1896
Italy renounces its protectorate over Ethiopia • Turks accept self-government for Crete • British forces begin the re-conquest of Sudan • France annexes the island of Madagascar • Scientist Alfred Nobel (Swed) dies; Nobel prizes instituted • The Olympic Games are revived in Athens • Henry Ford (US) makes his first automobile • Antoine Henri Becquerel (Fr) detects radiation from uranium • Akseli Gallen-Kallela (Fin) paints Defense of the Sampo • Paul Cezanne (Fr) paints Annecy Lake • Anton Chekhov (Russ): play The Seagull • Theodor Herzl (Aus): The Jewish State, advocating the founding of a Jewish state in Palestine
1897
William McKinley becomes the 25th President of the USA • Crete unites with Greece • Turkey declares war on Greece and defeats Greek forces in Thessaly; Russia and Austria intervene to end the war • In China, German troops occupy Tsingtao, and Russian forces take Port Arthur • Physician Ronald Ross (Scot) identifies the cause of malaria • Felix Hoffmann at Bayer AG synthesises acetylsalicylic acid to make ‘Aspirin’ • Camille Pissarro (Fr) paints Boulevard Montmartre au printemps • Henri Rousseau (Fr) paints The Sleeping Gypsy • Edmund Rostand (Fr): Cyrano de Bergerac • H. G. Wells (Eng): The Invisible Man • Abraham (Bram) Stoker (Ire): Dracula
1898 USA declares war on Spain over the Cuban rebellion; ends with Treaty of Paris: Cuba gains independence and Spain cedes Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines to the USA • The US annexes Hawaii • Emile Zola writes an open letter, ‘J’Accuse’, to the French president in the case of officer Alfred Dreyfus; Zola is sentenced for libel, but flees to England • Scientists Marie and Pierre Curie (Fr) discover radium • Auguste Rodin (Fr) sculpts The Kiss • Henri Matisse (Fr) paints Maisons a Fenouillet • Henry James (US): The Turn of the Screw • H. G. Wells (Eng): The War of the Worlds
1899
In South Africa, war begins between British and Boers • The USA faces insurrection of the Philippines • Britain acquires Tonga and Savage islands • A Geneva conference establishes a permanent international Court of Arbitration at The Hague, Netherlands • Motor omnibuses are introduced in London, England • Monet (Fr) paints Bridge over a Pond of Water Lilies • Paul Gauguin (Fr) paints Maternity • Peder S. Krcyer (Nor/Den) paints Summer Evening on Skagen’s Beach • Leo Tolstoy (Russ): The Resurrection • Joseph Conrad (Pol/UK): Heart of Darkness (first published in Blackwood’s Magazine) • Zoologist Ernst Heinrich Haeckel (Ger): The Riddle of the Universe
1900
Hawaii becomes a territory of the USA • Britain annexes Orange Free State and Transvaal; guerrilla warfare follows • Boxer Rebellion: European legations in Peking are besieged by Chinese Nationalists; an international coalition relieves them • The Commonwealth of Australia becomes an independent British Dominion • Physicist Max Planck (Ger) develops the quantum theory of light • Walter Reed (US) discovers the transmission of yellow fever by mosquitoes • Paul Signac (Fr) paints The Papal Palace, Avignon • Childe Hassam (US) paints New York, Late Afternoon, Winter • Sigmund Freud (Aus): The Interpretation of Dreams • Anton Checkov (Russ): Uncle Vanya

Theodor Herzl (Hebrew: תאודור הֶרְצֵל Te'odor Hertsel, 2 May 1860 – 3 July 1904; Hebrew name given at his brit milah Binyamin Ze'ev (Hebrew: בִּנְיָמִין זְאֵב),[1] also known in Hebrew as חוֹזֵה הַמְדִינָה, Chozeh HaMedinah, lit. "Visionary of the State") was an Austro-Hungarian journalist, playwright, political activist, and writer who was the father of modern political Zionism. Herzl formed the Zionist Organization and promoted Jewish immigration to Palestine in an effort to form a Jewish state. Though he died before its establishment, he is known as the father of the
State of Israel.
