Rudolf Friml
 * "My Best Girl" w.m. Walter Donaldson
 * "My Dream Girl, I Loved You Long Ago" w. Rida Johnson Young m. Victor Herbert
 * "My Time Is Your Time" w. Eric Little m. Leo Dance
 * "A New Kind Of Man With A New Kind Of Love For Me" w.m. Sidney Clare & Flatow
 * "Nobody's Sweetheart" w. Gus Kahn & Ernie Erdman m. Elmer Schoebel & Billy Meyers
 * "O, Katharina" w. L. Wolfe Gilbert m. Richard Fall
 * "Oh Lady, Be Good" w. Ira Gershwin m. George Gershwin. Introduced by Walter Catlett in the musical Lady, Be Good!
 * "Oh! Mabel" Gus Kahn, Ted Fio Rito
 * "Oh! Miss Hannah" w. Thekla Hollingsworth m. Jessie L. Deppen
 * "The One I Love Belongs To Somebody Else" w. Gus Kahn m. Isham Jones
 * "Parisian Pierrot" w.m. Noël Coward
 * "Prince Of Wails" m. Elmer Schoebel
 * "The Prisoner's Song" w.m. Guy Massey
 * "Red Hot Mama" w.m. Gilbert Wells, Bud Cooper & Fred Rose
 * "Rhapsody in Blue" m. George Gershwin
 * "Riverboat Shuffle" m. Hoagy Carmichael & Irving Mills
 * "Rose Marie" w. Otto Harbach & Oscar Hammerstein II m. Rudolf Friml
 * "See See Rider" w.m. Ma Rainey
 * "Serenade from The Student Prince In Heidelberg" w. Dorothy Donnelly m. Sigmund Romberg
 * "Shanghai Shuffle" w.m. Larry Conley & Gene Rodemich
 * "Shine" w. Cecil Mack & Lew Brown m. Ford T. Dabney
 * "So Am I" w. Ira Gershwin m. George Gershwin
 * "Somebody Loves Me" w. Ballard MacDonald & Buddy DeSylva m. George Gershwin
 * "Some Other Day, Some Other Girl" w. Gus Kahn m. Isham Jones published October 10, 1924 by Milton Weil Music Co., Chicago.
 * "South" m. Bennie Moten & Thamon Hayes
 * "Spain" w. Gus Kahn m. Isham Jones published May 5, 1924 by Milton Weil Music Co., Chicago.
 * "Stack O'Lee Blues" w.m. by Ray Lopez & Lew Colwell
 * "Sweet Little You" w.m. Irving Bibo
 * "Tea for Two" w. Irving Caesar m. Vincent Youmans
 * "Tell Her In The Springtime" w.m. Irving Berlin
 * "There's Life In The Old Girl Yet" w.m. Noël Coward
 * "There's Yes! Yes! In Your Eyes" w. Cliff Friend m. Joseph H. Santly
 * "Totem Tom-Tom" w. Oscar Hammerstein II & Otto Harbach m. Rudolf Friml
 * "Two Little Babes In The Wood" w.m. Cole Porter
 * "Wait'll You See My Gal" Sullivan, Wilber
 * "What'll I Do" w.m. Irving Berlin. Introduced by Grace Moore and John Steel in the Music Box Revue of 1923
 * "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street" w.m. Gene Austin, Jimmy McHugh & Irving Mills
 * "When You And I Were Seventeen" w. Gus Kahn m. Charles Rosoff
 * "Where The Lazy Daisies Grow" w.m. Cliff Friend
 * "Why Did I Kiss That Girl?" w. Lew Brown m. Robert A. King & Ray Henderson

Top Popular Recordings 1924
The following recordings are said to have achieved the greatest success and highest record sales (reported on the Discography of American Historical Recordings website) in America during 1924. Numerical rankings are approximate; they are only used as a frame of reference.

Top Christmas hits

 * "Santa Claus Blues" – Louis Armstrong

Classical music

 * Aaron Copland – Symphony for Organ and Orchestra
 * George Enescu – Piano Sonata No. 1 in F-sharp minor, Op. 24, No. 1
 * Gabriel Fauré – String Quartet in E minor, Op. 121 (his last work)
 * George Gershwin – Rhapsody in Blue
 * Jacques Ibert – Escales
 * Joseph Jongen – Sonata for Flute and Piano
 * Ottorino Respighi – Pines of Rome (I Pini di Roma)
 * Carl Ruggles – Men and Mountains
 * Erik Satie – Relâche (ballet)
 * Jean Sibelius – Symphony no. 7 in C major, Opus 105 premieres on March 24 in Stocholm, the composer conducting
 * Heitor Villa-Lobos –
 * Chôros No. 2
 * Chôros No. 7
 * Arthur Wood – My Native Heath (orchestral suite, including the maypole dance "Barwick Green")

Opera

 * Leoš Janáček – The Cunning Little Vixen
 * Henri Sauguet – Le plumet du colonel (The Colonel's Helmet)
 * Arnold Schoenberg – Die glückliche Hand (first performance)

Film

 * Gottfried Huppertz – Die Nibelungen

Musical theater

 * Bob et Moi – music by Charles Cuvillier
 * Charlot's Revue of 1924 London revue opened at the Prince of Wales Theatre on September 23 and ran for 518 performances
 * The Duenna London revival opened at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith on October 23 and ran for 141 performances
 * Gräfin Mariza (Countess Maritza) – Vienna production opened at the Theater an der Wien on February 28 and ran for 396 performances
 * Lady, Be Good! (George and Ira Gershwin) – Broadway production opened at the Liberty Theatre on December 1 and ran for 330 performances
 * Leap Year London revue opened at the London Hippodrome on March 20 and ran for 471 performances
 * Madame Pompadour Broadway production opened on November 11 at the Martin Beck Theatre and ran for 79 performances
 * Midsummer Madness London production opened at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith on July 3 and ran for 115 performances
 * The Music Box Revue of 1924 Broadway revue opened at the Music Box Theatre on December 1 and ran for 184 performances
 * No, No, Nanette (Irving Caesar, Otto Harbach, and Vincent Youmans) – Chicago production. Pre-Broadway tryout started in April.
 * Our Nell London production opened at the Gaiety Theatre on April 16 and ran for 140 performances
 * Patricia London production opened at Her Majesty's Theatre on October 31 and ran for 160 performances
 * Poppy London production opened at the Gaiety Theatre on September 4 and ran for 188 performances
 * Primrose London production opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on September 11 and ran for 255 performances
 * The Punch Bowl London revue opened at the Duke of York's Theatre on May 21
 * Puppets London revue opened at the Vaudeville Theatre on January 2 and ran for 254 performances
 * Rose-Marie Broadway production opened at the Imperial Theatre on September 2 and ran for 557 performances
 * Sitting Pretty Broadway production opened at the Fulton Theatre on April 8 and moved to the Imperial Theatre on June 9 for a total run of 95 performances
 * The Street Singer London production opened at the Lyric Theatre on June 27 and ran for 360 performances
 * The Student Prince In Heidelberg (Sigmund Romberg) – Broadway production opened at the Jolson's 59th Street Theatre on December 2 and ran for 608 performances
 * The Three Graces London production opened at the Empire Theatre on January 26 and ran for 121 performances
 * Toni London production opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre on May 12 and ran for 248 performances
 * Yoicks! London revue opened at the Kingsway Theatre on June 11 and ran for 271 performances.

