1902 in music

Specific locations

• 1902 in Norwegian music

  Events

• April 11 – Tenor Enrico Caruso makes the first million-selling recording, for the Gramophone Company in Milan.
• April 30 – Claude Debussy's opera Pelléas et Mélisande is premiered at the Opéra-Comique in Paris, with André Messager conducting.
• June 9 – The first complete performance of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 3 is given in Krefeld.
• June 26 – Composer Hubert Parry receives a baronetcy in the 1902 Coronation Honours. Another composer, Charles Villiers Stanford, is knighted.
• December 1 – Carl Nielsen conducts the premiėre of his Symphony No. 2, The Four Temperaments, in Copenhagen.
• Lead Belly begins performing.

  Published popular music

• "Any Rags?" w.m. Thomas S. Allen
• "Because" w. Edward Teschemacher m. Guy d'Hardelot
• "Bill Bailey Won't You Please Come Home" w.m. Hughie Cannon
• "Come Down Ma' Evenin' Star" w. Robert B. Smith m. John Stromberg
• "Could You Be True To Eyes Of Blue If You Looked Into Eyes Of Brown?" w.m. Will D. Cobb & Gus Edwards
• "Didn't Know Exactly What To Do" w. Frank Pixley m. Gustav Luders
• "Down On The Farm" w. Raymond A. Browne m. Harry Von Tilzer
• "Down The Line With Molly" w. George Totten Smith m. George L. Spaulding
• "Down Where The Wurzburger Flows" w. Vincent P. Bryan m. Harry Von Tilzer
• "The Entertainer" m. Scott Joplin
• "The Face In The Firelight" w.m. Charles Shackford
• "The Gambling Man" w. William Jerome m. Jean Schwartz
• "The Glow Worm" w. Lilla Cayley Robinson Heinz Bolten-Backers m. Paul Lincke
• "Happy Hooligan" m. Theodore Morse
• "Have You Seen My Sweetheart In His Uniform Of Blue?" w. Will D. Cobb m. Gus Edwards
• "Heidelberg Stein Song" w. Frank Pixley m. Gustav Luders
• "I Just Can't Help From Lovin' That Man" w. Andrew B. Sterling & Vincent P. Bryan m. Harry von Tilzer
• "I Sing A Little Tenor" w. Harry Linton m. John Gilroy
• "I Went To See Them March Away" w. S. E. Keisser m. R. J. Jose
• "I Wonder Why Bill Bailey Don't Come Home" w.m. Frank Fogerty, Matt C. Woodward & William Jerome
• "If Money Talks It Ain't On Speaking Terms With Me" w.m. J. Fred Helf
• "I'll Be There Mary Dear" w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Harry von Tilzer
• "I'll Be Waiting In The Gloaming, Sweet Genevieve" w.m. J. Fred Helf
• "I'll Be Your Rain-beau" w. Ed Gardinier m. J. Fred Helf
• "I'll Wed You In The Golden Summertime" w. Alfred Bryan m. Stanley Crawford
• "I'm The Man Who Makes The Money In The Mint" w.m. Will D. Cobb & Gus Edwards
• "I'm Unlucky" w. William Jerome m. Jean Schwartz
• "I've Been Sleeping On The Floor All Night" w.m. T.W. Connor
• "In Dear Old Illinois" by Paul Dresser
• "In Silence" w. Sydney Rosenfeld m. A. Baldwin Sloane
• "In The City Of Sighs And Tears" w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Kerry Mills
• "In The Good Old Summer Time" w. Ren Shields m. George Evans. Introduced by Blanche Ring in the musical The Defender.
• "In The Sweet Bye And Bye" w. Vincent P. Bryan m. Harry Von Tilzer
