| Year |
World Events |
Significant Musical Events |
Composer Births & Deaths |
| 1900 |
· Boxer Rebellion (China) begins
· First transmission of human voice by radio waves
· Formulation of quantum theory
· Deaths of Oscar Wilde & Stephen Crane
· Sigmund Freud: Interpretation of Dreams
· Renoir: Nude in the Sun |
· Rimsky-Korsakov: Flight of the Bumblebee
· Puccini: Tosca
· Mahler: Symphony #4
· Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius
· Charpentier: Louise |
· Ernst Krenek born
· Aaron Copland born
· Arthur Sullivan died |
| 1901 |
· Death of Queen Victoria
· Boxer Rebellion ends
· President McKinley assassinated, succeeded by Theodore Roosevelt
· First Mercedes-Benz manufactured
· Gaugin: The Gold in Their Bodies |
· Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto #2 in C Minor
· Rachmaninov: Cello Sonata in G Minor
· Ravel: Water Games
· Enescu: Roumanian Rhapsody
· Glazunov: The Seasons
· Elgar: Pomp & Circumstance March #1
· Elgar: Cockaigne Overture
· Richard Strauss: Feuersnot
· Stanford: Much Ado About Nothing
· Dvorak: Rusalka |
Giuseppe Verdi died |
| 1902 |
· Portugal declares bankruptcy
· US granted control of Panama Canal
· End of Boer War (South Africa)
· Egypt's Aswan Dam goes into operation
· Gaugin: Riders by the Sea
· Monet: Waterloo Bridge
· Conan Doyle: Hound of the Baskervilles
· Beatrix Potter: Peter Rabbit |
· Hubert Parry: I Was Glad
· Grainger: Irish Tune from County Derry
· Debussy: Pelleas et Melisande
· Mahler: Symphony #5
· Cilea: Adrianna Lecouvrer
· Cecile Chaminade: Flute Concertino
· Charles Ives: Symphony #2
· Sibelius: Symphony #2
· German: Merrie England
· Delius: Appalachia
· Lehar: Der Rastelbinder
· First Enrico Caruso recording |
William Walton born |
| 1903 |
· The Wright Brothers: 1st successful flight
· Invention of the electrocardiograph
· Ford Motor Company founded
· G. B. Shaw: Man and Superman
· Jack London: The Call of the Wild
· Film The Great Train Robbery, at 12 minutes, is longest movie to date. |
· Herbert: Babes in Toyland
· Rachmaninov: Preludes, Op. 23
· Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D Minor
· Ravel: String Quartet in F
· Richard Strauss: Domestic Symphony
· Debussy: Estampes
· Hugo Alfven: Swedish Rhapsody #1
· Verdi's Ernani becomes first recorded opera
· Elgar: The Apostles
· D'Albert: Tiefland
· Wolf-Ferrari: Le Donne Curiose
· Manen: Giovanna di Napoli
· Bruckner: Symphony #9
· Delius: Sea Drift |
Hugo Wolf died |
| 1904 |
· Russia and Japan at war
· Hottentot rebellion (South Africa)
· Yellow fever epidemic in Panama Canal Zone ended, digging commences
· St. Louis, MO is site of first Olympic games held on American soil
· James Barrie: Peter Pan |
· Puccini: Madame Butterfly
· Sibelius: Valse Triste
· Mahler: Kindertotenlieder
· Mahler: Symphony #6 (Tragic)
· Janacek: Jenufa
· Scriabin: Symphony #3 (Divine Poem)
· Busoni: Piano Concerto in C
· Glazunov: Violin Concerto in A Minor
· Charles Ives: Symphony #3 (Camp Meeting) |
· Luigi Dallapiccola born
· Antonin Dvorak died |
| 1905 |
· Turmoil in Russia (street protests, mutiny aboard the Potemkin, defeats of Russian army due to Russo-Japanese war)
· Founding of Sinn Fein (Dublin)
· Einstein: Special Theory of Relativity
· Pittsburg, PA is site of first movie theatre
· Henri Rousseau: Jungle With a Lion |
· Lehar: The Merry Widow
· Ravel: Miroirs
· Richard Strauss: Salome
· Debussy: La Mer
· Debussy: Images for Piano, Book 1
· Elgar: Introduction and Allegro
· Herbert: The Red Mill
· Sir Thomas Beecham makes conducting debut |
Michael Tippett born |
| 1906 |
· Sinai Peninsula ceded to Egypt by Turkey
· Cuba occupied by US troops
· Typhoid Mary, responsible for spreading typhus, is located and jailed
· Upton Sinclair's novel The Jungle causes Congress to pass the Pure Food & Drug Act
· San Francisco destroyed by earthquake |
· Josef Suk: Asreal Symphony
· Sibelius: Pohjola's Daughter
· Mahler: Symphony #8 (Symphony of a Thousand)
· Charles Ives: Central Park in the Dark
· Charles Ives: The Unanswered Question
· Dame Ethyl Smyth: The Wreckers
· Salzburg holds Mozart Festival
· Elgar: The Kingdom
· Massenet: Ariane |