Births

 * January 1 (nominal date) – Pino Rucher, Italian guitarist (d. 1996)
 * January 3 – Nell Rankin, operatic mezzo-soprano (d. 2005)
 * January 6 – Earl Scruggs, banjo player (d. 2012)
 * January 8 – Ron Moody, star of Oliver! (d. 2015)
 * January 10 – Max Roach, jazz drummer (d. 2007)
 * January 11
 * Don Cherry, singer (d. 2018)
 * Slim Harpo, blues musician (d. 1970)
 * January 16 – Achille Togliani, singer and actor (d. 1995)
 * January 20 – Slim Whitman, country musician (d. 2013)
 * January 25 – Speedy West, American guitarist and producer (d. 2003)
 * January 29 – Luigi Nono, composer (d. 1990)
 * February 2
 * Elfi von Dassanowsky, Austrian-born U.S. musician/producer (d. 2007)
 * Sonny Stitt, jazz saxophonist (d. 1982)
 * February 19 – André Popp, composer, arranger and screenwriter (d. 2014)
 * February 22 – Hassan Aziz Hassan, Egyptian prince and pianist (d. 2000)
 * February 26 – Freda Betti, French mezzo-soprano opera singer (d. 1979)
 * February 27 – Trevor Duncan, English composer (d. 2005)
 * March 3 – Lys Assia, born Rosa Schärer, Swiss singer, first winner of Eurovision Song Contest (1956) (d. 2018)
 * March 8 – Alan Dell, BBC radio DJ (d. 1995)
 * March 10 – Angela Morley, born Walter "Wally" Stott, light music composer, arranger and conductor (d. 2009)
 * March 27 – Sarah Vaughan, jazz singer (d. 1990)
 * April 14 – Shorty Rogers, jazz trumpeter (d. 1994)
 * April 15 – Sir Neville Marriner, conductor and violinist (d. 2016)
 * April 16
 * Henry Mancini, composer (d. 1994)
 * Rudy Pompilli, saxophonist (Bill Haley & His Comets) (d. 1976)
 * April 20 – Orlando DiGirolamo, accordionist and pianist (d. 1998)
 * April 21 – Clara Ward, gospel singer (d. 1973)
 * April 28 – Alakbar Taghiyev, Azerbaijani composer and author (d. 1981)
 * April 30 – Sheldon Harnick, lyricist (d. 2023)
 * May 1
 * Big Maybelle, R&B singer (d. 1972)
 * Gamal Abdel-Rahim, Egyptian composer (d. 1988)
 * May 4 – Tatiana Nikolayeva, pianist, composer and teacher (d. 1993)
 * May 10 – Teddy Riley, jazz trumpeter (d. 1992)
 * May 19 – Sandy Wilson, composer of The Boyfriend (d. 2014)
 * May 22
 * Charles Aznavour, French singer and songwriter (d. 2018)
 * Claude Ballif, French composer (d. 2004)
 * May 25 – Marshall Allen
 * May 31 – Ida Presti, French classical guitarist (d. 1967)
 * June 5 – John Tooley, English opera director and manager (d. 2020)
 * June 5 – Serge Nigg, composer (d. 2008)
 * June 20 – Chet Atkins, guitarist (d. 2001)
 * June 21 – Wally Fawkes, jazz clarinettist and cartoonist (d. 2023)
 * June 29
 * Ezra Laderman, American composer (d. 2015)
 * Flo Sandon's, Italian singer (d. 2006)
 * July 5 – János Starker, cellist (d. 2013)
 * July 9 – Pierre Cochereau, organist, improviser, composer (d. 1984)
 * July 13 – Carlo Bergonzi, operatic tenor (d. 2014)
 * July 19 – Al Haig, jazz pianist (d. 1982)
 * July 20 – Mort Garson, Canadian-American songwriter and composer (d. 2008)
 * July 22 – Margaret Whiting, singer (d. 2011)
 * July 28 – Irving Burgie (aka Lord Burgess), composer (d. 2019)
 * August 14
 * Lee Adams, lyricist
 * Georges Prêtre, French conductor (d. 2017)
 * August 20 – Jim Reeves, country singer (d. 1964)
 * August 28 – Berislav Klobučar, Croatian opera conductor (d. 2014)
 * August 29 – Dinah Washington, singer (d. 1963)
 * September 7 – Hugh Aitken, American composer (d. 2012)
 * September 12 – Ella Mae Morse, singer (d. 1999)
 * September 19 – Ernest Tomlinson, light music composer (d. 2015)
 * September 20 – Jackie Paris, jazz singer (d. 2004)
 * September 27 – Bud Powell, jazz pianist and composer (d. 1966)
 * September 28 – Rudolf Barshai, conductor and violist (d. 2010)
 * October 1 (probable) – Roger Williams, pianist (d. 2011)
 * October 3 – Joe Allison, songwriter and country music executive (d. 2002)
 * October 10 – Buddy MacMaster, American fiddler (d. 2014)
 * October 12 – Erich Gruenberg, Austrian-British violinist (d. 2020)
 * November 14 – Leonid Kogan, violinist (d. 1982)
 * November 16 – Michèle Auclair, violinist and teacher (d. 2005)
 * November 25 – Paul Desmond, jazz saxophonist (d. 1977)
 * November 30
 * Klaus Huber, composer (d. 2017)
 * Allan Sherman, musical parodist (d. 1973)
 * December 7 – Bent Fabric, Danish composer and pianist (d. 2020)
 * December 24
 * Lee Dorsey, singer (d. 1986)
 * Mohammed Rafi, Indian playback singer (d. 1980)
 * December 25 – Noël Lee, classical pianist and composer (d. 2013)

Deaths

 * January 2 – Sabine Baring-Gould, hymn-writer and collector of folk songs (b. 1834)
 * January 4 – Alfred Grünfeld, pianist and composer (b. 1852)
 * February – Ada Adini, operatic soprano (b. 1855)
 * February 10 – Charles Collette, composer and actor (b. 1842)
 * February 15 – Lionel Monckton, English composer (b. 1861)
 * February 17 – Oskar Merikanto, pianist, conductor and composer (b. 1868)
 * February 23 – Antonio Pasculli, oboist and composer (b. 1842)
 * February 25 – Mária Royová, songwriter (b. 1858)
 * March 18 – Frederick Bridge, organist and composer (b. 1844)
 * March 27 – Sir Walter Parratt, English composer, Master of the King's Musick (born 1841)
 * March 29 – Charles Villiers Stanford, composer (b. 1852)
 * April 5 – Rosalind Ellicott, composer (b. 1857)
 * April 15 – Eduard Caudella, violinist and composer (b. 1841)
 * April 26 – Josef Labor, pianist, organist and composer (b. 1842)
 * May 13 – Louis Hirsch, composer and songwriter (b. 1887)
 * May 26 – Victor Herbert, composer (b. 1859)
 * June 11 – Théodore Dubois, composer (b. 1837)
 * June 17 – Victor-Charles Mahillon, musician and collector of instruments (b. 1841)
 * June 23 – Cecil Sharp, folk song and dance revivalist (b. 1859)
 * July 6 – Black Benny, bass drummer (b. c. 1890)
 * July 27 – Ferruccio Busoni, pianist and composer (b. 1866; kidney disease)
 * August 18 – Laura Lemon, composer (b. 1866)
 * August 23 – Heinrich Berté, Austrian operetta composer (b. 1858)
 * August 29 – Francis Barraud, designer of HMV logo (b. 1856)
 * September 25 – Lotta Crabtree, all-round entertainer (b. 1847)
 * September 29 – Eduardo Arolas, tango musician and composer (b. 1892)
 * November 4 – Gabriel Fauré, French composer (b. 1845)
 * November 21 – Paul Milliet, opera librettist (b. 1848)
 * November 26 – Rose Hersee, operatic soprano (b. 1845)
 * November 29 – Giacomo Puccini, composer (b. 1858)
 * December 5 – W. H. Neidlinger, organist and composer (b. 1863)
 * December 8 – Xaver Scharwenka, pianist and composer (b. 1850)
 * date unknown
 * Elkan Naumburg, businessman, musicologist and patron of the arts (b. 1835)
 * Mark Walker, songwriter (b. 1846)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: 1924 in music


text:
1923 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1923.

Specific locations

 * 1923 in British music
 * 1923 in Norwegian music

Specific genres

 * 1923 in country music
 * 1923 in jazz

Events

 * February – Joseph Samuels' Tampa Blue Jazz Band records the George Washington Thomas number "The Fives" for Okeh Records, considered the first example of jazz band boogie-woogie.
 * February 19 – Jean Sibelius conducts the world première of his Symphony No. 6 in Helsinki.
 * May 30 – The British Broadcasting Company's Cardiff station (5WA) broadcasts the first full performance of a new orchestral opera on UK radio.
 * October 18 – Igor Stravinsky conducts the premiere of his Octet at the Paris Opera. In the same concert, Serge Prokofiev's First Violin Concerto (1917) is also premiered, with Marcel Darrieux, violin, and the Paris Opera Orchestra conducted by Serge Koussevitzky.
 * November 11 – Première of John Foulds's A World Requiem (composed 1919–21) at the Royal Albert Hall in London. It is repeated on that date each year until 1926.
 * November 19 – At a concert celebrating the 50th anniversary of the union of Buda and Pest (thus creating Budapest), Béla Bartók's Dance Suite and Zoltán Kodály's Psalmus Hungaricus both receive their world premieres
 * Explosion of recordings of African American musicians; Bessie Smith, Ida Cox, Joe "King" Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Sidney Bechet, many others make their first recordings.
 * George Enescu makes his debut as a conductor with the Philadelphia Orchestra in New York City.
 * Henri Pawl-Pleyel, Roger Désormière, Maxime Jacob and Henri Sauguet form the Ecole d'Arcueil.
 * Augustus John completes his portrait of cellist Guilhermina Suggia.
 * Japanese composer Michio Miyagi introduces an 80-string koto or "or hachijugen". It proves less popular than the 17-string koto he had invented two years earlier.

