1903 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1903.

Specific locations

 * 1903 in Norwegian music

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 –  ("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, songwriter (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)
 * Verna Osborne, soprano (d. 2006)
 * 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
 * Robert Planquette, French composer, 54
 * January 31 – Meyer Lutz, conductor and composer, 73
 * February 2 – Marc Burty, music teacher and composer, 75
 * February 17 – Joseph Parry, organist and composer, 61
 * February 22 – Hugo Wolf, Austrian composer, 62 (syphilis)
 * February 23 – Friedrich Grützmacher, cellist, 70
 * March – Eugène Cormon, French librettist, 92
 * March 5 – Thomas Ryan, viola and clarinet player, 75
 * March 14 – Ernest Legouvé, opera librettist (born 1807)
 * 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
 * May 9 – Giuseppe Cremonini, operatic tenor, 36
 * May 15 – Sibyl Sanderson, operatic soprano, 38 (pneumonia)
 * June – Constance Bache, pianist, composer and music teacher, 57
 * June 29 – Rentarō Taki, Japanese pianist and composer, 23 (tuberculosis)
 * July 27 – Lina Sandell, Swedish poet and hymn-writer 70
 * July 28 – Rosine Stoltz, French mezzo-soprano 88
 * September 4 – Hermann Zumpe, conductor and composer, 53
 * 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