1912 in music

Specific locations

• 1912 in Norwegian music

  Specific genres

• 1912 in jazz

  Events

• February 28 – In a concert in Copenhagen, Carl Nielsen conducts the premiere of his Symphony No. 3 and his Violin Concerto.
• March – Hart A. Wand publishes "Dallas Blues", a jazz standard and an early published blues song.
• June 26 – Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 9 is premiered in Vienna by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Bruno Walter.
• September – W. C. Handy publishes "The Memphis Blues", one of the first blues songs to become a hit.
• October 16 – Arnold Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire debuts at the Berlin Choralion-Saal.
• Aino Ackté founds an opera festival in Savonlinna; after a period of dormancy, the Savonlinna Opera Festival will become one of the most important cultural events in Finland.
• The Birmingham Triennial Music Festival is held for the last time.
• William Henry Bell becomes director of the South African College of Music in Cape Town.

  Published popular music

• "After All That I've Been To You" w. Jack Drislane m. Chris Smith
• "Alexander's Ragtime Band" w.m. Irving Berlin, E. Ray Goetz, A. Baldwin Sloane
• "All Night Long" w.m. Shelton Brooks
• "And The Green Grass Grew All Around" w. William Jerome m. Harry Von Tilzer
• "At The Devil's Ball" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "Baby Seals Blues" m. Artie Matthews
• "Bagdad" w. Anne Caldwell m. Victor Herbert
• "Be My Little Baby Bumble Bee" w. Stanley Murphy m. Henry I. Marshall
• "Beans! Beans!! Beans!!!" w. Elmer Bowman m. Chris Smith
• "Becky's Got A Job In A Musical Show" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "Come Back To Me, My Melody" Irving Berlin, Ted Snyder
• "Come Back To Playland With Me" w.m. Maude Lambert
• "Cuddle Up And Cling To Me" w. Stanley Murphy m. Henry L. Marshall
• "Daddy Has A Sweetheart " w. Gene Buck m. Dave Stamper
• "A Dinder Courtship" w. Fred E. Weatherly m. Eric Coates
• "Do It Again" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "Down In Dear Old New Orleans" w. Joe Young m. Conrad & Whidden
• "Dreams Of Long Ago" w. Earl Carroll m. Enrico Caruso
• "The Elevator Man Going Up, Going Up, Going Up, Going Up!" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "Everybody Loves A Chicken" w.m. Bobby Jones
• "Everybody Two-Step" w. Earl C. Jones m. Wallie Herzer
• "Florida Rag" V. Lowry
• "The Funny Little Melody" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "Giannina Mia" w. Otto Harbach m. Rudolf Friml
• "Goodnight, Nurse" w. Thomas J. Gray m. W. Raymond Walker
• "He Played It On His Fid, Fid, Fiddle-dee-dee" w.m. E. Ray Goetz & Irving Berlin
• "Hitchy-Koo" w. L. Wolfe Gilbert m. Lewis F. Muir & Maurice Abrahams
• "I'm Afraid, Pretty Maid, I'm Afraid" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "I'm The Lonesomest Gal In Town" w. Lew Brown m. Albert Von Tilzer
• "In My Harem" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "In the Garden" w.m. C. Austin Miles
• "It's A Long Way To Tipperary" w.m. Jack Judge & Harry H. Williams
• "Keep Away From The Fellow Who Owns An Automobile" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "Kentucky Sue" by Lew Brown
• "The Land Of Golden Dreams" w. C. M. Denison m. E. F. Dusenberry
• "Last Night Was The End Of The World" w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Harry Von Tilzer
• "The Last Shot Got Him" w.m. Cecil Mack & Cecil Smith
