1855
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1 January 1855 Two New York lawyers, George Bissell and Jonathan Eveleth, form Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company, the first oil company in the United States.
6 January 1855 A combined force of French and Imperial Chinese troops attack Shanghai, presently held by the Small Sword Society. Through furious fighting, the attackers are driven back.
11 January 1855 Johannes Brahms (21) makes his first visit to the insane asylum near Bonn where he finds Robert Schumann (44) in good spirits. Doctors still refuse admittance to Clara Schumann (35).
14 January 1855 The Diet of the German Confederation votes down an Austrian request for mobilization against Russia.
20 January 1855 Ernest Amédée Chausson is born in Paris, the fourth of six children born to Prosper Chausson, a wealthy building contractor, and Stéphanie-Marcelline Levraux (or Levrault), daughter of a notary.
21 January 1855 The Théâtre de la Monnaie, Brussels, opened in 1819, burns down. See 24 March 1856.
23 January 1855 A second version of the Overture to Faust WWV 59 by Richard Wagner (41) is performed for the first time, in the Casino Zürich conducted by the composer. See 22 July 1844.
The waltz Panacea-Klänge op.161 and the Souvenir-Polka op.162 by Johann Strauss (29), are performed for the first time, in the Sophiensaal, Vienna.
25 January 1855 Today and tomorrow, Anton Bruckner (30) takes the Hauptlehrer-Prüfung in Linz.
26 January 1855 After long negotiations, particularly with France, Sardinia declares war on Russia and offers 15,000 men for the Crimea.
28 January 1855 The British House of Commons, including 85 supporters of the government, vote to begin an investigation into the conduct of the war in the Crimea.
The Panama Railroad Company of New York begins operating a railroad across the Isthmus of Panama.
The first performance of Hector Berlioz’ (51) cantata in honor of Napoléon III, Le Dix Décembre, scheduled for the Théâtre-Italien, is cancelled owing to concerns about the war in the Crimea.
Anton Bruckner (30) is deemed to have passed the Hauptlehrer-Prüfung, which qualifies him to be a high school teacher.
29 January 1855 Leopolderstädter Polka op.168 by Johann Strauss (29) is performed for the first time, in the Sperl Ballroom, Vienna.
30 January 1855 Glossen op.163, a waltz by Johann Strauss (29), is performed for the first time, in the Sophiensaal, Vienna.
31 January 1855 Handels-Elite-Quadrille op.166 by Johann Strauss (29) is performed for the first time, in the Sperl Ballroom, Vienna.
3 February 1855 Eugène Rouher replaces Léon Faucher as chief minister of France.
Two and a half months after the death of his wife from puerperal fever, Alonzo Calvin Chadwick, father of George Whitefield Chadwick (0) marries his 29-year-old neighbor, Susan Collins in Lowell, Massachusetts.
4 February 1855 Henry John Temple, Viscount Palmerston replaces George Hamilton-Gordon, Earl of Aberdeen as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Aberdeen lost support of his own members for his perceived mishandling of the war in the Crimea.
Symphony no.1 by Charles Gounod (36) is performed for the first time, in Paris.
7 February 1855 A treaty is concluded between Russia and Japan at Shimoda setting out friendly relations, opening Japan to Russian trade, dividing the Kuril Islands between them, and creating joint possession of Sakhalin.
9 February 1855 Tewodros II replaces Webe Haile Mariam as Emperor of Ethiopia.
10 February 1855 Giacomo Meyerbeer (63) is awarded the Commander’s Cross of the Albrecht’s Order of Saxony, in Dresden.
11 February 1855 Ella-Polka op.160 by Johann Strauss (29) is performed for the first time, in the Sophiensaal, Vienna.
12 February 1855 Sirenen op.164, a waltz by Johann Strauss (29), is performed for the first time, in the Sophiensaal, Vienna.
14 February 1855 Aurora-Polka op.165 by Johann Strauss (29) is performed for the first time, in the Sperl Ballroom, Vienna.
17 February 1855 French and Imperial Chinese forces take Shanghai. The city was held for 17 months by rebels of the Small Sword Society and the active participation of the local populace.