Publications

 * Stewart Macpherson – Melody and Harmony, Books 2 and 3. London: Stainer & Bell. (Book 1 published 1920.)

Published popular music

 * "Annabelle" w. Lew Brown m. Ray Henderson
 * "Back To Croa-Jingo-Long" w.m. Pat Dunlop
 * "Bambalina" w. Otto Harbach & Oscar Hammerstein II m. Herbert Stothart & Vincent Youmans. Introduced by Edith Day in the musical Wildflower
 * "Barney Google" w.m. Billy Rose & Con Conrad
 * "Beside A Babbling Brook" w. Gus Kahn m. Walter Donaldson
 * "Charleston" w.m. Cecil Mack & James P. Johnson. Inspiration for a dance craze.
 * "Chimes Blues" m. Joe "King" Oliver
 * "Come On, Spark Plug!" w.m. Billy Rose & Con Conrad
 * "Covered Wagon Days" w.m. Will Morrisey & Joe Burrows
 * "Dippermouth Blues" m. Joe "King" Oliver
 * "Dizzy Fingers" m. Zez Confrey
 * "Frasquita Serenade" m. Franz Lehár
 * "Gulf Coast Blues" w.m. Clarence Williams
 * "Horsey, Keep Your Tail Up" w.m. Walter Hirsch & Bert Kaplan
 * "I Cried For You" w. Arthur Freed m. Gus Arnheim & Abe Lyman
 * "I Love Life" w. Irwin M. Cassel m. Mana-Zucca
 * "I Love You" w. Harlan Thompson m. Harry Archer. Introduced by John Boles and Margaret Wilson in the musical Little Jessie James
 * "I Won't Say I Will But I Won't Say I Won't" w. B. G. De Sylva & Ira Gershwin m. George Gershwin. Introduced by Irene Bordoni in the play Little Miss Bluebeard
 * "I'm Goin' South" w.m. Abner Silver & Harry Woods
 * "I'm Sitting Pretty In A Pretty Little City" w.m. Lou Davis, Henry Santly & Abel Baer
 * "Indiana Moon" w. Benny Davis m. Isham Jones
 * "It Ain't Gonna Rain No Mo'" w.m. Wendell Hall
 * "I've Got The Yes! We Have No Bananas Blues" w. Lew Brown m. James F. Hanley & Robert King
 * "Just A Girl That Men Forget" w. Al Dubin & Fred Rath m. Joe Garron
 * "Just One More Chance" m. Steiger
 * "King Porter Stomp" m. Ferdinand "Jelly Roll" Morton
 * "Last Night On The Back Porch" w. Lew Brown m. Carl Schraubstader
 * "Linger Awhile" w. Harry Owens m. Vincent Rose
 * "Louisville Lou" w. Jack Yellen m. Milton Ager
 * "Mama Goes Where Papa Goes" w. Jack Yellen m. Milton Ager
 * "Mama Loves Papa" w.m. Cliff Friend & Abel Baer
 * "March Of The Cameron Men" w.m. Campbell
 * "Mexicali Rose" w. Helen Stone m. Jack B. Tenney
 * "Milenberg Joys" m. Leon Rappolo, Paul Mares & Jelly Roll Morton
 * "Mon Paradis (Sérénade d'Aujourd'hui)" m. Cuthbert Clarke
 * "Moon Love" w. George Grossmith Jr. & P. G. Wodehouse m. Jerome Kern
 * "My Sweetie Went Away" w. Roy Turk m. Lou Handman
 * "Nashville Nightingale" w. Irving Caesar m. George Gershwin
 * "No, No, Nora" w. Gus Kahn m. Ted Fio Rito & Ernie Erdman
 * "Nobles of the Mystic Shrine" John Philip Sousa
 * "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" w.m. Jimmy Cox
 * "Oh Didn't It Rain" w.m. Eddie Leonard
 * "Oh Gee Oh Gosh Oh Golly I'm In Love" w. Ole Olsen & Chic Johnson m. Ernest Breuer
 * "Oklahoma Indian Jazz" (w. & m.) Ray Hibbler, T.J. Johnsen, J.W. Barna, J.W. Murrin, and T. Guarini
 * "Old Fashioned Love" w. Cecil Mack m. James P. Johnson
 * "Old King Tut" w. William Jerome m. Harry Von Tilzer
 * "On The Mall" m. Edwin Franko Goldman
 * "Once In A Blue Moon" w. Anne Caldwell m. Jerome Kern
 * "An Orange Grove In California" w.m. Irving Berlin
 * "Out Where The Blue Begins" Graff, McHugh, Grant
 * "(Home In) Pasadena" w.m. Harry Warren, Grant Clarke & Edgar Leslie
 * "Raggedy Ann" w. Anne Caldwell m. Jerome Kern
 * "Rememb'ring" w.m. Vivian Duncan & Rosetta Duncan
 * "La Rosita" w. Allan Stuart m. Paul Dupont (Pseud. of Walter Haenschen)
 * "Seven Or Eleven" w. Lew Brown m. Walter Donaldson
 * "Sittin' In A Corner" w. Gus Kahn m. George W. Meyer
 * "Sleep" w.m. Earl Lebieg
 * "A Smile Will Go A Long Long Way" w. Benny Davis m. Harry Akst
 * "Snake Rag" m. King Oliver
 * "Sobbin' Blues" w.m. Art Kassel
 * "Some Sweet Day" w. Gene Buck m. Dave Stamper & Louis A. Hirsch
 * "Stella" w.m. Al Jolson, Benny Davis & Harry Akst
 * "Swingin' Down the Lane" w. Gus Kahn m. Isham Jones
 * "Tell Me With A Melody" w.m. Irving Berlin
 * "That Old Gang of Mine" w. Billy Rose & Mort Dixon m. Ray Henderson
 * "Tin Roof Blues" m. Paul Mares, Walter Melrose, Ben Pollack, Mel Stitzel, George Brunies & Leon Roppolo
 * "Waitin' For The Evenin' Mail" Billy Baskette
 * "When Clouds Have Vanished And Skies Are Blue" w. William R. Clay m. Charles L. Johnson
 * "When It's Night-Time In Italy, It's Wednesday Over Here" w.m. James Kendis & Lew Brown
 * "When June Comes Along With A Song" w.m. George M. Cohan from the musical The Rise Of Rosie O'Reilly
 * "When You Walked Out Someone Else Walked Right In" w.m. Irving Berlin
 * "Who'll Buy My Violets" w. E. Ray Goetz m. Jose Padilla
 * "Who's Sorry Now?" w. Bert Kalmar & Harry Ruby m. Ted Snyder
 * "Wild Flower" w. Otto Harbach & Oscar Hammerstein II m. Vincent Youmans & Herbert Stothart
 * "Wolverine Blues" w.m. Ferdinand "Jelly Roll" Morton, Benjamin Spikes & John C. Spikes
 * "Yes! We Have No Bananas" w.m. Frank Silver & Irving Cohn
 * "You Can't Do What My Last Man Did" w.m. J. C. Johnson & Allie Moore
 * "You've Got To See Mama Ev'ry Night" w.m. Con Conrad & Billy Rose

Top popular recordings of 1923
The following songs achieved the highest positions in Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954 and record sales reported on the "Discography of American Historical Recordings" website during 1923. Numerical rankings are approximate; they are only used as a frame of reference.

