1920 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1920.

Specific locations

 * 1920 in British music
 * 1920 in Norwegian music

Specific genres

 * 1920 in country music
 * 1920 in jazz

Events

 * January 19 – The Salzburg Festival is revived.
 * September 4 – City of Birmingham Orchestra (England) first rehearses (in a city police bandroom). Later this month, its first concert, conducted by Appleby Matthews, opens with Granville Bantock's overture Saul; in November it gives its "First Symphony Concert" when Edward Elgar conducts a programme of his own music in Birmingham Town Hall.
 * November 15 – First complete public performance of Gustav Holst's suite The Planets given in London by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Albert Coates.
 * December 4 – Première of the opera Die tote Stadt by 23-year-old Erich Wolfgang Korngold. It later becomes known that the librettist, "Paul Schott", is Korngold's father Julius.
 * December 30 – Pearl Hamilton (later with the Three X Sisters), plays piano with small jazz ensemble to appreciative audience at the Star Theater in New York City.
 * Mamie Smith's first blues recordings become a hit, alerting record companies to the African American market.
 * Hamilton Harty is appointed resident conductor of the Hallé Orchestra.
 * Henri Sauguet forms Groupe des Trois (the Group of Three) along with Louis Emié and Jean-Marcel Lizotte.
 * The Central Band of the Royal Air Force is formed in Britain.
 * The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra launches its Mahler festival.
 * Gabriel Fauré retires from the Paris Conservatoire, and is awarded the Grand-Croix of the Légion d'Honneur.

Publications

 * Stewart Macpherson – Melody and Harmony, Book 1. London: Stainer & Bell.

