1904 in music

Events

* January 13 - Béla Bartók's symphonic poem "Kossuth" is premiered in Budapest, becoming his first major work to be performed
* February 17 - Puccini's "Madame Butterfly" debuts in Milan to no great acclaim.
* October - Alban Berg begins his studies under Arnold Schoenberg.
* October 18 - Gustav Mahler's "Symphony No. 5" is premiered in Cologne
* November 10 - Ferruccio Busoni gives the world premiere of his "Piano Concerto"
* Claudio Monterverdi's L'Orfeo is given a modern debut in concert version in Paris.

Published popular music

* "Abraham" w. Sterling m. Von Tilzer
* "Absinthe Frappe" w. Glen MacDonough m. Victor Herbert
* "Ain't It Funny What a Difference Just a Few Hours Make" w. Henry Blossom m. Alfred G. Robyn. Introduced by Raymond Hitchcock in the Broadway show "The Yankee Consul"
* "Al Fresco" w. Glen MacDonough m. Victor Herbert
* "Alexander" w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Harry Von Tilzer
* "All Aboard For Dreamland" w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Harry Von Tilzer
* "Back, Back To Baltimore" w. Harry H. Williams m. Egbert Van Alstyne
* "Big Indian Chief" w. Bob Cole m. J. Rosamond Johnson
* "Billy" w. Edgar Malone m. Ted S. Barron
* "Blue Bell" w. Edward Madden, Dolly Morse m. Theodore F. Morse
* "By The Old Oak Tree" w. George V. Hobart m. Max Hoffmann
* "Come Back To Sorrento" (Original title "Torna A Surriento") w.m. Ernesto de Curtis & Claude Aveling
* "Come Down From The Big Fig Tree" w. Edward Madden m. Theodore Morse
* "Come Take A Trip In My Airship" w. Ren Shields m. George Evans
* "Cordalia Malone" Jerome, Schwartz
* "The Countess Of Alagazam" w.m. Bob Cole
* "The Day That You Grew Colder" w.m. Paul Dresser
* "Don't Cry, Katie, Dear" Mills
* "Down In The Subway" Jerome, Schwartz
* "Down On The Brandywine" w. Vincent P. Bryan m. J. B. Mullen
* "Fascination" w. Dick Manning m. F. D. Marchetti Words 1932.
* "Fishing" w. James Weldon Johnson m. J. Rosamond Johnson
* "Following In Father's Footsteps" w.m. E. W. Rogers
* "Fu' The Noo" w. Harry Lauder & Gerald Grafton m. Harry Lauder
* "The Ghost That Never Walked" w. William Jerome m. Jean Schwartz
* "Gimme De Leavins" w. James Weldon Johnson m. Bob Cole
* "Give My Regards to Broadway" w.m. George M. Cohan
* "Good-bye Flo" w.m. George M. Cohan
* "Goodbye, Little Girl, Goodbye" w. Will D. Cobb m.. Gus Edwards
* "Goodbye, My Lady Love" w.m. Joseph E. Howard
* "The Goo-Goo Man" Stoddard, Schindler, Jerome
* "Hannah, Won't You Open That Door" w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Harry von Tilzer
* "Have You Seen Maggie Riley?" Von Tilzer
* "He Done Me Wrong" w.m. Hughie Cannon
* "Heinie" Rose, Snyder
* "I Love You All The Time" w.m. Will R. Anderson
* "I Want To Be A Soldier" w.m. William Cahill
* "I'm Longing For My Old Kentucky Home" w. Vincent Bryan m. J. B. Mullen
* "In The Days Of Old" w. Henry Blossom m. Alfred G. Robyn
* "In Zanzibar - My Little Chimpanzee" w. Will D. Cobb m. Gus Edwards
* "Just An Ever-Loving Girl" Bryan, Mullen
* "Just For The Sake Of Society" w. Alfred Bryan m. Kerry Mills
* "Kiss Me Good Night, Dear Love" w.m. Malcolm Williams & Israel Zangwill
* "Let's All Go Up To Maud's" w. Joseph C. Farrell m. Kerry Mills
* "Life's A Funny Proposition After All" w.m. George M Cohan
* "A Little Boy Called "Taps"" w. Edward Madden m. Theodore F. Morse
* "The Man Behind" w. Vincent Bryan m. J. B. Mullen
* "The Man With The Ladder And Hose" w.m. T. Mayo Geary
* "La Mattinata" m. Ruggiero Leoncavallo
* "Maureen Of Ballinasloe" w. J. Francis Barron m. J. Airlie Dix
* "Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis" w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Kerry Mills
* "Mexico" w. James Weldon Johnson & Bob Cole m. Bob Cole
* "Mister Wilson, That's All" w. Henry Williams m. Egbert van Alstyne
* "My Honey Lou" w.m. Thurland Chattaway
* "My Kangaroo" Farrell & Kohlman
* "Nan! Nan! Nan!" by Edward Madden
* "Oh Bliss! Oh Joy!" Mullen
* "Oh Gee! It's Great To Be Crazy" Carle, Bowers
* "Oh! Oh! Sallie" Hartlett
* "On The Warpath" Raymond A. Browne (composer)
* "One Fine Day" (Original title "Un Bel Di") w. L. Illica & G. Giacosa m. G. Puccini
* "Please Come And Play In My Yard" w. Edward Madden m. Theodore F. Morse
* "The Preacher And The Bear" w.m. George Fairman
* "Saint Louis Rag" m. Tom Turpin
* "Scissors To Grind" w.m. Thomas S. Allen
* "Seminole" w. Harry Williams m. Egbert van Alstyne
* "Shame On You" Larkin, Smith
* "She Went to the City" by Paul Dresser
* "Since Little Dolly Dimples Made A Hit" w. William Jerome m. Jean Schwartz
* "St. Louis Tickle" m. Barney & Seymore
* "The Story Of A Clothes Line" m. James W. Tate w. Frank Clifford Harris
* "Sweet Thoughts Of Home" w. Stanislaus Strange m. Julian Edwards
* "Teasing" w. Cecil Mack m. Albert Von Tilzer
* "Those Songs My Mother Used To Sing" w.m. H. Wakefield Smith
* "Three Green Bonnets" w. Harris m. Guy d'Hardelot
* "Tippecanoe" w. Harry Williams m. Egbert van Alstyne
* "The Trumpeter" by Francis Barron
* "What The Brass Band Played" Drislane, Morse
* "Why Adam Sinned" w.m. Alex Rogers
* "Won't You Fondle Me" w.m. James Kendis & Herman Paley
* "The Yankee Doodle Boy" w.m. George M. Cohan
* "Your Mother Wants You Home Boy" w.m. Paul Dresser

