1911 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1911.
Specific locations
- 1911 in Norwegian music
Specific genres
- 1911 in jazz
Events
- January 26 – Première of the opera Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss, in Dresden; the librettist is Hugo von Hofmannsthal and the director is Max Reinhardt.
- February 21 – Gustav Mahler, who had contracted bacterial endocarditis and was running a fever of 104 degrees, conducts his last concert, with the New York Philharmonic, of which he had been principal conductor since 1909.
- April 8 – Gustav Mahler embarks from New York to France; he enters a clinic in Paris, where he dies just over a month later.
- May 19 – Maurice Ravel's opera, L'heure espagnole, is premiered at the Opéra-Comique, in a double bill with Jules Massenet's 1907 opera Thérèse.
- May 24 – Edward Elgar conducts the premiere of his Symphony No. 2 in London.
- June 15 – Igor Stravinsky's ballet Petrushka is premiered in Paris; the lead dancer is Vaslav Nijinsky.
- July – Frank Bridge completes his orchestral suite The Sea, while staying at Eastbourne.
- November 20 – Gustav Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde is premièred in Munich, after the composer's death, with his friend and former assistant Bruno Walter conducting at the request of Alma Mahler.
- date unknown
- *Aino Ackté and other prominent opera singers found the Domestic Opera in Finland.
- *"Elsässisches Fahnenlied" is adopted as the anthem of the Republic of Alsace-Lorraine.
- *16-year-old Carl Orff publishes his first compositions.
- *The Society of Women Musicians is co-founded by Marion Scott and others.
- *Gustav Holst wrote the Second Suite in F for concert band.
Published popular music
- "After That I Want A Little More" w. Alfred Bryan m. Fred Fisher
- "After The Honeymoon" w.m. Irving Berlin
- "Alexander's Ragtime Band" w.m. Irving Berlin
- "All Alone" w. William Dillon m. Harry Von Tilzer
- "Any Old Iron" w.m. Charles Collins & Terry Sheppard
- "Archibald, Certainly Not" w.m. Alfred Glover & John St John
- "Baby Rose" by Louis Weslyn
- "Billy" w. Joe Goodwin m. James Kendis & Herman Paley
- "Bring Back My Lovin' Man" w.m. Irving Berlin
- "Can't You Take It Back And Change It For A Boy?" w.m. Thurland Chattaway
- "Core 'ngrato" w. Riccardo Cordiferro, m. Salvatore Cardillo
- "Daly's Reel" m. Joseph M. Daly
- "Down Home Rag" m. Wilbur Sweatman
- "Down The Field" w. Caleb O'Connor m. Stanleigh P. Friedman
- "El Choclo" w. Francice Luban m. Angel G. Villoldo
- "Everybody's Doing it Now" w.m. Irving Berlin
- "The Firebird" m. Igor Stravinsky
- "The Floral Dance" w.m. Katie Moss
- "The Gaby Glide" w. Harry Pilcer m. Louis Hirsch
- "Hello! Susie Green" w. Lester Barrett m. Herman Darewski
- "Honey Love" w. Jack Drislane m. George W. Meyer
- "Honeysuckle Rag" m. George Botsford
- "I Want A Girl " w. William Dillon m. Harry Von Tilzer
- "I Want To Be In Dixie" w.m. Irving Berlin & Ted Snyder
- "If Every Hour Were A Day" w. Anna Driver m. Alfred Bryan
- "In The Land Of Harmony" w. Bert Kalmar m. Ted Snyder
- "It's A Long Lane That Has No Turning" w. Arthur Penn m. Manuel Klein
- "Jimmy Valentine" w. Edward Madden m. Gus Edwards
- "The Little Grey Home In The West" w. D. Eardley-Wilmot m. Hermann Löhr
- "Love Is Mine" w. Edward Teschemacher m. Clarence G. Gartner
- "Make Me Love You Like I Never Loved Before" w. Alfred Bryan m. Fred Fisher
- "Mary O'Hoolihan" Berlin
- " Moonlight Bay" w. Edward Madden m. Percy Wenrich
