1871
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1 January 1871 Pursuant to the Irish Church Act of 1869, the Church of Ireland is officially disestablished.
2 January 1871 The newly elected King Amadeo I of Spain swears to uphold the constitution, in Madrid.
3 January 1871 Henry W. Bradley of Binghamton, New York receives the first patent for margarine.
4 January 1871 Johann Rudolf Thorbecke replaces Peter Philip van Bosse and Cornelius Fock as chief minister of the Netherlands.
Francisco Serrano y Domínguez, duque de la Torre, conde de San Antonio replaces Juan Bautista Topete y Carballo as Prime Minister of Spain.
Giuseppe Verdi (57) writes to Francesco Florimo, archivist of the Naples Conservatory, declining their offer of the directorship of the school.
5 January 1871 On the ramparts at Issy, Corporal Vincent d’Indy (19) narrowly escapes being hit by German shells.
Frederick Shepherd Converse is born in Newton, Massachusetts, the youngest of seven children born to Edmund Winchester, a successful businessman, and Charlotte Augusta Converse.
6 January 1871 Henry M. Stanley of the New York Herald arrives in Zanzibar to begin his search for Dr. David Livingstone, who has not been heard from since 1867.
Botschaft op.47/1, a song by Johannes Brahms (37) to words of Hafis, is performed for the first time, in Vienna.
7 January 1871 Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleyev publishes a new edition of his periodic table of the elements, this time predicting that new elements will be discovered.
12 January 1871 The request of Johann Strauss, Jr. (45) to be released from his position as Hofballmusik-Direktor is granted by Emperor Franz Joseph. The grounds of the request are ill health, but he probably wants to devote himself more to stage composition. Strauss is awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Franz Joseph.
14 January 1871 Sonata for cello and piano no.1 op.38 by Johannes Brahms (37) is performed for the first time, in the Gewandhaus, Leipzig.
17 January 1871 An international conference opens in London which will open the Black Sea to warships once again.
18 January 1871 King Wilhelm of Prussia is crowned Emperor of Germany in the Palace of Versailles.
19 January 1871 French forces attempt a break out of Paris toward Bozenval. Among them is a corporal in the National Guard named Vincent d’Indy (19).
French forces are defeated by the Germans at St. Quentin.
20 January 1871 The French attempt to break out of Paris is stopped by the Germans.
Don Quixote op.87 for orchestra by Anton Rubinstein (41) is performed for the first time, in Moscow.
21 January 1871 National Guard units in Paris revolt, calling for a commune.
22 January 1871 Workers and National Guard units calling for a commune are fired on by government troops in front of the Hôtel de Ville in Paris. Many are killed.
26 January 1871 An armistice is signed between Germany and the French Republic.
A meeting of 21 rugby teams at the Pall Mall Restaurant in London creates Rugby Union Football.
Giulio Ricordi writes to Giuseppe Verdi (57) that he recently met with Arrigo Boito (28). He reports that Boito would be thrilled to write the libretto to a projected Nerone to be composed by Verdi. Verdi never writes the opera but this is the beginning of a working relationship between the two.
28 January 1871 Paris capitulates to the Germans.
1 February 1871 The French eastern army crosses into Switzerland and is disarmed.
The Italian Chamber of Deputies votes to move the capital of the country from Florence to Rome.
2 February 1871 Muss es eine Trennung geben op.33/12, a song by Johannes Brahms (37) to words of Tieck, is performed for the first time, in Leipzig.
5 February 1871 Richard Wagner (57) completes the full score to Siegfried at Tribschen.
6 February 1871 Karl Siegmund, Count Hohenwart becomes acting Chancellor of Austria.
7 February 1871 Accepting changes by the Senate, the Italian Chamber of Deputies passes for the final time the movement of the capital from Florence to Rome.
Shawl-Polka française op.343 by Johann Strauss (45) is performed for the first time, in the Sophiensaal, Vienna.
8 February 1871 Elections take place for a French national assembly to meet in Bordeaux and make peace for France with Germany. Parties on the right, especially monarchists, fare best.
10 February 1871 Indigo und die vierzig Räuber, an operetta by Johann Strauss (45) to words of Steiner, is performed for the first time, before a glittering audience in the Theater-an-der-Wien, Vienna. The evening is a smashing success and is seen as the opening night of the golden age of Viennese operetta.
13 February 1871 The French National Assembly meets in Bordeaux dominated by conservatives who desire to sue for peace. Denis Emmanuel, comte Benoist d’Azy, President of the Assembly, becomes acting head of state.