Classical music

*Béla Bartók - "Piano quintet"
*Hakon Børresen - "Concerto for violin and orchestra in G major"
*Alexander Glazunov - "Violin Concerto in A minor"
*Hamilton Harty - "An Irish Symphony"
*Gustav Mahler - "Kindertotenlieder (Songs of the Death of Children)" (song-cycle)
*Petar Stojanović - "Violin Concerto no 1"
*Igor Stravinsky - "Piano Sonata in F sharp minor"
*Claude Debussy - "La Mer"

Opera

*Franco Alfano - "Risurrezione"
*Leoš Janáček - "Jenůfa"
*Giacomo Puccini - "Madama Butterfly"
*Sergei Rachmaninoff - "The Miserly Knight"
*Amedeo Vives - "Bohemios"

Operetta

*"A rátartós királykisasszony" (The Haughty Princess) by Victor Jacobi. First performed on December 17 at Budapest.

Musical theater

* "The Catch of the Season" London production opened at the Vaudeville Theatre on September 9 and ran for 621 performances
* "The Cingalee" (Lionel Monckton, Adrian Ross and Percy Greenbank) - London production opened at Daly's Theatre on March 5 and ran for 365 performances
* "It Happened in Nordland" Broadway production opened at the Lew M. Fields Theatre on December 5 and ran for 254 performances
* "Little Johnny Jones" Broadway production opened at the Liberty Theatre on November 7 and ran for 52 performances
* "Paris by Night" (Music: Alfred Solmon Book: Harry Marshall) Broadway production opened at the Madison Square Roof Garden on July 2 and ran for 50 performances. Starring Ben Welch.
* "The Rogers Brothers In Paris" Broadway production opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre on September 5 and ran for 72 performances
* "Sergeant Brue" London production opened at the Strand Theatre on June 14
* "The Yankee Consul" Broadway production opened at the Broadway Theatre on February 22 and ran for 115 performances