1896
Antonin Dvorak composes four symphonic poems inspired by the Czech poet K. J. Erben: The Water Goblin, The Noon Witch, The Golden Spinning-Wheel and The Wild Dove (Opp. 107-110).
Antonin Dvorak - The Noon Witch (Polednice), op 108
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
Václav Talich, conductor
1954
Antonín Dvořák - The Golden Spinning Wheel (Zlatý kolovrat) Op.109
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
Sir Charles Mackerras, Conductor
Antonín Dvořák - The Wild Dove (Holoubek) Op.110
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
Sir Charles Mackerras, Conductor
Antonín Dvořák - The Water Goblin Op.107
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
Sir Charles Mackerras, Conductor
2008
Gustav Mahler composes his Third Symphony and completes the revisions to Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer).
Gustav Mahler - Symphony No 3
Anna Larsson, contralto
Arnold Schoenberg Chor
Tolzer Knabenchor
Lucerne Festival Orchestra
Claudio Abbado, conductor
Lucerne, August 2007
Gustav Mahler - Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen
Sarah Connolly mezzo-soprano
BBC Symphony Orchestra
David Robertson conductor
Alexander Scriabin composes his Piano Concerto in F-sharp minor.
Alexander Scriabin - Piano Concerto in F sharp minor, Op. 20
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, 1999
- Conductor: Pierre Boulez
- Soloist: Anatol Ugorski
00:00 - I. Allegro
07:48 - II. Andante
16:30 - III. Allegro moderato
7 March
Gilbert and Sullivan’s final comic operetta, The Grand Duke, makes little impression at the Savoy Theatre, London.
THE GRAND DUKE (Gilbert & Sullivan) Act I
Duke Ellington Theater, Georgetown, Washington DC
May 1996
THE GRAND DUKE (Gilbert & Sullivan) Act II
28 March
Umberto Giordano's historical verismo opera Andrea Chenier opens to wild applause at La Scala, Milan.
Umberto Giordano - Andrea Chenier
Opera Nazional De Paris - 18.12.2009
ANDREA CHENIER - Marcello Alvarez
CARLO GERARD - Sergei Murzaev
MADDALENA DI COIGNY - Micaela Carosi
13 April
John Philip Sousa - El Capitan
El Capitan is an operetta in three acts by John Philip Sousa and has a libretto by Charles Klein (with lyrics by Charles Klein and Tom Frost).
John Philip Sousa's El Capitan (Part 1)
John Philip Sousa's El Capitan (Part 2)
John Philip Sousa's El Capitan (Part 3)
20 May
Virtuoso pianist and composer Clara Schumann dies in Frankfurt, aged 76.

5 January
Pepita Jiménez is a lyric comedy or comic opera with music written by the Spanish composer Isaac Albéniz. The original opera was written in one act and used an English libretto by Albéniz's patron and collaborator, the Englishman Francis Money-Coutts, which is based on the novel of the same name by Juan Valera.
Albéniz - Sorozábal: Pepita Jiménez
Pepita: TERESA BERGANZA
Luis: JULIÁN MOLINA
Antoñona: INES RIVADENEIRA
Don Pedro: ANTONIO BLANCAS
Vicario: VICTOR DE NARKE
Conde de Genazahar: Rubén Garcimartín
Oficial 1º: Ramón Regidor
Oficial 2º: Luis Frutos
Coro de voces blancas solistas: Discípulos de Lola Rodríguez de Aragón
Coro Cantores de Madrid (dir: José Perera)
Maestro concertador: Julián Perera
ORQUESTA SINFÓNICA
Director: PABLO SOROZÁBAL, 1967
23 January
Edward MacDowell's Indian Suite, based on Native American music, enthrals its first audience at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. His Piano Concerto No. 1 (1882) also shares the programme. Later this year MacDowell becomes the first appointed professor of music at Columbia University.
