his project began sometime in the late 1980s when I was reading Nicholas Slonimsky's mammoth Music Since 1900, which places major musical events of the 20th century in chronological order by exact date. Always intrigued by his humorous anecdotes, many from his own personal experience, I had lost myself in the entries for 1939. As I passed through September it suddenly dawned on me that World War II had just started. It then occurred to me how much of my study of music history had been in a vacuum, unrelated to events which shape the world.

Composers live in the world. They affect the world and are affected by it. The idea of a sort of Music Since 1900 including world events interested me. I have been working on it since then. The result is this web page.

My survey begins in 1752. That was the year that the British Empire converted to the Gregorian calendar. Before this, being sure about a specific date is very difficult. Many authors do not seem to know that there were different calendars between Britain and the Continent. Others do not seem to care. That problem also applies to Russia which did not convert to the Gregorian calendar until 1918; but I have tried to muddle through. If you spot a Russian event on the wrong date, please contact me and let me know.

My attempt was to place everything in the Gregorian calendar. Dates are local time. (This can sometimes be confusing. For instance, the Japanese attack on Malaya on December 8, 1941 actually happened before their attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.) Some attempt has been made to keep the chronological order for multiple items within one date, but this is next to impossible to ensure.

Many composers are underrepresented in this survey. Click here to see a list of composers who should have more of their lives and works in these pages. If you know of sources where one may find biographical information, or information on first performances for any of these artists, please contact me. Any source you suggest must have exact dates.

Some caveats apply:

1. I am constantly updating information as it becomes available and correcting errors. If you find a mistake, or if you see things that seem contradictory, please contact me and gently point it out. Please cite specific scholarly sources for any correction you wish to suggest.
    
2. The focus in the early decades is euro-centric, in music and history. As western art music took in more and more non-western sources, the focus begins to spread out to encompass the entire planet.

Questions, comments: info@musicandhistory.com
©2004