Published popular music



 * "After You Get What You Want, You Don't Want It" w.m. Irving Berlin
 * "All She'd Say Was "Umh Hum"" w.m. King Zany, Mac Emery, Gus Van & Joe Schenck
 * "All The Boys Love Mary" Gus Van & Joe Schenck
 * "Aunt Hagar's Blues" w.m. W. C. Handy
 * "Avalon" w.m. B. G. DeSylva, Al Jolson & Vincent Rose
 * "Blue Jeans"    w. Harry D. Kerr, m. Lou Traveller
 * "Bright Eyes" w. Harry B. Smith m. Otto Motzan & M. K. Jerome
 * "Broadway Rose" w. Eugene West m. Martin Fried & Otis Spencer
 * "Chanson" m. Rudolf Friml
 * "Chili Bean" w. Lew Brown m. Albert Von Tilzer
 * "Crazy Blues" w.m. Percy Bradford
 * "The Cuckoo Waltz" w. Arthur Kingsley m. J. E. Jonasson
 * "Daddy, You've Been A Mother To Me" w.m. Fred Fisher
 * "Do You Ever Think Of Me?" w. John Cooper & Harry D. Kerr m. Earl Burtnett
 * "Down By The O-HI-O (I've Got The Sweetest Little O, My ! O ! )" w. Jack Yellen m. Abe Olman
 * "Feather Your Nest" w.m. James Kendis, James Brockman & Howard Johnson
 * "The Gipsy Warned Me" w.m. R. P. Weston & Bert Lee
 * "Great Camp Meeting Day" w. Noble Sissle
 * "He Went In Like A Lion (And Came Out Like A Lamb)" w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Harry von Tilzer
 * "Home Again Blues" w.m. Harry Akst & Irving Berlin
 * "I Belong to Glasgow" w.m. Will Fyffe
 * "I Never Knew I Could Love Anybody Like I'm Loving You" w.m. Tom Pitts, Raymond B. Egan & Roy Marsh
 * "I Used To Love You, But It's All Over Now" w. Lew Brown m. Albert Von Tilzer
 * "I'd Love To Fall Asleep And Wake Up In My Mammy's Arms" w. Sam M. Lewis & Joe Young m. Fred E. Ahlert
 * "I'll Be With You In Apple Blossom Time" w. Neville Fleason m. Albert Von Tilzer
 * "I'll See You In C-U-B-A" w.m. Irving Berlin
 * "In a Persian Market" m. Albert William Ketèlbey
 * "The Japanese Sandman" w. Raymond B. Egan m. Richard A. Whiting
 * "Jellybean" by Jimmie Dupre, Sam Rosen, and Joe Verges
 * "Kalua" w. Anne Caldwell m. Jerome Kern
 * "La Veeda" w. Nat Vincent m. John Alden
 * "Left All Alone Again Blues" w. Anne Caldwell m. Jerome Kern
 * "Little Town In The Ould County Down" w. Richard Pascoe m. Monte Carlo & Alma Saunders
 * "Look for the Silver Lining" w. B. G. DeSylva m. Jerome Kern
 * "The Love Boat" by Gene Buck
 * "Love Nest" w. Otto Harbach m. Louis A. Hirsch
 * "Margie" w. Benny Davis m. Con Conrad & J. Russel Robinson
 * "Mary" w. Otto Harbach m. Louis A. Hirsch
 * "My Little Bimbo Down On A Bamboo Isle" w. Grant Clarke w. Walter Donaldson
 * "My Mammy" w. Sam M. Lewis & Joe Young m. Walter Donaldson
 * "My Man" w. (Eng) Channing Pollock (Fr) Albert Willemetz & Jacques Charles m. Maurice Yvain
 * "O'er The Hills To Ardentinny" w.m. Harry Lauder
 * "Old Pal Why Don't You Answer Me" w. Sam M. Lewis & Joe Young m. M. K. Jerome
 * "Pale Moon" w. Jesse Glick m. Frederick Knight Logan
 * "Palesteena" w.m. Con Conrad & J. Russell Robinson
 * "Polly" w. Leo Wood m. Jack Richmond
 * "Pretty Kitty Kelly" w. Harry Pease m. Ed G. Nelson
 * "Rose Of Washington Square" w. Ballard MacDonald m. James F. Hanley
 * "San" w.m. Lindsay McPhail & Walter Michels
 * "So Long, Oo Long" w. Bert Kalmar m. Harry Ruby
 * "Tell Me Little Gypsy" w.m. Irving Berlin
 * "That Old Irish Mother Of Mine" w. William Jerome m. Harry Von Tilzer
 * "Wang Wang Blues" w. Leo Wood m. Gus Mueller, Buster Johnson & Henry Busse
 * "When My Baby Smiles At Me" w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Billy Munro
 * "Where Do They Go When They Row, Row, Row?" w. Bert Kalmar & George Jessel, m. Harry Ruby
 * "Whispering" w. Malvin Schonberger m. John Schonberger
 * "White Army, Black Baron" w. Pavel Grigor'ev, m. Samuel Pokrass
 * "Whose Baby Are You?" w. Anne Caldwell m. Jerome Kern
 * "Wild Rose" w. Clifford Grey m. Jerome Kern
 * "A Young Man's Fancy" w. John Murray Anderson & Jack Yellen m. Milton Ager

Top Popular Recordings 1920
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 1920: Numerical rankings are approximate, they are only used as a frame of reference.

Classical music

 * Granville Bantock – Arabian Nights
 * Béla Bartók – Eight Improvisations on Peasant Songs
 * Arnold Bax – Phantasy for viola and orchestra
 * Arthur Bliss – The Tempest, overture and interludes;
 * Concerto for piano, tenor voice, strings and percussion
 * Rout (for soprano and chamber orchestra)
 * Ernest Bloch – Violin Sonata No. 1
 * Max Bruch - String Octet
 * Ferruccio Busoni – Piano Sonatina No. 6 (Fantasia da camera super Carmen),
 * Divertimento for flute and orchestra
 * Frederick Delius – Hassan
 * George Enescu – String Quartet No. 1 in E-flat major, Op. 22, No. 1
 * Gabriel Fauré – Masques et Bergamasques
 * Johan Halvorsen – Norwegian Rhapsody No. 2
 * Arthur Honegger – Pastorale d'été
 * Viola Sonata
 * Cello Sonata
 * Leoš Janáček – Ballad of Blanik (symphonic poem)
 * Darius Milhaud – Ballade (for piano and orchestra)
 * Le Boeuf sur le toit (ballet),
 * Francis Poulenc – Five Impromptus for Piano, Suite in C Major for Piano
 * Sergei Prokofiev – Five Songs without Words (for voice and piano)
 * Maurice Ravel – La Valse
 * Sonata for violin and cello
 * Camille Saint-Saëns - Odelette in D major Op. 162
 * Erik Satie – La Belle excentrique
 * Dmitri Shostakovich – Five Preludes for piano
 * Igor Stravinsky – Concertino for string quartet,
 * Pulcinella
 * Symphonies of Wind Instruments
 * Ralph Vaughan Williams – The Lark Ascending
 * Mass in G minor
 * Heitor Villa-Lobos – Symphony No. 5, "A paz" (Peace)