• "Lead Me To That Beautiful Band" w. E. Ray Goetz m. Irving Berlin from the musical theater production 'Cohan And Harris Minstrels'
• "A Little Love, A Little Kiss" w. Nilson Fysher Adrian Ross m. Leo Silesu
• "Love Is Like A Firefly" w. Otto Harbach m. Rudolf Friml
• "Melody" m. Charles Gates Dawes
• "The Memphis Blues" w. George A. Norton m. W. C. Handy
• "The Million Dollar Ball" Irving Berlin, E. Ray Goetz
• "My Melancholy Baby" w. George A. Norton m. Ernie Burnett
• "On A Beautiful Night With A Beautiful Girl" w. Will D. Cobb m. Gus Edwards
• "On The Mississippi" w. Ballard MacDonald m. Harry Carroll & Arthur Fields
• "Parisienne" w. Lew Brown m. Albert Von Tilzer
• "Pick, Pick, Pick Pick On The Mandolin, Antonio" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "Ragging The Baby To Sleep" w. L. Wolfe Gilbert m. Lewis F. Muir
• "Ragtime Cowboy Joe" w. Grant Clarke m. Lewis F. Muir & Maurice Abrahams
• "The Ragtime Drummer" James I. Lent
• "The Ragtime Jockey Man" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "Ragtime Mocking Bird" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "Ragtime Soldier Man" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "Roll Dem Roly Boly Eyes" w.m. Eddie Leonard
• "The Rose of Tralee" w. C. Mordaunt Spencer m. Charles W. Glover
• "Row Row Row" w. William Jerome m. James V. Monaco
• "She Pushed Me Into The Parlour" w. Alf Ellerton m. Will Mayne
• "Slippery Elm Rag" m. Clarence Woods
• "Sly Musette" w. Sydney Rosenfeld m. A. Baldwin Sloane
• "The Society Bear" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "Some Boy" w. Gene Buck m. Dave Stamper
• "Somebody's Coming To Town From Dixie" w. Raymond A. Browne m. Henry Clay Smith
• "The Sweetheart Of Sigma Chi" w. Byron D. Stokes m. F. Dudleigh Vernor
• "Sympathy" w. Otto Harbach m. Rudolf Friml
• "Take A Little Tip From Father" Irving Berlin, Ted Snyder
• "Take Me Back" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "Take Me To That Swanee Shore" w. L. Wolfe Gilbert m. Lewis F. Muir
• "Take Me To The Cabaret" w.m. William Dillon
• "Teasing Moon" w. Stanley Murphy m. Henry Marshall
• "That Dixie Dip Rag" m. Dippy Dip
• "That Eccentric Rag" m. J. Russel Robinson
• "That Kentucky Rag" w. Boyle Woolfolk m. Hampton Durand
• "That Old Girl Of Mine" w. Earle C. Jones m. Egbert van Alstyne
• "That Syncopated Boogie Boo" w. Sam M. Lewis m. George W. Meyer
• "That's How I Need You" w. Joe McCarthy & Joe Goodwin m. Al Piantadosi
• "There's One In A Million Like You" w. Grant Clarke m. Jean Schwartz
• "Waiting For The Robert E. Lee" w. L. Wolfe Gilbert m. Lewis F. Muir
• "'Way Down South" w.m. George Fairman
• "The Wedding Glide" w.m. Louis Hirsch
• "A Wee Hoose 'Mang The Heather" w.m Gilbert Wells, Fred Elton & Harry Lauder
• "When I Get You Alone Tonight" w.m. Joseph McCarthy, Joe Goodwin & Fred Fisher
• "When I Lost You" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" w. Chauncey Olcott & George Graff Jr m. Ernest R. Ball
• "When It's Apple Blossom Time In Normandy" w.m Harry Gifford, Huntley Trevor & Tom Mellor
• "When The Midnight Choo-Choo Leaves For Alabam" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "When Uncle Joe Plays A Rag On His Old Banjo" w.m. Theodore F. Morse
• "Yiddisha Professor" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "You're My Baby" w. A Seymour Brown m. Nat D. Ayer

  Popular recordings

• "The Herd Girl's Dream" by George Stehl, Marshall P. Lufsky, & Paul Surth, Columbia
• "Everybody Two Step" by Billy Murray, Edison
• "The Floral Dance" by Peter Dawson
• "Roamin' in the Gloamin'" by Harry Lauder, Victor