Edward MacDowell - Suite No. 2, Indian, Op 48
1. Legend
2. Love Song
3. In War-Time
4. Dirge
5. Village Festival
The Royal Phiharmonic Orchestra
Karl Krueger, conductor
1 February
Giacomo Puccini’s opera La boheme, based on a story by Henry Murger, is introduced under Toscanini at the Teatro Regio, Turin. The critics are unenthusiastic, but their reviews have no impact: premieres follow in no less than 20 countries over the next two years, including Argentina, Mexico and Egypt.
2 March
Pietro Mascagni - Zanetto
Zanetto is an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci. It received its first performance on 2 March 1896 at the Liceo Musicale Rossini in Pesaro.
P. Mascagni - Zanetto
Teatro dell'Opera Giocosa - Savona
Orchestra Sinfonica di Savona
Conductor Bruno Aprea - Director Beppe De Tomasi
Scenographer Monica Bocchi
Silvia - Denia Mazzola Gavazzeni (soprano)
Zanetti - Romina Basso (mezzo-soprano)
7 June
Hugo Wolf's opera Der Corregidor (The Magistrate) is first staged in Mannheim.
"DER CORREGIDOR" - Hugo Wolf
Helen Donath--Soprano
Doris Soffel--Mezzo-soprano
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau--Baritone
Peter Maus--Tewnor
Helmuts Berger-Tuna--BAss
Kurt Moll--Bass
Werner Hollweg--Tenor
Gerd Albrecht--Conductor
Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, 1985
11 October
Anton Bruckner dies in Vienna, aged 72, leaving the finale of his Ninth Symphony unfinished. Thousands join his funeral procession three days later.

Anton Bruckner - Symphony No 9 in D minor
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Leonard Bernstein
31 October
American composer and pianist Amy Beach, aged 29, witnesses her Gaelic Symphony triumph at its official premiere in Boston.
Amy Beach - Symphony in E-minor, Op.32 "Gaelic"
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Neeme Järvi
27 November
Richard Strauss conducts the first performance of his tone poem Also sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spake Zarathustra) in Frankfurt.
Richard Strauss - Also sprach Zarathustra
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra - Gustavo Dudamel
Salzburg, 2014
27 December
Inspired by a short story by Turgenev, Ernest Chausson's Poeme for violin and orchestra premieres in Nancy, France.
Ernest Chausson - Poème for violin and orchestra, op. 25
Vadim Repin - voilin
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra - Zubin Mehta - conductor
1897
23 January
Engelbert Humperdinck introduces ‘Sprechgesang’ (speech-song) in the melodrama Konigskinder (The Kings Children), wrhich enjoys a rapturous reception in Munich. The composer transforms the work into a fully sung opera for a New York premiere in 1910.th.
Engelbert Humperdinck - "Königskinder"
Die Gänsemagd: Helen Donath
Der Königssohn: Adolf Dallapozza
Der Spielmann: Hermann Prey
Der Besenbinder: Gerhard Unger
Der Holzhacker: Karl Ridderbusch
Die Hexe: Hanna Schwarz
Frau: Gudrun Greindl-Rosner
Ratsältester: Theodor Nicolai
Schneider: Friedrich Lenz
Stallmagd: Ortrun Wenkel
Torwächter: Paul Hansen; Peter Schranner
Wirt: Günter Wewel
Wirtstöchter: Heidrun Ankerson; Brigitte Lindner
Tölzer Knabenchor
Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks
Münchner Rundfunkorchester - Heinz Wallberg
29 May
Austrian composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold is born in Brno.
8 September
Gustav Mahler becomes director of the Vienna Court Opera, and is obliged to convert from Judaism to Roman Catholicism.
.13 November
Paul Delius’s fantasy overture Over the Hills and Far Away is performed for the first time in Elberfeld, Germany.
Frederick Delius - Over the Hills and Far Away
Sir Thomas Beecham conducts Royal Philharmonic Orchestra [EMI]
11 March
Henry Cowel born.
12 March
Vinceny d’lndy's opera Fervaal is staged for the first time at the Theatre de la Monnaie in Brussels.
