1919 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1919.

List of years in music (table)
… 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 …
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Specific locations

• 1919 in British music
• 1919 in Norwegian music

Specific genres

• 1919 in country music
• 1919 in jazz

Events

• January 18 – The pianist Paderewski becomes Prime Minister of Poland.
• April 7 – The Original Dixieland Jazz Band brings Dixieland jazz to England, opening a 15-month tour at the Hippodrome, London.
• May 3 – The National Association of Negro Musicians is established in Washington, D.C. under the leadership of Nora Holt and Henry Grant.[1]
• July 22 – The Ballets Russes gives the world premiere of Manuel de Falla's ballet El sombrero de tres picos (The Three-Cornered Hat) in London.
• August – Josef Matthias Hauer devises his own twelve-tone technique of composition.
• August 19 – The Southern Syncopated Orchestra, visiting the UK, perform for King Edward VII of the United Kingdom.[2] Ernest Ansermet subsequently writes an enthusiastic review of the orchestra's performances in London, singling out Sidney Bechet – one of the first serious pieces of jazz criticism.
• October 27 – Edward Elgar's Cello Concerto is premiered in London with Felix Salmond as soloist; the performance is a disaster because Elgar (as conductor) is given inadequate rehearsal time with the London Symphony Orchestra.[3]
• The Louisiana Five are advertised as playing "Modern Jazz".
• Johan Wagenaar becomes director of the Royal Conservatory at the Hague.
• Elsie Griffin joins the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.
• Gustav Kobbé's guide The Complete Opera Book is first published (posthumously), in the United States.

Published popular music

Cover of sheet music "Dardanella", 1919

• "Abie My Boy" w.m. L.Silberman, A. Grock, Herbert Rule & Tom McGhee
• "Alcoholic Blues" w. Edward Laska, m. Albert Von Tilzer
• "Alexander's Band Is Back In Dixieland" w. Jack Yellen m. Albert Gumble
• "Alice Blue Gown" w. Joseph McCarthy m. Harry Tierney
• "All The Quakers Are Shoulder Shakers Down In Quaker Town" w. Bert Kalmar & Edgar Leslie m. Pete Wendling
• "And He'd Say, "Oo-La-La! Wee-Wee!"" w. George Jessel, m. Harry Ruby
• "Any Old Place With You" w. Lorenz Hart m. Richard Rodgers
• "Ask the Stars" by Frank M. Stammers
• "Baby, Won't You Please Come Home?" w.m. Charles Warfield & Clarence Williams
• "Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives To Me" w.m. Charles McCarron, Casey Morgan & Arthur Swanstrom
• "Breeze (Blow My Baby Back To Me)" w.m. Ballard MacDonald, Joe Goodwin & James F. Hanley
• "The Boys Who Won't Come Home" w. Harry Hamilton m. Ed. Thomas
• "Camp Meeting Blues" by Dabney's Band
• "Cielito Lindo" w.m. Quirino Mendoza y Cortez
• "Daddy Long Legs" w. Sam M. Lewis & Joe Young
• "Dardanella" w. Fred Fisher m. Felix Bernard & Johnny S. Black
• "Don't Dilly Dally on the Way" w.m. Fred W. Leigh & Charles Collins
• "Everybody Wants A Key To My Cellar" w.m. Ed Rose, Billy Baskette & Lew Pollack
• "Grönnens Laid", w. Geert Teis Pzn., m. G.R. Jager
• "Hold Me" w.m. Art Hickman & Ben Black
• "I Ain't Gonna Give Nobody None O' This Jelly Roll" w. Spencer Williams m. Clarence Williams
• "I Gave Her That" w. m. B. G. De Sylva & Al Jolson
• "I Lost My Heart In Dixieland" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "I Might be Your "Once-In-A-While"" w. Robert B. Smith m. Victor Herbert
• "I Never Realized" w.m. Cole Porter
• "I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate" w.m. Armand J. Piron

Sheet music cover for "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles"