- "Movin' Man Don't Take My Baby Grand" w. Bert Kalmar m. Ted Snyder
- "My Beautiful Lady " w. C. M. S. McLellan m. Ivan Caryll
- "My Hula Hula Love" w. Edward Madden m. Percy Wenrich
- "My Rosary Of Dreams" w.m. E. F. Dusenberg & C. M. Denison
- "Naughty, Naughty, Naughty" w. Harry Williams m. Egbert Van Alstyne
- "The Oceana Roll" w. Roger Lewis m. Lucien Denni
- "Oh Baby Mine" w.m. Cecille Boucher
- "Oh, You Beautiful Doll" w. A. Seymour Brown m. Nat D. Ayer
- "One O'Clock In The Morning I Get Lonesome" w.m. Irving Berlin
- "Ragtime Violin!" w.m. Irving Berlin
- "Red Rose Rag" w. Edward Madden m. Percy Wenrich
- "A Ring On The Finger Is Worth Two On The Phone" w. Jack Mahoney m. George W. Meyer
- "Roamin' In The Gloamin'" w.m. Harry Lauder
- "Run Home And Tell Your Mother" w.m. Irving Berlin
- "Sarnia Cherie" w. George Deighton, m. Domenico Santangelo
- "Somewhere A Voice Is Calling" w. Eileen Newton m. Arthur F. Tate
- "The Spaniard That Blighted My Life" w.m. Billy Merson
- "Spanish Love" Irving Berlin, Vincent Bryan, Ted Snyder
- "Texas Tommy Swing" Sid Brown & Val Harris
- "That Baboon Baby Dance" w. Dave Oppenheim m. Joe Cooper
- "That Hypnotizing Man" w. Lew Brown m. Albert Von Tilzer
- "That Mysterious Rag" w.m. Irving Berlin, Ted Snyder
- "That Was Before I Met You" w. Alfred Bryan m. George W. Meyer
- "There's A Girl In Havana" Irving Berlin, E. Ray Goetz, A. Baldwin Sloane
- "They Always Pick On Me" by Harry Von Tilzer and Stanley Murphy
- "Till The Sands Of The Desert Grow Cold" w. George Graff Jr m. Ernest R. Ball
- "To The Land Of My Own Romance" w. Harry B. Smith m. Victor Herbert
- "Too Much Mustard" m. Cecil Macklin
- "Virginia Lou" Irving Berlin, Earl Taylor
- "A Wee Deoch-an-Doris" w.m. Gerald Grafton & Harry Lauder
- "When I Was Twenty-One And You Were Sweet Sixteen" w. Harry Williams m. Egbert Van Alstyne
- "When I'm Alone I'm Lonesome" w.m. Irving Berlin & Ted Snyder
- "When It Rains, Sweetheart, When It Rains" w.m. Irving Berlin
- "When Ragtime Rosie Ragged The Rosary" w. Edgar Leslie m. Lewis F. Muir
- "When You Kiss An Italian Girl" w.m. Irving Berlin
- "When You're Away" w. A. Seymour Brown & Joe Young m. Bert Grant
- "When You're In Town" w.m. Irving Berlin
- "The Whistling Rag" w.m. Irving Berlin
- "Woodman, Woodman, Spare That Tree" w.m. Irving Berlin & Vincent Bryan
- "Yiddisha Nightingale" w.m. Irving Berlin
- "You've Got Me Hypnotized" w.m. Irving Berlin
Hit recordings
- "Any Little Girl, That's a Nice Little Girl, Is the Right Little Girl for Me" – Billy Murray
- "Turn Off Your Light, Mr. Moon Man" – Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth
Classical music
- Joseph Achron – Hebrew Melody
- Lili Boulanger – Les Sirènes
- Frank Bridge – The Sea
- George Butterworth – Two English Idylls
- Eric Coates – Miniature Suite
- Frederick Delius – Summer Night on the River
- George Enescu –
- *Sonata for violin and piano, in A minor
- *Suite châtelaine, for orchestra
- Reinhold Glière – Symphony No. 3 Ilya Murometz
- Enrique Granados – Goyescas
- Reynaldo Hahn – Aubade athénienne
- Gustav Holst
- *Invocation for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 19/2
- *Second Suite in F, for military band
- *2 Eastern Pictures, H. 112
- Charles Ives – Requiem S. 333
- Paul von Klenau – String Quartet No. 1 in E minor
- Nikolai Medtner – Sonata for Piano in E minor, Op. 25 no 2 "Night Wind"
- Nikolai Myaskovsky
- *Sinfonietta in A
- *Symphony No. 2
- *Cello Sonata No. 1.