Opera

 * Vincent D'Indy – The Legend of St. Christoper
 * Clemens Freiherr von Franckenstein – Li-Tai-Pe
 * Henry Hadley – Cleopatra's Night
 * Leoš Janáček – The Excursions of Mr. Broucek on the Moon and in the 15th Century
 * Erich Korngold – Die tote Stadt
 * Ruggiero Leoncavallo – Edipo Re

Musical theatre

 * Afgar Broadway production opened at the Central Theatre on November 8 and ran for 168 performances
 * As You Were Broadway revue by Arthur Wimperis opened at the Central Theatre on January 27 and ran for 143 performances. Starring Sam Bernard, Irene Bordoni, Clifton Webb and Hugh Cameron.
 * The Beggar's Opera London production opened at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith on June 5 and ran for 1,463 performances
 * Die Blaue Mazur (The Blue Mazurka) (Music by Franz Lehár), Vienna
 * George White's Scandals Of 1920 Broadway revue opened at the Globe Theatre on June 7 and ran for 134 performances
 * The Gingham Girl Broadway production (music by Albert Von Tilzer) at the Central Theatre ran for 322 performances
 * Irene London production opened at the Empire Theatre on April 7 and ran for 399 performances
 * Johnny Jones London production opened at the Alhambra Theatre on June 1 and ran for 349 performances
 * Jumble Sale London revue opened at the Vaudeville Theatre on December 16 and ran for 176 performances
 * Just Fancy London production opened at the Vaudeville Theatre on March 26 and ran for 332 performances
 * Der letzte Walzer (The Last Waltz) (Music by Oscar Straus), Berlin
 * A Little Dutch Girl opened at the Lyric Theatre on December 1 and ran for 207 performances
 * The Night Boat Broadway production opened at the Liberty Theatre on February 2 and ran for 318 performances. Jeanette MacDonald made her first Broadway appearance as a member of the chorus.
 * A Night Out London production opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on September 18 and ran for 309 performances
 * Sally Broadway production opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre on December 21 and ran for 570 performances
 * The Shop Girl London revival opened at the Gaiety Theatre on March 25 and ran for 327 performances
 * Tickle Me ( Music: Herbert P. Stothart) Broadway production opened at the Selwyn Theatre on August 17 and ran for 207 performances. Starring Louise Allen, Allen Kearns and Frank Tinney.
 * Tip Top Broadway production opened at the Globe Theatre on October 5 and ran for 241 performances
 * Ziegfeld Follies of 1920 Broadway revue opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre on June 22 and ran for 123 performances, but ran most years until 1927.