• "In The Valley Of Kentucky" w.m. Tony Stanford
• "It's A Nice Little Cosy Kitchen" w.m. T.W. Connor
• "It's Got To Be A Minstrel Show Tonight" w. Ren Shields m. George Evans
• "Jennie Lee" w. Arthur J. Lamb m. Harry Von Tilzer
• "Just Can't Help From Lovin' That Man" w. Andrew B. Sterling & Vincent P. Bryan m. Harry von Tilzer
• "Just For Tonight" w.m. Frank O. French
• "Just Next Door" w.m. Charles K. Harris
• "Kashmiri Song" w. Laurence Hope 1901 m. Amy Woodforde-Finden
• "Katrina" w.m. Edward W. Corliss
• "Land Of Hope And Glory" w. Arthur C. Benson m. Edward Elgar
• "The Leader Of The Frocks And Frills" w. Robert H. Smith m. Melville Ellis
• "Less Than The Dust" w. Laurence Hope m. Amy Woodforde-Finden
• "Levee Rag" m. Charles Mullen
• "The Mansion of Aching Hearts" w. Arthur J. Lamb m. Harry Von Tilzer
• "May Sweet May" w. R. J. Jose m. Robert S. Roberts
• "The Meaning Of USA" w.m. Raymond A. Browne
• "Meet Me When The Sun Goes Down" w. Vincent P. Bryan m. Harry von Tilzer
• "The Message Of The Rose" w. Will A. Heelan m. Leo Edwards
• "The Message Of The Violet" w. Frank Pixley m. Gustav Luders
• "Mister Dooley" w. William Jerome m. Jean Schwartz
• "My Sulu Lulu Loo" w. George Ade m. Nat D. Mann
• "Nobody's Looking But The Owl And The Moon" w. Bob Cole & James Weldon Johnson m. J. Rosamond Johnson
• "Nursery Rhymes" w. William Jerome m. Jean Schwartz
• "Oh! Didn't He Ramble" w.m. Bob Cole & J. Rosamond Johnson
• "On A Sunday Afternoon" w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Harry Von Tilzer
• "On The Day King Edward Gets His Crown On" w.m. Mark Lorne & Harry Pleon
• "Paint Me A Picture Of Mama" w. Addison Burkhardt m. Raymond Hubbell
• "The Passing Of Rag-Time" m. Arthur Pryor
• "Pinky Panky Poo" w. Aaron S. Hoffman m. Andy Lewis
• "Please Go 'Way And Let Me Sleep" w. Cecil Mack m. J. Tim Brymn
• "Pomp and Circumstance" by Edward Elgar
• "Pretty Little Dinah Jones" w.m. J. B. Mullen
• "R-E-M-O-R-S-E" w. George Ade m. Alfred G. Wathall
• "Rip Van Winkle Was A Lucky Man" w. William Jerome m. Jean Schwartz
• "Sal" w.m. Paul Rubens
• "Sammy" w. James O'Dea m. Edward Hutchinson
• "Since Sister Nell Heard Paderewski Play" w. William Jerome m. Jean Schwartz
• "Those Things Cannot Be Explained" w. Junie McCree m. Ben M. Jerome
• "The Troubles Of Reuben And The Maid" w. J. Cheever Goodwin m. Maurice Levi
• "Under The Bamboo Tree" w.m. Bob Cole & J. Rosamond Johnson
• "Under the Double Eagle" by Josef Franz Wagner
• "Wait At The Gate For Me" w. Ren Shields m. Theodore F. Morse
• "What's The Matter With The Moon Tonight?" w. Sydney Rosenfeld m. A. Baldwin Sloane
• "When Kate And I Were Comin' Thro' The Rye" w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Harry Von Tilzer
• "When The Fields Are White With Cotton" w. Robert F. Roden w. Max S. Witt
• "When The Troupe Gets Back To Town" w. George Totten Smith m. Harry von Tilzer
• "Where The Sunset Turns The Ocean's Blue To Gold" w. Eva Fern Buckner m. Henry W. Petrie