14 February 1871 Auf freiem Fuße op.345, a polka française by Johann Strauss (45), is performed for the first time, in the Redoutensaal, Vienna.
15 February 1871 National Guard units in Paris unify and elect a Provisional Central Committee.
François Jules Paul Grévy replaces Denis Emmanuel, comte Benoist d’Azy as President of the National Constituent Assembly and head of state.
17 February 1871 Marie Joseph Louis Adolphe Thiers is elected Chief of the Executive Power of the French Republic by the National Assembly at Bordeaux.
19 February 1871 Jules Armand Stanislas Dufaure is named Prime Minister of France.
Benjamin Franklin Goodrich begins making rubber products such as fire hoses and bicycle tires in Akron, Ohio. His company will be incorporated in 1880 as BF Goodrich.
22 February 1871 A board of musicians, assembled by the Imperial Theatre Directorate, rejects Modest Musorgsky’s (31) opera Boris Godunov for performance, complaining that it does not have an important female role.
23 February 1871 Six weeks of voting conclude in the New Zealand general election. For the first time in a general election, Maori candidates take part.
24 February 1871 The Descent of Man by Charles Darwin is published in London.
25 February 1871 The Société National de Musique is founded in the Paris home of Henri Duparc by César Franck (48), Camille Saint-Saëns (35), Georges Bizet (32), Jules Massenet (28), Gabriel Fauré (25), Henri Duparc (23), Vincent d’Indy (19), and others. The concerts of the Society are to be limited to living French composers.
26 February 1871 A preliminary peace agreement is signed at Versailles by representatives of France and Germany.
At the home of Sir Julius Benedict in London, Charles Gounod (52) meets the violinist Mrs. Georgina Weldon for the first time.
28 February 1871 The United States Congress passes the second Force Act designed to stop racial violence in the south.
1 March 1871 In an attempt to forestall a projected production in Munich, Richard Wagner (57) writes to King Ludwig of Bavaria that he can not bring himself to finish Siegfried. In fact, he finished it at Tribschen on 5 February.
The Bordeaux Assembly agrees to preliminary peace terms. Accordingly, the German army enters Paris, protected from the crowds by the French National Guard, which includes Georges Bizet (32).
3 March 1871 The German army moves out of Paris into the suburbs.
Voting takes place today for the first Reichstag of the German Empire. The National Liberal Party wins the most seats. Eleven parties are represented.
4 March 1871 Franz Liszt (59) writes to Princess Carolyne Sayn-Wittgenstein from Pest, “What a dreadful and heartrending thought it is that eighteen centuries of Christianity, and a few more centuries of philosophy and of moral and intellectual culture, have not delivered Europe from the scourge of war!”
The Forty-second Congress of the United States convenes in Washington. Republicans lose seats in both houses, but retain control of both.
5 March 1871 Indigo-Quadrille op.344 by Johann Strauss (45) is performed for the first time, in the Musikverein, Vienna.
6 March 1871 Gunfire erupts at a court hearing in Meridian, Mississippi for several blacks and Republicans. The judge and two blacks are killed and a riot ensues. More people are killed over the next several days.
8 March 1871 Fantasia in c minor D.48 for two pianos by Franz Schubert (†42) is performed for the first time, by the Vienna Musikverein, 58 years after it was composed.
There is a Green Hill Far Away, a sacred song by Charles Gounod (52) to words of Alexander, is performed for the first time, in London.
9 March 1871 Gabriel Fauré (25) is discharged from the French army.
10 March 1871 The Bordeaux Assembly votes to move to Versailles.
12 March 1871 Ruhe, schönstes Glück der Erde D.657 for male vocal quartet by Franz Schubert (†42) is performed for the first time, in the Vienna Musikvereinsaal. Also premiered is Tausend und eine Nacht op.346, a waltz by Johann Strauss (45).
13 March 1871 A great power conference in London decides to change the Treaty of Paris of 1856 and allow Russia to deploy naval forces on the Black Sea.
15 March 1871 Manuel-Achille Debussy, father of Claude (8), is released from his job working to supply the headquarters of the First Arrondissement. He enlists in the National Guard as a private.
17 March 1871 The National Association of Professional Baseball Players, the first fully professional baseball league, is formed by ten clubs in New York.
18 March 1871 Insurrection breaks out in Paris. Much of the city, including French troops sent to subdue them, join the rebellion. Two generals are killed by their own men. Adolphe Thiers, Chief of the Executive Power, withdraws his troops and officials from the city as the Central Committee of the National Guard takes power.
19 March 1871 Gabriel Fauré (25) is employed as organist at Saint-Honoré-d’Eylau but will soon be forced to flee the Commune.