Births

 * January 1
 * José Antonio Bottiroli, Argentine composer and poet (d. 1990)
 * Virgilio Savona, Italian singer and songwriter (Quartetto Cetra) (d. 2009)
 * Mahmoud Zoufonoun, Iranian-American violinist (d. 2013)
 * January 3 – Renato Carosone, Italian musician and singer (d. 2001)
 * January 5 – Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, pianist (d. 1995)
 * January 8 – Josef Josephi, Polish-born singer and actor (b. 1852)
 * January 14
 * Cris Alexander, American actor, singer, dancer, designer, and photographer (d. 2012)
 * Salvador Flores Rivera, Mexican composer and singer (d. 1987)
 * January 16 – Claude Abadie, French jazz clarinetist (died 2020)
 * January 18 – Jan Van Halen, musician, father of Eddie and Alex Van Halen (d. 1986)
 * February 2
 * Heikki Suolahti, Finnish composer (d. 1936)
 * Yuriko Amemiya, American dancer and choreographer (d. 2022)
 * February 7 – Oscar Brand, Canadian-born American folk singer, songwriter and author (d. 2016)
 * February 12 – Yoshiko Yamaguchi, Chinese-Japanese actress and singer (d. 2014)
 * February 13
 * Boudleaux Bryant, American songwriter (d. 1987)
 * Eileen Farrell, American soprano (d. 2002)
 * February 14 – Albert J. McNeil, American choral conductor, ethnomusicologist and author (d. 2022)
 * February 18 – Rolande Falcinelli, organist, pianist and composer (d. 2006)
 * February 23 – Hall Overton, composer, jazz pianist and music teacher (d. 1972)
 * February 26 – Henri Crolla, jazz guitarist and film composer (d. 1960)
 * February 28 – Albert Elms, light music composer (d. 2009)
 * March 10 – Boris Vian, French writer, poet, singer and musician (d. 1959)
 * March 16 – John Addison, British film composer (d. 1998)
 * March 17 – John La Montaine, American composer (d. 2013)
 * March 22 – Fanny Waterman, pianist and music educator (d. 2020)
 * March 23 – Geoffrey Bush, British composer, writer and broadcaster (d. 1998)
 * April 7 – Ravi Shankar, Indian sitarist (d. 2012)
 * April 12
 * The Cox Twins, music hall entertainers (Frank, d. 2007; Fred, d. 2013)
 * Anita Ellis, Canadian-American singer and actress (d. 2015)
 * April 21 – Bruno Maderna, conductor and composer (d. 1973)
 * April 23 – Louis Barron, film composer (d. 1989)
 * April 27 – Guido Cantelli, Italian conductor (d. 1956)
 * April 29 – Harold Shapero, composer (d. 2013)
 * May 2 – Jean-Marie Auberson, violinist and conductor (d. 2004)
 * May 4 – Ronald Chesney, harmonica player and comedy scriptwriter (d. 2018)
 * May 13 – Gareth Morris, flautist (d. 2007)
 * May 18 – Lucia Mannucci, Italian singer (Quartetto Cetra) (d. 2012)
 * May 20 – Betty Driver, British singer and actress (d. 2011)
 * May 21 – Bill Barber, jazz musician (d. 2007)
 * May 23 – Helen O'Connell, American big band singer (d. 1993)
 * May 26 – Peggy Lee, singer and songwriter (d. 2002)
 * June 6
 * Dino Asciolla, violinist (d. 1994)
 * Jan Rubeš, Czech-Canadian bass opera singer, actor (d. 2009)
 * Robert Turner, composer (d. 2012)
 * June 10 – Bonnie Davis, R&B singer (d. 1976)
 * June 11 – Hazel Scott, jazz/classical pianist and singer (d. 1981)
 * June 19 – Johnny Douglas, film composer and conductor (d. 2003)
 * June 20 – Danny Cedrone, American guitarist and bandleader (d. 1954)
 * June 25 – Ozan Marsh, American concert pianist (d. 1992)
 * June 26 – Leonid Hambro, pianist (d. 2006)
 * July 1 – Amália Rodrigues, Portuguese singer and actress (d. 1999)
 * July 13
 * Anna Halprin, American dancer (d. 2021)
 * Don Ralke, American music arranger (d. 2000)
 * July 14 – Marijohn Wilkin, American country and gospel songwriter (d. 2006)
 * July 19 – Robert Mann, American violinist (d. 2018)
 * July 20
 * Carmen Carrozza, Italian-born American accordionist (d. 2013)
 * Thanga Darlong, Indian folk musician (d. 2023)
 * July 21
 * Isaac Stern, Ukrainian-born violinist (d. 2001)
 * Manuel Valls, Spanish composer (d. 1984)
 * July 23 – Amália Rodrigues, Portuguese fado singer and actress (d. 1999)
 * July 31 – Walter Arlen, Austrian-born American composer (d. 2023)
 * August 7 – Françoise Adret, French ballet dancer, choreographer (d. 2018)
 * August 8
 * Leo Chiosso, Italian lyricist (d. 2006)
 * Jimmy Witherspoon, blues singer (d. 1997)
 * August 26 – Emil Cadkin, film composer (d. 2020)
 * August 29 – Charlie Parker, jazz musician (d. 1955)
 * September 3 – Chabuca Granda, Peruvian singer and composer (d. 1983)
 * September 7 – Al Caiola, American guitarist, composer, arranger (d. 2016)
 * September 14 – Cascarita [a.k.a. Orlando Guerra], Cuban music singer (d. 1975)
 * September 17 – Jean Perrin, composer (d. 1989)
 * September 23
 * Alexander Arutiunian, Armenian composer (d. 2012)
 * Mickey Rooney, actor and entertainer (d. 2014)
 * September 25 – Anne Triola, American actress, singer and musician (d. 2012)
 * September 28 – Irma Baltuttis, singer and entertainer (d. 1958)
 * October 5 – Vincent DeRosa, American musician (d. 2022)
 * October 9 – Yusef Lateef, American jazz musician and composer (d. 2013)
 * October 13 – Albert Hague, songwriter (d. 2001)
 * October 24 – Steve Conway, British singer (d. 1952)
 * October 27 – Nanette Fabray, actress and singer (d. 2018)
 * October 31 – Joseph Gelineau, French composer (d. 2008)
 * November 23 – Enrico De Angelis, Italian singer and entrepreneur (d. 2018)
 * December 6 – Dave Brubeck, jazz pianist (d. 2012)
 * December 13 – Teo Usuelli, Italian film composer (d. 2009)
 * December 14 – Clark Terry, American jazz musician and composer (d. 2015)
 * December 19 – Little Jimmy Dickens, American country music singer-songwriter (d. 2015)
 * December 31 – Rex Allen, American actor, singer and songwriter (d. 1999)

