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)