- Carl Nielsen – Concerto for Violin and Orchestra
- Arnold Schoenberg – Sechs kleine Klavierstücke
- Alexander Scriabin
- *Piano Sonata No. 6
- *Piano Sonata No. 7
- Ethel Smyth – The March of the Women
- John Philip Sousa – Tales of a Traveler
- Charles Villiers Stanford
- *Symphony No. 7 in D minor, Op. 124
- *Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 126
- Igor Stravinsky
- *The Firebird Suite No. 1
- *Petrushka
- *Two Poems of K. Balmont, for voice and piano
Opera
- Béla Bartók – Bluebeard's Castle
- Scott Joplin – Treemonisha
- Maurice Ravel – L'Heure Espagnole
- Richard Strauss – Der Rosenkavalier, Dresden
Operetta
- Leányvásár – Victor Jacobi
Musical theater
- The Count of Luxembourg London production opened at Daly's Theatre on May 20 and ran for 340 performances
- The Fascinating Widow Broadway production opened at the Liberty Theatre on September 11 and transferred to the Grand Opera House on November 13 for a total run of 65 performances. Starring Julian Eltinge, Winona Winter, Natalia Ault and Eddie Garvie.
- Gypsy Love opened in Berlin. The Broadway production opened at the Globe Theatre on October 17 and ran for 31 performances
- Der Lila Domino – Leipzig production
- Madame Sherry New York
- Marriage a la Carte Broadway production opened at the Casino Theatre on January 2 and ran for 64 performances
- Peggy, by Leslie Stuart, with a book by George Grossmith, Jr. and lyrics by C. H. Bovill, London production opens at the Gaiety Theatre under the management of George Edwardes, on 4 March, and runs for 270 performances, starring Grossmith, Edmund Payne, Phyllis Dare and Gabrielle Ray
- The Pink Lady Broadway production opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre on March 13 and ran for 312 performances
- The Quaker Girl Broadway production opened at the Park Theatre on October 23 and ran for 240 performances
- The Revue of Revues Broadway revue opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on September 27 and ran for 55 performances. Starring Gaby Deslys, Harry Jolson, Ernie Hare and Frank Tinney.
- Die Sirene by Leo Fall, based on a text by Leo Stein and A. M. Willner, first performed in Vienna on 5 January.
- The Siren, a Broadway musical adaptation of Die Sirene is produced in New York by Charles Frohman and runs at the Knickerbocker Theatre from 28 August 1911 to 16 December.