Vincent d'Indy - FERVAAL - Prologue
Guilhen : Sophie Fournier
Fervaal : Rodrigo Orrego
Arfagard : Philippe Rouillon
Chor und Extrachor des Stadttheaters Bern
Berne Symphony Orchestra, 2009
27 November
Francesco Cilea - L'arlesiana
L'arlesiana is an opera in three acts by Francesco Cilea to an Italian libretto by Leopoldo Marenco. It was originally written in four acts, and was first performed on 27 November 1897 at the Teatro Lirico in Milan.
Cilea - L'Arlesiana
Callegari, conductor
Rancatore - Canonici - Servile - Porcelli
1996, Parma
3 April
Johannes Brahms dies in Vienna, aged 63.
His funeral is held three days later, with Dvorak and Busoni among the mourners. He is laid to rest in the Zentralfriedhof, close to the graves of Beethoven and Schubert.

6 May
Ruggero Leoncavallo’s La boheme is first performed at the Teatro Fenice in Venice. Failing to match the cohesion and emotional intensity of Puccini's version (1896), his opera struggles for recognition from the outset.
Ruggero Leoncavallo - LA BOHEME
Marcello : Angelo Lo Forese
Rodolfo : Guido Mazzini
Schaunard : Fernando Lidonni
Barbemousche : Giorgio Tadeo
Colline e il Visconte Paolo : Osvaldo Scrigna
Gaudenzio / Durand : Walter Brunelli
Il signore del primo piano : Antonio Petrini
Musetta : Bianca Maria Casoni
Mimì : Florida Assandri Norelli
Eufemia : Maja Sunara
Orchestra Sinfonica della Rai di Milano
Direttore Pietro Argento , 1963
18 May
Paul Dukas conducts the first performance of his symphonic poem L'apprenti sorcier (The Sorcerers Apprentice) at the Societe Nationale, Paris. The magical evocation of the apprentice and unruly broomstick wins Dukas concert-hall immortality.
Paul Dukas - L'apprenti sorcier
George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra Bucharest
Conductor: Cristian Orosanu
28 December
Zdenek Fibich - Sarka
Šárka, opus 51, is an opera in three acts by Zdeněk Fibich to a Czech libretto by Anežka Schulzová, his student and lover. Fibich composed the full score over the period of 8 September 1896 to 10 March 1897.
Zdeněk Fibich - Šárka
Přemysl: Václav Bednář
Ctirad: Beno Blachut
Šárka: Marie Podvalová
Vlasta: Marta Krásová
Vitoraz: Ladislav Mráz
Dir:Alois Klima (1950)
Autumn
Isaac Albéniz - Merlin
Merlin is the last of the operas of Isaac Albéniz. It is in three acts and the libretto was written in English by Francis Money-Coutts, 5th Baron Latymer.
The opera was written between 1897 and 1902, the first of a projected trilogy of Arthurian operas commissioned by the librettist. After completing Merlin, Albéniz worked on the second part of the trilogy, Lancelot, in 1902–03, but broke off work and did not complete it before his death in 1909.
Albéniz - Merlin
Vez. José de Eusebio
Madridi Szimfonikus Zenekar
Merlin - Carlos Álvarez (bariton),
Arthur király - Plácido Domingo (tenor),
Morgána - Jane Henschel (szoprán),
Nivian - Ana Maria Martínez (szoprán),
Canterbury érsek - Carlos Chausson (basszus),
Mordred - Christopher Maltman (bariton),
Sir Pillinore - Javier Franco (bariton),
Sir Ector de Maris - Felipe Bou (basszus),
Kay - José López Ferrero (tenor),
King Lot of Orkney - Javier Roldán (basszus),
Gawain - Ćngel Rodríguez (tenor),
Törpék - José Manuel Abeleira, David Azurza, Luis Badosa, Tu Shi Chiao, Amaro González de Mesa, José Hernández Pastor, José Antonio Maza López, Luis Vincent (kontratenor)
Henry Cowell, in full Henry Dixon Cowell, (born March 11, 1897, Menlo Park, California, U.S.—died December 10, 1965, Shady, New York), American composer who, with Charles Ives, was among the most innovative American composers of the 20th century.