  Classical music

• Hugo Alfvén –
• *Mostellaria, for flute
• *Julsång, for voice and piano
• *Spåmannen, for chorus and small orchestra
• *Unge Herr Sten Sture, Op. 30, for baritone, male choir, and orchestra
• Granville Bantock – In the Far West, serenade for string orchestra
• Alban Berg – Five Orchestral Songs on Picture-Postcard Texts by Peter Altenberg
• Frank Bridge – Piano Quintet
• Max Bruch – Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra
• Ferruccio Busoni
• *Nocturne symphonique, Op. 43, BV 262
• *Sonatina No. 2
• George Butterworth – A Shropshire Lad
• John Alden Carpenter –
• *The Cock Shall Crow, for voice and piano
• *Poems by Paul Verlaine, for voice and piano
• *Songs, for medium voice and piano
• Carlos Chávez –
• *Miniatura for piano
• *Valsas I y II for piano
• Claude Debussy
• *Gigues
• *Khamma
• *Preludes, Book 2
• Frederick Delius
• *The Song of the High Hills
• *On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring
• Paul Dukas – La Peri
• Edward Elgar – The Music Makers
• George Enescu – Sonatensatz in F minor, for piano
• Victor Ewald – Brass Quintet No. 1
• Alexander Glazunov – Finnish Sketches
• Percy Grainger – Handel in the Strand
• Joseph Holbrooke – Nocturne: "Fairyland", Op. 57, for oboe, clarinet, and piano
• Arthur Honegger – Sonata in D minor, for violin and piano
• Charles Ives – Robert Browning Overture
• Leoš Janáček
• *The Fiddler's Child for orchestra
• *V mlhách for piano
• Manolis Kalomiris –
• *Iamvoi ke anapaestoi II: Mayovotana, for voice and orchestra
• *Quintet, for piano and strings, with voice
• Sigfrid Karg-Elert –
• *Chorale Improvisations, for organ
• *Funerale, for harmonium
• *Prae- und Postludien, Op. 78, for organ
• *Triumph, Op. 79, for unaccompanied chorus
• *Vom Himmel hoch, chorale canzona, Op. 82, No. 2, for chorus, violin, and organ
• Anatoly Lyadov – Iz Apokalipsisa, Op. 66, for orchestra
• Gian Francesco Malipiero –
• *Arione, symphonic poem for cello and orchestra
• *Danze e canzoni, for orchestra
• Bohuslav Martinů –
• *Andante, for string quartet
• *Ave Maria, for soprano and organ
• *Niponari, for soprano and orchestra
• *Nocturnes, for string quartet
• *Offertorium, for soprano and organ
• *Phantasie, for violin and piano
• *String Quartet
• Arnold Mendelssohn –
• *Auf meinen lieben Gott, Op. 61, for solo voices, chorus, organ, and orchestra
• *Aus tiefer Not, Op. 54, for soprano, chorus, organ, and orchestra
• Carl Neilsen –
• *Paraphrase over ‘Naermere Gud til dig’, for wind orchestra
• *Sonata No. 2, Op. 35, for violin and piano
• Leo Ornstein – A Paris Street Scene at Night, Op. 4, No. 3, for piano
• Otakar Ostrčil –
• *Česká legenda vánoční, Op. 15, for male chorus
• *Suite in C minor, Op. 14, for orchestra
• Gabriel Pierné – Saint François d'Assise, oratorio
• Ildebrando Pizzetti –
• *Il clefta prigione, for voice and piano
• *San Basilio, for voice and pinao
• Sergei Prokofiev
• *Piano Concerto No. 1 in D Major
• *Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Minor
• Roger Quilter –
• *Moonlight on the Lake, for piano
• *Where the Rainbow Ends: Suite, for piano
• Sergei Rachmaninoff – Songs, Op. 34
• Maurice Ravel – Daphnis et Chloé
• Max Reger –
• *"An die Hoffnung", Op. 124, for contralto and orchestra
• *Aus meinem Tagebuch, Op. 85, 35 little pieces for piano
• *Geistliche Gesänge, Op. 110, for chorus
• *Konzert im alten Stil in F major, Op. 123, for orchestra
• *Preludes and Fugues, Op. 117, for violin solo
• *Eine romantische Suite, Op. 125, for orchestra
• *Römischer Triumphgesang, Op. 126, for male voices and orchestra
• Erik Satie –
• *Aperçus désagréables, for piano duet
• *Préludes flasques , for piano
• *Préludes pour un chien, for piano
• *Véritables préludes flasques , for piano
• Arnold Schoenberg – Pierrot Lunaire
• Cyril Scott – Two Passacaglias
• Alexander Scriabin – 3 Études, Op. 65
• Richard Strauss – Der Bürger als Edelmann
• Igor Stravinsky – Le roi des étoiles
• Marcel Tournier – Promenade a l'automne
• Louis Vierne – Symphony for Organ No. 3 in F minor
• Heitor Villa-Lobos –
• *Brinquedo de Roda, for piano
• *Petizada, for piano
• *Suite infantil No. 1, for piano
• *Suite popular brasileira, for guitar
• Charles-Marie Widor – Suite for cello and piano
• Alberto Williams – Danzas argentinas–milongas, for orchestra

