1908 in music

Events

*January 26 - Sergei Rachmaninoff's "Symphony No. 2" is premiered.
*March 15 - Maurice Ravel's "Rapsodie espagnole" is premiered in Paris.
*April 11 - Spyridon Samaras's opera "Rhea" is premiered in Florence (Teatro Verdi)
*September 19 - Premiere of Gustav Mahler's "Symphony No. 7" in Prague.
*December 3 - Edward Elgar's "Symphony No. 1" is premiered in Manchester.
*December 18 - Claude Debussy's "Children's Corner" is premiered 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.

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
* "Call Round Any Old Time" w.m. Charles Moore & E. W. Rogers
* "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
* "Dusty Rag" m. May Aufderhelde
* "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
* "Gee But There's Class To A Girl Like You" w.m. W. R. Williams
* "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"
* "Hoo-oo Ain't You Calling Me" w.m. Herbert Ingraham
* "I Hear You Calling Me" w.m. Harold Herford & Charles Marshall
* "I Want To Be Loved Like A Leading Lady" w. Paul West m. Herman Avery Wade
* "If I Had A Thousand Lives To Live" w. Sylvester Maguire m. Alfred Solman
*"If You Cared for" Me by E. Rose
* "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 Moonlight All The Time On Broadway" Wenrich
* "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
* "Mephisto Rag" by Anthony J. Stasny
* "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
* "Roses Bring Dreams Of You" w.m. Herbert Ingraham
* "She Sells Sea-Shells" w. Terry Sullivan m. Harry Gifford
* "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
* "Somebody Lied" w.m. Jeff T. Branen & Evans Lloyd
* "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
* "A Vision Of Salome" m. J. Bodewalt Lampe
* "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. George Collin Davis m. Karl Hoschna
* "Yip-I-Addy-I-Ay!" w. Will D. Cobb m. John H. Flynn
* "You Tell Me Your Dream" w. Seymour A. Rice & Albert H. Brown m. Neil Moret
* "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 - finishes his "First Violin Concerto"
*Alban Berg - "Piano Sonata", Op.1
*York Bowen - "Viola concerto in C minor"
*Henry Walford Davies - "Solemn Melody" for organ
*Reinhold Glière - "Second symphony", op. 25
*Hamilton Harty - "Violin Concerto"
*Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov - "Symphony No. 1"
*John Ireland - "Phantasy Piano Trio"
*Toivo Kuula - "Piano Trio"
*Erkki Melartin - "Third String Quartet" (by 1908)
*Max Reger - "Symphonischer Prolog zu einer Tragödie in A minor, opus 108"
*Xaver Scharwenka - "Piano Concerto No. 4 in F minor"
*Arnold Schoenberg - "String Quartet No. 2" - premiered in Vienna
*Alexander Scriabin - "The Poem of Ecstasy"
*Igor Stravinsky - "Fireworks"
*Anton Webern - "Passacaglia" for orchestra

Opera

*Paul Le Flem - "Aucassin et Nicolette"

Musical theater

* "Algeria" Broadway production opened at The Broadway Theatre on August 31 and ran for 48 performances
* "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 26 - Stéphane Grappelli, musician, composer (d. 1997)
*January 27 - Oran "Hot Lips" Page, jazz trumpet (d. 1954)
*February 20 - Ruby Elzy, US soprano, first Serena in "Porgy and Bess" (d. 1943)
*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 15 - Eden Ahbez, hermit, musician (d. 1995)
*April 20 - Lionel Hampton, jazz musician, bandleader (d. 2002)
*May 6 - Necil Kâzım 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 25 - Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Carnatic vocalist (d. 2003)
*August 1 - Miloslav Kabelac, composer (d. 1979)
*August 4 - Kurt Eichhorn, conductor (d. 1994)
*August 12) - Nina Makarova, composer (d. 1976)
*September 7 - Max Kaminsky, US jazz trumpeter (d. 1961)
*September 13 - Mae Questel, US singer (d. 1998)
*September 16 - Chick Bullock, US singer
*September 30 - David Oistrakh, violinist (d. 1974)
*October 14 - Allan Jones, actor, singer (d. 1992)
*October 20 - Stuart Hamblen, US singer, actor and songwriter (d. 1989)
*December 10 - Olivier Messiaen, composer (d. 1992)
*December 11 - Elliott Carter, composer
*December 16 - Frances Day, US actress and singer (d. 1984)

Deaths

*January 22 - August Wilhelmj, German violinist (b. 1845)
*January 23 - Edward MacDowell, American composer (b. 1860)
*February 28 - Pauline Lucca, operatic soprano (b. 1842)
*March 12 - Clara Novello, soprano (b. 1818)
*March 26 - Louis Chauvin, ragtime musician (b. 1881)
*May 7 - Ludovic Halévy, lyricist (b. 1834)
*May 12 - Melisio Morales, composer (b. 1838)
*June 5 - Josef Wagner, composer (b. 1856)
*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 20 - Federico Chueca, zarzuela composer (b. 1846)
*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)
*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)