Births
- January 10 – Sidney Griller, violinist and founder of the Griller Quartet
- January 18
- *Gábor Darvas, composer
- *Danny Kaye, actor, singer, dancer and comedian
- January 20
- *Roy Eldridge, jazz musician
- *Wendell J. Westcott, American carillon player and educator
- January 24
- *Evelyn Barbirolli, English oboist
- *Muir Mathieson, Scottish conductor and composer
- February 3 – Jehan Alain, organist and composer
- February 5 – Jussi Björling, Swedish tenor
- February 11 – Wesley Rose, record producer
- February 17 – Orrin Tucker, American saxophonist and bandleader
- February 20 – Robert McBride, composer
- March 7 – Stefan Kisielewski, Polish composer
- March 8 – Alan Hovhaness, composer
- March 9 – Clara Rockmore, born Clara Reisenberg, thereminist and violinist
- March 16 – Harper Goff, Disney special effects man and Dixieland musician
- March 18 – Smiley Burnette, singer-songwriter
- April 6 – Guillermo Portabales, singer-songwriter and guitarist
- April 8 – Ichirō Fujiyama, Japanese composer and singer
- May 8 – Robert Johnson, blues guitarist and singer
- May 13 – Maxine Sullivan, singer
- May 14 – Hans Vogt, composer and conductor
- May 18 – Big Joe Turner, blues shouter
- May 20 – Vet Boswell of the Boswell Sisters singing group
- June 4 – Faustino Oramas, Cuban singer, tres guitarist and composer
- June 9 – Frederick May, Irish composer
- June 24 – Portia White, contralto singer
- June 29 – Bernard Herrmann, film composer
- July 4 – Mitch Miller, arranger, conductor, record producer and oboe player
- July 7 – Gian Carlo Menotti, composer
- July 16 – Ginger Rogers, dancer, actress and singer
- July 26 – Buddy Clark, singer
- July 29 – Ján Cikker, composer
- July 31 – George Liberace, violinist and elder brother of Liberace
- August 5 – Roger Roger, film composer and bandleader
- August 6 – Lucille Ball, actress and singer
- August 27 – Kay Walsh, dancer and actress
- September 2 – Floyd Council, blues musician
- September 11 – Bola de Nieve, singer-songwriter and pianist
- September 19 – Allan Pettersson, Swedish composer
- September 24 – Marie Kraja, Albanian operatic and folk singer
- October 1 – Irwin Kostal, arranger
- October 7
- *Shura Cherkassky, pianist
- *Vaughn Monroe, singer and bandleader
- October 24 – Sonny Terry, blues musician
- October 26 – Mahalia Jackson, gospel singer
- October 29 – Nelson Cavaquinho, samba singer and composer
- November 5 – Roy Rogers, singer, actor
- December 3 – Nino Rota, composer
- December 14 – Spike Jones, bandleader
- December 15 – Stan Kenton, bandleader
- December 17 – André Claveau, French singer and Eurovision winner
- December 25 – Eric Gilder, musicologist
- December 27 – Anna Russell, singer and comedian
- December 28 – Max Jaffa, violinist and bandleader
- date unknown – Blanche Winogron, harpsichordist
Deaths
- January 7 – William Hall Sherwood, pianist and music educator
- January 8 – Pietro Gori, anarchist poet and songwriter
- January 9 – Edwin Arthur Jones, composer
- January 16 – Wilhelm Berger, pianist, conductor and composer
- January 28 – Wilhelmina Fundin, Swedish operatic soprano
- February 1 – Ángel Mislan, composer
- February 20 – Alexander Kopylov, violinist and composer
- March 20 – Jean-Théodore Radoux, bassoonist and composer
- March 29 – Alexandre Guilmant, organist and composer
- April 7 – Wilhelm Thern, pianist
- April 10 – Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, painter and composer
- April 15 – Wilma Neruda, violinist
- May 4 – Ronald Richardson Potter, organist and composer
- May 5 – James A. Bland, musician and songwriter
- May 18 – Gustav Mahler, composer
- May 29 – W. S. Gilbert, of Gilbert & Sullivan
- June 7 – Carlos Fernández Shaw, librettist
- June 13 – Patrick Heeney, composer
- June 14 – Johan Svendsen, conductor, composer and violinist
- June 18 – Franjo Kuhač, piano teacher, conductor and musicologist
- June 21 – Robert Radecke, composer
- June 22 – Bruno Klein, organist and composer
- July 2 – Felix Mottl, conductor and composer
- July 3 – Madeline Schiller, pianist
- July 7 – Samuel de Lange, composer, organist, pianist, conductor and music teacher, director of the Stuttgart music conservatory
- August 2
- *Bob Cole, composer
- *José Joaquín Palma, lyricist of the national anthem of Guatemala
- August 10 – Carl Christian Lumbye, Danish composer, son of Hans Christian Lumbye
- August 29 – Hildegard Werner, Swedish musician, conductor and journalist
- October 3 – Paul Sarebresole, ragtime composer
- October 13 – Harry Rickards, comedian, singer and theatre owner
- November 23 – Catalina Berroa, Cuban pianist, music teacher and composer