  Opera

• Eugen d'Albert –
• *Die verschenkte Frau
• *Liebesketten
• Walter Damrosch – The Dove of Peace
• Joseph Holbrooke – The Children of Don, Op. 56
• Otakar Ostrčil – Poupě, Op. 12
• Guy Ropartz – Le Pays
• Richard Strauss – Ariadne auf Naxos
• Franz Schreker – Der ferne Klang
• Ferruccio Busoni – Die Brautwahl

  [Musical theater]

• The Count of Luxembourg Broadway production opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre on September 16 and ran for 120 performances.
• The Firefly, Broadway production opened at the Lyric Theatre on December 2 and ran for 120 performances
• Forty-Five Minutes From Broadway Broadway revival opened at the George M. Cohan Theatre on March 14 and ran for 36 performances.
• Gypsy Love London production opened at Daly's Theatre on June 1 and ran for 299 performances.
• Hullo, Rag-time! Opened at the London Hippodrome on December 23 and ran for 451 performances.
• The Lady of the Slipper Broadway production opened at the Globe Theatre on October 28 and ran for 232 performances. Starring Elsie Janis, Montgomery and Stone, James Reaney, Peggy Wood and Vernon Castle.
• Der Lila Domino – Vienna production
• Mama's Baby Boy Broadway production opened at the Broadway Theatre on May 25 and ran for 9 performances
• Oh! Oh! Delphine! Broadway production opened at the Knickerbocker Theatre on September 30 and ran for 248 performances
• Over the River Broadway production opened at the Globe Theatre on January 8 and ran for 120 performances. Starring Eddie Foy, Lillian Lorraine, Mae Busch, Peggy Wood and Maurice and Walton.
• The Pink Lady London production opened at the Globe Theatre on April 11 and ran for 124 performances
• Under Many Flags Broadway production opened at the Hippodrome on August 31 and ran for 445 performances
• The Wall Street Girl Broadway production opened at the George M. Cohan Theatre on April 15 and ran for 56 performances
• The Ziegfeld Follies Of 1912, Broadway revue opened at the Moulin Rouge Theatre on October 21 and ran for 88 performances