Former Emperor Napoléon III crosses to Dover and exile.
20 March 1871 The French National Assembly sets up operations outside of Paris, at Versailles.
21 March 1871 Leading an expedition of 2,000, New York Herald reporter Henry Stanley departs the shores of east Africa heading inland to find Dr. David Livingstone, who hasn’t been heard from since 1867.
At a low ebb in his career and on the anniversary of his mother’s death, Mily Balakirev (34) is, in his own words, “converted to religion” at home in St. Petersburg.
Otto, Prince Bismarck-Schönhausen, Chancellor of Prussia becomes the first Chancellor of Germany.
22 March 1871 The City of Lyon announces for Paris and declares a commune.
23 March 1871 A commune is declared in Marseille.
24 March 1871 Lascar Catargiu replaces Prince Ion Ghica as Prime Minister of Romania.
The Lyon commune collapses virtually without shooting.
Incidental music to Shakespeare’s play Hamlet by Stanislaw Moniuszko (51) is performed for the first time, in Warsaw.
26 March 1871 Elections to a municipal council in Paris return socialists over moderates 2-1.
27 March 1871 The first Rugby International game is played at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh between England and Scotland.
28 March 1871 New works by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (30) are performed for the first time, in Moscow: String Quartet no.1, Nature and Love for female chorus and piano to his own words, To Forget So Soon, a song for voice and piano to words of Apukhtin, and two works for piano solo, Rêverie op.9/1 and Mazurka de salon op.9/3. The performance is very successful.
29 March 1871 The Paris Commune, the first government organized along Marxist lines, is proclaimed.
The Royal Albert Hall opens in London. Queen Victoria is overcome with emotion and the Prince of Wales fulfills the ceremonial duties.
Die Allmacht von Franz Schubert for tenor, male chorus, orchestra and organ by Franz Liszt (59) is performed for the first time, in Budapest, directed by the composer.
30 March 1871 The Commune eliminates the draft and a standing army.
2 April 1871 The Army of Versailles seizes Courbevoie, just west of Paris, thus initiating a civil war. Chief of the Executive Power Adolphe Thiers asks Bismarck for permission to add French prisoners of war held by the Germans to his army. The Commune declares a separation of Church and State. All Church property becomes national property.
3 April 1871 Parisian forces attack toward Versailles but are defeated. French troops begin the second siege of Paris.
4 April 1871 Paris communards arrest Georges Darboy, Archbishop of Paris.
Republican troops take Marseille after some street fighting.
6 April 1871 Friedrich, Baron Lindelhof becomes Prime Minister of Hesse.
National Guard units produce the guillotine in Paris and publicly burn it. Crowds cheer.
7 April 1871 Units of the Army of Versailles capture the Seine bridge at Neuilly.
On Good Friday in Bremen Cathedral, Johannes Brahms (37) conducts a complete performance of Ein deutsches Requiem and the premiere of the first part of Triumphlied for baritone, chorus and orchestra to words from the Bible. The music is dedicated in mourning and triumph following the Franco-Prussian War.
9 April 1871 Indigo-Marsch op.349 by Johann Strauss (45) is performed for the first time, in the Musikverein, Vienna.
10 April 1871 PT Barnum's Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan, and Circus opens in Brooklyn.
11 April 1871 The Versailles Army attacks Paris from the south but is repulsed.
14 April 1871 Kaisermarsch by Richard Wagner (57) is performed for the first time, privately, in Berlin. See 23 April 1871.
16 April 1871 The Commune issues orders for the creation of workers cooperatives to operate factories previously closed by capitalists.
A Constitution for the German Empire is adopted by the Reichstag, to take effect 4 May.
18 April 1871 Anton Bruckner (46) participates in a competition in Vienna to determine who will represent Austria in demonstration concerts on the new Willis organ in Albert Hall, London.
19 April 1871 On their way to Berlin, Richard (57) and Cosima Wagner inspect the opera house in Bayreuth. They have been led to believe that it has one of the largest stages in Germany. It does not. Wagner approves of the town, but not the opera house. A decision is made to build a new one.
20 April 1871 United States President Ulysses Grant signs the third Force Act, authorizing him to use force against the Ku Klux Klan and other terrorists.
23 April 1871 Kaisermarsch by Richard Wagner (57) is performed publicly for the first time, in the Leipzig Stadttheater.
24 April 1871 Anton Bruckner (46) is informed that he has won a competition in Vienna to determine who will represent Austria in demonstration concerts on the new Willis organ in Albert Hall, London.
27 April 1871 Sigismond Fortuné François Thalberg dies in Posillipo, near Naples, aged 59 years, three months and 19 days.