• "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" w. John W. Kellette m. Jaan Kenbrovin (pseudonym of James Kendis, James Brockman and Nat Vincent)
• "Indian Summer" w. Al Dubin m. Victor Herbert Words 1939.
• "Irene" w. Joseph McCarthy m. Harry Tierney. Introduced by Edith Day in the musical Irene
• "I've Got My Captain Working for Me Now" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "Jazz Baby" w. Blanche Merrill & William Jerome m. William Jerome
• "Just Like a Gipsy" w.m. Seymour Simons & Nora Bayes
• "The Lamplit Hour" m. Arthur A. Penn, w. Thomas Burke
• "Let The Rest Of The World Go By" w. J. Keirn Brennan m. Ernest R. Ball
• "Letter Song" by William LeBaron
• "Little Girls, Goodbye" w. William LeBaron m. Victor Jacobi
• "Love Sends A Little Gift Of Roses" w. Leslie Cooke m. John Openshaw
• "Mah Lindy Lou" w.m. Lily Strickland
• "Mammy O' Mine" w. William Tracey m. Maceo Pinkard
• "Mandy" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "Mirandy" w.m. James Reese Europe, Noble Sissle & Eubie Blake
• "The Moon Shines On The Moonshine" w. Frank De Witt m. Robin Hood Bowers. Introduced by Harry Williams in the revue Ziegfeld Follies of 1919
• "My Baby's Arms" w. Joseph McCarthy m. Harry Tierney
• "My Isle Of Golden Dreams" w. Gus Kahn m. Walter Blaufuss
• "Nobody Knows (And Nobody Seems To Care)" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "O (Oh!)" w. Byron Gay m. Arnold Johnson
• "Oh By Jingo! (Oh By Gee, You're The Only Girl For Me)" w. Lew Brown m. Albert Von Tilzer
• "Oh How I Laugh When I Think How I Cried About You" w. Roy Turk & George Jessel, m. Willy White
• "Oh! What A Pal Was Mary" w. Edgar Leslie & Bert Kalmar m. Pete Wendling
• "Old-Fashioned Garden" w.m. Cole Porter
• "On Miami Shore" w. William LeBaron m. Victor Jacobi
• "On Patrol In No Man's Land" w.m. James Reese Europe, Noble Sissle & Eubie Blake
• "Open Up The Golden Gates To Dixieland And Let Me Into Paradise" w. Jack Yellen m. Gus Van & Joe Schenck
• "Peggy" w. Harry Williams m. Neil Moret
• "A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "Prohibition Blues" w. Ring Lardner m. Nora Bayes
• "Royal Garden Blues" w.m. Clarence Williams & Spencer Williams
• "Sahara (We'll Soon Be Dry Like You)" w. Alfred Bryan m. Jean Schwartz. Introduced in the musical Monte Cristo, Jr.

Sheet music cover for "Sipping Cider Through A Straw"

• "Sipping Cider Through A Straw" w.m. Carey Morgan & Lee David
• "Smilin' Through" w.m. Arthur A. Penn
• "Someday Sweetheart" w.m. John Spikes & Benjamin Spikes
• "Sugar Blues" w. Lucy Fletcher m. Clarence Williams
• "Swanee" w. Irving Caesar m. George Gershwin
• "Sweet Hawaiian Moonlight" w. Harold G. Frost m. F. H. Klickmann
• "Sweet Kisses That Came In The Night" w. Lew Brown & Eddie Buzzell m. Albert Von Tilzer
• "Take Me To The Land Of Jazz" m. Pete Wendling
• "Take Your Girlie To The Movies (If You Can't Make Love At Home)" w. Edgar Leslie & Bert Kalmar m. Pete Wendling
• "Tell Me" w. J. Will Callahan m. Max Kortlander
• "That Naughty Waltz" w. Edwin Stanley m. Sol P. Levy
• "There's More To The Kiss Than the X-X-X" w. Irving Caesar m. George Gershwin
• "Tulip Time" w. Gene Buck m. Dave Stamper
• "The Vamp" w.m. Byron Gay
• "Wait Till You Get Them Up In The Air, Boys" w. Lew Brown m. Harry Von Tilzer
• "What'll We Do On A Saturday Night When The Town Goes Dry" w.m. Harry Ruby
• "When Honey Sings An Old Time Song" w.m. Joseph B. Carey
• "When They're Old Enough To Know Better, It's Better To Leave Them Alone" w. Sam M. Lewis & Joe Young m. Harry Ruby
• "Who Played Poker With Pocahontas When John Smith Went Away?" w. Sam M. Lewis & Joe Young m. Fred Ahlert
• "Winnie The Window Cleaner" w.m. Herman Darewski
• "The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise" w. Eugene Lockhart m. Ernest Seitz
• "You Ain't Heard Nothing Yet" w.m. Al Jolson, Gus Kahn & B. G. DeSylva
• "You Cannot Make Your Shimmy Shake On Tea" w. Rennold Wolf m. Irving Berlin
• "You Didn't Want Me When You Had Me" w. Benee Russell & Bernie Grossman m. George J. Bennett
• "You'd Be Surprised" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "Your Eyes Have Told Me So" w. Gus Kahn & Egbert Van Alstyne m. Walter Blaufuss
• "You're A Million Miles From Nowhere When You're One Little Mile From Home" w. Sam Lewis & Joe Young m. Walter Donaldson