  Births

• January 4 – Noro Morales, Puerto Rican pianist and bandleader
• January 7 – Günter Wand, German conductor and composer
• January 8 – Arkady Filippenko, composer
• January 11 – Emiliano Zuleta, vallenato composer, accordion player and singer
• February 2 – Burton Lane, US composer
• February 3 – Mary Carlisle, actress and singer
• February 11 – Rudolf Firkušný, pianist
• February 19 – Saul Chaplin, film score composer and arranger
• February 27 – Eliška Kleinová, pianist and music teacher
• March 11 – Xavier Montsalvatge, composer and music critic
• March 14 – Les Brown, US bandleader
• March 15 – Lightnin' Hopkins, blues musician
• March 24 – Sari Biro, pianist
• March 27 – Robert Hughes, composer
• April 2 – Herbert Mills of the Mills Brothers singing quartet
• April 7 – Jack Lawrence, American composer
• April 5 – Carlos Guastavino, composer
• April 17 – Marta Eggerth, singer and actress
• April 22 – Kathleen Ferrier, contralto
• April 24 – Renato Cellini, conductor
• May 3 – Virgil Fox, organist
• May 10 – Adrian Aeschbacher, pianist
• May 13 – Gil Evans, jazz pianist and bandleader
• May 18 – Perry Como, singer
• May 23
• *Jean Françaix, composer
• *William Vacchiano, trumpeter
• May 31 – Alfred Deller, singer
• June 6 – Robert Levin, pianist
• June 9
• *Edgar Evans, operatic tenor
• *Buddy Feyne, lyricist and composer
• June 17 – Don Gillis, conductor and composer )
• June 28 – Eleazar de Carvalho, conductor and composer
• July 4 – Fritz Schulz-Reichel, jazz pianist
• July 5
• *Mack David, songwriter
• *Ilona Massey, actress and singer
• July 14 – Woody Guthrie, folk singer
• July 16 – Amy Patterson, Argentine composer, singer, poet, and teacher
• July 17 – Irene Manning, actress and singer
• July 27 – Igor Markevitch, composer
• August 9 – Anne Brown, US soprano, first Bess in Porgy and Bess
• August 13 – Francesco Albanese, operatic tenor
• August 20 – Niyazi, conductor and composer
• August 21 – Natalia Dudinskaya, ballerina
• August 23 – Gene Kelly, dancer, singer and actor
• August 26 – Léo Marjane, born Thérèse Maria Léonie Gendebien, popular singer
• September 5 – John Cage, composer
• September 19 – Kurt Sanderling, conductor
• September 26 – René Hall, guitarist and arranger
• September 29 – Beryl Wallace, singer, dancer and actress
• September 30 – Kenny Baker, singer and actor
• October 7 – Joseph Cooper, pianist and broadcaster
• October 15 – Nellie Lutcher, jazz singer and pianist
• October 21
• *Don Byas, jazz musician
• *Sir Georg Solti, conductor
• October 24 – Peter Gellhorn, pianist, conductor and composer
• October 27 – Conlon Nancarrow, composer
• November 4 – Vadim Salmanov, Russian composer
• November 6 – King Kolax, jazz trumpeter
• November 11 – Larry LaPrise, creator of the "Hokey-Pokey" or "Hokey-Cokey" song and dance
• November 18 – Jimmy Swan, country musician
• November 21 – Eleanor Powell, dancer
• November 22 – Chick Henderson, singer
• November 29 – Viola Smith, American drummer
• November 30 – Hugo del Carril, actor and tango singer
• December 7 – Daniel Jones, composer
• December 10 – Irving Fazola, jazz clarinetist
• December 13 – Luiz Gonzaga, folk singer and songwriter
• December 23 – Josef Greindl, operatic bass
• December 25 – Natalino Otto, Italian singer
• December 28 – Yuri Levitin, Ukrainian composer
• December 30 – Rosina Lawrence, actress, singer and dancer
• probable – Merline Johnson, blues singer

  Deaths

• January 3 – Harald Scharff, ballet dancer, 75
• January 30 – Florence St. John, singer and actress, 56
• March 1 – George Grossmith, comic singer in operetta, 64
• March 17 – Domenico Mustafà, castrato singer and composer, 82
• March 30 – Lina Ramann, biographer of Liszt, 78
• April 15 – Sinking of the RMS Titanic:
• *Wallace Hartley, ship's bandleader and violinist, 33
• *John Law Hume, ship's violinist, 21
• April 30 – František Kmoch, conductor and composer, 63
• June 6 – Giulio Ricordi, music publisher, 71
• July 21 – Antonio Magini-Coletti, operatic baritone, 57
• August 13 – Jules Massenet, composer, 70
• August 14 – Marion Hood, singer, 58
• August 30 – Eleanora Ehrenbergů, operatic soprano, 79
• September 1 – Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, composer, 37
• October 1 – Frances Allitsen, composer, 63
• October 15 – Max Spicker, conductor and composer, 54
• October 19 – Richard Temple, opera singer, 66
• October 24
• *Mykola Lysenko, pianist, composer and conductor, 70
• *Bernardine Hamaekers, Belgian opera singer, 76
• October 30 – Jan Gall, composer and music teacher, 56
• November 10 – Riccardo Antoniazzi, violin maker, 58
• November 11 – Józef Wieniawski, pianist, conductor and composer, 75
• December 15 – Franz Simandl, double bassist, 72
• date unknown
• *Eduardo Corrochio, tap dancer
• *Auguste von Müller, singer and actress
• *Emma Seehofer, operatic contralto