1868
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1 January 1868 Aristides Moraitinis replaces Alexanros Koumoundouros as Prime Minister of Greece.
Merchants in Porto refuse to submit their goods to inspection for a new sales tax and the government of Portugal is forced to resign.
2 January 1868 After Emperor Tewodros II of Ethiopia imprisons the British consul, Great Britain sends an expedition to that country.
Hubert Joseph Walthère Frère-Orban replaces Charles Latour Rogier as head of government for Belgium.
4 January 1868 The Tokugawa Shogunate in Japan, in power since 1603, is abolished. Emperor Mutsuhito takes direct control of the country.
António José de Avila, conde de Avila replaces Joaquim António de Aguiar as Prime Minister of Portugal.
5 January 1868 Parts of Franz Schubert’s (†39) unfinished opera Rüdiger D.791 are performed for the first time, in the Vienna Redoutensaal, 45 years after the music was composed. Also heard for the first time tonight is Sehnsucht D.656 for male vocal quintet to words of Goethe, 49 years after it was composed.
8 January 1868 Hector Berlioz (64) gives the first of two concerts in Moscow.
10 January 1868 The last convict ship from Britain reaches Australia.
11 January 1868 Hector Berlioz (64) gives the second of two concerts in Moscow.
15 January 1868 Anton Bruckner (43) becomes director of Liedertafel “Frohsinn” in Linz for the second time.
19 January 1868 Stadt und Land op.322, a polka mazurka by Johann Strauss (42), is performed for the first time, in the Gartenbau, Vienna.
3 February 1868 Prime Minister Karl Mathy of Baden dies of heart disease in Karlsruhe.
4 February 1868 Die Publizisten op.321, a waltz by Johann Strauss (42), is performed for the first time, in the Sophiensaal, Vienna.
6 February 1868 Demetrios Georgiou Voulgaris replaces Aristides Moraitinis as Prime Minister of Greece.
8 February 1868 Hector Berlioz (64) gives the last of his St. Petersburg concerts, conducting excerpts from Roméo et Juliette, La Damnation de Faust, and Harold en Italiè. It is the last performance he will conduct.
9 February 1868 Mily Balakirev (31) takes over sole directorship of the Free Music School, St. Petersburg.
11 February 1868 Ein Herz, ein Sinn op.323, a polka mazurka by Johann Strauss (42), is performed for the first time, in the Redoutensaal, Vienna.
12 February 1868 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (27) sends to Mily Balakirev (31) the score to a set of dances from his unperformed opera Voyevoda asking if Balakirev can perform them or give him some encouragement.
Julius Jolly replaces Karl Mathy as Prime Minister of Baden.
13 February 1868 Vaterländisches Weinlied for male chorus by Anton Bruckner (43) to words of Silberstein, is performed for the first time, in Linz, directed by the composer.
15 February 1868 Hector Berlioz (64) departs St. Petersburg for home.
The second version of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s (27) Symphony no.1 “Winter Daydreams” is performed for the first time, in Moscow. See 1 December 1883.
Le premier jour de bonheur, an opéra comique by Daniel-François-Esprit Auber (86) to words of d’Ennery and Cormon, is performed for the first time, at the Théâtre Favart, Paris.
16 February 1868 Stanislaw Moniuszko’s (48) cantata Crimean Sonnets to words of Mickiewicz is performed for the first time, in Warsaw.
Unter Donner und Blitz op.324, a polka schnell by Johann Strauss (42), is performed for the first time, in the Dianabadsaal, Vienna.
17 February 1868 Hector Berlioz (64) arrives home in Paris from St. Petersburg an artistic conqueror, a physical wreck.
19 February 1868 General Venancio Flores, President of Uruguay, is murdered in Montevideo. The unstable political situation causes Louis Moreau Gottschalk (38) to return to Buenos Aires.
24 February 1868 The United States House of Representatives, on a vote of 126-47, impeaches President Andrew Johnson on eleven counts of violating the Tenure of Office Act.
An uprising against Spanish rule called the Grito de Lares begins in Puerto Rico.
25 February 1868 Benjamin Disraeli replaces Edward Geoffrey Stanley, Earl of Derby as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
2 March 1868 The “Dances of the Chambermaids” from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s (27) unperformed opera Voyevoda is performed for the first time, in Moscow, directed by the composer. See 11 February 1869.