Births

*January 10 - Ray Bolger, singer, and dancer (d. 1987)
*January 13 - Richard Addinsell, composer (d. 1977)
*January 15 - Eddie DeLange, bandleader and lyricist (d. 1949)
*January 22 - George Balanchine, choreographer (d. 1983)
*February 3 - Luigi Dallapiccola, composer (d. 1975)
*February 23 - Allan Gray, film composer (d. 1973)
*February 29 - Jimmy Dorsey, bandleader (d. 1957)
*March 1 - Glenn Miller, trombonist and bandleader (m. 1944)
*March 4 - Joseph Schmidt, Austrian-Hungarian tenor and actor (d. 1942)
*April 9 - Sharkey Bonano, jazz musician (d. 1972)
*April 16 - Fifi D'Orsay, actress and singer (d. 1983)
*April 18 - Pigmeat Markham, all-round entertainer (d. 1981)
*April 29
** Russ Morgan, orchestra leader (d. 1969)
** Pedro Vargas, Mexican singer and actor (d. 1989)
*May 19 - Lubka Kolessa, pianist and music teacher (d. 1997)
*May 21 - Fats Waller, American pianist and comedian (d. 1943)
*May 26 - George Formby, English music hall performer, singer, actor and songwriter (d. 1961)
*May 28 - Margaret Harris, opera costume and set designer (d. 2000)
*June 3 - Jan Peerce, American tenor (d. 1984)
*June 6 - Raymond Burke, clarinettist (d. 1986)
*June 7 - Don Murray, clarinettist (d. 1929)
*June 11 - Pinetop Smith, jazz pianist (d. 1929)
*June 15 - Anna Mahler, musician and sculptor (d. 1988)
*June 21 - Mack Gordon, Polish-born US lyricist (d. 1959)
*June 24 - Phil Harris, jazz musician (d. 1995)
*July 16
**Mabel Wayne, US composer
**Goffredo Petrassi, composer (d. 2003)
*July 24 - Leo Arnaud, film composer (d. 1991)
*August 13 - Charles "Buddy" Rogers, actor and singer (d. 1989)
*August 17 - Leopold Nowak, Austrian musicologist (d. 1991)
*August 21 - Count Basie, bandleader (d. 1984)
*September 17 - Sir Frederick Ashton, dancer and choreographer (d. 1988)
*October 11 - Tita Merello, tango singer, dancer and actress (d. 2002)
*October 20 - Anna Neagle, actress and singer (d. 1986)
*October 24 - Moss Hart, musical theatre director (d. 1961)
*October 29 - Vivian Ellis, English composer (d. 1996)
*November 14 - Dick Powell, actor and singer (d. 1963)
*November - Aleksey Zhivotov, composer (d. 1964)
*November 21 - Coleman Hawkins, saxophonist (d. 1969)
*November 25 - Toni Ortelli, Italian composer and alpinist (d. 2000)
*December 9 - Elsie Randolph, English actress, dancer and singer
*December 18 - Wilf Carter, country singer (d. 1966)
*December 26 - Alejo Carpentier, musicologist (d. 1980)
*December 31 - Umm Kulthum, Egyptian singer and actress (d. 1975)
*"date unknown" - León Zuckert, conductor, composer and arranger (d. 1992)

Deaths

*January 4 - Mitrofan Belyayev, music publisher (b. 1836)
*January 10 - Antoinette Sterling, singer
*January 15 - Eduard Lassen, composer (b. 1830)
*January 20 - Maria Louisa Bustill, mother of Paul Robeson (b. 1853) (domestic accident)
*March 10 - Giovanni Cesari, "castrato" singer (b. 1843)
*March 11 - Charles Grisart, opera composer (b. 1837)
*March 20 - Louisa Pyne, operatic soprano and opera company manager (b. 1832)
*March 31 - Sophia Karp, actress and singer (b. 1861)
*May 1 - Antonín Dvořák, composer (b. 1841)
*May 19 - Korla Awgust Kocor, conductor and composer (b. 1822)
*June 28 - Dan Emmett, founder of the Virginia Minstrels (b. 1815)
*July 13 - Giulia Warwick, operatic soprano and actres (b. 1857)
*August 6 - Eduard Hanslick, music critic (b. 1825)
*October 31 - Dan Leno, English music hall comedian, clog dancer and singer (b. 1860)
*November 30 - Aldine Silliman Kieffer, music teacher and publisher (b. 1840)
*"date unknown"
**Antonio Galassi, operatic baritone (b. 1845)
**Arthur Lloyd, music hall entertainer and songwriter (b. 1839)