Dmitri Shostakovich born |
| 1907 |
· US President Roosevelt freezes Japanese immigration into the States
· Russian monk Rasputin rises in power
· Conditioned reflexes researched by Pavlov
· Lenin founds Proletarian newspaper
· Mother's Day (US) established
· Invention of slow-motion film effect |
· Rachmaninov: Symphony #2 in E Minor
· Delius: Brigg Fair
· Percy Grainger: Molly on the Shore
· Debussy: Images for Piano, Book 2
· Max Reger: Hiller Variations
· Leo Fall: The Dollar Princess
· Dukas: Ariane et Barbe Bleu
· Delius: A Village Romeo and Juliet |
· Edvard Grieg died
· Joseph Joachim died |
| 1908 |
· Austria occupies Bosnia/Herzegovina
· Assassination of Portuguese King and heir
· More than 100,000 die in Sicilian earthquake
· First Model T auto produced
· Berlin is site of first steel and glass building |
· Albeniz: Iberia
· Delius: In A Summer Garden
· Bartok: Violin Concerto #1
· Ravel: Gaspard de la nuit
· Ravel: Rhapsodie Espagnole
· Debussy: Childrens' Corner Suite
· Scriabin: Poem of Ecstasy
· Elgar: Symphony #1 in A Flat
· Oskar Straus: The Chocolate Soldier
· Leo Fall: The Girl in the Train |
· Herbert von Karajan born
· Oliver Messiaen born
· Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov died
· Pablo de Sarasate died |
| 1909 |
· William H. Taft is 27th US President
· Coup d'etats in Turkey and Persia
· First commercial manufacture of plastics
· North Pole explored by Robert Peary
· Freud lectures about psychotherapy in US
· Picasso: Harlequin |
· Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto #3 in D Minor
· Rachmaninov: The Isle of the Dead
· Vaughan Williams: A Sea Symphony
· Vaughan Williams: The Wasps
· Rimsky-Korsakov: The Golden Cockerel
· Richard Strauss: Elektra
· Mahler: Symphony #9
· Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde
· Wolf-Ferrari: The Secret of Susan
· Liadov: Kikimora
· Webern: Five Movements for String Quartet
· Lehar: The Count of Luxembourg |
|
| 1910 |
· South Africa Party founded by Botha
· Portuguese Revolution
· Congress passes Mann Act
· Founding of NAACP
· Reappearance of Halley's Comet coincides with death of Mark Twain |
· Rachmaninov: Preludes, Op. 32
· Vaughan Williams: Thomas Tallis Fantasia
· Delius: The Walk to the Paradise Garden
· Puccini: The Girl of the Golden West
· Debussy: Preludes, Book 1
· Stravinsky: The Firebird
· Scriabin: Poem of Fire
· Elgar: Violin Concerto in B Minor
· Berg: String Quartet, Op. 3
· Massenet: Don Quichotte
· Lehar: Gypsy Love
· Herbert: Naughty Marietta |
|
| 1911 |
· Assassination of Russian Premier Stolypin
· Chinese Civil War ends Manchu dynasty
· South Pole explored by Roald Amundsen
· Marie Curie wins Nobel Prize (Chemistry)
· The Mona Lisa stolen from the Louvre
· Edith Wharton: Ethan Frome |
· Delius: Summer Night on the River
· Ravel: Mother Goose Ballet
· Richard Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier
· Prokofiev: Piano Concerto #1 in D Flat
· Stravinsky: Petrushka
· Granados: Goyescas
· Elgar: Symphony #2 in E Flat
· Wolf-Ferrari: I Guoielli Della Madonna
· Schoenberg: The Manual of Harmony
· Lehar: Eva
· Ravel: L'Heure Espagnole |
Gustav Mahler died |
| 1912 |
· Strikes by British coal miners & dockworkers
· Renewal of German/Austrian/Italian alliance
· More than 1500 die in sinking of Titanic
· American Jim Thorpe's Olympic medals and records are stripped from him when it's learned that he had played baseball for pay
· Jung: The Theory of Psychoanalysis |
· Rachmaninov: Vocalise
· Delius: On Hearing the First Cuckoo of Spring
· Ravel: Valse Nobles et Sentimentales
· Ravel: Daphnis et Chloe
· Richard Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos
· Percy Grainger: Handel in the Strand
· Debussy: Images for Orchestra
· Prokofiev: Piano Sonata #2 in D Minor
· Schoenberg: Pierre Lunaire
· Schreker: Der Ferne Klang
· Leopold Stokowski named conductor of Philadelphia Symphony |
· Jules Massenet died
· Samuel Coleridge-Taylor died |
| 1913 |
· Woodrow Wilson is 28th US President
· US introduces federal income tax
· Arrest of Mahatma Gandhi for leading Indian Passive Resistance Movement against British
· First auto assembly line (Ford Motor Co.)