Deaths

 * January 8 – Maud Powell, violinist (b. 1867; heart attack)
 * January 16 – Reginald De Koven, US music critic and composer (b. 1859)
 * January 18 – Giovanni Capurro, poet, co-writer of "O Sole Mio" (b. 1859)
 * January 21 – John Henry Maunder, composer (b. 1858)
 * January 24 – William Percy French, songwriter (b. 1854; pneumonia)
 * February 2 – Theo Marzials, singer and composer (b. 1850)
 * February 11 – Gaby Deslys, dancer and actress (b. 1881; Spanish flu)
 * February 12 – Émile Sauret, violinist and composer (b. 1852)
 * February 23 – Alexander Ilyinsky, music teacher and composer (b. 1859)
 * March 20 – Eva Mylott, operatic contralto (b. 1875; domestic accident)
 * April 4 – Carl Bohm, pianist and composer (b. 1844)
 * April 8 – Charles Griffes, composer (b. 1884; Spanish flu)
 * April 19 – Mathilde Mallinger, lyric soprano (b. 1847)
 * May 6 – Hortense Schneider, operatic soprano (b. 1833)
 * May 25 – Georg Jarno, composer of operettas (b. 1868)
 * May 28 – Hardwicke Rawnsley, hymn-writer (b. 1851; heart attack)
 * June 27 – Adolphe-Basile Routhier, lyricist (b. 1839)
 * June 28 – Pauline Rita, singer and actress (b. c.1842; long illness)
 * July 17 – Dorothy Goetz, first wife of Irving Berlin (b. 1892; typhoid)
 * July 26 – Carlos Troyer, composer (b. 1837)
 * August 13 – Carlos Hartling, German-born composer of the Honduras national anthem (b. 1869)
 * August 29 – Gustav Jenner, composer and conductor (b. 1865)
 * October 1 – Vladimir Rebikov, Russian pianist and composer (b. 1866)
 * October 2 – Max Bruch, composer (b. 1838)
 * October 16 – Alberto Nepomuceno, composer and conductor (b. 1864)
 * November 6 – Maria Waldmann, operatic mezzo-soprano associated with Verdi (b. 1844)
 * December 14 – George J. Gaskin, singer (b. 1863)
 * December 31 – Paloke Kurti, Albanian composer (b. 1860)