  Recorded popular music

• "Arkansaw Traveler" – Len Spencer
• "In the Good Old Summer Time" – William Redmond

  Classical music

• Edward Elgar – Dream Children, Op. 43
• Alexander Glazunov –
• *From the Middle Ages
• *Symphony No. 7, Op. 77
• Johannes Hanssen – Valdres March
• Alfred Hill – Hinemoa
• Vítězslav Novák – In the Tatra Mountains
• Jean Sibelius – Symphony No. 2, Op. 43
• Francisco Tárrega – Gran Vals

  [Opera]

• Francesco Cilea – Adriana Lecouvreur
• Claude Debussy – Pelléas et Mélisande
• Manuel de Falla – Los amores de la Inés
• Alberto Franchetti – Germania
• Edward German – Merrie England
• Reynaldo Hahn – La Carmélite
• Jules Massenet – Le Jongleur de Notre Dame
• Carl Nielsen – Saul og David
• Emile Pessard – L'armée des vierges premiered on October 15 at the Bouffes-Parisiens, Salle Choiseul, Paris
• George Stephanescu – Petra

  [Musical theater]

• Bob Herceg – by Jenö Huszka, with libretto by Ferenc Martos and Károly Bakonyi
• A Country Girl London production opened at Daly's Theatre on January 18 and ran for 729 performances
• The Defender Broadway production opened at the Herald Square Theatre on July 3 and ran for 60 performances. Starring Blanche Ring.
• The Emerald Isle Broadway production
• The Girl From Kays London production opened at the Apollo Theatre on November 15 and ran for 432 performances.
• Madame Sherry Berlin and Paris productions
• The Rogers Brothers At Harvard Broadway production
• Three Little Maids London production opened at the Apollo Theatre on May 10 and transferred to the Prince of Wales Theatre on September 8 for a total run of 348 performances.
• Tommy Rot Broadway production
• The Toreador Broadway production
• Twirly-Whirly Broadway production
• The Wild Rose Broadway production opened at the Knickerbocker Theatre on May 5 and ran for 136 performances. Starring Eddie Foy, Albert Hart, Junie McCree, Irene Bentley, Marguerite Clark and Marie Cahill.

  Births

• January – Billy Pigg, Northumbrian piper
• January 11
• *Evelyn Dove, British singer
• *Maurice Duruflé, French composer
• January 21 – Webster Booth, English tenor
• February 26 – Rudolf Moralt, German conductor
• March 16 – Leon Roppolo, US jazz clarinetist
• March 21 – Son House, blues musician
• March 29 – William Walton, British composer
• April 8 – Maria Maksakova Sr., Soviet opera singer
• April 24 – Rube Bloom, US pianist and composer
• April 26 – Walter Dana, polka-music promoter
• May 1 – Sonnie Hale, English actor and singer
• May 11 – Bidu Sayão, Brazilian opera singer
• May 18 – Meredith Willson, US composer
• May 19 – Lubka Kolessa, pianist and music teacher
• May 31 – Billy Mayerl, English pianist, composer and conductor
• June 2 – Rosa Rio, American organist and composer
• June 6 – Jimmie Lunceford, bandleader
• June 17
• *Vivian Duncan, singer, songwriter and actress, member of the Duncan Sisters
• *Sammy Fain, US composer
• June 19 – Guy Lombardo, bandleader
• June 21 – Skip James, blues musician
• July 19 – Buster Bailey, jazz clarinetist
• July 20 – Jimmy Kennedy, Irish-born British songwriter
• July 21 – Omer Simeon, jazz musician
• August 6 – Jim Davidson, Australian bandleader
• August 9 – Zino Francescatti, violinist
• October 25 – Eddie Lang, US jazz guitarist
• November 22 – Ethel Smith, organist
• December 15 – Mary Skeaping, British choreographer
• December 27 – Sam Coslow, US songwriter and singer

  Deaths

• January 17 – Elias Blix, politician, poet and musician
• January 11 – James James, composer of the Welsh national anthem, "Hen Wlad fy Nhadau"
• January 18 – Filippo Marchetti, opera composer
• January 20 – Camilla Urso, violinist
• February 1 – Salomon Jadassohn, composer and music teacher
• February 9 – Ludwig von Brenner, conductor and composer
• February 11 – Leonid Malashkin, conductor and composer
• April 21 – Ethna Carbery, songwriter
• June 17 – Karl Piutti, organist and composer
• July 6 – Leopoldo Miguez, composer
• July 13 – Benjamin Bilse, conductor and composer
• August 3 – August Klughardt, conductor and composer
• September 7
• *Enrique Gaspar y Rimbau, zarzuela writer
• *Franz Wüllner, conductor and composer
• September 11 – Émile Bernard, French composer and organist
• September 26 – Camille D'elmar, actress and opera singer
• September 28 – Ion Ivanovici, bandleader and composer
• date unknown
• *Güllü Agop, Turkish theatre director
• *Jones Hewson, operatic baritone
• *Franz Nachbaur, opera singer
• *Ramon Delgado Palacios, Venezuelan pianist and composer