· Invention of Geiger Counter
· George Bernard Shaw: Pygmalion |
· Holst: St. Paul's Suite
· Vaughan Williams: A London Symphony
· Debussy: Jeux
· Debussy: Preludes, Book 2
· Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring — Paris riots
· Elgar: Falstaff
· Charles Ives: String Quartet #2
· Webern: Five Pieces for Orchestra
· De Falla: Vida Breve
· Victor Herbert: Sweethearts
· Bruno Walter takes directorship at Munich Opera |
Benjamin Britten born |
| 1914 |
· World War I begins
· Panama Canal opens for business
· Wright Brothers win right to patent airplanes
· Goddard begins first rocket experiments
· Lincoln Memorial designed
· Edgar Rice Burroughs: Tarzan of the Apes |
· Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending
· Berg: Three Pieces for Orchestra
· Ernst von Dohnanyi: Variations on a Nursery Song
· De Falla: Seven Popular Spanish Songs
· Reger: Mozart Variations
· Erik Satie: Sports et Divertissements
· Charles Ives: Three Places in New England
· Charles Ives: General Booth Enters into Heaven |
Sviatoslav Richter born |
| 1915 |
· Cruise ship Lusitania sunk by German U-boat as Europe is ravaged in World War I
· Tetanus epidemic amongst soldiers
· Alexander Graham Bell and his assistant Thomas Watson make first coast-to-coast telephone call
· Einstein states General Theory of Relativity
· E. Lee Masters: Spoon River Anthology
· W. Somerset Maugham: Of Human Bondage |
· Rachmaninov: Vespers
· Sibelius: Symphony #5 in E Flat
· Bartok: Roumanian Folk Dances
· Richard Strauss: An Alpine Symphony
· Debussy: Etudes
· Prokofiev: Scythian Suite
· De Falla: Nights in the Gardens of Spain
· De Falla: El Amor Brujo
· Zemlinsky: String Quartet #2
· Charles Ives: Piano Sonata #2 (Concord) |
· Alexander Scriabin died
· Emil Waldteufel died |
| 1916 |
· World War I continues
· Pancho Villa raids New Mexico
· Invention of underwater ultrasound
· Matisse: The Three Sisters
· James Joyce: Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man |
· Parry: Jerusalem
· Holst: The Planets
· Respighi: Fountains of Rome
· Szymanowski: Violin Concerto #1
· Szymanowski: Symphony #3 (Song of the Night)
· Charles Ives: Symphony #4
· Erich Korngold: Violanta
· Dame Ethel Smythe: The Boatswain's Mate
· Leo Fall: Die Rose von Stambul |
· Yehudi Menuhin born
· Max Reger died |
| 1917 |
· World War I continues
· Bolshevik Revolution in Russia: Lenin and Trotsky assume leadership roles
· Widespread food shortages/famine |
· Satie's opera Parade debuts with sets and costumes designed by Pablo Picasso
· Bridge: Cello Sonata in D Minor
· Respighi: Ancient Airs & Dances, Suite 1
· Bartok: The Wooden Prince
· Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin
· Prokofiev: Symphony #1 (Classical)
· Prokofiev: Violin Concerto #1 in D
· Pfitzner: Palestrina
· Busoni: Turandot & Harlequin
· Rombert: Maytime |
|
| 1918 |
· World War I ends