Other important recordings

 * "Dippermouth Blues" by King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band
 * "High Society" by King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band
 * "Milenburg Joys" by the New Orleans Rhythm Kings with Jelly Roll Morton
 * "Wild Cat Blues/Kansas City Man Blues" by Clarence Williams Blue 5, featuring Sidney Bechet

Classical music

 * Béla Bartók – Dance Suite
 * Ferruccio Busoni – Prélude et étude en arpèges, BV 297
 * Henry Cowell – Aeolian Harp
 * Frederick Delius – Hassan, RT I/9, incidental music for play premiering June 1 in Darmstadt
 * Gerald Finzi – A Severn Rhapsody
 * Gabriel Fauré – Piano Trio in D minor, Op. 120
 * Josef Matthias Hauer – Atonale Musik, Op.20
 * Paul Hindemith – String Quartet No.5, Op.32, premiered October 26 in Vienna
 * Jenö Hubay – 5 Konzertetüden, Op.115
 * Joseph Jongen – 3 Études de concert, Op.65
 * Sigfrid Karg-Elert
 * Cathedral Windows, Op.106
 * 3 Compositions for Organ, Op.108
 * Darius Milhaud – La création du monde (ballet)
 * Hans Pfitzner – Concerto for Violin in B minor
 * Arnold Schoenberg
 * Fünf Stücke [Five Pieces] for Piano, Op. 23 (1920/1923)
 * Serenade, Op. 24 (1920/1923)
 * Suite for Piano, Op. 25 (1921/1923)
 * Jean Sibelius – Symphony No. 6 was premiered by the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by the composer, on 19 February 1923
 * Igor Stravinsky – Octet for Wind Instruments
 * Germaine Tailleferre – Ballade for Piano and Orchestra; Concerto No. 1 for Piano and Orchestra
 * Joaquín Turina – Jardin de Oriente
 * Edgard Varèse
 * Hyperprism (1922–23)
 * Octandre
 * Heitor Villa-Lobos – Nonet ("Impressão rápida de todo o Brasil")
 * William Walton – Toccata for Violin and Piano
 * Leó Weiner – Concertino for Piano and Orchestra
 * Eugène Ysaÿe - Violin Sonata No. 3 Ballade
 * Alexander von Zemlinsky – Lyric Symphony

Opera

 * Alfred Bruneau – Le Jardin du paradis
 * Hans Gál – Die heilige Ente
 * Reynaldo Hahn – Ciboulette
 * Joaquín Turina – Jardin de Oriente

Musical theater

 * The Beauty Prize (Music: Jerome Kern Lyrics and Book: P. G. Wodehouse and George Grossmith). London production opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on September 5 and ran for 214 performances
 * Catherine London production opened at the Gaiety Theatre on September 22 and ran for 217 performances
 * The Cousin from Nowhere London production opened at Prince's Theatre on February 24 and ran for 105 performances
 * Dover Street to Dixie London revue opened at the Pavilion on May 31 and ran for 108 performances
 * George White's Scandals of 1923 Broadway revue opened at the Globe Theatre on June 18 and transferred to the Fulton Theatre on November 5 for a total run of 168 performances
 * Head over Heels London production opened at the Adelphi Theatre on September 8 and ran for 113 performances
 * Katinka London production opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre on August 30 and ran for 108 performances
 * Kid Boots Broadway production opened at the Earl Carroll Theatre on December 31 and transferred to the Selwyn Theatre on September 1, 1924 for a total run of 489 performances
 * Little Nellie Kelly London production opened at the New Oxford Theatre on July 2 and ran for 265 performances
 * London Calling! London revue opened at the Duke of York's Theatre on September 4 and ran for 367 performances
 * Madame Pompadour
 * Vienna production opened at the Carltheater on March 2
 * London production opened at Daly's Theatre on December 20 and ran for 467 performances
 * The Music Box Revue London revue opened at the Palace Theatre on May 15 and ran for 217 performances
 * The Rainbow London production opened at the Empire Theatre on April 3 and ran for 113 performances
 * Rats London revue opened at the Vaudeville Theatre on February 4 and ran for 285 performances
 * The Rise of Rosie O'Reilly Broadway production opened at the Liberty Theatre on December 25 and ran for 97 performances
 * "Runnin' Wild', Broadway musical with music by James P. Johnson and Cecil Mack opened October 29 and ran at the new Colonial Theatre for 228 performances. Spearheaded the Charleston dance craze.
 * Stop Flirting London production opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre on May 30 and ran for 418 performances
 * Wildflower Broadway production opened at the Casino Theatre on February 7 and ran for 477 performances
 * The Jilts by Philip Barry, won the Herndon Prize in 1922 as the best drama. Renamed You and I, the play opened on Broadway on February 19, 1923,
 * You'd Be Surprised London production opened at the Royal Opera House on January 27 and ran for 270 performances
 * Ziegfeld Follies of 1923 Broadway revue opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre on October 20 and ran for 233 performances

Births

 * January 1 – Milt Jackson, jazz vibraphonist (d. 1999)
 * January 4
 * Don Butterfield, classical and jazz tuba player (d. 2006)
 * Tito Rodríguez, Puerto Rican-American singer-songwriter and television host (d. 1973)
 * Flavio Testi, Italian composer and musicologist (d. 2014)
 * January 5 – Sam Phillips, record producer (d. 2003)
 * January 25 – Rusty Draper, American singer-songwriter (d. 2003)
 * February 2 – Julius Hegyi, American conductor and violinist (d. 2007)
 * February 5 – Claude King, country singer and songwriter (d. 2013)
 * March 2 – Doc Watson, guitarist, singer and songwriter (d. 2012)
 * March 26 – Clifton Williams, composer (d. 1976)
 * April 1 – Jean Catoire, French classical composer (d. 2005)
 * April 25 – Albert King, blues guitarist and singer (d. 1992)
 * May 15 – John Lanchbery, composer and conductor (d. 2003)
 * May 17 – Peter Mennin, American composer and administrator (d. 1983)
 * May 28 – György Ligeti, composer (d. 2006)
 * June 8 – Karel Goeyvaerts, Belgian composer (d. 1993)
 * June 29 – Ronnie Ronalde, born Ronald Waldron, English yodeller and siffleur (d. 2015)
 * July 15 – Philly Joe Jones, American drummer (d. 1985)
 * July 22 – Mukesh, Bollywood playback singer (d. 1976)
 * July 31 – Ahmet Ertegun, record industry executive (d. 2006)
 * August 4 – Arthur Butterworth, English composer (d. 2014)
 * August 11 – June Hutton, singer (d. 1973)
 * September 15 – Anton Heiller, Austrian organist, harpsichordist, composer, conductor (d. 1979)
 * September 17 – Hank Williams, country musician (d. 1953)
 * October 3 – Stanisław Skrowaczewski, orchestral conductor (d. 2017)
 * October 5 – Glynis Johns, actress and singer (d. 2024)
 * October 16 – Bert Kaempfert, songwriter and orchestra leader (d. 1980)
 * October 20 – Robert Craft, conductor and music writer (d. 2015)
 * October 23 – Ned Rorem, composer and writer (d. 2022)
 * October 27 – Mario Duschenes, Canadian composer (d. 2009)
 * November 1 –
 * Antonia Apodaca, New Mexican folk musician and composer (d. 2020)
 * Victoria de los Ángeles, Catalan-Spanish lyric soprano (d. 2005)
 * November 2 – Pearl Carr, singer (d. 2020)
 * November 10 – Anne Shelton, singer (d. 1994)
 * November 24 – Serge Chaloff, American jazz baritone saxophonist (d. 1957)
 * December 2 – Maria Callas, American-born Greek operatic soprano (d. 1977)
 * December 16 – Menahem Pressler, German-born Israeli pianist (d. 2023)

Deaths

 * January 5 – Emanuel Wirth, violinist (b. 1842)
 * January 10 – Patsy Touhey, Irish-American piper (b. 1865)
 * January 18 – Kate Santley, actress and singer (b. 1837)
 * January 25 – Alfons Petzold, Austrian lyricist (b. 1882)
 * February 2 – Vassily KW Brandt, composer (b. 1869)
 * February 19
 * Gerónimo Giménez, Spanish composer (b. 1854)
 * Josef Pembaur, American composer (b. 1848)
 * February 27 – Léon Roques, translator (b. 1839)
 * March 5 – Dora Pejačević, composer (b. 1885)
 * March 8 – Krišjānis Barons, collector of Latvian folk songs (b. 1835)
 * March 16 – August Göllerich, Austrian conductor (born 1859)
 * March 20 – Henry Edward Krehbiel, musicologist (b. 1854)
 * April 17 – Anthony J. Stastny, composer (b. 1885)
 * May 7 – Sadie Martinot, actress and soprano singer (b. 1861)
 * May 30 – Camille Chevillard, composer
 * June 11 – Julia Ettie Crane, music educator (b. 1855)
 * June 20
 * Joseph Leopold Röckel, composer (born 1838)
 * Charitie Lees Smith, hymn-writer (b. 1841)
 * June 30 – Claude Terrasse, composer of operettas (b. 1867)
 * July 10 – Albert Chevalier, English actor, singer, songwriter and music hall performer (b. 1861)
 * July 13 – Asger Hamerik, composer (b. 1843)
 * August 15 – Vali von der Osten, operatic soprano (b. 1882)
 * August 31 – Ernest van Dyck, operatic tenor (b. 1861)
 * October 11 – Wilhelm Karczag, theater director (born 1857)
 * October 12 – John Cadvan Davies, poet and hymn-writer (b. 1846)
 * October 14 – George Elbridge Whiting, composer (born 1840)
 * October 22 – Victor Maurel, operatic baritone (b. 1848)
 * October 28 – Theodor Reuss, music hall singer and polymath (b. 1855)
 * December 2 – Tomás Bretón, composer (b. 1850)
 * December 7 – Vess Ossman, banjoist (b. 1868)
 * December 19 – Gustav Dannreuther, violinist and conductor (b. 1853)
 * date unknown
 * Charles Jean Baptiste Collin-Mezin, violin-maker (b. 1841)
 * Joseph Pothier, musicologist, reviver of the Gregorian chant (b. 1835)

title: 1923 in music


text:
1922 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1922.