4 March 1868 Mily Balakirev (31) answers Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s (27) letter of 12 February. He can not perform the dances because the season is over, so he sent them to the Directorate of Imperial Theatres who have agreed to produce them. Balakirev writes that he will not encourage Tchaikovsky as that is for children. Tchaikovsky, he says, is a “completely finished artist.”
5 March 1868 Charles Henry Gould of Birmingham receives a British patent for a stapler.
Mefistofele, an opera by Arrigo Boito (26) to his own words, is performed for the first time, at Teatro alla Scala, Milan. The performance is accompanied by warring factions in the audience proclaiming their positions and the relative inferiority of their opponents.
The United States Senate convenes as a court of impeachment of the President.
6 March 1868 Fantaisie (III) in C for organ by César Franck (45) is performed for the first time, in the Cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris by the composer.
7 March 1868 Mily Balakirev (31) directs a private concert of Russian composers in the hall of the Mikhailov Palace, St. Petersburg, including Alyeksandr Borodin’s (34) First Symphony. Many mistakes in the parts preclude a favorable reading for Borodin’s work. See 16 January 1869.
So willst du des Armen op.33/5, a song by Johannes Brahms (34) to words of Tieck, is performed for the first time, in Berlin.
8 March 1868 The organ of the Cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris is opened by Camille Saint-Saëns (32), Alexandre Guilmant, Charles-Marie Widor and Charles Chauvet.
9 March 1868 Hamlet, an opera by Ambroise Thomas (56) to words of Barbier and Carré after Shakespeare, is performed for the first time, at the Paris Opéra.
10 March 1868 The Scherzo from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s (27) Souvenir of Hapsal op.2/2 for piano is performed for the first time, in Moscow.
11 March 1868 Two songs by Johannes Brahms (34) are performed for the first time, in Hamburg, the composer at the piano: Von ewiger liebe op.43/1 to traditional words, and Die Mainacht op.43/2 to words of Hölty.
12 March 1868 British protection is extended to Basutoland (Lesotho).
16 March 1868 Scottish scientist Alexander Buchan reads a paper before the Royal Society of Edinburgh describing his first use of isobar maps to describe weather patterns. It is considered by many to be the beginning of modern meteorology.
17 March 1868 Rolnická for male chorus by Bedrich Smetana (44) to words of Trnobransky is performed for the first time, in New Town Theatre, Prague.
20 March 1868 A concert by Louis Moreau Gottschalk (38) in the Coliseo, Buenos Aires does not fill the hall. A recent cholera epidemic killed thousands of people.
22 March 1868 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s (27) first published music criticism, an appraisal of Rimsky-Korsakov’s (24) Fantasia on Serbian Themes, appears in the Contemporary Chronicle.
4 April 1868 The conclusion of Act 3 to Die Meistersinger by Richard Wagner (54) is performed for the first time, in Linz, conducted by Anton Bruckner (43). Also on the program is the premiere of Bruckner’s own Vaterlandslied O könnt’ ich dich beglücken for tenor, bass and male chorus to words of Silberstein.
9 April 1868 Arthur Sullivan (25) reaches a favorable agreement with Boosey’s who must pay him £400 per year for three years, without prejudice to his royalties, for the privilege of publishing rights to his works.
10 April 1868 Movements from Ein deutsches Requiem by Johannes Brahms (34) are performed in Bremen Cathedral conducted by the composer. Sections 4, 6 and 7 are heard for the first time. Many eminent musicians from around Europe attend including Clara Schumann (48), Joseph Joachim and Max Bruch. The performance is a universal success. See 18 February 1869.
11 April 1868 After two days of battle, the British punitive force defeats the Ethiopians near Magdala.
12 April 1868 The electoral college for Argentina names Domingo Sarmiento as President.
13 April 1868 British forces destroy Magdala, the capital of Ethiopia, freeing hostages held by the Ethiopians. To avoid capture, Emperor Tewodros II kills himself.
23 April 1868 Prime Minister of Spain Ramón María Narváez y Campos, duque de Valencia dies in Madrid. He is replaced by Luis González Bravo.
24 April 1868 A French patent is granted to Pierre Michaux for the first practical bicycle, which he developed in 1861.
30 April 1868 Johannes Brahms (34) writes to his father giving up his space in Hamburg, thus becoming a full-time resident of Vienna.
2 May 1868 Russian troops capture Samarkand from Bukharan forces.
6 May 1868 Le château à Toto, an opéra-bouffe by Jacques Offenbach (48) to words of Meilhac and Halévy, is performed for the first time, at the Palais-Royal, Paris.