· Irish Home Rule abandoned by Parliament
· The beginning of 3 year worldwide flu epidemic
· Daylight Saving Time introduced (US) |
· Puccini: Il Trittico
· Bartok: Bluebeard's Castle
· Percy Grainger: Country Gardens
· Stravinsky: L'Histoire du Soldat
· Janacek: Taras Bulba
· Charles Griffes: Poem
· Erik Satie: Socrates
· Boston Symphony conductor Karl Muck arrested and charged with being an 'enemy alien'
· Mrs. Elizabeth Coolidge begins the first Tanglewood Festival |
· Leonard Bernstein born
· Cesar Cui died
· Arrigo Boito died
· Claude Debussy died
· Hubert Parry died |
| 1919 |
· Prohibition becomes law (US)
· Russia and Finland at war
· Race riots in Chicago
· Founding of RCA Corporation
· 'Black Sox' World Series scandal
· Carl Sandburg wins Pulitzer Prize |
· Bax: Tintagel
· Respighi: The Fantastic Toyshop
· Richard Strauss: Die Frau ohne Schatten
· De Falla: The Three-Cornered Hat
· Milhaud: Le Boeuf sur Le Toit
· Elgar: Cello Concerto in E Minor
· Poulenc: Le Bestiare
· Kreisler: Apple Blossoms
· Oskar Straus: The Last Waltz
· First concert by the Los Angeles Symphony
· Julliard School of Music founded |
Ruggero Leoncavallo died |
| 1920 |
· League of Nations formed
· International Court of Justice established at The Hague (Denmark)
· Women get the right to vote per the 19th Amendment (US)
· Adolf Hitler makes waves with his 25-point economic program at Hofbrauhaus
· Sacco and Vanzetti arrested, tried and convicted in double-murder (US)
· 200,000+ die in Chinese earthquake
· World's first radio station opens (Britain)
· Boston Red Sox sell Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees for $125,000
· Cabinet of Dr. Caligari: first horror film |
· Turina: Danzas Fantasticas
· Ravel: La Valse
· Stravinsky: Pulcinella
· Stravinsky: Symphony for Wind Instruments
· D'Indy: The Legend of St. Christopher
· Erich Wolfgold: The Dead City
· Lehar: The Blue Mazurka
· Henry Hadley: Cleopatra's Night |
· Charles Griffes died
· Max Bruch died |
| 1921 |
· Warren Harding is 29th US President
· Germany's World War I economic liability is fixed at $33.25 billion
· Prince Hirohito comes to power in Japan
· Former President Taft made US Supreme Court Chief Justice
· Picasso: Three Musicians |
· Vaughan Williams: A Pastoral Symphony
· Vaughan Williams: Mass in G Minor
· Delius: Violin Concerto
· George Antheil: Airplane Sonata
· Ibert: Escales (Ports of Call)
· Prokofiev: The Love for Three Oranges
· Prokofiev: Piano Concerto #3 in C
· Darius Milhaud: Saudades do Brasil
· Edgar Varese: Ameriques
· Honneger: King David
· Janacek: Katya Kabynova
· Kunnecke: The Cousin from Nowhere |
· Enrico Caruso died
· Camille Saint-Saens died
· Deodat de Severac died
· Engelbert Humperdinck died |
| 1922 |
· Mahatma Gandhi sentenced to jail for 6 years
· Benito Mussolini forms Fascist government (Italy)
· Formation of the U.S.S.R.