Specific locations

 * 1922 in British music
 * 1922 in Norwegian music

Specific genres

 * 1922 in country music
 * 1922 in jazz

Events

 * January 24 – Carl Nielsen conducts the first public performance of his Symphony No. 5 in Copenhagen.
 * May 28 – The Detroit News Orchestra, the world's first radio orchestra (a symphonic ensemble organized specifically to play on radio), begins broadcasting from radio station WWJ in Detroit, Michigan.
 * October 11 – Leila Megàne makes the first complete recording of Sir Edward Elgar's Sea Pictures, with Elgar himself conducting.
 * October 19 – Maurice Ravel's orchestral arrangement of Modest Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition is premiered in Paris.
 * December 20 – Antigone by Jean Cocteau appears on the stage of the Théâtre de l'Atelier in Paris, with settings by Pablo Picasso, music by Arthur Honegger and costumes by Gabrielle Chanel.
 * Louis Armstrong leaves New Orleans for Chicago to join King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band.
 * Richard Tauber joins the Vienna State Opera.
 * Kid Ory makes his first recordings.
 * Earliest known example of American gospel song "This Train (is Bound for Glory)", a recording by Florida Normal and Industrial Institute Quartette, under the title "Dis Train".
 * The Central Band of the Royal Air Force becomes the first military band to make a radio broadcast with the British Broadcasting Company.
 * All musical compositions written in this year or earlier are now public domain in the United States. Recordings of those compositions, however are still protected by various state statutes and do not fully enter the nationwide public domain until February 15, 2067.

Publications

Published popular music

 * "Aggravatin' Papa" w.m. Roy Turk, J. Russel Robinson & Addy Britt
 * "Ain't It A Shame" w.m. W. A. Hann, Joseph Simms & Al W. Brown
 * "All Over Nothing At All" w. J. Keirn Brennan & Paul Cunningham m. James Rule
 * "Along The Road To Gundagai" w.m. Jack O'Hagan
 * "L'Amour. Toujours L'Amour (Love Everlasting)" w.(Eng) Catherine Chisholm Cushing m. Rudolf Friml
 * "Angel Child" w. Georgie Price & Benny Davis m. Abner Silver
 * "Baby Blue Eyes" w.m. Jesse Greer, Walter Hirsch & George Jessel
 * "Bee's Knees" by Leo Wood & Ray Lopez
 * "Blue (And Broken Hearted)" w. Grant Clarke & Edgar Leslie m. Lou Handman
 * "Broken Hearted Melody" w. Gus Kahn m. Isham Jones
 * "A Brown Bird Singing" w. Royden Barrie m. Haydn Wood
 * "Bugle Call Rag" m. Jack Pettis, Billy Meyers & Elmer Schoebel
 * "Carolina in the Morning" w. Gus Kahn m. Walter Donaldson
 * "Carolina Shout" m. James P. Johnson
 * "Chicago" w.m. Fred Fisher
 * "China Boy" w.m. Dick Winfree & Phil Boutelje
 * "Crinoline Days" w.m. Irving Berlin
 * "Dancing Fool" w. Harry B. Smith & Francis Wheeler m. Ted Snyder
 * "Dearest (You're The Nearest To My Heart)" w. Benny Davis m. Harry Akst
 * "Do It Again" w. B. G. De Sylva m. George Gershwin
 * "Down In Midnight Town" w. Andrew B. Sterling & Edward P. Moran m. Harry Von Tilzer
 * "Down Hearted Blues" w. Alberta Hunter m Lovie Austin
 * "Dream On" (An Indian Lullaby) w. B.G DeSylva, m. Victor Herbert
 * "Dreamy Melody" w.m. Ted Koehler, Frank Magine & C. Naset
 * "Farewell Blues" w.m. Paul Joseph Mares, Leon Rappolo & Elmer Schoebel
 * "Fate" by Byron Gay
 * "Georgette" w. Lew Brown m. Ray Henderson
 * "Georgia" w. Howard Johnson m. Walter Donaldson
 * "Goin' Home" w.m. Williams Arms Fisher
 * "Hot Lips" w.m. Henry Busse, Henry Lange, Lou Davis
 * "I Found A Four Leaf Clover" w. B. G. De Sylva m. George Gershwin
 * "I Gave You Up Just Before You Threw Me Down" w. Bert Kalmar m. Harry Ruby & Fred E. Ahlert
 * "I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise" w. B. G. De Sylva & Ira Gershwin m. George Gershwin
 * "I'm going Back to Yarrawonga"
 * "In The Little Red Schoolhouse" w.m. Al Wilson & James A. Brennan
 * "A Kiss In The Dark" w. B. G. De Sylva m. Victor Herbert
 * "Kitten on the Keys" m. Zez Confrey
 * "The Lady In Ermine" w. Cyrus Wood m. Al Goodman
 * "Lady Of The Evening" w.m. Irving Berlin. Introduced by John Steel in the Music Box Revue of 1922.
 * "Limehouse Blues" w. Douglas Furber m. Philip Braham
 * "Lovesick Blues" w. Irving Mills m. Cliff Friend [[Image:LovinSam.jpg|250px|right]]
 * "Lovin' Sam (The Sheik Of Alabam)" w. Jack Yellen m. Milton Ager
 * "March With Me!" w. Douglas Furber m. Ivor Novello
 * "Mary, Dear" w.m. Harry DeCosta & M. K. Jerome
 * "Mister Gallagher and Mister Shean" w.m. Ed Gallagher & Al Shean
 * "My Buddy" w. Gus Kahn m. Walter Donaldson
 * "My Honey's Loving Arms" w. Herman Ruby m. Joseph Meyer
 * "My Rambler Rose" w. Gene Buck m. Louis A. Hirsch & Dave Stamper
 * "My Sweet Hortense" w. Joe Young & Sam Lewis m. Walter Donaldson
 * "My Word You Do Look Queer" w.m. R. P. Weston & Bert Lee
 * "'Neath The South Sea Moon" w. Gene Buck m. Louis A. Hirsch & Dave Stamper
 * "Nellie Kelly I Love You" w.m. George M. Cohan
 * "On the Alamo" w. Gus Kahn m. Isham Jones
 * "On The Gin Gin Ginny Shore" w. Edgar Leslie m. Walter Donaldson
 * "Oo-oo Ernest Are You Earnest With Me" w. Sidney Clare & Harry Tobias m. Cliff Friend
 * "Pack Up Your Sins And Go To The Devil" w.m. Irving Berlin
 * "Robinson Crusoe's Isle" w. Harry Graham m. Robert Stolz
 * "Rosalie" w.m. Hugo Frey
 * "Rose Of The Rio Grande" w. Edgar Leslie m. Harry Warren & Ross Gorman
 * "Round On The End And High In The Middle (O-Hi-O)" w.m. Alfred Bryan & Bert Hanlon
 * "Runnin' Wild" w. Joe Grey & Leo Wood m. A. Harrington Gibbs
 * "Say It While Dancing" w. Benny Davis m. Abner Silver
 * "Some Sunny Day" w.m. Irving Berlin
 * "Stumbling" w.m. Zez Confrey
 * "'Taint Nobody's Business If I Do" w.m. Clarence Williams, Porter Grainger & Graham Prince
 * "That Da Da Strain" w. Mamie Medina m. Edgar Dowell
 * "Three O'Clock in the Morning" w. Dorothy Terriss m. Julián Robledo
 * "Throw Me A Kiss" w. Gene Buck m. Louis A. Hirsch & Dave Stamper
 * "Thru' The Night" w. Virginia K. Logan m. Frederic Knight Logan
 * "Toot, Toot, Tootsie (Goo' Bye!) " w.m. Dan Russo, Ted Fio Rito, Gus Kahn & Ernie Erdman
 * "Trees" w. Joyce Kilmer m. Oscar Rasbach
 * "'Way Down Yonder In New Orleans" w. Henry Creamer m. Turner Layton
 * "The West, A Nest, And You" w. Larry Yoell m. Billy Hill
 * "When Hearts Are Young" w. Cyrus Wood m. Sigmund Romberg & Al Goodman
 * "When The Leaves Come Tumbling Down" w.m. Richard Howard
 * "When You And I Were Young, Maggie, Blues" w.m. Jack Frost & Jimmy McHugh
 * "Who Cares?" w. Jack Yellen m. Milton Ager
 * "Wonderful One" w. Dorothy Terris m. Paul Whiteman & Ferde Grofe
 * "You Know You Belong To Somebody Else" w. Eugene West m. James V. Monaco
 * "You Remind Me Of My Mother" w.m. George M. Cohan
 * "You Tell Her, I S-t-u-t-t-e-r" w. Billy Rose m. Cliff Friend

Top Popular Recordings 1922
The following songs achieved the highest positions in Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954 and record sales reported on the "Discography of American Historical Recordings" website during 1922: Numerical rankings are approximate, they are only used as a frame of reference.