9 May 1868 Symphony no.1 (Linz version) by Anton Bruckner (43) is performed for the first time, in the Linz Redoutensaal, conducted by the composer.
10 May 1868 Inveni David (I) for male chorus and four trombones by Anton Bruckner (43) is performed for the first time, in Linz, directed by the composer.
11 May 1868 The Press Law passes the French Parliament, affirming freedom of the press.
12 May 1868 Nicolae Constantin Golescu replaces his brother Stefan Golescu as Prime Minister of Romania.
13 May 1868 Concerto for piano and orchestra no.2 op.22 by Camille Saint-Saëns (32) is performed for the first time, at the Salle Pleyel, Paris, the composer at the keyboard, conducted by Anton Rubinstein (38). It is not well received, but will become one of his most popular works.
16 May 1868 The foundation stone for a permanent Czech National Theatre is laid in Prague. Representing Czech musicians in the ceremony is Bedrich Smetana (44). In the evening Dalibor, an opera by Smetana to words of Wenzig translated by Spindler, is performed for the first time, in the New Town Theatre, Prague.
The United States Senate, voting 35 guilty and 19 not guilty, acquits President Andrew Johnson, having failed to achieve the 2/3 majority necessary for conviction by one vote.
17 May 1868 Das Frauenherz, die Mannesbrust for chorus by Anton Bruckner (43) to words of Kerschbaum is performed for the first time, in Linz.
Cantata for the Unveiling of the WFK Christie Monument for male chorus and horns by Edvard Grieg (24) to words of Munch is performed for the first time, in Bergen.
21 May 1868 In the Milan newspaper Il pungolo, Arrigo Boito (26) attacks the Italian Minister of Education Broglio for a public letter he wrote to Gioachino Rossini (76) snubbing Giuseppe Verdi (54). Verdi has already returned the title Commander of the Crown of Italy over the incident. The article is seen as the beginning of a reconciliation between Boito and Verdi.
26 May 1868 Fenian Michael Barrett is hanged outside Newgate Prison, London for the bombing of Clerkenwell Prison last December, while a crowd of 2,000 sing Rule, Britannia. It is the last public execution in Britain.
30 May 1868 Decoration (Memorial) Day is celebrated for the first time in the United States. Flowers are placed on soldiers’ graves in Arlington National Cemetery.
2 June 1868 Russian forces defeat the main Bukharan army on the Zerbulak heights near Kattakurgan, relieving the besieged Russians in Samarkand.
4 June 1868 Peter Philip van Bosse and Cornelius Fock replace Julius Philipp Jacob Adriaan, Count van Zuylen van Nijevelt and Jan Heemskerk as chief ministers of the Netherlands.
Carl Wachtmeister replaces Ludvig Manderström as Prime Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden.
7 June 1868 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (28) leaves Moscow on a long trip to Europe. He was invited by a student, Vladimir Stepanovich Shilovsky, and there are three others in the company.
9 June 1868 John Philip Sousa (13) is enlisted as an apprentice in the United States Marine Corps band in Washington by his father.
10 June 1868 Russian forces capture the city of Khiva, 700 km west of Tashkent.
Prince Mihailo Obrenovic of Serbia is murdered at his residence near Belgrade by persons unkown. The assassins also kill his mother-in-law and injure his wife. He is succeeded by a three-man regency.
11 June 1868 Charles Johnson Brooke replaces his uncle James Brooke as Rajah of Sarawak.
Tekle Giyorgis II replaces Tewodros II as Emperor of Ethiopia.
15 June 1868 Turks carry out massacres of Christians around Iraklio, Crete.
18 June 1868 The King of Bukhara accepts peace terms with Russia.
19 June 1868 Geschichten aus dem Wienerwald op.325, a waltz by Johann Strauss (42), is performed for the first time, in the Volksgarten, Vienna.
20 June 1868 Anton Bruckner (43) is informed that his application for a faculty position at Vienna Conservatory has been approved.
21 June 1868 Franz Liszt (56) performs in the Great Banquet Hall of the Vatican Library before Pope Pius IX and other high church officials at a gathering to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the elevation of the Pope.
Die Meistersinger von Nürnburg, a music drama by Richard Wagner (55) to his own words, is performed for the first time, in the Königliches Hof-und Nationaltheater, Munich, conducted by Hans von Bülow, before King Ludwig and 1,500 invited guests. Although a success with the public, the critics are not impressed.