· Tomb of King Tut discovered
· Invention of self-winding wristwatch
· First systematic use of insulin for diabetes
· Ulysses by James Joyce is published: US Post Office burns 500 copies upon arrival |
· Howard Hanson: Symphony #1 (Nordic)
· Walton: Façade
· Bax: Symphony #1
· Bliss: A Color Symphony
· Hindemith: Sancta Susanna
· Nielsen: Symphony #5
· Respighi: Gregorian Concerto
· Stravinsky: Mavra |
|
| 1923 |
· President Harding dies in office, Calvin Coolidge becomes 30th US President
· More than 100,000 die in Japanese earthquake
· Teapot Dome scandal (US)
· Hyperinflation in Germany: $1 equals four million Deutschmarks
· Russia adopts Gregorian calendar
· Sigmund Freud: The Ego and The Id |
· Cantaloube: Songs of the Auvergne
· Kodaly: Hungarian Psalms
· Prokofiev: The Fiery Angel
· Stravinsky: Octet
· Stravinsky: The Wedding
· Zemlinsky: Lyric Symphony
· Darius Milhaud: La Creation du Monde
· Faure: Piano Trio in D Minor
· Edgar Varese: Octandre
· Holst: The Perfect Fool
· Honegger: Pacific 231
· De Falla: Master Peter's Puppet Show
· Bartok: Dance Suite |
Maria Callas born |
| 1924 |
· Hitler, sentenced to five years imprisonment, is released after only eight months
· Japanese immigrants are again barred from coming to the US
· J. Edgar Hoover named FBI Director
· First Winter Olympics (Chamonix, France)
· Leopold & Loeb get life sentences for murder |
· Respighi: Ancient Airs & Dances, Suite 2
· Respighi: The Pines of Rome
· Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue
· Puccini: Turandot
· Ravel: Tzigane
· Janacek: The Cunning Little Vixen
· Eugene Ysaye: Six Violin Sonatas, Op. 27
· Francis Poulenc: Les Biches
· Berg: Chamber Concerto
· Sibelius: Symphony #7
· Stravinsky: Piano Concerto |
· Giacomo Puccini died
· Ferruccio Busoni died
· Gabriel Faure died
· Victor Herbert died
· Sir Charles V. Stanford died |
| 1925 |
· Hitler publishes Mein Kampf: Nazi party reorganizes with him as leader
· Nellie Ross is first woman governor (US)
· Scopes 'Monkey' Trial
· First successful television transmission
· New Yorker magazine begins publication |
· Gershwin: Piano Concerto in F
· George Antheil: Mechanical Ballet
· Berg: Wozzeck
· Edgar Varese: Integrales
· Bax: Symphony #2
· Copland: Symphony for Organ/Orchestra
· Lehar: Paganini
· Nielsen: Sinfonia Semplice
· Shostakovich: Symphony #1
· Copland wins first Guggenheim Fellowship |
Pierre Boulez born
· Erik Satie died
· Moritz Moszkowski died
· Leo Fall died |
| 1926 |
· Founding of fascist youth organizations in Italy and Germany
· First rocket propelled by liquid fuel fired
· The first 16mm movie produced by Kodak
· Death of Rudolph Valentino
· Hemingway: The Sun Also Rises
· A.A. Milne - Winnie the Pooh |
· Warlock: Capriol Suite
· Szymanowski: King Roger
· Sibelius: Tapiola
· Kodaly: Harry Janos
· Bartok: The Miraculous Mandarin
· Ernst Krenek: Jonny Spielt Auf
· Janacek: The Makropoulos Affair
· Janacek: Sinfonietta for Orchestra
· Janacek: Glagolitic Mass
· De Falla: Concerto for Harpsichord & Quintet
· Jongen: Symphonie Concertante
· Berg: Lyric Suite
· Hindemith: Cardillac
· Honegger: Judith |
|
| 1927 |
· Post WWI Allied control of Germany ends
· Germany's economic system collapses
· Charles Lindbergh flies Spirit of St. Louis from New York to Paris
· Abe Saperstein organizes Harlem Globetrotter
· Babe Ruth hits 60 home runs
· Sinclair Lewis: Elmer Gantry |
· Bridge : There Is A Willow
· Gliere: The Red Poppy
· Stravinsky: Oedipus Rex
· Jaromir Weinberger: Schwanda the Bagpiper
· Lehar: The Tsarevich
· Darius Milhaud: Le Pauvre Matelot
· Roussel: Piano Concerto in G Major
· Shostakovich: Symphony #2
· The Theremin is first electronic music instrument |
|
| 1928 |
· Norman Thomas is first Socialist candidate in U.S. Presidential election
· Chiang Kai-Shek is Chinese President
· Brazil's economy collapses (coffee crisis)
· Amelia Earhart flies across the Atlantic
· First color television is demonstrated
· First Mickey Mouse cartoon
· Stephen Vincent Binet wins Pulitzer
· D.H. Lawrence: Lady Chatterly's Lover |
· Respighi: Roman Festivals
· Gershwin: An American in Paris
