1908 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1908.

Specific locations

• 1908 in Norwegian music

Specific genres

• 1908 in jazz

Events

• January 26 – Sergei Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2 receives its première.
• March 15 – Maurice Ravel's Rapsodie espagnole receives its première in Paris.
• April 11 – Spyridon Samaras's opera Rhea is premiered in Florence (Teatro Verdi)
• September 19 – Première of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 7 in Prague.
• November 18 – Release in France of the film The Assassination of the Duke of Guise with a score from Saint-Saëns.
• December 3 – Edward Elgar's Symphony No. 1 receives its première in Manchester.
• December 18 – Claude Debussy's Children's Corner receives its première in Paris.
• Anthony Maggio publishes a dance band orchestration of early Blues "I Got The Blues" in New Orleans.
• Opera singer Amelita Galli marries the Marchese Luigi Curci, and acquires the name by which she becomes best-known.
• Claude Debussy marries Emma Bardac.

Published popular music

• "The ABCs of the U.S.A." w.m. George M. Cohan from the musical The Yankee Prince
• "All For Love Of You" w. Dave Reed m. Ernest R. Ball
• "Any Old Port In A Storm" w. Arthur J. Lamb m. Kerry Mills
• "Black And White Rag" w.m. George Botsford
• "Consolation" by Edward Madden
• "Cuddle Up A Little Closer, Lovey Mine" w. Otto Harbach m. Karl Hoschna
• "Daisies Won't Tell" w.m. Anita Owen
• "Down Among The Sugar Cane" w. Avery & Charles Hart m. Cecil Mack & Chris Smith
• "Down In Jungle Town" w. Edward Madden m. Theodore F. Morse
• "The Fairest Of The Fair" w.m. John Philip Sousa
• "Feed The Kitty" w. Ed Moran m. J. Fred Helf
• "Fig Leaf Rag" by Scott Joplin
• "Golliwog's Cake Walk" m. Claude Debussy
• "Good Evening, Caroline" by Albert Von Tilzer & Jack Norworth
• "Ham And !" by Arthur Marshall
• "Has Anybody Here Seen Kelly?" w.m. C. W. Murphy & Will Letters. With new lyrics by William McKenna it was performed by Nora Bayes in the 1910 Broadway production of the musical The Jolly Bachelors
• "I Hear You Calling Me" w. Harold Harford (actual name Harold Lake) m. Charles Marshall
• "If I Had A Thousand Lives To Live" w. Sylvester Maguire m. Alfred Solman
• "I'm A Yiddish Cowboy" w. Edgar Leslie m. Al Piantodosi & Halsey K. Mohr
• "I'm Glad I'm Married" w. Jack Norworth m. Albert Von Tilzer
• "I'm Looking For The Man That Wrote "The Merry Widow Waltz"" w. Edgar Selden m. Seymour Furth
• "In The Garden Of My Heart" w. Caro Roma m. Ernest R. Ball
• "It's The Pretty Things You Say" w. Alfred Bryan m. Ted Snyder
• "I've Taken Quite A Fancy To You" w. Edward Madden m. Theodore F. Morse
• "Kerry Mills' Barn Dance" w. Thurland Chattaway m. Kerry Mills
• "The Longest Way 'Round Is The Sweetest Way Home" w. Ren Shields m. Kerry Mills
• "Love Is Like A Cigarette" w. Glen MacDonough m. Victor Herbert
• "Love Me Like I Want To Be Loved" w. Earle C. Jones & Alfred Bryan m. George W. Meyer
• "Love's Roundelay" w. Joseph Herbert m. Oscar Straus
• "Make A Noise Like A Hoop And Roll Away" w. Ren Shields m. J. Fred Helf
• "Meet Me In Rose-Time, Rosie" w. William Jerome m. Jean Schwartz
• "Mother Hasn't Spoken To Father Since" w. William Jerome m. Jean Schwartz
• "My Brudda Sylvest'" w. Jesse Lasky m. Fred Fisher
• "My Girl's A Yorkshire Girl" w.m. C. W. Murphy & Dan Lipton
• "Now I Have To Call Him Father" w.m. Charles Collins & Fred Godfrey
• "The Old Time Rag" w. Edward Madden m. Theodore Morse
• "Pine Apple Rag" by Scott Joplin
• "Shine On Harvest Moon" w. Jack Norworth m. Nora Bayes & Jack Norworth
• "A Singer Sang A Song" w. Will Heelan m. Seymour Furth
• "Smarty" w. Jack Norworth m. Albert Von Tilzer
• "Sun Bird m. Kerry Mills
• "Sweetest Gal In Town" w.m. Bob Cole & J. Rosamond Johnson
• "Sweetest Maid Of All" w. Joseph Herbert m. Oscar Straus

  