Hit recordings

• "Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives To Me" by Ted Lewis & His Jazz Band
• "You Ain't Heard Nothing Yet" by Al Jolson
• "How Ya Gonna Keep 'Em Down On The Farm" by Nora Bayes
• "A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody" by John Steel
• "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" by Ben Selvin's Novelty Orchestra
• "The Moon Shines on the Moonshine" by Bert Williams
• "O" by Ted Lewis & His Jazz Band
• "Alcoholic Blues" by Billy Murray
• "Saxophobia" by Rudy Wiedoeft
• "Jazz Baby" by Marion Harris
• "You'd Be Surprised" by Eddie Cantor
• "The Alcoholic Blues" by the Louisiana Five
• "Weary Blues" by Yellow Nunez and the Louisiana Five

Classical music

Rebecca Clarke holding her viola in 1919

• Arnold Bax – Tintagel
• Ernest Bloch – Suite for Viola and Orchestra
• Rebecca Clarke – Sonata for Viola and Piano
• Gabriel Fauré – Masques et bergamasques, Op. 112
• Robert Fuchs – Twelve Waltzes, Op. 110, for piano
• Louis Glass – Symphony No. 5 in C major, Op. 57, "Svastika"
• Peder Gram – Concerto for violin and orchestra in D major
• Charles Tomlinson Griffes – The Pleasure-Dome of Kubla Khan
• Johan Halvorsen – Norwegian Rhapsody No. 1
• Paul Hindemith – Sonata for viola and piano in F major, Op. 11, No. 4
• Dorothy Howell – Lamia
• Darius Milhaud
  • Poèmes de Francis Thompson, Op. 54
  • Les soirées de Pétrograd, Op. 55
  • Machines agricoles, 6 Pastorales for voice and chamber ensemble, Op. 56
  • Suite symphonique No. 2, Op. 57
  • Le bœuf sur le toit, Op. 58 (ballet)
  • Cinéma fantaisie for violin and chamber orchestra, Op. 58b
• Carl Nielsen – Aladdin (for theatre)
• Gabriel Pierné – Sonata for Cello and Piano
• Dane Rudhyar – Syntony
• Leo Sowerby – Concerto for Harp
• Charles Villiers Stanford – A Song of Agincourt
• Igor Stravinsky
  • The Firebird Suite No. 2
  • Piano-Rag-Music
  • Symphony in E-flat (revised version)
  • Three Pieces for Solo Clarinet
• Joaquín Turina
  • Niñerías, Series 1 Op. 21, for piano
  • Danzas fantásticas Op. 22, two versions: piano solo, and orchestra
• Heitor Villa-Lobos
  • Symphony No. 3, "A guerra" (War)
  • Symphony No. 4, "A vitória" (Victory)

Opera

• Abesalom da Eteri, by Zacharia Paliashvili
• Fennimore and Gerda, by Frederick Delius
• Die Frau ohne Schatten, opera by Richard Strauss (staged)
• Ihre Hoheit, die Tänzerin (Her Highness, the Dancer), operetta by Walter Goetze
• Keto da Kote, by Victor Dolidze
• The Moon Maiden by Rutland Boughton
• The Royal Guest by Hakon Børresen