Classical music

 * Kurt Atterberg – Cello Concerto
 * Alfredo Barbirolli – Sensuel-tango
 * Arnold Bax – First Symphony
 * Arthur Bliss – A Colour Symphony
 * Julián Carrillo – Preludio a Colón, for soprano in fifths of a tone, flute, violin, and guitar in quarter tones, octavina in eighth tones, and harp in sixteenth tones
 * Gerald Finzi – By Footpath and Stile, Op. 2
 * Vittorio Giannini – Stabat Mater
 * Hamilton Harty – Piano Concerto
 * Paul Hindemith – String Quartet No. 3 in C, Op. 22
 * Jacques Ibert
 * Escales, for orchestra
 * Histoires, for piano
 * Manuel Infante – Sevillana "Impresiones de fiesta en Sevilla"
 * Manuel Jovés (es)– Patotero sentimental
 * Ernesto Nazareth
 * 1922 (tango)
 * Desengonçado
 * Fóra dos eixos
 * Gaúcho
 * Jangadeiro
 * Mandinga
 * Meigo
 * O futurista
 * Por que sofre?...
 * Carl Nielsen
 * Fynsk Foraar
 * Wind Quintet
 * Francis Poulenc – Sonata for horn, trumpet and trombone (subsequently revised)
 * Dmitri Shostakovich
 * Three Fantastic Dances, Op. 5, for piano
 * Suite in F-sharp minor, Op. 6, for two pianos
 * Vaughan Williams – Pastoral Symphony
 * William Walton – Façade (subsequently revised)

Opera

 * Jean Cras – Polyphème
 * Paul Hindemith – Sancta Susanna
 * Léo Manuel – Le fakir de Bénarès
 * Jules Massenet – Amadis
 * Ottorino Respighi – La bella dormente nel bosco
 * Igor Stravinsky – Mavra
 * Alexander Zemlinsky – Der Zwerg

Film

 * Hans Erdmann – Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror

Musical theater

 * The Cabaret Girl (Music: Jerome Kern, Book and Lyrics: P. G. Wodehouse and George Grossmith, Jr.) London production opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on September 19 and ran for 361 performances
 * The Hotel Mouse Broadway production opened at the Shubert Theatre on March 13 and ran for 88 performances
 * Little Nellie Kelly Broadway production opened at the Liberty Theatre on November 13 and ran for 276 performances
 * Make It Snappy Broadway revue opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on April 13 and ran for 96 performances. Starring Eddie Cantor, Lew Hearn, J. Harold Murray, Nan Halperin, Georgie Hale and Tot Qualters.
 * The Music Box Revue of 1922 opened at the Music Box Theatre on October 23 and ran for 330 performances
 * Orange Blossoms (music Victor Herbert) opened at the Fulton Theatre on September 19 and ran for 95 performances
 * Phi-Phi London production opened at the Pavilion Theatre on August 16 and ran for 132 performances
 * Queen O' Hearts Broadway production opened at the Cohan Theatre on October 10 and ran for 40 performances
 * Whirled into Happiness London production opened at the Lyric Theatre on May 18 and ran for 246 performances

Births

 * January 4 – Frank Wess, American saxophonist and flute player (d. 2013)
 * January 7 – Jean-Pierre Rampal, flautist (d. 2000)
 * January 16 – Ernesto Bonino, Italian singer (d. 2008)
 * January 28 – Anna Gordy Gaye, American songwriter and producer, co-founder of Anna Records (d. 2014)
 * February 1 – Renata Tebaldi, operatic soprano (d. 2004)
 * February 16 – Geraint Evans, operatic baritone (d. 1992)
 * February 17 – Tommy Edwards, singer (d. 1969)
 * February 19 – Fredell Lack, American violinist (d. 2017)
 * March 28 – Felice Chiusano, Italian singer (Quartetto Cetra) (d. 1990)
 * April 3 – Doris Day, actress and singer (d. 2019)
 * April 4 – Elmer Bernstein, film composer (d. 2004)
 * April 5 – Gale Storm, singer and actress (d. 2009)
 * April 7 – Mongo Santamaría, percussionist (d. 2003)
 * April 14 – Ali Akbar Khan, Indian sarod player (d. 2009)
 * April 18 – Lord Kitchener, calypsonian (d. 2000)
 * April 22 – Charles Mingus, jazz musician (d. 1979)
 * April 29 – Toots Thielemans, Belgian musician (d. 2016)
 * May 18 – Kai Winding, Danish-born jazz musician (d. 1983)
 * May 25 – Kitty Kallen, American singer (d. 2016)
 * May 29 – Iannis Xenakis, composer (d. 2001)
 * June 1 – Bibi Ferreira, Brazilian singer and actress (d. 2019)
 * June 10 – Judy Garland, American singer and actress (d. 1969)
 * June 12 – Leif Thybo, Danish composer and organist (d. 2001)
 * June 17 – Jerry Fielding, American radio, film and television composer, arranger, conductor and musical director (d. 1980)
 * June 23 – Francis Thorne, American composer (d. 2017)
 * June 24 – Tata Giacobetti, Italian singer and lyricist (Quartetto Cetra) (d. 1988)
 * June 27 – George Walker, African American classical composer (d. 2018)
 * August 11 – Ron Grainer, television composer (d. 1981)
 * August 13 – T. K. Murthy, Indian mridangam player
 * August 31 – John Hanson, singer and actor (d. 1998)
 * September 3 – Salli Terri, singer and songwriter (d. 1996)
 * September 13 – Yma Sumac, Peruvian singer (d. 2008)
 * September 16 – Janis Paige, American singer and actress (d. 2024)
 * September 18 – Ray Steadman-Allen, English composer for Salvation Army bands (d. 2014)
 * September 20 – William Kapell, American pianist (d. 1953)
 * October 4 – Dudley Simpson, Australian composer and conductor (d. 2017)
 * October 17 – Luiz Bonfá, guitarist and composer (d. 2001)
 * November 15 – Doreen Carwithen, composer (d. 2003)
 * December 26 – Harry Choates, American Cajun fiddler (d. 1951)

Deaths

 * January 26 – Luigi Denza, composer (b. 1846)
 * March 4 – Bert Williams, star of the Ziegfeld Follies (b. 1875; pneumonia)
 * March 10 – Hans Sitt, violinist and composer (b. 1850)
 * March 15 – Ika Peyron, pianist and composer (b. 1845)
 * March 22 – Nikolay Sokolov, composer (b. 1859)
 * April 12 – František Ondříček, violinist and composer (b. 1857)
 * April 18 – Percy Hilder Miles, violinist, composer and teacher (b. 1878; pneumonia)
 * April 21 – Alessandro Moreschi, the last known castrato singer of the Vatican.(b. 1858; pneumonia)
 * April 29 – Kyrylo Stetsenko, conductor and composer (b. 1882; typhus)
 * May 2 – Ada Jones, US singer (b. 1873; kidney failure)
 * May 7 – Max Wagenknecht, composer for organ and piano (b. 1857)
 * May 15 – Harry Williams songwriter and music publisher (b. 1879)
 * May 18 – Eugenia Burzio, Italian operatic soprano (b. 1872; kidney failure)
 * May 22 – Carl Teike, composer (b. 1864)
 * May 31 – Rutland Barrington, baritone of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company (b. 1873)
 * June 5 – Lillian Russell, US singer and actress (b. 1860)
 * June 20 – Vittorio Monti, composer (b. 1868)
 * July 24 – George Thorne, baritone of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company (b. 1856)
 * August 5 – William Seidel, Band instrument manufacturer (b. 1848; suicide)
 * August 13 – Tom Turpin, ragtime composer (b. 1871; peritonitis)
 * August 18 – Dame Genevieve Ward, soprano (b. 1837; heart disease)
 * August 19 – Felipe Pedrell, composer (b. 1841)
 * August 22 – Sofia Scalchi, operatic contralto (b. 1850)
 * October 7 – Marie Lloyd, British music-hall singer (b. 1870; heart and kidney failure)
 * October 27 – Rita Fornia, US operatic soprano (b. 1878)
 * November 6 – William Baines, English composer and pianist (b. 1899)
 * November 14 – Karl Michael Ziehrer, composer and bandmaster (b. 1843; stroke)
 * December 30 – Richard Zeckwer, composer and music teacher (b. 1850)
 * date unknown – George H. Diamond, entertainer and songwriter (b. 1862; illness)
 * date unknown – Alfred Lamy, maker of violin bows (b. 1886)

title: 1922 in music


text:
1921 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1921.