Russian forces attack the Turks at Eupatoria (Yevpatoriya), 60 km northwest of Simferopol. The Russians are mauled and forced to retreat. For this, Prince Alyeksandr Sergeyevich Menshikov is removed by Tsar Nikolay as the Russian commander in the Crimea.
Piano Concerto no.1 by Franz Liszt (43) is performed for the first time, in the Ducal Palace, Weimar by the composer at the keyboard and the orchestra directed by Hector Berlioz (51). It is the first of two joint concerts in Weimar, today’s at the ducal court. These two concerts are very successful.
19 February 1855 Man lebt nur einmal! op.167, a waltz in the style of a ländler by Johann Strauss (29), is performed for the first time, in the Sperl Ballroom, Vienna.
22 February 1855 French forces attack the Russians at the Mamelon Vert near Savastopol. They are thrown back with heavy losses.
23 February 1855 After a year of concertizing in Cuba, Louis Moreau Gottschalk (25) boards a British steamer in Havana bound for Mobile and New Orleans.
24 February 1855 Johannes Brahms (21) visits Robert Schumann (44) in the insane asylum near Bonn. They talk, and Schumann tells Brahms that he is writing music.
26 February 1855 Bedrich Smetana (30) conducts his Triumphal Symphony in its premiere at Konvikt Hall. It is Smetana’s first appearance in Prague as conductor and pianist.
2 March 1855 Nikolay I, Tsar of all the Russias, Grand Duke of Finland, King of Poland dies in St. Petersburg and is succeeded by his son, Alyeksandr II.
3 March 1855 The Foreign Affairs Committee of the US House of Representatives publishes the documents of the Ostend Manifesto regarding US attempts to gain control of Cuba.
11 March 1855 The body of Tsar Nikolay I is taken from the Winter Palace to the Cathedral of the Fortress of SS. Peter and Paul. Accompanying it are members of the Cadet School, including Modest Musorgsky (15).
15 March 1855 The Crimean Peace Conference opens in Vienna.
17 March 1855 Hector Berlioz (51) gives the first of three concerts at the Théâtre du Cirque, Brussels.
18 March 1855 A suspension bridge spanning Niagara Gorge, designed by Augustus Roebling, is opened to railway traffic.
20 March 1855 More British warships begin departing home waters for service in the Baltic against Russia.
26 March 1855 A railroad goes into operation between Balaklava and Sevastopol. It brings siege equipment to the front and removes the wounded to the rear. Thus, it is the first hospital train in history.
Louis Moreau Gottschalk (25) goes aloft in a hot air balloon piloted by one Godard. They ascend from New Orleans and float north for only six minutes, landing on the tracks of the Pontchartrain Railroad. He is perhaps the first composer to fly. See 1 April 1855.
27 March 1855 Nova Scotian Abraham Gesner receives a US patent for kerosene.
30 March 1855 By the Treaty of Peshawar, Great Britain and Afghanistan unite against Persia.
Pierre Jacques François de Decker replaces Henri Ghislain de Brouckère as head of government for Belgium.
31 March 1855 Charlotte Brontë dies in Haworth, Yorkshire at the age of 38.
1 April 1855 Louis Moreau Gottschalk (25) ascends in a hot air balloon over New Orleans for a second time. He brings with him a harmonicon, a small keyboard instrument. The balloon takes the same trajectory as the flight of 26 March but this time, Gottschalk composes Pensée poétique. This is the first recorded instance of composition in mid-air. See 26 March 1855.
5 April 1855 Agnès Street-Klindworth departs Weimar for Brussels. She has been in Weimar since the Autumn of 1853, coming as a promising piano pupil of Franz Liszt (43). Agnès’ true mission was as an intelligence gatherer for her father, Georg Klindworth, spymaster for Prince Metternich of Austria. During her stay she managed to begin a flaming love affair with Liszt, which they will continue by letter after her departure.