22 June 1868 Arkansas is readmitted to the United States.
23 June 1868 US inventor Christopher Lathian Sholes receives a patent for the first practical typewriter.
25 June 1868 Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina, and South Carolina are readmitted to the United States.
The United States Congress orders an eight-hour day for federal workers.
28 June 1868 After two years, the Doudart-Garnier expedition returns to Saigon, having mapped the Mekong as far as Jinghong, 6,700 km. The original leader of the expedition, Ernest-Marc-Louis Doudart de Lagrée died along the way.
Anton Bruckner (43) writes to the Vienna Conservatory accepting his appointment and requesting a formalization of the arrangements.
30 June 1868 Giuseppe Verdi (54) meets Alessandro Manzoni in Milan for the first and only time.
1 July 1868 Exactly one year after construction began, the first elevated railway begins service along Ninth Avenue in New York.
2 July 1868 14-year-old Milan Obrenovic IV takes over from a provisional regency as Prince of Serbia, under a new three-man regency.
3 July 1868 Djordje Cenic replaces Nikola Hristic as Prime Minister of Serbia.
4 July 1868 Maori prisoners led by Te Kooti take over their prison on the Chatham Islands. They then take over a recently arrived ship and sail for New Zealand.
6 July 1868 Anton Bruckner (43) is officially appointed lecturer for figured bass, counterpoint and organ at the Konservatorium der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, Vienna.
10 July 1868 Te Kooti and about 300 Maori former-prisoners land at Whareongaonga near Gisborne and begin making for the southern Waikato.
13 July 1868 The Scottish Reform Act is passed giving the vote to all male householders.
14 July 1868 Bernardo de Sá Nogueira de Figueiredo, visconde e barão de Sá Bandeira replaces António José de Avila, conde de Avila as Prime Minister of Portugal.
15 July 1868 Brazilian forces attack Humaitá, Paraguay but are beaten back with heavy losses.
17 July 1868 The city of Edo is made capital of Japan and renamed Tokyo.
19 July 1868 Cantique à St.-Vincent-de-Paul, a song for voice and organ by Gabriel Fauré (23), is performed for the first time, in the Church of St. Sauveur de Rennes.
20 July 1868 Colonial militia attempt to stop the march of about 300 Maori led by Te Kooti at Paparatu. They are completely defeated.
22 July 1868 Cosima von Bülow flees the rumors and scandal in Munich over her adultery and goes to Richard Wagner (55) in Tribschen, thus confirming the rumors.
Over the night 22-23 July, noncombatants in Humaitá, Paraguay are evacuated by canoe.
24 July 1868 The Paraguayan garrison of Humaitá escapes by night. When the Brazilians enter the town they find it empty.
27 July 1868 Freikugeln op.326, a polka schnell by Johann Strauss (42), is performed for the first time, in the Festhalle des Schützenfestes im Prater, Vienna.
28 July 1868 The fourteenth amendment to the United States constitution, providing for equal protection of the law, is ratified.
7 August 1868 Granville Bantock is born in London, first of four children born to George Granville Bantock, noted surgeon and gynecologist,.
8 August 1868 Madagascar signs a treaty with France giving France jurisdiction over its nationals on the island.
12 August 1868 The Khan of Khiva accepts peace with Russia, ceding all territory north of the Amu Darya (Uzbekistan) and accepting subjugation by Russia as a protectorate.
13 August 1868 Le papillon et la fleur op.1/1, a song by Gabriel Fauré (23) to words of Hugo, is performed for the first time, at the Casino de Saint-Malo, the composer at the keyboard.
Three days of earthquakes in Peru and Ecuador kill 40,000 people.
15 August 1868 Camille Saint-Saëns (32) is awarded the Legion of Honor.
The Teatro Verdi is opened in Busseto but the honoree (54) does not attend.
17 August 1868 The North German Union makes the metric system mandatory as of 1 January 1872.
3 September 1868 Le premier jour de bonheur op.327, a quadrille by Johann Strauss (42), is performed for the first time, in the Gartenbau, Vienna.
Intermezzo religioso for orchestra by Hubert Parry (20) is performed for the first time, in Gloucester.
6 September 1868 In the Quarters, a ballet by Stanislaw Moniuszko (49), is performed for the first time, in Warsaw.
7 September 1868 Colonial militia and their native allies attack Maori at Te Ngutu o Te Manu. They are repulsed with heavy losses.