· Ravel: Bolero
· Stravinsky: The Fairy's Kiss
· Poulenc: Concert Champetre
· D'Albert: The Black Orchid
· Marion Bauer: Lament on African Themes
· Honegger: Rugby
· Lehar: Frederika
· Kurt Weill: Three-Penny Opera
· Richard Strauss: Die Aegyptische Helena
· Stravinsky: Apollo Musagetes |
Leos Janacek died |
| 1929 |
· Herbert Hoover is 31st US President
· US Stock Market crash, start of Great Depression and world economic crisis
· Graf Zeppelin makes first global flight
· St. Valentine's Day Massacre (Chicago)
· Introduction of movies with sound
· William Faulkner: The Sound and The Fury
· Hemingway: A Farewell to Arms
· Thomas Wolfe: Look Homeward, Angel |
· Prokofiev: The Prodigal Son
· Walton: Viola Concerto
· George Antheil: Transatlantic
· Copland: Symphonic Ode
· Noel Coward: Bitter Sweet
· Hindemith: Neues vom Tage
· Lehar: The Land of Smiles
· Walter Piston: Suite No. 1 |
|
| 1930 |
· Discovery of Planet Pluto
· Nazi party gains 100+ seats in German legislature in election
· All works by Trotsky banned in Boston
· Dashiell Hammett: The Maltese Falcon
· Grant Wood: American Gothic |
· BBC Symphony formed: Sir Adrian Boult leads
· Kodaly: Dances of Marosszek
· Ravel: Piano Concerto for the Left Hand
· Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms
· Janacek: From the House of the Dead
· Howard Hanson: Symphony No. 2 (Romantic)
· William Grant Still: Afro-American Symphony
· Milhaud: Christopher Columbus |
· Cosima Wagner died
· Siegfried Wagner died |
| 1931 |
· Spain's King Alfonso XIII goes into exile
· German economic crisis tandems with general Central European monetary woes
· Al Capone jailed for tax evasion
· Pearl S. Buck: The Good Earth
· Robert Frost wins Pulitzer Prize
· Formation of Jehovah's Witnesses
· Boris Karloff stars in Frankenstein |
· Vaughan Williams: Job
· Ferde Grofe: Grand Canyon Suite
· Bartok: Piano Concerto #2
· Ravel: Piano Concerto in G
· Stravinsky: Violin Concerto in D
· Walton: Belshazzar's Feast
· Varese: Ionisation
· Star Spangled Banner becomes US anthem |
· Vincent D'Indy died
· Carl Nielsen died
· Eugene Ysaye died |
| 1932 |
· India's congress dissolved; arrest of Ghandi
· Hindenburg beats Hitler in German Presidential election
· Famine in Russia
· Work begins on Golden Gate bridge
· Aldous Huxley: Brave New World; |
· Respighi: Ancient Airs & Dances, Suite 3
· Poulenc: Concerto for Two Pianos in D Minor
· Barber: School for Scandal
· Bax: Symphony No. 5
· Britten: Sinfonietta
· Prokofiev: Piano Concerto #5
· Sir Thomas Beecham founds London Phil. Orch. |
· John Philip Sousa died
· Eugene D'Albert died |
| 1933 |
· Franklin Delano Roosevelt becomes 32nd US President
· Reichstag fire in Berlin
· German economic crisis deepens
· Hitler granted dictatorial powers
· Electronic television developed by Philo T. Farnsworth; |
· Franz Schmidt: Symphony #4
· Kodaly: Dances of Galanta
· Prokofiev: Lt. Kije
· Copland: The Short Symphony
· Harris: Symphony No. 1
· R. Strauss: Arabella |
|
| 1934 |
· Death of German President Hindenburg, Hitler elected Fuhrer
· US Great Depression prompts revaluation of dollar
· Notorious gangster John Dillinger ambushed in front of theatre
· James Hilton: Goodbye, Mr. Chips
· Miller: Tropic of Cancer |
· Rachmaninov: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
· Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on Greensleeves
· Ibert: Flute Concerto
· Britten: A Simple Symphony
· Hindemith: Mathis der Maler
· Thomson: Four Saints in Three Acts
· Webern: Concerto for Nine Instruments
· Berg: Wozzeck
· Lehar: Giuditta
· Shostakovich: Lady Macbeth of Mtensk |
· Edward Elgar died
· Frederick Delius died
· Gustav Holst died
· Franz Schreker died |
| 1935 |
· Nazi government abandons Versailles Treaty and begins systematic persecution of Jews
· Social Security Act passed in US
· First use of radar to detect airplanes
· Chiang Kai-Shek takes power in China |
· Gershwin: Porgy and Bess
· Berg: Lulu
· Prokofiev: Violin Concerto #2 in G Minor
· Sessions: Violin Concerto
· Walton: Symphony #1 in B Flat |
· Paul Dukas died
· Alban Berg died |
| 1936 |