9 April 1855 British and French forces begin an artillery barrage on the Russian defenses at Sevastopol.
Giacomo Meyerbeer (63) is awarded the Commander’s Cross of the Order of the Ernestine House (first class with star) by Duke Ernst II of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha personally. He then takes a train for Weimar to see Robert Schumann’s (44) opera Genoveva there. He tries to go to the theatre incognito in order to avoid meeting Franz Liszt (43) but is discovered by Peter Cornelius (30) who tells Liszt. He is obliged by his old nemesis to view the opera in the box of Princess Wittgenstein. He finds Genoveva “totally without melodies, badly written for the voices, unclear and ponderous; and yet with many interesting harmonic and orchestral details, and occasional flashes of genial conception.”
11 April 1855 La cour de Célimène, an opéra comique by Ambroise Thomas (43) to words of Rosier, is performed for the first time, at the Théâtre Favart, Paris.
25 April 1855 Telegraph messages begin flowing directly from the Crimea to London and Paris. The feat is made possible by the laying of an undersea cable from Balaclava to Varna (Bulgaria), a distance of some 488 km.
26 April 1855 Believing that French doctors might cure his ailment, Gioachino Rossini (63) and his wife leave Florence for Paris. He will never see Italy again.
29 April 1855 Giacomo Meyerbeer (63) sees Richard Wagner’s (41) Tannhäuser for the first time, in Hamburg. “The opera itself is incontestably a musical-artistic manifestation of the highest interest. There is indeed a great dearth of melody, an unclarity and a formlessness, but nonetheless great flashes of genius in conception, in orchestral coloring, and in purely musical respects, particularly in the instrumental passages.”
30 April 1855 A setting of the Te Deum by Hector Berlioz (51) is performed for the first time, at St.-Eustache, Paris coinciding with the opening of the Paris Exposition.
4 May 1855 Mehmed Emin Ali Pasha replaces Mustafa Resid Pasha as Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire.
Hector Berlioz (51) and Giuseppe Verdi (41) dine together in Paris. During these few weeks these two giants of Romanticism become as acquainted as they ever will.
Lawyer-journalist William Walker and 58 mercenaries set sail from San Francisco making for Nicaragua. They have been invited by the Liberals of that country to aid them in their current struggle with conservatives.
5 May 1855 In an insane asylum near Bonn, Robert Schumann (44) writes to his wife Clara (35) for the last time.
7 May 1855 Clara Schumann (35) presents Johannes Brahms with a Romance in b minor for his 22nd birthday.
14 May 1855 Jaguarita l’indienne, an opéra comique by Fromental Halévy (55) to words of Saint-Georges and de Leuven, is performed for the first time, at the Théâtre-Lyrique, Paris.
15 May 1855 Emperor Napoléon III opens the Universal Exposition of Paris in the Palais de l’Industrie.
Walt Whitman copyrights Leaves of Grass.
21 May 1855 British physician Thomas Addison publishes On The Constitutional And Local Effects Of Disease Of The Supra-Renal Capsules in London. It describes the disorder of the adrenal gland which now bears his name.
22 May 1855 French infantry make a successful assault on Russian defenses at Sevastapol.
24 May 1855 Allied troops land land near Kerch, Russia and take the town. British, French, and Turkish soldiers then proceed to ransack the town, including important Hellenic artifacts in the Kerch museum. The usual complement of murders and rapes also take place.
25 May 1855 Gioachino Rossini (63) and his wife arrive in Paris from Florence.
26 May 1855 Franz Liszt (43) arrives in Cologne for the Lower Rhine Music Festival. His true mission is to see his secret lover, Agnès Street-Klindworth. The two spend several days together in Cologne and Düsseldorf.
29 May 1855 The formal opening of the organ in St. George’s Hall, Liverpool takes place when Samuel Sebastian Wesley (44) gives the first of two recitals.
30 May 1855 Franz Liszt (43) and Joseph Joachim spend a musical evening at the home of Clara Schumann (35) in Düsseldorf. They play the music of Robert Schumann (44), presently in an insane asylum. Clara tells her diary of Liszt, “But it was so horrible, that my feelings could find an outlet only in tears. How he banged the piano, and what a tempo he took! I was beside myself that His work should be so desecrated in these rooms...” (Williams, 317)
31 May 1855 The last 500 members of the Taiping expedition to take Peking are captured by Imperial troops. They will be executed.