12 September 1868 The ruler of Qatar, Muhammed ibn Thani, signs a treaty with Great Britain separating Qatar from Bahrein as an independent state.
14 September 1868 Richard Wagner (55) and Cosima von Bülow depart Tribschen together for a two-week tour of Italy.
17 September 1868 A liberal revolution begins Cadiz, led by Marshal Juan Prim.
18 September 1868 In Cadiz, Admiral Topete declares for a revolution to create a constitutional monarchy in Spain.
19 September 1868 José Gutiérrez de la Concha, marques de La Habana replaces Luis González Bravo as Prime Minister of Spain.
23 September 1868 A Revolutionary Junta proclaims the independence of Puerto Rico from Spain.
24 September 1868 Edvard, Count Taaffe replaces Karl, Prince Auersperg as Chancellor of Austria, but he works under the title of Deputy Chancellor.
26 September 1868 Tonight sees the last of the Samedi soirs at the Villa Rossini (76) near Paris.
Henry Franklin Belknap Gilbert is born in Somerville, Massachusetts, the son of Benjamin Franklin Gilbert, a banker, composer, church organist and a singer, and Therese Angeline Gilson, a professional singer and artist.
28 September 1868 Spanish liberals defeat loyalists at Alcolea, east of Cordova.
30 September 1868 Queen Isabella of Spain flees the country and is declared deposed. She is replaced by a republic. Pascual Madoz Ibáñez is leader of the Revolutionary Junta.
L’île de Tulipatan, an opéra-bouffe by Jacques Offenbach (49) to words of Chivot and Duru, is performed for the first time, at the Bouffes-Parisiens, Paris.
The first volume of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott is published in Boston.
1 October 1868 Anton Bruckner (44) takes up duties as teacher of theory and organ at the Konservatorium der Gesellshaft der Musikfreunde, Vienna.
The metric system becomes mandatory in Portugal.
2 October 1868 Chulalongkorn (Rama V) replaces Mongkut (Rama IV) as King of Siam.
3 October 1868 Joaquín Aguirre de la Peña replaces Pascual Madoz Ibáñez as leader of the Revolutionary Junta of Spain. Francisco Serrano y Domínguez, duque de la Torre, conde de San Antonio becomes Prime Minister as the rebel forces of General Juan Prim enter Madrid.
Cosima von Bülow writes to her husband from Faido, Switzerland, presumably telling him that they must separate.
6 October 1868 The first act of The Marriage, an opera by Modest Musorgsky (29) to words of Gogol, is performed for the first time, privately, at the house of Cesar Cui (33). The composer sings the part of the hero. See 1 April 1909.
La Périchole, an opéra-bouffe by Jacques Offenbach (49) to words of Meilhac and Halévy, is performed for the first time, at the Variétés, Paris. It is very successful.
7 October 1868 Die Nacht D.983c for male voices by Franz Schubert (†39) to words possibly by Krummacher is performed for the first time, in front of the composer’s birthplace in Vienna.
8 October 1868 Francisco Serrano y Dominguez, duque de la Torre, conde de San Antonio becomes acting president of the Republic of Spain. The provisional government of Spain adopts a liberal program: universal suffrage, religious freedom, trial by jury, freedom of the press and association.
9 October 1868 Louis Moreau Gottschalk (39) gives his farewell concert in Montevideo.
10 October 1868 Speaking from his plantation near Yara, Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, leader of Cuban liberals, declares for an independent Cuban republic in the Grito de Yara. Along with other landowners he frees his slaves and organizes a rebel army.
12 October 1868 The choral version of Sängerslust op.328, a polka française by Johann Strauss (42), is performed for the first time, in the Sophiensaal, Vienna.
14 October 1868 Cosima von Bülow travels to Munich with her four daughters to ask her husband for a divorce. He will refuse.
15 October 1868 The instrumental version of Sängerslust op.328, a polka française by Johann Strauss (42), is performed for the first time, at the Cursalon in Vienna.
16 October 1868 Modest Musorgsky (29), Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov (24), Cesar Cui (33) and Sergey Dargomizhsky (55) attend the first Russian performance of Lohengrin by Richard Wagner (55) at the Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg. Rimsky-Korsakov recalls, “In our opinion, Lohengrin was contemptable.” They have no end of abuse for the work.