Cowell grew up in poverty in San Francisco and on family farms in Kansas, Iowa, and Oklahoma. He acquired a piano at age 14, and the following year he gave a concert of his experimental piano compositions. At 17 he studied at the University of California with the influential musicologist Charles Seeger, who persuaded him to undertake the systematic study of traditional European musical techniques. He also urged Cowell to formulate a theoretical framework for his innovations, which he did in his book New Musical Resources (1919; published 1930), an influential technical study of music. While studying comparative musicology in Berlin with Erich von Hornbostel, Cowell became interested in the music of other cultures; he later studied Asian and Middle Eastern music, elements of which he absorbed into many of his own compositions.
In 1923–33 Cowell undertook a series of tours of Europe as composer and pianist. Many of his concerts provoked uproar, but they also brought him to the attention of leading modern European composers. He taught at the New School for Social Research in New York City in 1932–52 and, from 1949, at Columbia University. From 1936 to 1940 he was incarcerated in San Quentin state prison on charges of homosexual conduct. He continued to write music while in prison, and in 1940 he was paroled to the custody of composer Percy Grainger. Cowell was granted a full pardon in 1942.
Cowell’s innovations appear particularly in the piano pieces written between 1912 and 1930. Seeking new sonorities, he developed “tone clusters,” chords that on the piano are produced by simultaneously depressing several adjacent keys (e.g., with the forearm). Later he called these sonorities secondal harmonies—i.e., harmonies based on the interval of a second in contrast to the traditional basis of a third. These secondal harmonies appear in his early piano pieces, such as The Tides of Manaunaun (1912); in his Piano Concerto (1930); and in his Synchrony (1931) for orchestra and trumpet solo. Some of his other piano compositions, such as Aeolian Harp (1923) and The Banshee (1925), are played directly on the piano strings, which are rubbed, plucked, struck, or otherwise sounded by the hands or by an object. Cowell’s Mosaic Quartet (1935) was an experiment with musical form; the performers are given blocks of music to arrange in any desired order. With the Russian engineer Leon Theremin, Cowell built the Rhythmicon, an electronic instrument that could produce 16 different simultaneous rhythms, and he composed Rhythmicana (1931; first performed 1971), a work specifically written for the instrument.
Cowell wrote numerous pieces reflecting his interest in rural American hymnology, Irish folklore and music, and non-Western music. In order to publish the scores of modern composers, he founded the New Music Quarterly in 1927 and was its editor until 1936. He also edited American Composers on American Music (1933) and with his wife, Sidney Cowell, wrote Charles Ives and His Music (1955). A number of well-known American composers, including John Cage, Lou Harrison, and George Gershwin, studied with and were influenced by Cowell.

Henry Cowell: Symphony No 2 "Anthropos" (1941)
Leon Botstein conducts the American Symphony
1. Repose (Largo - sostenuto) 00:00
2. Activity (Poco presto) 05:50
3. Repression (Molto extressivo) 09:42
4. Liberation - Liberty Hornpipe (Allegro vivace) 19:07
Cowell: Symphony No.4 "Short Symphony" (1946)
Eastman-Rochester Symphony Orchestra diretta da Howard Hanson
I. Hymn: Allegro
II. Ballade: Andante
III. Dance: Vivace
IV. Fuguing Tune: Moderato con moto
Henry Cowell : Sinfonia n.5 (1948)
American Recording Symphony Orchestra
I. Con moto
II. Andante
III. Presto
IV. Largo sostenuto, quasi andante
Henry Cowell: Symphony No. 9 (1953)
David Van Vactor conducting the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra
Henry Cowell: Sinfonia n.11 "Seven Rituals of Music" (1954).
Opera commissionata da The Louisville Orchestra, eseguita per la prima volta con Robert Whitney sul podio il 29.5.1954
Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Erich Wolfgang Korngold, (born May 29, 1897, Brünn, Austria-Hungary [now Brno, Czech Republic]—died November 29, 1957, Hollywood, California, U.S.), American composer of Austro-Hungarian birth, best known as one of the originators of the genre of grand film music. He was also noted for his operas, especially for Die tote Stadt (1920; “The Dead City”), which earned him an international reputation.