1 June 1855 A new French fleet arrives in the Baltic for service against Russia.
2 June 1855 Jenny Bell, an opéra comique by Daniel-François-Esprit Auber (73) to words of Scribe, is performed for the first time, at the Théâtre Favart, Paris.
4 June 1855 The Russian delegation to the Crimean Peace Conference in Vienna refuses all allied demands and walks out.
Jacques Offenbach (35) is granted a license to open the Salle Lacaze in Paris and produce various types of shows. This theatre will later be known as the Bouffes-Parisiens.
Bijouterie-Quadrille op.169 by Johann Strauss (29) is performed for the first time, in Ungers Casino, Vienna.
6 June 1855 British and French artillery begin another bombardment of the Russian defenses at Sevastopol
7 June 1855 British and French infantry leave their trenches and assault the Russians at Sevastopol. Both armies achieve their objectives, at the cost of 6,000 casualties.
8 June 1855 Hector Berlioz (51) and his wife arrive in London for concerts with the New Philharmonic Society.
9 June 1855 Russia introduces the undersea mine to warfare when they sink two British ships off Kronstadt.
10 June 1855 Queen Victoria opens the Crystal Palace in London. As part of the festivities, 1,500 voices sing the Hallelujah Chorus of Handel (†96). Among them is Arthur Sullivan (13).
Heinrich August Marschner (59) marries his fourth wife, Theresa Janda, a 28-year-old singer, in Hannover.
11 June 1855 Queen Victoria and Prince Albert attend the sixth of Richard Wagner’s (42) seven philharmonic concerts in London. The composer visits with the royal couple in their box at intermission. They request an encore to the overture to Tannhäuser.
12 June 1855 An act to limit Chinese immigration into the Colony of Victoria is given royal assent.
13 June 1855 Les Vépres siciliennes, an opéra by Giuseppe Verdi (41) to words of Scribe and Duveyrier, is performed for the first time, at the Paris Opéra. Presented during the Paris Exposition, it enjoys a good success.
L’inconsolable, an opéra comique by Fromental Halévy (56) under the pseudonym Alberti, is performed for the first time, at the Théâtre-Lyrique, Paris.
Hector Berlioz (51) conducts the New Philharmonic Society at Exeter Hall, London. The room is packed with a very appreciative audience, but one member named Richard Wagner (42) is not impressed.
16 June 1855 Advance elements of the main Russian army attack Kars, testing its defenses. The Russians will shortly settle in for a lengthy siege.
William Walker and his mercenaries arrive at Realejo, Nicaragua. They are greeted by Liberal leader Francisco Castellón who exalts Walker to the rank of colonel.
17 June 1855 British and French artillery resume the attack on the Russians at Sevastopol.
18 June 1855 On a date signifying Anglo-French solidarity, the 40th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, British and French forces launch a general assault on the Russian defenders of Sevastopol. The offensive is bungled by allied military leaders, costs 5,000 casualties, and ends in retreat.
The first locks of the Sault Ste. Marie canal opens making a navigable link between Lake Superior and lake Huron. This makes the Great Lakes completely navigable.
24 June 1855 Giacomo Meyerbeer (63) meets Charles Dickens for the first time, in London.
25 June 1855 Before Richard Wagner’s (42) last concert in London, Hector Berlioz (51) dines with him. Afterwards they retire to Wagner’s lodgings and drink together until 03:00. It is the third time in two weeks that they have been together and they seem to part great friends, with promises to exchange future scores.
28 June 1855 The British commander in the Crimea, Fitzroy James Henry Somerset, Baron Raglan dies at the age of 66 of natural causes.
29 June 1855 The North American mercenaries under William Walker attack Rivas, Nicaragua. They fight their way into the town and then, finding themselves surrounded, fight their way back out again. They lose twelve killed and ten wounded.
1 July 1855 Nachtveilchen op.170, a polka mazur by Johann Strauss (29), is performed for the first time, in Ungers Casino.