Jazz

Main article: 1919 in jazz

Musical theater

• Afgar (lyrics by Douglas Furber, music by Charles Cuvillier and book by Fred Thompson and Worton David). London production opened at the Pavilion Theatre on September 17
• Apple Blossoms Broadway production
• Eastward, Ho! London production opened at the Alhambra Theatre on September 9
• George White's Scandals Broadway revue opened at the Liberty Theatre on June 2 and ran for 128 performances
• Irene Broadway production opened at the Vanderbilt Theatre on November 18 and ran for 670 performances
• Joy-Bells London production opened at the Hippodrome Theatre on March 25 and ran for 723 performances
• The Kiss Call Broadway production
• Linger Longer Letty (Music: Alfred Goodman Lyrics: Bernard Grosman Book: Anne Nichols. Broadway production opened at the Fulton Theatre on November 20 and ran for 69 performances. Starring Charlotte Greenwood.
• Monsieur Beaucaire London production opened at the Prince of Wales Theatre on April 19, transferred to the Palace Theatre on July 29 and ran for 221 performances
• Monsieur Beaucaire Broadway production opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre on December 11 and ran for 143 performances
• Monte Cristo Jr. Broadway production opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on February 12 and ran for 254 performances
• Oh, Boy! (musical) London production opened on January 27 at the Kingsway Theatre and ran for 167 performances
• The Red Mill London production opened at the Empire Theatre on December 26 and ran for 64 performances
• Sybil Vienna production
• Take It From Me Broadway production opened on March 31 at the 44th Street Theatre and ran for 96 performances
• The Whirligig opened at the Palace Theatre on December 23

Births

• January – Kaifi Azmi, Urdu and Hindi songwriter (d. 2002)
• January 1 – Yoshio Tabata, singer and guitarist (d. 2013)
• January 18 – Juan Orrego-Salas, Chilean-American composer
• January 22 – Sid Ramin, arranger
• January 25 – Eula Beal, operatic contralto (d. 2008)
• January 27 – Ross Bagdasarian (aka David Seville), of The Chipmunks (d. 1972)
• February 1 – Artie Singer, American songwriter, music producer, and bandleader (d. 2008)
• February 2 – Lisa Della Casa, Swiss soprano (d. 2012)
• February 13 – Tennessee Ernie Ford, country musician (d. 1991)
• March 10 – Marion Hutton, big band singer (d. 1987)
• March 15 – George Avakian, jazz record producer (d. 2017)
• March 17 – Nat King Cole, singer and pianist (d. 1965)
• March 19 – Alfred Apaka, Hawaiian singer (d. 1960)
• March 28 – D. K. Pattammal, Indian classical singer (d. 2009)
• April 3 – Ervin Drake, songwriter (d. 2015)
• April 14 – Karel Berman, opera singer and composer (d. 1995)
• April 16 – Merce Cunningham, dancer, choreographer (d. 2009)
• April 21
  • Don Cornell, singer (d. 2004)
  • Roger Doucet, tenor, regular performer of the Canadian national anthem (d. 1981)
• April 29 – Stephen Wilkinson, English conductor and composer
• May 3 – Pete Seeger, American folk singer (d. 2014)
• May 7 – La Esterella, Flemish singer (d. 2011)
• May 12 – Gerald Bales, Canadian organist and composer (d. 2002)
• May 16 – Liberace, American pianist (d. 1987)
• May 17 – Antonio Aguilar, Mexican singer, actor and producer (d. 2007)
• May 18 – Margot Fonteyn, born Margaret Hookham, English ballerina (d. 1991)
• May 19 – Georgie Auld, jazz musician (d. 1990)
• May 23 – Betty Garrett, actress and dancer (d. 2011)
• May 30 – Joe McQueen, American jazz saxophonist (d. 2019)
• June 11 – Helen Tobias-Duesberg, composer (d. 2010)
• June 17 – Gene de Paul, pianist and composer (d. 1988)
• June 22 – Gower Champion, dancer, choreographer and director (d. 1980)
• July 8 – Ernst Haefliger, Swiss tenor (d. 2007)
• July 10 – Ian Wallace, Scottish bass-baritone opera singer (d. 2009)
• July 27 – Jonathan Sternberg, American conductor, musical director and professor of music (d. 2018)
• July 31 – Norman Del Mar, conductor and music writer (d. 1994)
• August 11 – Ginette Neveu, violin virtuoso (d. 1949)
• August 13 – George Shearing, English jazz pianist and composer (d. 2011)
• August 17 – Irv Williams, African American jazz saxophonist (d. 2019)
• August 21 – Tommy Reilly, harmonica virtuoso (d. 2000)
• August 24 – Niels Viggo Bentzon, Danish composer (d. 2000)
• September 2 – Marge Champion, dancer and choreographer
• September 3 – Natalia Clare, ballerina (d. 2007)
• September 4 – Teddy Johnson, popular singer (d. 2018)
• September 16
  • Sven-Erik Bäck, composer (d. 1994)
  • Andy Russell, singer (d. 1992)
• September 21 – Virgilio Savona, Italian singer, songwriter (d. 2009)
• September 24 – Jack Costanzo, American percussionist (d. 2018)
• September 30 – Patricia Neway, operatic soprano and musical theatre actress (d. 2012)
• October 9 – Irmgard Seefried, operatic soprano (d. 1988)
• October 11 – Art Blakey, jazz drummer and bandleader (d. 1990)
• October 18 – Anita O'Day, singer (d. 2006)
• October 23 – Katie Lee, American folk singer (d. 2017)
• October 26 – James E. Myers, songwriter (d. 2001)
• November 5 – Myron Floren, accordionist (d. 2005)
• November 12 – Jackie Washington, Canadian singer-songwriter (d. 2009)
• November 15 – Carol Bruce, singer and actress (d. 2007)
• November 23 – Cláudio Santoro, composer (d. 1989)
• December 6 – Blaž Lenger, folk singer (d. 2006)
• December 8 – Mieczyslaw Weinberg, composer (d. 1996)
• December 10 – Sesto Bruscantini, operatic bass-baritone (d. 2003)
• December 21 – Nelson Cooke, Australian cellist (d. 2018)
• December 25
  • Naushad Ali, film score composer (d. 2006)
  • Curly Seckler, American bluegrass musician (d. 2017)