• "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" w. Jack Norworth m. Albert Von Tilzer
• "Up In A Balloon" w. Ren Shields m. Percy Wenrich
• "When Highland Mary Danced The Highland Fling" w. Jack Mahoney m. Harry Von Tilzer
• "When It's Moonlight On The Prairie" w. Robert F. Roden m. S. R. Henry
• "When We Are M-A-Double-R-I-E-D" w.m. George M. Cohan from the musical Fifty Miles From Boston
• "The Whitewash Man" w. William Jerome m. Jean Schwartz
• "The Yama Yama Man" w. Collin Davis m. Karl Hoschna
• "Yip-I-Addy-I-Ay!" w. Will D. Cobb m. John H. Flynn
• "You Will Have To Sing An Irish Song" w. Jack Norworth m. Albert Von Tilzer
• "You're In The Right Church, But The Wrong Pew" w. Cecil Mack m. Chris Smith

Hit recordings

• " The Small Town Gal" – George M. Cohan
• "All She Gets from the Iceman Is Ice" – Ada Jones

Classical music

• Kurt Atterberg – Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra
• Béla Bartók – First Violin Concerto
• Alban Berg – Piano Sonata, Op.1
• York Bowen – Viola Concerto in C minor
• Henry Walford Davies – Solemn Melody for organ
• George Enescu –
  • Cantate pour la pose de la prèmiere pierre du pont à transbordeur de Bordeaux, for military band, two harps, string orchestra, solo cello, choir, baritone solo, and cannons
  • "Morgengebet", for voice and piano
  • Sept chansons de Clement Marot, for tenor and piano, Op. 15
• Gabriel Fauré –
  • Nocturne No. 9 in B minor, Op. 97
  • Nocturne No. 10 in E minor, Op. 99
  • Serenade for cello and piano, Op. 98
• Alexander Glazunov - Symphony No. 8
• Reinhold Glière – Second Symphony, Op. 25
• Hamilton Harty – Violin Concerto
• Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov – Symphony No. 1
• John Ireland – Phantasy Piano Trio
• Charles Ives –
  • Prelude on Eventide
  • The Unanswered Question
• Paul von Klenau – Symphony No. 1
• Toivo Kuula – Piano Trio
• Gian Francesco Malipiero – Sinfonie del silenzio e della morte
• Erkki Melartin – Third String Quartet
• Carl Nielsen – Saga-Drøm (tone poem)
• Maurice Ravel -
  • Gaspard de la nuit
  • Rapsodie espagnole
• Max Reger –
  • Auferstanden, auferstanden, cantata for SATB soloists, SATB choir, and organ
  • Sonatinas for two pianos (4), Op. 89
  • Suite, for violin and piano, in E minor
  • Trio No. 2, for violin, cello, and piano, Op. 102
  • Violin Concerto, in A major, Op. 101
  • Symphonischer Prolog zu einer Tragödie in A minor, Op. 108
  • Weihegesang, for alto solo, SATB choir, and winds
  • Zwei geistliche Lieder, for choir
• Xaver Scharwenka – Piano Concerto No. 4 in F minor
• Arnold Schoenberg –
  • Lieder (2), Op. 14
  • String Quartet No. 2 – premiered in Vienna
• Alexander Scriabin – The Poem of Ecstasy
• Igor Stravinsky – Feu d'artifice
• May Summerbelle 'Beaux Yeux' Waltz for solo piano
• Anton Webern – Passacaglia for orchestra, Op. 1

Opera

• Paul Le Flem – Aucassin et Nicolette

Film

• Camille Saint-Saëns - La Mort du duc de Guise

Musical theater

• Algeria Broadway production opened at The Broadway Theatre on August 31 and ran for 48 performances
• The Belle of Brittany opened at the Queen's Theatre in London on 24 October 1908 with music by Howard Talbot to a book by Leedham Bantock and lyrics by Percy Greenbank
• The Dollar Princess Manchester production
• Fifty Miles from Boston Broadway production opened on February 3 at the Garrick Theatre and ran for 40 performances
• The King of Cadonia London production opened at the Prince of Wales Theatre on September 3 and ran for 333 performances
• Mr. Hamlet of Broadway Broadway production opened at the Casino Theatre on December 23 and ran for 54 performances
• My Mimosa Maid London production opened at the Prince Of Wales Theatre on April 21 and ran for 83 performances
• Der Tapfere Soldat (The Chocolate Soldier) (Rudolf Friml) Vienna production opened at the Theater an der Wien on November 14 and ran for 62 performances
• The Three Twins opened at the Herald Square Theatre on June 15 and moved to the Majestic Theatre on January 18, 1909, for a total run of 289 performances
• A Waltz Dream London production opened at the Hicks Theatre on March 7 and ran for 146 performances.
• A Waltz Dream Broadway production opened at the Broadway Theatre on January 27 and ran for 111 performances
• The Yankee Prince Broadway production opened at the Knickerbocker Theatre on April 20 and ran for 112 performances
• Ziegfeld Follies Broadway revue opened at the Jardin de Paris on June 15 and ran for 120 performances