2 July 1855 Frisch auf, zu neuem Leben for male chorus by Franz Liszt (43) to words of Hoffmann von Fallersleben, is performed for the first time, in Weimar.
4 July 1855 Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman is published at the poet’s expense. It is not a financial success.
5 July 1855 Jacques Offenbach (36) rents the Théâtre Marigny on the Champs Elysées to put on a program of comedy sketches by a group under the title Bouffes-Parisiens. Performed for the first time are Offenbach’s: Entrez, messieurs, mesdames to words of Mery and Halévy (under the pseudonym Servières), Les deux aveugles, a bouffonerie musicale to words of Moinaux, Une nuit blanche, an opéra-comique to words of Plouvier, and the ballet Arlequin barbier to a scenario by Placet after Rossini. They are very successful through the Paris Exhibition.
7 July 1855 Hector Berlioz (51) departs London having been offered musical directorship of a series of concerts to be held at Crystal Palace. He will eventually decline the offer.
16 July 1855 Queen Victoria gives royal assent to acts establishing representative government across Australia, except for Western Australia.
17 July 1855 Auf, Brüder, auf! Und die Saiten zur Hand, a cantata for male soloists, male chorus, chorus, woodwinds and brass by Anton Bruckner (30) to words of Marinelli, is performed for the first time, at St. Florian.
Freuden-Salven op.171, a waltz by Johann Strauss (29), is performed for the first time, at the Volksgarten, Vienna.
30 July 1855 Two works by Jacques Offenbach (36) are performed for the first time, by the Bouffes-Parisiens at Salle Marigny: Le rêve d’une nuit d’été to words of Tréfeu, and the ballet Pierrot clown to a scenario by Jackson.
1 August 1855 King Georg V of Hannover abolishes changes in the 1848 constitution which limited the powers of the nobility.
4 August 1855 A Collection of Familiar Quotations by Cambridge bookseller John Bartlett is pubished for the first time, in Boston.
7 August 1855 Oyayaye, ou La reine des îles, an anthropophagie musicale by Jacques Offenbach (36) to words of Moinaux, is performed for the first time, at the Folies-Nouvelles, Paris.
9 August 1855 British and French warships attack Sveaborg (Suomenlinna) south of Helsinki. Fort Vargon explodes in a massive eruption. Citizens of Helsinki begin fleeing the city, certain an invasion is at hand.
Mexican liberals (Juaristas) defeat loyalist troops at Acapulco.
10 August 1855 British and French warships end their bombardment of Sveaborg (Suomenlinna). The island is no longer a useful base for the Russian fleet. The allies will shortly depart.
16 August 1855 Russian forces at Sevastopol attack the allies at Chorny Rechka but they are repulsed by French and Sardinians. The day’s fighting leaves 10,000 casualities.
17 August 1855 Allied artillery resumes the bombardment of Sevastopol. It will continue through the end of the month.
Mexican generalissimo Antonio López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón boards ship in Veracruz for a second exile in Venezuela. He is replaced as President by Martín Carrera Sabat.
18 August 1855 A concordat between Austria and the Vatican gives Austrian clergy control of education, censorship and matrimonial law.
31 August 1855 Le violoneux, a légende bretonne by Jacques Offenbach (36) to words of Mestépès and Chevalet, is performed for the first time, by the Bouffes-Parisiens at the Salle Marigny, Paris.
8 September 1855 The final Anglo-French-Sardinian assault of Sevastopol begins. The Russians retreat across a pontoon bridge to the north side of the city, where they set up strong defensive positions. The Allies take the southern part of town. The fighting leaves 24,000 casualties.
10 September 1855 Doctors attending Robert Schumann (45) in an insane asylum near Bonn declare that he will never recover completely. He is becoming incoherent and delusional.
11 September 1855 After a two-day fire, allied troops are finally able to enter and secure Sevastopol.
12 September 1855 Rómulo Díaz de la Vega replaces Martín Carrera Sabat as President of Mexico.
16 September 1855 King Pedro V of Portugal reaches his 18th birthday and the regency is ended.
19 September 1855 Jacques Offenbach’s (36) ballet Polichenelle dans le monde to a scenario by Busnach is performed for the first time, by the Bouffes-Parisiens at Salle Marigny, Paris.