18 October 1868 Cuban rebels capture Bayamo.
20 October 1868 Joseph Norman Lockyer, professor of astronomical physics at the Royal College of Science, London, records spectra of the luminous gasses surrounding the sun and concludes from his findings that a gas exists on the sun that does not exist on Earth. He reports his findings to the Royal Society today. On the same day, Pierre Jules César Janssen, head of the Astrophysical Observatory at Meudon, France comes to the same conclusion based on his observation of a solar eclipse on 18 August in India, and writes to the French Academy. Both scientists will decide to share the honors of primacy. Lockyer will later name this element after the sun: helium.
22 October 1868 Congressman James Hinds is killed by a Klansman in Monroe County, Arkansas.
24 October 1868 A white mob fires on a Republican parade in New Orleans killing and wounding several blacks. They then attack white Republicans and policemen and lay siege to the police station. 63 people are killed.
1 November 1868 Books 1 and 2 of the Hungarian Dances WoO1 for piano four hands by Johannes Brahms (35) are performed for the first time, in Oldenburg, by the composer and Clara Schumann (49).
3 November 1868 Having recovered from a lung inflammation, Gioachino Rossini (76) undergoes surgery to remove a “rectal fistula.” Fearing that his patient’s heart condition precludes prolonged anaesthesia (chloroform), Dr. Auguste Nélaton completes the operation in five minutes. He removes as much as he can of what is probably cancer.
Voting in the United States ensures the election of General Ulysses S. Grant as President over former Governor of New York Horatio Seymour. Three states, Mississippi, Texas and Virginia are still under martial law and do not take part. In the northwest one-third of South Carolina, the Ku Klux Klan institutes organized terror to frighten blacks away from voting. Grant’s Republican Party loses two seats in the House of Representatives but retains its commanding majority.
5 November 1868 Dr. Nélaton performs a second short operation on Gioachino Rossini (76), which causes an infection.
6 November 1868 Alyeksandr Borodin (34) writes to his wife in St. Petersburg, telling her of his summer affair with Anna Nikolayevna Kalinina. “My feelings toward her do not alter the way I feel towards you, and I am giving only that which I cannot give to you; it is nothing more than that ‘feeling of mine towards children,’ in her words, towards weakness, youth, hopes, and the future.”
7 November 1868 Colonial militia attack Maori at Moturoa and are soundly defeated.
8 November 1868 While in Leipzig visiting his sister Ottilie and her husband Hermann Brockhaus, Richard Wagner (55) meets a young philology student named Friedrich Nietzsche. The two find common ground in their interest in Schopenhauer.
Over the last month a race war has taken place in Louisiana. Ku Klux Klan members have searched the countryside looking for blacks and white republicans. An estimated 1,723 people are dead.
10 November 1868 Maori under Te Kooti attack the English settlement at Matawhero killing 54 residents along with 20 Maori.
Louis Moreau Gottschalk (39) premieres his 2me symphonie romantique “A Montevideo” at an enormous concert in Montevideo. The evening features a large number of musicians and is attended by President Lorenzo Batlle y Grau of Uruguay and members of naval squadrons from Brazil and the United States.
11 November 1868 Gavotte in A for piano by Johannes Brahms (35) is performed for the first time, in Hamburg.
12 November 1868 Serenade to Welhaven for male chorus by Edvard Grieg (25) to words of Bjørnson is performed for the first time, in Christiania (Oslo), by a procession of students honoring their retiring professor, JS Welhaven.
13 November 1868 Evening. Gioachino Antonio Rossini receives the last rites of the Roman Catholic Church and dies at 23:15 at his home in Passy of what is probably cancer of the rectum, aged 76 years, eight months and 15 days. Over the last ten days since his operation he was visited by the greats of the Parisian artistic world. A messenger brought news of his condition to the royal family daily and the Italian embassy regularly sent reports to Florence.
15 November 1868 Some of the sixteen waltzes for piano op.39 by Johannes Brahms (35) are performed for the first time in the two-hand version, by the composer, in Hamburg. See 23 November 1866 and 17 March 1867.
16 November 1868 Cosima von Bülow leaves her husband for the last time and with her two daughters moves permanently to Tribschen, the home of the girls’ father, Richard Wagner (55).
The mortal remains of Gioachino Rossini are placed in a temporary tomb in the Madeleine, Paris.
17 November 1868 Giuseppe Verdi (55) writes from his villa Sant’Agata to his publisher, Tito Ricordi, suggesting a Requiem mass be composed by Italy’s best composers to be performed on the anniversary of Rossini’s death.