Specific locations

 * 1921 in British music
 * 1921 in Norwegian music

Specific genres

 * 1921 in country music
 * 1921 in jazz

Events

 * January – Amelita Galli-Curci marries her accompanist, Homer Samuels, who had been named in her divorce from the Marchese Luigi Curci.
 * June–July – The Harvard Glee Club takes its first trip to Europe, garnering international press attention.
 * November – A month before his death, Camille Saint-Saëns, 86, gives a final recital.
 * Clarence Williams makes his first recordings
 * Mary Stafford becomes the first black woman to record for Columbia Records
 * The 17-string koto, or "Jūshichi-gen", is invented by Michio Miyagi.
 * Cyril Rootham dedicates his "Suite in Three Movements" for flute and piano to French flautist Louis Fleury.

Published popular music

 * "Ain't We Got Fun?"    w.m. Richard A. Whiting, Raymond Egan & Gus Kahn
 * "All by Myself"    w.m. Irving Berlin
 * "And Her Mother Came Too"    w. Dion Titheradge m. Ivor Novello
 * "Any Time"    w.m. Herbert Happy Lawson
 * "April Showers"    w. B. G. De Sylva m. Louis Silvers
 * "Baltimore Buzz"    w.m. Noble Sissle & Eubie Blake
 * "Bandana Days"    w.m. Noble Sissle & Eubie Blake
 * "Bimini Bay"    w. Gus Kahn & Raymond Egan m. Richard Whiting
 * "Boy Wanted"  w. Ira Gershwin m. George Gershwin
 * "Dancing Time"    w.(Eng) George Grossmith, Jr. (US) Howard Dietz m. Jerome Kern US words written 1924.
 * "Dapper Dan"    w. Lew Brown m. Albert Von Tilzer
 * "Dear Old Southland"    w. Henry Creamer m. Turner Layton
 * "Dirty Hands, Dirty Face" w. Al Jolson, Grant Clarke, Edgar Leslie m. James V. Monaco
 * "Down South" w. B. G. DeSylva m. Walter Donaldson. Introduced by Al Jolson in the musical Bombo
 * "Down Yonder"    w.m. L. Wolfe Gilbert
 * "Everybody Step"    w.m. Irving Berlin [[Image:HawaiianChimes.jpg|200px|right]]
 * "Hawaiian Chimes" w. Irving Bibo m. Eva Applefield
 * "I Ain't Nobody's Darling"    w. Elmer Hughes m. Robert A. King
 * "I Found A Rose In The Devil's Garden"    w.m. Fred Fisher & Willie Raskin
 * "I Wonder If You Still Care For Me"    w.m. Harry B. Smith & Francis Wheeler
 * "I'll Forget You"    w. Annelu Burns m. Ernest R. Ball
 * "I'm Just Wild About Harry"    w.m. Noble Sissle & Eubie Blake
 * "I'm Missin' Mammy's Kissin'"    w. Sidney Clare m. Lew Pollack
 * "I'm Nobody's Baby"    w.m. Benny Davis, Milton Ager & Lester Santly
 * "Jazz Me Blues"    m. Tom Delaney
 * "Keep Movin'"    Helen Trix
 * "Kitten On The Keys"    m. Zez Confrey
 * "Laughin' Rag"    S. Moore, H. Skinner
 * "Learn To Smile"    w. Otto Harbach m. Louis A. Hirsch
 * "Leave Me With A Smile"    w.m. Charles Koehler & Earl Burtnett
 * "Love Will Find A Way"    w.m. Noble Sissle & Eubie Blake [[Image:HomeAgainBlues.jpg|200px|right]]
 * "Ma! He's Making Eyes at Me" w. Sidney Clare m. Con Conrad
 * "Make Believe"    w. Benny Davis m. Jack Shilkret
 * "Mandy 'N' Me"    w. Bert Kalmar m. Con Conrad
 * "My Sunny Tennessee"    w.m. Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby & Herman Ruby
 * "Peggy O'Neill"    w.m. Harry Pease, Ed G. Nelson & Gilbert Dodge
 * "Sally"    w. Clifford Grey m. Jerome Kern
 * "Say It With Music"    w.m. Irving Berlin
 * "Second Hand Rose"    w. Grant Clarke m. James F. Hanley
 * "The Sheik of Araby"    w. Harry B. Smith & Francis Wheeler m. Ted Snyder
 * "She's Mine, All Mine"    w.m. Bert Kalmar & Harry Ruby
 * "Shuffle Along   w.m. Noble Sissle & Eubie Blake
 * "Shimmy With Me"     w. P. G. Wodehouse m. Jerome Kern from the musical The Cabaret Girl
 * "Song Of Love"    w. Dorothy Donnelly m. Sigmund Romberg
 * "Strut Miss Lizzie"    w. Henry Creamer m. Turner Layton
 * "Swanee River Moon"    w.m. H. Pitman Clarke
 * "Sweet Lady"    w. Howard Johnson m. Frank Crumit & Dave Zoob
 * "Ten Little Fingers And Ten Little Toes"    w. Harry Pease & Johnny White m. Ira Schuster & Ed G. Nelson
 * "There'll Be Some Changes Made"    w. Billy Higgins m. Benton Overstreet
 * "Tuck Me To Sleep In My Old 'Tucky Home"    w. Sam H. Lewis & Joe Young m. George W. Meyer
 * "Wabash Blues"    w. Dave Ringle m. Fred Meinken
 * "When Big Profundo Sang Low C"    w. Marion T. Bohannon m. George Botsford
 * "When Buddha Smiles"    w. Arthur Freed m. Nacio Herb Brown
 * "When Francis Dances With Me"    w. Ben Ryan m. Sol Violinsky
 * "When Shall We Meet Again"    w. Raymond B. Egan m. Richard A. Whiting
 * "Whip-poor-will"    w. B. G. De Sylva m. Jerome Kern
 * "Yoo-Hoo"    w. B. G. De Sylva m. Al Jolson

Top Popular Recordings 1921
The following songs achieved the highest positions in Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954 and record sales reported on the "Discography of American Historical Recordings" website during 1921: Numerical rankings are approximate, they are only used as a frame of reference.

Classical music

 * Agustín Barrios – La Catedral
 * George Enescu – Symphony No. 3 in C major, Op. 21 (revised version)
 * Gabriel Fauré
 * Cello Sonata No. 2
 * Piano Quintet No. 2 in C minor, Op. 115
 * John Foulds – A World Requiem (1919–21; premiered 1923)
 * Howard Hanson – Before the Night
 * Albert Ketèlbey
 * Bells Across the Meadows
 * In a Persian Market
 * Rued Langgaard – Music of the Spheres
 * Carl Nielsen – Moderen (stage music)
 * Henrique Oswald – String Quartet No. 4 in C minor, Op. 46
 * Willem Pijper
 * Symphony No. 2
 * Trio No. 2 for violin, violoncello & piano
 * Sergei Prokofiev – Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Major
 * Camille Saint-Saëns
 * Oboe Sonata, Op. 166
 * Clarinet Sonata, Op. 167
 * Bassoon Sonata, Op. 168
 * Edgard Varèse
 * Offrandes
 * Amériques (1918–21)
 * Ralph Vaughan Williams
 * The Lark Ascending, version for violin & orchestra
 * A Pastoral Symphony
 * Heitor Villa-Lobos – Fantasia de Movimentos Mistos, for violin & orchestra
 * Arnold Schoenberg – Suite for Piano Op. 25
 * John Ireland – Two Pieces for Piano

Opera

 * Franco Alfano – La leggenda di Sakùntala
 * Nicolae Bretan – Luceafarul
 * Paul Hindemith – Mörder, Hoffnung der Frauen and Das Nusch-Nuschi (premiered together June 4 at Württembergisches Landestheater, Stuttgart)
 * Leoš Janáček – Káťa Kabanová
 * Hans Jelmoli – Die Badener Fahrt
 * Emmerich Kálmán – Die Bajadere
 * Pietro Mascagni – Il piccolo Marat