26 September 1855 Fantasie und Fuge über den Choral ‘Ad nos, ad salutarem undam’ for organ by Franz Liszt (43) is performed for the first time, at the inauguration of a new organ at Merseburg Cathedral.
29 September 1855 Russians assault the Turkish positions at Kars but after a seven-hour battle they are driven off.
Allied commanders at Sevastopol agree to the removal of Turkish troops to be sent to the relief of Kars.
3 October 1855 Madame Papillon, a bouffonerie musicale by Jacques Offenbach (36) to words of Halévy (under the pseudonym Servières), is performed for the first time, by the Bouffes Parisiens at Salle Marigny, Paris.
4 October 1855 Juan Alvarez replaces Rómulo Díaz de la Vega as interim President of Mexico.
9 October 1855 A patent is issued to Joshua Stoddard of Worcester, Massachusetts for a steam calliope.
11 October 1855 Demetrios Georgiou Voulgaris replaces Alexandros Nikolaou Mavrokordatos as Prime Minister of Greece.
13 October 1855 Trio for piano and strings no.1 op.8 by Johannes Brahms (22) is performed for the first time, in Danzig (Gdansk).
William Walker and his mercenaries capture Granada, Nicaragua, the capital of the conservative elements, which is virtually undefended. By holding the leading conservative families hostage, he is able to force surrenders.
15 October 1855 Gedanken auf den Alpen op.172, a waltz by Johann Strauss (29), is performed for the first time, in the Sperl Ballroom, Vienna.
16 October 1855 British and French forces land unopposed on the Kinburn Peninsula, southwest of Kherson.
17 October 1855 After a naval bombardment, the Russian forts of Kinburn and Ochakov surrender to British and French forces.
18 October 1855 The symphonic poem Prometheus by Franz Liszt (43) is performed for the first time, in Braunschweig, under the direction of the composer. See 24 August 1850.
19 October 1855 Hans von Bülow conducts the first performance in Berlin of the Overture and Venusberg music from Richard Wagner’s (42) Tannhäuser. Present are Franz Liszt (43) and his two daughters. The conclusion of the music is met with hisses and boos. In his dressing room, von Bülow collapses and faints from the strain. At 02:00 he is well enough for Liszt to force him out and back to his hotel. Cosima Liszt is waiting for him. The two stay up all night talking, and confess their love for each other.
20 October 1855 A small French force attacks a larger Russian force at Eupatoria (Yevpatoriya) forcing it to flee. The French do not follow up their victory.
23 October 1855 Anti-slavery residents of Kansas adopt a new constitution at Topeka outlawing slavery.
29 October 1855 Paimpol et Périnette, a saynète lyrique by Jacques Offenbach (36) to words of de Forges, is performed for the first time, by the Bouffes-Parisiens at Salle Marigny, Paris.
Two gavottes for piano WoO 3 posth. by Johannes Brahms (22) are performed for the first time, in Göttingen, by Clara Schumann (36).
3 November 1855 David Livingstone departs Linyanti on the Zambezi, heading east for the coast.
10 November 1855 The Song of Hiawatha, a book-length poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, is published in Boston.
12 November 1855 Anklänge op.7/3, a song by Johannes Brahms (22) to words of Eichendorff, is performed for the first time, in Göttingen.
13 November 1855 An organ tuner arriving at St. Florian tells Anton Bruckner (31) that there is to be a preliminary competition for the post of cathedral organist in Linz today. Bruckner is reluctant to attend but is convinced by others. His performance is so outstanding that he will be named the winner tomorrow. See 25 January 1856.
Incidental music to von Rodenberg’s play Waldmüllers Margret by Heinrich August Marschner (60) is performed for the first time, in Hannover.