A child prodigy, Korngold at age 11 composed the ballet Der Schneemann (“The Snowman”), which caused a sensation at its first performance in Vienna (1910). He was still a teenager when his operas Der Ring des Polykrates (“The Ring of Polycrates”) and Violanta were produced in Munich (1916). Die tote Stadt premiered in Hamburg and Cologne, and it proved to be one of the most successful operas of the 20th century.
In 1934 Korngold traveled to the United States to arrange music for the film A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1935), using Felix Mendelssohn’s incidental music for Shakespeare’s play. Over the next several years he traveled back and forth between the United States and Europe, producing film music for Hollywood and concert music in Europe, until the spread of Nazi influence in Austria forced the Jewish composer to settle in the United States in 1938.
Korngold’s background in opera revolutionized cinematic music. He debuted new techniques such as matching the rhythms of his compositions to the rhythms of spoken words, often using pitches close to those of the actor’s voice. He also made frequent use of leitmotifs, devising musical themes for various characters and concepts. Richard Wagner had popularized such techniques in opera, and Korngold was the first to apply them to film. For the film Anthony Adverse (1936), the head of the studio music department, Leo Forbstein, received an Academy Award for best music scoring, though Korngold actually composed the music. In 1938 Korngold himself received an Oscar for the score of The Adventures of Robin Hood.
Apart from his film scores, he wrote much absolute (i.e., nonprogram) music, including his Violin Concerto (1937, rev. 1945), which borrows themes from several of his film scores and became one of the most frequently performed of all 20th-century concerti.


Erich Wolfgang Korngold - "Classic Film Scores"
The Sea Hawk
Of Human Bondage
The Adventures of Robin Hood
Juarez
Kings Row
The Constant Nymph
Captain Blood
Anthony Adverse
Between Two Worlds
Deception
Devotion
Escape Me Never
Charles Gerhardt--Conductor
National Philharmonic Orchestra
1972

Erich Wolfgang Korngold - Symphony in F-sharp major, Op.40 (1953)
Orchestra: Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie
Conductor: Werner Andreas Albert
Sinfonietta for large orchestra in B Major, op 13
- Erich Wolfgang Korngold
BBC Philharmonic - Matthias Bamert, conductor, 1994
"DER RING DES POLYKRATES" - Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1916)
Endrik Wottrich--Court Music Director
Beate Bilandzija--Laura, his wife
Jürgen Sacher--Florian
Kirsten Blanck--Lieschen
Dietrich Henschel--Peter Vogel
Klauspeter Seibrl--Conductor
Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, 1995
"VIOLANTA" - Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1916)
Eva Marton--Soprano--Violanta
Walter Berry--Bass-baritonr--Simone Trovai
Siegfried Jerusalem--Tenor--Alfonso
Marek Janowski--Conductor
Münchner Rundfunk Orchester, 1980
Erich Wolfgang Korngold - Die tote Stadt (1920)
Stefan Lano, conductor
Orquesta y Coro Estable del Teatro Colón
Paul: Carlos Bengolea
Marietta: Cynthia Makris
Frank: David Pittman-Jennings
Brigitta: Alejandra Malvino
Juliette: Carina Höxter
Lucienne: Alicia Cecotti
Gaston: Alexandre Ribiero Curty
Victorin: Eduardo Ayas
Fritz: Marcelo Lombardero
Conde Albert: Oscar Imhoff
Erich Wolfgang Korngold - Das Wunder Der Heliane 1/2
(1927)
Conductor: Peter Feranec
Heliana: Sally du Randt
Ruler Derrick: Lawrence
Strenger: Norbert Schmittberg
Messenger woman: Jana Wallingerová
Porter: Jan Šťáva
Capital judge: Zoltán Korda
Young man: Ivan Choupenitch
Six judges: Petr Levíček, Petr Císař, David Nykl, Tomáš Krejčiřík, Pavel Kamas, Jiří Klecker
Erich Wolfgang Korngold - Das Wunder Der Heliane 2/2
"DIE KATHRIN" - Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1939)
Melanie Diener--Kathrin
David Rendall--Françcois
Robert Hayward--Malignac
Lillian Watson--Chou-Chou
Della Jones--Monique
Martyn Brabbins--Conductor
BBC Concert Orchestra, 1997
1898
Edvard Grieg draws on Norwegian folk themes in his four Symphonic Dances.
