1890 in music

Events in the year 1890 in music.

Specific locations

 * 1890 in Norwegian music

Events

 * January 15 – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's The Sleeping Beauty (ballet) premieres at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg.
 * January–June period – George W. Johnson becomes the first African American to record phonograph cylinders, in New York.
 * June 21 – Richard Strauss conducts the premiere of his symphonic poem Death and Transfiguration at the Eisenach Festival.
 * September 3 – Carl Nielsen makes the first entry in his diary.
 * September 9 – Edward Elgar's concert overture Froissart is premiered at the Three Choirs Festival in Worcester.
 * December 6 – 7 – First full performance of Hector Berlioz's opera Les Troyens takes place at Karlsruhe, 21 years after the composer's death.
 * Charles-Marie Widor succeeds César Franck as organ professor at the Paris Conservatoire.
 * The New York Phonograph Company opens the first recording studio.



Published popular music

 * "The Commodore Song"
 * "I was Dreaming" – August Juncker
 * "Little Pig Went To Market" by J. Cheever Goodwin & Gustave Kerker
 * "Maggie Murphy's Home" w. Edward Harrigan m. David Braham
 * "Passing By" w. Robert Herrick m. Edward C. Purcell
 * "Star of the East" w. George Cooper m. Amanda Kennedy
 * "Throw Him Down McCloskey" w.m. John W. Kelly
 * "You'll Miss Lots of Fun When You're Married" by John Philip Sousa & Edward M. Taber

Recorded popular music

 * "Anvil Chorus" – John York AtLee
 * "Banjo Duet" – Bohee Minstrels
 * The Charge of the Light Brigade (bugle charge) – Trumpeter Martin Landfried
 * "Down upon the Suwannee River" – Professor Baton's Brass and String Military Band
 * "Everybody's Darling" – Duffy and Imgrund's Fifth Regiment Band
 * "La Media Noche" – United States Marine Band
 * "The Mocking Bird" – John York AtLee and Fred Gaisberg
 * "Semper Fidelis" – United States Marine Band
 * "The Song That Reached My Heart" – Duffy & Imgrund's Fifth Regiment Band
 * "Third verse of Mary & John, The Lover's Quarrel" – Will White
 * "The Thunderer" – United States Marine Band
 * "The Washington Post" – United States Marine Band

Classical music

 * Ferruccio Busoni – Violin Sonata No. 1, Opus 29
 * Ernest Chausson – Chansons de Shakespeare
 * Antonín Dvořák –
 * Requiem
 * Symphony No. 8
 * Edward Elgar – Froissart
 * Alexander Glazunov – Symphony No. 3, Opus 33
 * Armas Järnefelt – Ouverture Lyrique
 * Carl Nielsen – String Quartet No. 2 in F minor
 * Hans Pfitzner – Sonata in F-sharp minor for cello and piano
 * Alexander Scriabin – Romance for Horn and Piano
 * Jean Sibelius – Piano Quintet in G minor
 * Johann Strauss II – Rathausball-Tänze
 * Sergei Taneyev – String Quartet No. 1 Opus 4
 * William Robert Knox – Gladys Gavotte

Opera

 * Cavalleria Rusticana by Pietro Mascagni
 * Prince Igor begun by Alexander Borodin, completed by Alexander Glazunov and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
 * Queen of Spades by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
 * Thorgrim by Frederic H. Cowen with libretto by Joseph Bennett

Musical theater

 * The Gondoliers    Broadway production
 * Love And Law    Broadway production
 * Robin Hood    Chicago production
 * The Sentry    London production
 * Reilly And The 400 Broadway production

Births

 * February 25 – Myra Hess, pianist (d. 1965)
 * February 27 – Freddie Keppard, jazz cornetist (d. 1933)
 * March 12 – Evert Taube, writer, artist, composer and singer (d. 1976)
 * March 17 – Harold Morris, pianist and composer (d. 1964)
 * March 20
 * Beniamino Gigli, operatic tenor (d. 1957)
 * Lauritz Melchior, operatic tenor (d. 1973)
 * March 28 – Paul Whiteman, bandleader (d. 1967)
 * April 17 – Gussie Mueller, jazz clarinetist (d. 1965)
 * May 21 – Harry Tierney, songwriter, composer of "Irene" and "Rio Rita" (d. 1965)
 * June 6 – Ted Lewis, bandleader (d. 1971)
 * June 26 – Jeanne Eagels, Broadway star (d. 1929)
 * July 18 – Victor Dolidze, Soviet-Georgian composer (d. 1933)
 * August 12 – Lillian Evanti, operatic soprano (d. 1967)
 * August 15 – Jacques Ibert, composer (d. 1962)
 * August 28 – Ivor Gurney, poet and composer (d. 1937)
 * September 9 – Francis Bousquet, French composer of classical music (d. 1942)
 * September 15 – Frank Martin, composer (d. 1974)
 * September 26 – Papanasam Sivan, Carnatic music composer (d. 1973)
 * October 1 – Stanley Holloway, English actor and singer (d. 1982)
 * October 8 – Samuel Hoffenstein, screenwriter and composer (d. 1947)
 * October 13 – Gösta Nystroem, composer (d. 1966)
 * October 20 – Jelly Roll Morton, American pianist, bandleader and composer (d. 1941)
 * November 10 – Mischa Bakaleinikoff, musical director (d. 1960)
 * December 8 – Bohuslav Martinů, classical composer (d. 1959)

Deaths

 * January 8 – Giorgio Ronconi, operatic baritone (b. 1810)
 * January 16 – Arthur Byron, operatic tenor (b. 1846)
 * January 17 – Salomon Sulzer, cantor and composer (b. 1804)
 * January 20 – Franz Lachner, conductor and composer (b. 1803)
 * February 14 – Wilhelm Fitzenhagen, cellist and music teacher (b. 1848)
 * March 13 – Henry Wylde, conductor, composer, music teacher and critic (b. 1822)
 * April 16 – John Barnett, composer and music writer (b. 1802)
 * May 6 – Hubert Léonard, violinist (b. 1819)
 * May 28 – Viktor Nessler, composer (b. 1841)
 * June 3 – Oskar Kolberg, folklorist and composer (b. 1814)
 * June 30 – Samuel Parkman Tuckerman, composer (b. 1819)
 * July 22 – Caterina Canzi, opera singer (b. 1805)
 * October 7 – John Hill Hewitt, songwriter (b. 1801)
 * October 17 – Prosper Sainton, violinist (b. 1813)
 * October 28 – Alexander John Ellis, music theorist (b. 1814)
 * November 8 – César Franck, composer (b. 1822)
 * December 21 – Niels Gade, composer (b. 1817)
 * date unknown – Ostap Veresai, minstrel and kobzar (b. 1803)