14 November 1855 The Austrian Foreign Minister, Count Karl Ferdinand de Buol-Schauenstein, and the French ambassador in Vienna, François-Adolphe de Bourqueney sign a preliminary peace plan for the Crimea. It calls for the elimination of Russian right of defense of the Danube principalities, and a change in border there, freedom of navigation for the Danube, and demilitarization of the Black Sea.
Sarabande in a minor WoO 5/1 posth. for piano by Johannes Brahms (22) is performed for the first time, in Danzig (Gdansk), by the composer.
15 November 1855 Hector Berlioz’ (51) cantata L’imperiale for double chorus and orchestra to words of Lafont is performed for the first time, at the close of the Paris Exposition in the Palais de l’Industrie. The composer conducts with the assistance of five others. Halfway through the piece, Emperor Napoléon III, on a royal throne, gives the signal for the music to stop. It does.
16 November 1855 In the Palais de l’Industrie, Hector Berlioz’ (51) cantata L’imperiale is performed completely for the first time, as is the entire intended concert of yesterday. An audience in the thousands, which does not include Emperor Napoléon III, is very appreciative.
British explorer David Livingstone becomes the first European to see Victoria Falls, which he names after his queen.
20 November 1855 The British cabinet accepts the peace proposal of 14 November.
21 November 1855 Sweden declares war on Russia.
23 November 1855 Responsible government goes into effect in the Colony of Victoria.
26 November 1855 After a long siege, the Turkish city of Kars capitulates to the Russians.
29 November 1855 Messe Solennelle de Sainte Cécile for soloists, chorus, orchestra and organ by Charles Gounod (37) is performed for the first time, in the Church of St.-Eustache, Paris to critical acclaim.
2 December 1855 The Théâtre des Jeunes Elèves is handed over to Jacques Offenbach (36). It is renamed the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens.
3 December 1855 Trio for piano and strings by Bedrich Smetana (31) is performed for the first time, in Konvikt Hall, Prague.
The Thirty-fourth Congress of the United States convenes in Washington. The Democratic Party retains its majority in the Senate, while the House of Representatives is thrown into confusion. Both the Democrats and Whigs lost seats to the new American (Know-Nothing) Party and the Republican Party. The final tally is 84 Democratic, 62 American, 60 Whig, 46 Republican. Republican Nathaniel P. Banks becomes Speaker of the House.
5 December 1855 Tsar Alyeksandr II ends the limit on the number of university students in Russia.
6 December 1855 A setting of Psalm 13 for tenor, chorus and orchestra by Franz Liszt (44) is performed for the first time, in the Berlin Singakademie, conducted by the composer. The hall is completely filled, including King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia and Queen Elisabeth. While Liszt is in Berlin, he continues his secret tryst with Agnès Street-Klindworth.
8 December 1855 Anton Bruckner (31) performs at mass for the first time as Dom-und- Stadtpfarrkirchen-Organist in Linz, for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.
10 December 1855 James Clerk Maxwell’s paper “On Faraday’s Lines of Force” is read today before the Cambridge Philosophical Society. He shows that Faraday’s lines do in fact exist.
16 December 1855 The allied peace plan is forwarded to St. Petersburg. The Russians have eight days to agree unconditionally.
Marie Taglioni Polka op.173 and the polka-mazurka Le Papillon op.174 by Johann Strauss (30) are performed for the first time, in the Volksgarten, Vienna.
18 December 1855 Provisional organist Anton Bruckner (31) applies for the permanent post at Linz Cathedral.
20 December 1855 Louis Moreau Gottschalk (26) begins a series of 16 concerts in Dodsworth’s Hall on Broadway, New York City, which will last until 7 June 1856. Every seat at every concert will be sold.
28 December 1855 Two months of voting for New Zealand’s second Parliament conclude today.
Austria delivers an ultimatum to Russia in St. Petersburg to accept the Four Points of August 1854.
29 December 1855 Ba-ta-clan, a chinoiserie musicale by Jacques Offenbach (36) to words of Halévy, is performed for the first time, at the opening night of the Bouffes-Parisiens theatre, Paris.
©2004-2012 Paul Scharfenberger
11 August 2012
Last Updated (Saturday, 11 August 2012 05:18)