· Edward VIII becomes King of England as rumors swirl about his relationship with American divorcee Wallis Simpson
· Hitler and Mussolini form Berlin/Rome Axis
· China declares war on Japan
· Civil War in Spain
· Jesse Owens wins 4 Olympic Gold Medals
· Bruno Hauptmann convicted for kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindbergh's baby |
· Barber: Adagio for Strings
· Barber: Symphony #1
· Bartok: Music for Celeste, Percussion & Strings
· Copland: El Salon Mexico
· Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf
· Thomson: The Plow that Broke the Plains
· Milhaud: Suite Provencale
· Varese: Density 21.5
· Webern: Piano Variations
· R. Strauss: Die Schweigsame Frau |
Ottorino Respighi died |
| 1937 |
· US/Japanese relations deterioriate after sinking of US gunboat Panay by Jap. aircraft
· US declares neutrality in European conflict
· Edward VIII abdicates English throne to marry Wallis Simpson
· Aviatrix Amelia Earhart disappears during trans-Pacific flight
· Steinbeck: Of Mice and Men
· Pablo Picasso: Guernica |
· Barber: Essay #1 for Orchestra
· Britten: Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge
· Stravinsky: A Game of Cards
· Thomson: The River
· Orff: Carmina Burana
· Walton: Crown Imperial Coronation March
· Milhaud: Scaramouche
· Poulenc: Mass
· Shostakovich: Symphony #5 |
· Maurice Ravel died
· George Gershwin died
· Albert Roussel died |
| 1938 |
· Hitler names himself War Minister
· Japanese install puppet Chinese government
· Italy passes Anti-Jewish legislation
· Ball-point pen invented
· Thornton Wilder: Our Town
· Radio broadcast of 'War of the Worlds' causes panic in cities, Orson Welles becomes famous because of it |
· Piston: The Incredible Flutist
· Kabalevsky: Colas Breugnon
· Vaughan Williams: Serenade to Music
· Bartok: Violin Concerto #2
· Martinu: Julietta
· Copland: Billy the Kid
· Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky
· Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet
· Stravinsky: 'Dumbarton Oaks' Concerto
· Korngold: The Adventures of Robin Hood
· Webern: String Quartet
· Poulenc: Organ Concerto in G Minor |
|
| 1939 |
· World War II erupts in Europe
· Ironically, the European war causes boon in US economy from materiels orders
· Adolf Hitler: Mein Kampf
· Steinbeck: The Grapes of Wrath
· Movies: Gone with the Wind & Wizard of Oz |
· Castelnuevo-Tedesco: Guitar Concerto #1 in D
· Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez
· Kodaly: Peacock Variations
· Martinu: Double Concerto
· Copland: Quiet City
· Harris: Symphony #3
· Walton: Violin Concerto |
|
| 1940 |
· World War II: food rationing in UK; Paris falls to the Germans; beginning of nighttime bombing of London (the 'Blitz')
· FDR re-elected to unprecendented third Presidential term
· Hemingway: For Whom the Bell Tolls
· Jung: The Interpretation of Personality |
· Rachmaninov: Symphonic Dances
· Barber: Violin Concerto
· Thompson: Alleluia
· Stravinsky: Symphony in C
· Webern: Variations for Orchestra |
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| 1941 |
· World War II: Stalin consolidates power in Russia; Japan bombs Pearl Harbor; United States officially enters conflict; Hitler's army invades Russia, advances on Moscow
· Film: Citizen Kane
· Discovery of plutonium |
· Manuel Ponce: Concerto of the South
· William Schuman: Symphony #3
· Harris: Folk Song Symphony
· Walton: Scapino
· Tippett: A Child of Our Time
· Britten: Violin Concerto
· Shostakovich: Symphony #7 (Leningrad) |
Ignace Jan Paderewski died |
| 1942 |
· World War II: Northern Africa laid siege by German 'Desert Fox' Erwin Rommel; US inters more than 100,000 Japanese-Americans in camps; Bataan Death March; Battle of Midway; Battle of Guadalcanal; systematic murder of Jews in Nazi concentration camps
· C.S. Lewis: The Screwtape Letters
· First successful splitting of the atom
· First automatic computer
· Invention of magnetic recording tape |
· Khachaturian: Gayne
· Barber: Essay #2 for Orchestra
· Copland: Fanfare for the Common Man
· Copland: Rodeo
· Britten: A Ceremony of Carols
· R. Strauss: Capriccio |