Births

• January 7 – Red Allen, jazz musician (d. 1967)
• January 14 – Russ Columbo, singer, bandleader, composer (d. 1934)
• January 16 – Ethel Merman, American singer and actress (d. 1984)
• January 26
  • Stéphane Grappelli, musician, composer (d. 1997)
  • Ernst Oster, pianist, musicologist, and music theorist (d. 1977)
• January 27 – Hot Lips Page, jazz trumpet (d. 1954)
• February 20 – Ruby Elzy, US soprano, first Serena in Porgy and Bess (d. 1943)
• February 29 – A. L. Lloyd, folk song collector (d. 1982)
• March 14 – Nikolai Rakov, Soviet composer (d. 1990)
• March 18 – Ivor Moreton, British singer, composer and pianist (d. 1984)
• April 2 – Buddy Ebsen, US actor and singer (d. 2003)
• April 5 – Herbert von Karajan, Austrian conductor (d. 1989)
• April 7 – Percy Faith, composer, musician (d. 1976)
• April 8 – Tito Guízar, Mexican singer and film actor (d. 1999)
• April 15 – eden ahbez, hermit, musician (d. 1995)
• April 20 – Lionel Hampton, jazz musician, bandleader (d. 2002)
• May 6 – Necil Kazım Akses, Turkish composer (d. 1999)
• May 8 – Cristian Vasile, Romanian tango singer (d. 1985)
• May 15 – Lars-Erik Larsson, Swedish composer (d. 1986)
• May 27 – Harold Rome, US songwriter (d. 1993)
• June 24 – Hugo Distler, organist and composer (d. 1942)
• June 29 – Leroy Anderson, US composer and conductor (d. 1975)
• July 8 – Louis Jordan, bandleader (d. 1975)
• July 22 – Ljerko Spiller, Croat-Argentine violinist (d. 2008)
• July 25 – Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Carnatic vocalist (d. 2003)
• August 1 – Miloslav Kabeláč, composer (d. 1979)
• August 4 – Kurt Eichhorn, conductor (d. 1994)
• August 12 – Nina Makarova, composer (d. 1976)
• August 29 – Orestes López, Cuban bassist, cellist, pianist and composer (d. 1991)
• September 5 - Cecilia Seghizzi, Italian composer
• September 6 – Maria Grinberg, pianist (d. 1978)
• September 7 – Max Kaminsky, US jazz trumpeter (d. 1961)
• September 10 – Raymond Scott, composer, bandleader, and electronic music pioneer (d. 1994)
• September 13 – Mae Questel, US singer (d. 1998)
• September 16 – Chick Bullock, US singer (d. 1981)
• September 25 – Eugen Suchoň, Slovak composer (d. 1993)
• September 30 – David Oistrakh, violinist (d. 1974)
• October 1 – Umar Dimayev, Chechen folk singer (d. 1972)
• October 14 – Allan Jones, actor, singer (d. 1992)
• October 19 – Geirr Tveitt, Norwegian composer (d. 1981)
• October 20 – Stuart Hamblen, US singer, actor and songwriter (d. 1989)
• October 21
  • Harry Stewart, comedian, singer, and songwriter (d. 1956)
  • Howard Ferguson, British composer and musicologist (d. 1999)
• November 19
  • Jean-Yves Daniel-Lesur, French organist and composer (d. 2002)
  • Keg Johnson, US jazz trombonist (d. 1967)
• December 10 – Olivier Messiaen, composer (d. 1992)
• December 11 – Elliott Carter, composer (d. 2012)
• December 16 – Frances Day, US actress and singer (d. 1984)
• December 17 – William Brocklesby Wordsworth, English/Scottish composer and pianist (died 1988)
• December 21 – Gregory Egiazarovich Yeghiazarian, Armenian composer (died 1988)

Deaths

• January 22 – August Wilhelmj, German violinist, 62
• January 23 – Edward MacDowell, American composer (b. 1860)
• February 28 – Pauline Lucca, operatic soprano (b. 1842)
• March 2 – Walter Slaughter, conductor and composer (b. 1860)
• March 12 – Clara Novello, soprano (b. 1818)
• March 26 – Louis Chauvin, ragtime musician (b. 1881)
• April 29 – Auguste Götze, German classical singer and vocal pedagogue (b. 1840)
• May 7 – Ludovic Halévy, lyricist (b. 1834)
• May 12 – Melisio Morales, composer (b. 1838)
• June 5 – Josef Wagner, composer (b. 1856)
• June 20 – Federico Chueca, zarzuela composer (b. 1846)
• June 21 – Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, composer (b. 1844)
• July 10 – Phoebe Knapp, composer of hymns (b. 1839)
• July 14 – William Mason, pianist and composer (b. 1829)
• July 18 – Jaime Nunó, composer of Mexico's national anthem (b. 1824)
• August 13 – Ira D. Sankey, gospel singer and composer (b. 1840)
• August 20 – Louisa Bassano, opera singer (b. 1818)
• August 26 – Tony Pastor, vaudeville founder & theater impresario (b. 1837)
• September 20 – Pablo de Sarasate, violinist (b. 1844)
• September 21 – Atanas Badev, composer and music teacher (b. 1860)
• November 15 – Katti Lanner, ballet dancer and choreographer (b. 1829)
• November 20 – Albert Dietrich, conductor and composer (b. 1829)
• date unknown – Alois Kaiser, cantor and composer (b. 1840)