Film

 * Paul Hindemith - Im Kampf mit dem Berge

Musical theater

 * Bombo, Broadway production opened at Jolson's 59th Street Theatre on October 6 and ran for 213 performances
 * The Broadway Whirl, Broadway revue opened at the Times Square Theatre on June 8 and ran for 85 performances
 * The Golden Moth (Music: Ivor Novello) London production opened at the Adelphi Theatre on October 5.  Starring Bobbie Comber and Thorpe Bates.
 * Good Morning, Dearie, Broadway production opened at the Globe Theatre on November 1 and ran for 347 performances
 * Pot Luck London production opened at the Vaudeville Theatre on December 24.
 * The League of Notions London revue opened at the Oxford Theatre on January 17
 * The Rebel Maid London production opened at the Empire Theatre on March 12 and ran for 114 performances.
 * The Rose Girl (Music: Anselm Goetzl Book & Lyrics: William Carey Duncan) Broadway production opened at the Ambassador Theatre on February 11 and ran for 99 performances. Starring Mabel Withee, Charles Purcell and May Boley.
 * Sally, London production opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on September 10 and ran for 387 performances
 * Shuffle Along, Broadway production opened at the Daly's 63rd Street Theatre on May 23 and ran for 504 performances
 * Sybil, London production opened at Daly's Theatre on February 19 and ran for 346 performances

Births

 * January 10 – Helen Bonchek Schneyer, folk musician (d. 2005)
 * January 17 – Lorna Cooke deVaron, choral conductor (d. 2018)
 * January 22 – Arno Babajanian, composer (d. 1983)
 * January 26 – Eddie Barclay, music producer (d. 2005)
 * January 31
 * Carol Channing, musical comedy star (d. 2019)
 * Mario Lanza, operatic tenor and film star (d. 1959)
 * February 5 – Sir John Pritchard, British conductor (d. 1989)
 * February 13 – Jeanne Demessieux, French organist and composer (d. 1968)
 * February 16 – Vera-Ellen, dancer and actress (d. 1981)
 * February 20 - Ruth Gipps, composer (d. 1999)
 * February 26 – Betty Hutton, actress and singer (d. 2007)
 * March 2 – Robert Simpson, musicologist and composer (d. 1997)
 * March 6 – Julius Rudel, conductor (d. 2014)
 * March 8 – Cyd Charisse, dancer (d. 2008)
 * March 11 – Ástor Piazzolla, tango composer (d. 1992)
 * March 12 – Gordon MacRae, singer and actor (d. 1986)
 * March 21
 * Arthur Grumiaux, violinist (d. 1986)
 * Antony Hopkins, composer and music writer (d. 2014)
 * March 22 – Nino Manfredi, actor and film score composer (d. 2004)
 * March 27 – Phil Chess, born Fiszel Czyż, record producer (d. 2016)
 * March 28 - Rostislav Berberov, music theorist and musicologist (d. 1984)
 * April 1
 * Douglas Allanbrook, composer (d. 2003)
 * William Bergsma, composer (d. 1994)
 * Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith, musician and composer (d. 2014)
 * April 3 – Darío Moreno, Turkish singer and composer (d. 1968)
 * April 8
 * Alfie Bass, actor (Tevye in West End production of Fiddler on the Roof) (d. 1987)
 * Franco Corelli, operatic tenor (d. 2003)
 * April 22 – Cándido Camero, percussionist (d. 2020)
 * April 26 – Jimmy Giuffre, jazz musician (d. 2008)
 * May 17
 * Dennis Brain, horn virtuoso (d. 1957)
 * Bob Merrill, US songwriter (d. 1998)
 * May 23 – Humphrey Lyttelton, English jazz musician (d. 2008)
 * May 25 – Hal David – US lyricist (d. 2012)
 * May 26 – Inge Borkh, German soprano (d. 2018)
 * June 1 – Nelson Riddle, US conductor, composer and arranger (d. 1985)
 * June 3 – Betty Freeman, patron of classical music (d. 2009)
 * June 21
 * Judy Holliday, US actress and singer (d. 1965)
 * Jane Russell, US actress and singer (d. 2011)
 * June 24 – Peggy DeCastro, US singer born in the Dominican Republic, eldest of the DeCastro Sisters (d. 2004)
 * June 25 – Celia Franca, dancer and choreographer (d. 2007)
 * July 12 – Hilary Corke, writer and composer (d. 2001)
 * July 15 – Jack Beeson, American pianist and composer (d. 2010)
 * July 17
 * George Barnes, American swing jazz guitarist (d. 1977)
 * Mary Osborne, American jazz guitarist (d. 1992)
 * July 20 – Carmen Carrozza, accordionist (d. 2013)
 * July 24 – Giuseppe Di Stefano, opera singer (d. 2008)
 * July 30 – Grant Johannesen, American pianist (d. 2005)
 * August 3 – Richard Adler, American composer and lyricist (d. 2012)
 * August 4 – Herb Ellis, American guitarist (d. 2010)
 * August 7
 * Manitas de Plata, French Gitano flamenco guitarist (d. 2014)
 * Karel Husa, Czech-born classical composer (d. 2016)
 * August 9 – Lola Bobesco, Belgian violinist (d. 2003)
 * August 13 – Mary Lee, Scottish singer (d. 2022)
 * September 3 – Thurston Dart, English musicologist, conductor and keyboard player (d. 1971)
 * September 4 – Ariel Ramírez, Argentine composer (d. 2010)
 * September 8 – Sir Harry Secombe, Welsh singer and comedian (d. 2001)
 * September 19 – Billy Ward, R&B singer (The Dominoes) (d. 2002)
 * September 21 – Chico Hamilton, jazz drummer (d. 2013)
 * September 30 – Pedro Knight, Cuban musician, manager (d. 2007)
 * October 1 – James Whitmore, actor in film musicals (d. 2009)
 * October 21
 * Sir Malcolm Arnold, composer (d. 2006)
 * Jarmil Burghauser, conductor, composer and musicologist (d. 1997)
 * October 23 – Denise Duval, soprano (d. 2016)
 * October 25 – Little Hatch, blues musician (d. 2003)
 * November 5 – Georges Cziffra, pianist (d. 1994)
 * November 9 – Pierrette Alarie, soprano (d. 2011)
 * November 21 – Vivian Blaine, actress and singer (d. 1995)
 * November 23 – Fred Buscaglione, Italian singer, musician and songwriter (d. 1960)
 * December 3 – Phyllis Curtin, soprano (d. 2016)
 * December 4 – Deanna Durbin, singer and actress (d. 2013)
 * December 8 – Johnny Otis, blues musician (d. 2012)
 * December 15 – Alan Freed, disc jockey (d. 1965)
 * December 26 – Steve Allen, musician and comedian (d. 2000)

Deaths

 * January 23 – Władysław Żeleński, pianist, organist and composer (b. 1837)
 * February 8
 * George Formby Sr, singer (b. 1875; pulmonary tuberculosis)
 * Francisco D'Andrade, opera singer (b. 1856)
 * March 14 – Gustave Barnes, artist and musician (b. 1877)
 * March 24 – Déodat de Séverac, composer (b. 1872)
 * April 3 – Annie Louise Cary, operatic contralto (b. 1842)
 * April 5 – Alphons Diepenbrock, composer and writer (b. 1862)
 * April 7 – Víctor Mirecki Larramat, cellist (b. 1847)
 * April 20 – Tony Jackson, pianist, singer and composer (b. 1876; cirrhosis of the liver)
 * May 4 – Max Kalbeck, music writer and critic (b. 1850)
 * June 8 – Natalie Bauer-Lechner, viola player (b. 1858)
 * July 9 – Marianne Brandt, operatic contralto (b. 1842)
 * August 2 – Enrico Caruso, operatic tenor (b. 1873; peritonitis)
 * August 8 – Arthur Pougin, music critic (b. 1834)
 * September 27
 * Engelbert Humperdinck, composer (b. 1854; heart attack)
 * Zdzisław Birnbaum, violinist and conductor (b. 1878)
 * September 28 – Princess Pauline von Metternich, patron of composers including Wagner and Smetana (b. 1836)
 * October 4 – Sophie Stehle, operatic soprano (b. 1838)
 * November 20 – Christina Nilsson, operatic soprano (b. 1843)
 * November 25 – Théodore Lack, pianist (b. 1846)
 * November 29 – Ivan Caryll, composer of operettas (b. 1861; haemorrhage)
 * December 10 – Victor Jacobi, composer of operettas (b. 1883; illness)
 * December 16 – Camille Saint-Saëns, composer (b. 1835; tuberculosis)
 * December 25 – Hans Huber, composer (b. 1852)

title: 1921 in music