18 November 1868 Emperor Franz Joseph II approves a basic law of seventy articles creating the Kingdom of Dalmatia, Croatia, and Slavonia under his crown. It is to have internal self-government and Croatian is the official language.
20 November 1868 The earthly remains of Gioachino Rossini (†0) are moved to L'Église de la Trinité for the funeral. This venue is chosen owing to the number of people desirous of attending. Giuseppe Verdi (55) writes this day, “A great name has disappeared from the world! His was the most extensive, the most popular reputation of our time, and it was an Italian glory!”
21 November 1868 4,000 people attend the funeral in memory of Gioachino Rossini at L’Église de la Trinité, Paris Hundreds of singers, many of them famous, take part in the music, accompanied only by the organ. Daniel-François-Esprit Auber (86) is in charge of the musical presentation, which features works by Rossini and others. The streets along the procession to the Pére-Lachaise Cemetery are filled with onlookers. After many orations, the remains of Gioachino Rossini are laid to rest. In the evening, performances of Rossini’s music take place at the Théâtre-Italien and the Théâtre-Lyrique.
23 November 1868 Louis Ducos du Hauron receives a French patent for a process of color photography.
25 November 1868 Enfeebled since a stroke in March, Hector Berlioz (64), accompanied by his manservant, goes to the Institute to vote for a new member.
27 November 1868 The first complete performance of Sergey Dargomizhsky’s (55) opera The Stone Guest takes place in the composer’s home in St. Petersburg. Modest Musorgsky (29) plays the parts of Leporello and Don Carlos.
Members of the United States Cavalry under George A. Custer attack Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians peacefully encamped on the Washita River (north of present Elk City, Oklahoma). 103 Indians are killed, of whom only eleven are warriors. 21 soldiers are killed, 14 wounded. The troops also kill 875 Cheyenne ponies.
28 November 1868 Prince Dimitrie Ghica replaces Ion Constantin Bratianu as Prime Minister of Romania.
3 December 1868 The treason trial of Jefferson Davis begins in Richmond, Virginia.
6 December 1868 Brazilians attack across the Itororó Creek pushing back a smaller Paraguayan force.
7 December 1868 Three weeks of voting conclude in the British general election. William Gladstone’s Liberal Party gains 18 seats, defeating the Conservative Party of Benjamin Disraeli.
8 December 1868 One of the Three Odes of Anacreon for solo voice and piano by Hubert Parry (20), translated by Moore, Away, away, you men of rules, is performed for the first time, at Exeter College, Oxford.
9 December 1868 William Ewart Gladstone replaces Benjamin Disraeli as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
11 December 1868 The Ottoman Empire gives an ultimatum to Greece, demanding that Greek volunteers be withdrawn from Crete.
A Brazilian force wipes out a Paraguayan army at Avahy.
12 December 1868 Hector Berlioz (65) attends a meeting of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris for the last time.
13 December 1868 Adrast D.137, an unfinished opera by Franz Schubert (†40) to words of Mayrhofer, is performed for the first time, in the Vienna Redoutensaal, approximately 50 years after it was composed.
15 December 1868 The Greek government rejects the Ottoman demands of 11 December.
16 December 1868 The Ottoman Empire breaks diplomatic relations with Greece.
20 December 1868 Romance op.5 for piano by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (28) is performed for the first time, in Moscow.
21 December 1868 Brazilians attack Paraguayans at Itaibaté almost carrying the day. But at the last minute, the Paraguayan reserves push them back. An allied attack at Pikiciry Creek is more successful.
25 December 1868 United States President Andrew Johnson decrees an unqualified amnesty for all those taking part in the late rebellion.
27 December 1868 A second attack by Brazilians at Itaibaté puts the Paraguayans to flight.
29 December 1868 In Rome, Franz Liszt (57) writes a letter to Edvard Grieg (25) commending Grieg, especially his Violin Sonata no.1 op.8. Grieg will use the letter to assist his application for a government stipend to support his creative work. See 10 January 1869.
31 December 1868 American painter George Healy and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow visit Franz Liszt (57) at the monastery of Santa Francesca Romana. He shows them around and then plays for them on the grand piano sent to him by Frank Chickering of Boston.
©2004-2012 Paul Scharfenberger
12 July 2012
Last Updated (Thursday, 12 July 2012 04:57)