The four Symphonic Dances of the Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg, form the collection notated as Op. 64. They were written c. 1896 and published in 1897. They draw their inspiration from the earlier folk works collected by Ludvig Mathias Lindeman.
Dance No. 1, G major, Allegro moderato e marcato
Dance No. 2, A major, Allegretto grazioso
Dance No. 3, D major, Allegro giocoso
Dance No. 4, A minor, Andante - Allegro risoluto
Edvard Hagerup Grieg - Symphonic Dances, Op. 64
(00:05) No. 1 in G major, Allegro moderato e marcato
(06:17) No. 2 in A major, Allegretto grazioso
(12:25) No. 3 in D major, Allegro giocoso
(18:15) No. 4 in A minor, Andante - Allegro risoluto
Sir John Barbirolli, Conductor
Hallé Orchestra (The Hallé), 1957
Charles Ives, aged 23, works on his First Symphony while studying under the composer Horatio Parker at Yale University. Ives graduates this year.
Charles Ives - Symphony No 1
1. Allegro con moto
2. Adagio molto
3. Scherzo
4. Allegro molto
National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland
James Sinclair, conductor, 2002
Richard Strauss completes his tone poem Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life). Controversially, the hero of the work’s programme seems to be Strauss himself; the hero’s wife thus Pauline Strauss (represented by solo violin), and the hero’s adversaries, we infer, Strauss’s critics. He later remarks, ‘I do not see why I should not compose a symphony about myself. I find myself quite as interesting as Napoleon or Alexander.’
Richard Strauss - Ein Heldenleben, Op 40
Herbert von Karajan cond/ Berlin Philharmonic, 1974
0:00 - Der Held (The Hero)
4:17 - Des Helden Widersacher (The Hero's Adversaries)
7:55 - Des Helden Gefahrtin (The hero's wife)
14:10 - Thema der Siegesgewisheit (Certainty of victory)
20:26 - Des Helden Walstatt (The hero's battlefield)
28:45 - Des Helden Friedenswerke (The hero's works of peace)
33:40 - Des Helden Weltflucht und Vollendung (The hero's withdrawal from the world)
38:22 - Entsagung (Renunciation)
7 January
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's opera Sadko, based on an epic folk tale about a wandering minstrel, opens in Moscow.
Rimsky-Korsakov - Sadko
Kirov Opera and Ballet
Valery Gergiev, 1994
Sadko: Vladimir Galusin
Volkhova: Valentina Tsidipova
Lyubava Buslayevna: Marianna Tarassova

26 September
Composer George Gershwin is born to Russian Jewish immigrant parents in Brooklyn.

20 October
Eugen d'Albert - Die Abreise, musical Comedy in One Act
Eugen d'Albert - Die Abreise
Gilfen - Hermann Prey, Bariton
Luise, his wife - Edda Moser Soprano
Trott - Peter Schreier, Tenor
Philharmonia Hungarica - Janos Kulka Conductor
11 November
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor has his cantata Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast premiered under the baton of Charles Stanford at the Royal College of Music. Its immediate appeal establishes the composer’s reputation in England and America.omposer, born.
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor - Hiawatha's Wedding Feast
2013, Knox Church, Dunedin, New Zealand
Conductor: David Burchell
City Choir Dunedin
Southern Sinfonia
Tenor: Matthew Wilson
17 November
Umberto Giordano - Fedora
Fedora is an opera in three acts by Umberto Giordano to an Italian libretto by Arturo Colautti, based on the play Fédora by Victorien Sardou.
