1919 in music

Events

*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
*October 27 - Edward Elgar's "Cello Concerto" is premiered in London
*Original Dixieland Jass Band brings New Orleans jazz to England
*The Louisiana Five are advertised as playing "Modern Jazz"
*King Oliver leaves New Orleans
*Ernest Ansermet writes an enthusiastic review of the Southern Syncopated Orchestra in London, singling out Sidney Bechet - one of the first serious pieces of jazz criticism

Published popular music

* "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 Yellin 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 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
* "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
* "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
* "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. John 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 Le Baron 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 Bert 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" 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 Le Baron 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."
* "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
*"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
*"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

Classical music

*Ernest Bloch - "Suite for Viola and Orchestra"
*Rebecca Clarke - "Sonata for Viola and Piano"
*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 & piano in F major, Op. 11/4 "
*Darius Milhaud - "Le bœuf sur le toit" (ballet)
*Gabriel Pierné - "Sonata for Cello and Piano"
*Dane Rudhyar - "Syntony"
*Leo Sowerby - "Concerto for Harp"
*Igor Stravinsky - "Firebird Suite No. 1"

Opera

*"Die Frau ohne Schatten", opera by Richard Strauss
*"Ihre Hoheit, die Tänzerin" (Her Highness, the Dancer), operetta by Walter Goetze to a libretto by Richard Bars and Oskar Felix
*"The Love for Three Oranges", opera by Sergei Prokofiev
* "The Moon Maiden" by Rutland Boughton

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
* "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 25 - Eula Beal, operatic contralto
*January 27 - Ross Bagdasarian (aka David Seville), of The Chipmunks (d. 1972)
*February 13 - Tennessee Ernie Ford, country musician (d. 1991)
*March 10 - Marion Hutton, big band singer (d. 1987)
*March 17 - Nat King Cole, singer and pianist (d. 1965)
*March 19 - Alfred Apaka, Hawaiian singer (d. 1960)
*April 3 - Ervin Drake, songwriter
*April 14 - Karel Berman, opera singer and composer (d. 1995)
*April 21
** Don Cornell, singer (d. 2004)
** Roger Doucet, tenor, regular performer of the Canadian national anthem (d. 1981)
*May 3 - Pete Seeger, folk singer
*May 16 - Liberace, pianist (d. 1987)
*May 17 - Antonio Aguilar, singer, actor and producer (d. 2007)
*May 18 - Margot Fonteyn, ballerina (d. 1991)
*May 19 - Georgie Auld, jazz musician (d. 1990)
*June 4 - Robert Merrill, opera singer (d. 2004)
*June 17 - Gene de Paul, pianist and composer (d. 1988)
*June 22 - Gower Champion, dancer, choreographer and director (d. 1980)
*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
*September 2 - Marge Champion, dancer and choreographer
*September 3 - Natalia Clare, ballerina (d. 2007)
*September 16
** Sven-Erik Bäck, composer (d. 1994)
** Andy Russell, singer (d. 1992)
*October 11 - Art Blakey, jazz drummer and bandleader (d. 1990)
*October 18 - Anita O'Day, singer (d. 2006)
*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 10 - Sesto Bruscantini, operatic bass-baritone (d. 2003)
*December 25 - Naushad, film score composer (d. 2006)
*"date unknown" - Kaifi Azmi, Urdu and Hindi songwriter (d. 2002)

Deaths

*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)
*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)
*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. 1861)
*"date unknown"
**Charles McCarron, songwriter (b. 1891)
**Henry Ragas, jazz pianist (b. 1891)
*"probable" - Henry Ford, jazz bassist (b. c. 1898)