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| 1943 |
· World War II: Unable to defeat Russians, Hitler's forces retreat using 'scorched earth' policy; Allied forces invade Italy; Mussolini is forced out of office; Italy surrenders;
· James Thurber: Men, Women and Dogs
· First use of penicillin as medicine |
Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra
· Copland: A Lincoln Portrait
· Hindemith: Symphonic Metamorphoses
· Poulenc: Figure Humaine
· Vaughan Williams: Symphony #5
· William Schuman wins first Pulitzer Prize for music with 'Secular Cantata #2' |
Sergei Rachmaninov died |
| 1944 |
· World War II: D-Day invasion; small group of German officers attempt to assassinate Hitler; 'Desert Fox' Rommel commits suicide after being implicated in Hitler plot; Germany launches V-2 rockets on Britain; Battle of the Bulge begins
· Maugham: The Razor's Edge
· Williams: The Glass Menagerie |
· Copland: Appalachian Spring
· Prokofiev: Symphony #5 in B Flat
· Bernstein: Fancy Free
· Walton: Henry V
· Bartok: Violin Concerto
· Shostakovich: Symphony #8
· R. Strauss: Die Liebe der Danae
· Prokofiev: War and Peace
· Piston: Symphony #2 |
Dame Ethyl Smythe died |
| 1945 |
· World War II: FDR dies, Vice-President Harry Truman becomes 33rd US President; Allies continue to win key victories; Hitler commits suicide; Germany surrenders; Mussolini executed by mob of Italian citizens; Truman orders use of atomic bombs against Japan in August; Japan surrenders
· Trial of war criminals begins at Nuremberg
· Orwell: Animal Farm
· Waugh: Brideshead Revisited
· Thurber: The Thurber Carnival |
· Bartok: Viola Concerto
· Bartok: Piano Concerto #3
· R. Strauss: Metamorphosen
· Britten: Peter Grimes
· Prokofiev: Cinderella
· Stravinsky: Symphony in Three Movements
· Kodaly: Missa Brevis |
· Bela Bartok died
· Pietro Mascagni died |
| 1946 |
· First session of the United Nations
· Juan Peron wins Argetine presidential election
· Nuremberg War Crimes Trial ends with top Nazi officers' convictions
· Japanese emperor made figurehead without real power
· Warren: All the King's Men
· Benjamin Spock: Baby & Child Care
· Chester Carlson invents xerography |
· Barber: Medea
· Copland: Symphony #3
· Britten: A Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra
· Gian Carlo Menotti: The Medium
· Hindemith: The Four Temperaments
· Korngold: Violin Concerto in D
· Waxman: Carmen Fantasy
· Britten: The Rape of Lucretia |
· Granville Bantock died
· Manuel de Falla died |
| 1947 |
· Jews & Arabs reject British plan to divide Palestine for creation of separate states
· Publication of Diary of Anne Frank
· Invention of the transistor
· First supersonic flight
· Discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls
· Jackie Robinson breaks the color barrier in Major League Baseball
· Williams: A Streetcar Named Desire |
· Durufle: Requiem
· Thomson: The Mother of Us All
· Walton: String Quartet in A Minor
· Poulenc: Les Mamelles de Tiresias
· Britten: Albert Herring
· Orff: Die Bernauerin
· Maria Callas makes professional debut
· Pablo Casals retires from public performance 'for as long as (Generalissimo) Franco is in power.' |
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| 1948 |
· Passing of the Marshall Plan
· Creation of modern country of Israel
· Assassination of Mahatma Ghandi
· First systematic use of antibiotics
· Peter Goldmark invents the LP record
· Michener: Tales of the South Pacific |
· R. Strauss: Four Last Songs
· Copland: Clarinet Concerto
· Copland: The Red Pony
· Stravinsky: Mass
· Thomson: Louisiana Story
· Hanson: Piano Concerto #1
· Messiaen: Turangalila Symphony
· Britten: Beggar's Opera
· Schoenberg: Survivor from Warsaw |
· Franz Lehar died
· Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari died
· Umberto Giordanno died |
| 1949 |
· China becomes Communist nation with Mao Tse-Tung its leader
· Lifting of Berlin blockade
· USSR develops and tests atomic weapons
· Miller: Death of a Salesman
· Orwell: 1984 |
· Bliss: The Olympians
· Britten: Let's Make An Opera
· Orff: Antigonae
· Bernstein: The Age of Anxiety |
Richard Strauss died |