Umberto Giordano - FEDORA
Fedora Romazoff: Antonietta Stella -
Loris Ipanoff: Aldo Bottion -
De Siriex: Giulio Fioravanti -
Olga Sukarev: Giuliana Tavolaccini -
Lorek / Nicola: Paolo Mazzotta -
Boroff / Michele: Giovanni Amodeo -
Gretch: Alfredo Colella -
Il Barone Rouvel: Piero De Palma -
Desiré / Cirillo: Giovanni Antonini -
Sergio: Mario Carlin -
Dimitri / Un savoiado: Sergio Gaspari -
Boleslao Lasinski: Antonio Beltrami
Orchestra Sinfonica e Coro della RAI di Milano
Direttore Franco Mannino - M° del Coro Giulio Bertola
1968
22 November
Pietro Mascagni - Iris
Iris is an opera in three acts by Pietro Mascagni to an original Italian libretto by Luigi Illica. It premiered on 22 November 1898 at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome.
IRIS - PIETRO MASCAGNI
Iris - Denia Mazzola
Osaka - Nicola Martinucci
Il Cieco - Dimitri Kavrakos
Kyoto - Giancarlo Pasquetto
Dhia - Kyung-Wha Cho
Catania Th Orch - Conductor - Massimo de Bernart, 1997
7 December
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s ‘dialogue opera’ Mozart and Salieri, based on Pushkin’s romanticised tragedy, is first staged in Moscow. Rachmaninov plays the piano behind the scenes.
Mozart and Salieri - Rimsky-Korsakov
The New York Premiere production with Joseph Shore as Salieri, Ron Gentry as Mozart from the Chamber Opera Theatre of New York, Thaddeus Motyka director, Ainslee Cox and Henry Mollicone conductors.
10 December
Andre Messager, newly-appointed musical director of the Opera-Comique, stages his operetta Veronique.
Acte 1 de l'opérette "Véronique" d'André Messager
au théâtre de Tourcoing en mai 1992.
Avec Alexyse Yerna, Regis Willem, Michel Ferrer.
Direction musicale : Bruno Membrey
Actes 2 et 3 de l'opérette "Véronique" d'André Messager au théâtre de Tourcoing en mai 1992.
1899
Scott Joplin composes his Maple Leaf Rag. He shrewdly acquires a one-cent royalty on each copy sold through the publishers John Stark & Son.
Scott Joplin: Maple Leaf Rag
Dario Ronchi
19 October
Claude Debussy marries Rosalie (Lily) Texier. This year also sees the completion of his three Nocturnes for orchestra: Nuages, Fetes, Sirenes.
Claude Debussy - Nocturnes
1. Nuages ("Clouds")
2. Fêtes ("Festivals")
3. Sirènes ("Sirens")
Maurice Ravel, aged 24, composes his Pavane pour une infante defunte (Pavane for a Dead Princess) for solo piano. He will orchestrate the work in 1910.
Ravel - Pavane pour une infante défunte
Alessandro Crudele
7 January
French composer Francis Poulenc is born in Paris.
15 February
French composer Georges Auric is born in Lodeve, near Montpellier.
22 October
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov - The Tsar's Bride
The Tsar's Bride (Tsarskaya nevesta) is an opera in four acts by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, the composer's tenth opera. The libretto, by Ilia Tyumenev, is based on the drama of the same name by Lev Mey.The first performance of the opera took place in 1899 at the Moscow theater of the Private Opera of S.I. Mamontov.
The Tsar's Bride - Rimsky-Korsakov
Moscow, 2007
Marfa Sobakin - Irina Dubrovskaya
Lyubasha - Olga Borodina
Grigoriy Gryaznoy - Vladimir Stoyanov
Ivan Lykov - Dmitri Popov
Basil Sobakin, merchant - Vyacheslav Pochapsky
Elisha Bomeley, royal physician - Algirdas Janutas
Malyuta Skuratov, boyar - Alexei Tikhomirov
Domna Saburova - Olga Shalaev
Dunyasha - Anna Martha
Petrovna, Sobakin housekeeper - Irina Nicholas
24 March
Jules Massenet - Cinderella