• December 30 – David Willcocks, British choral conductor, organist and composer (d. 2015)

Deaths

• February 4 – Yelizaveta Lavrovskaya, Russian mezzo-soprano (b. 1845)
• February 18 – Henry Ragas, jazz pianist (b. 1891)
• March 6 – Gialdino Gialdini, Italian composer and conductor (b. 1843)
• March 8 – Auguste Tolbeque, cellist and composer (b. 1830)
• March 23 – Henry Blossom, lyricist (b. 1866)
• April 9 – James Reese Europe, jazz musician and composer, band leader (b. 1881) (stabbed in fight)
• April 24 – Camille Erlanger, opera composer (b. 1863)
• April 25 – Augustus D. Juilliard, music patron (b. 1836)
• June 2 – Ernest Ford, conductor and composer (b. 1858)
• June 22 – Julian Scriabin, musical prodigy, pianist and composer (b. 1908) (drowned)
• August 1 – Oscar Hammerstein I, musical theatre impresario (b. 1847)
• August 4 – Ferdinand Thieriot, composer (b. 1838)
• August 9 – Ruggiero Leoncavallo, composer (b. 1857)
• August 18 – Anna Deinet, operatic soprano (b. 1843)
• September 11 – Géza Csáth, writer and musician (b. 1887)
• September 27 – Adelina Patti, opera singer (b. 1843)
• October 17 – Sven August Körling, composer of art songs (b. 1842)
• November 19 – Florencio Constantino, operatic tenor (b. 1869)
• December 16 – Luigi Illica, librettist (b. 1857)
• December 21 – Louis Diémer, pianist and composer (b. 1843)
• December 27 – Achilles Alferaki, statesman, artist and composer (b. 1846)
• December 31 – Marie van Zandt, operatic soprano (b. 1858)
• date unknown – Charles McCarron, songwriter (b. 1891)

References

1. Jones, Jae (2018-09-15). "Nora Douglas Holt: Co-founder of the National Association of Negro Musicians". Black Then. Retrieved 2019-06-24.
2. "London's jazz legends". History Features. London: BBC. 2014-09-24. Retrieved 2019-06-24.
3. Newman, Ernest (1919-11-02). "Music of the Week". The Observer. London.