The American Museum of Natural History first opens its doors in New York City.
28 April 1871 Richard Wagner (57) reads his installation thesis, On the Destiny of Opera, at the Berlin Royal Academy of Arts.
30 April 1871 Whites from Tucson raid an Apache village (in Pima County, Arizona) and kill 144 men, women and children. The bodies are stripped and mutilated. 27 children are captured and sold into slavery.
1 May 1871 In the first important musical evening in Royal Albert Hall, Gallia: lamentation, a motet for soprano, chorus, orchestra, and organ by Charles Gounod (52) to his own words, is performed for the first time, for the opening of the London International Exhibition. Also on the program is the premiere of On Shore and Sea, a cantata by Arthur Sullivan (28) to words of Taylor. Both composers conduct their own works.
2 May 1871 In Prague, Franz Liszt (59) hears Bedrich Smetana (47) play through excerpts from his opera Dalibor and then a performance of the overture to The Bartered Bride arranged for him.
3 May 1871 Richard Wagner (57) receives an audience with Chancellor Otto von Bismarck in Berlin in an attempt to gain funding for his Festspielhaus in Bayreuth. He leaves with no promises.
Manuel Debussy assumes the rank of captain of the 2nd Company of the 13th Federate Batallion, among the most radical of the communard units.
5 May 1871 The Commune orders the destruction of the Chapel of Atonement, built to apologize for the execution of King Louis XVI.
8 May 1871 Manuel Debussy, father of Claude (8), leads an attack on the fort at Issy, manned by loyalists. Among his company is Paul Verlaine. The attack fails and Debussy is captured.
Representatives of Great Britain and the United States sign a treaty in Washington. Britain expresses regret for damage done by Confederate ships built in British ports and opens Canadian waters to US fishermen north of 39°. Both sides submit a border dispute involving the San Juan Islands to the arbitration of Emperor Wilhelm of Germany. They also create a five-person international committee to discuss claims by the US against Britain for damages done by Confederate ships.
10 May 1871 The Treaty of Frankfurt ends the Franco-Prussian War. France is forced to give up Alsace, Lorraine and 5,000,000,000 francs. German troops will remain in northern France pending payment of the indemnity.
Manuel Debussy is released from prison.
12 May 1871 In Leipzig, Richard Wagner (57) publicly announces that Der Ring des Nibelungen will be performed in 1873 in Bayreuth. He has not yet brought up the idea of a new theatre with the town fathers, confident they will not refuse.
Daniel-François-Esprit Auber dies in Paris, aged 89 years, three months and 14 days. His mortal remains will be laid to rest in Père Lachaise Cemetery.
13 May 1871 The Italian government limits the temporal power of the Pope to the Vatican and Lateran palaces and the villa of Castel Gandolfo. The Pope’s person is considered inviolable. Pope Pius IX refuses to recognize this arrangement.
16 May 1871 The Victory Column in Place Vendôme is destroyed by order of the Commune. It was cast from guns captured by Napoleon’s army.
19 May 1871 Im Sturmschritt op.348, a polka schnell by Johann Strauss (45), is performed for the first time, in the Volksgarten, Vienna.
21 May 1871 Troops of the Versailles government enter Paris and begin a week of fighting.
Mme Charles Gounod leaves her husband (52) in London because of his liaison with Georgina Weldon. Mme Gounod and their son return to France.
22 May 1871 The Army of Versailles converts the Paris Opéra into a prison. Manuel Debussy is rearrested for his communard activities.
Troops of Marshal Mac-Mahon reach the Arc de Triomphe. Heavy fighting continues along the Champs Elysées.
Friedrich I replaces Leopold IV as Duke of Anhalt.
23 May 1871 The library of the Louvre, along with its 40,000 volumes and manuscripts, is blown up by the communards. For this cultural atrocity, the man responsible, Victor Benot, is condemned for life to New Caledonia.
24 May 1871 French National Guardsmen and Vergeurs de la Commune execute Georges Darboy, Archbishop of Paris by firing squad in the prison of La Roquette.
By this day, most of the important buildings of Paris including the Royal Palace, Hôtel de Ville, Prefecture of Police, Palais de la Justice, and Théâtre Lyrique are all aflame.
27 May 1871 After a week of bloody, desperate block by block fighting, the Paris Commune is defeated. Approximately 5,000 people have died in battle but reprisals and atrocities by both sides brings the total loss of life nearer 40,000. Within a year, 17,000 more people will be executed.
1 June 1871 The first Wagner(58)-Verein is founded, in Mannheim.
2 June 1871 Aus der Heimath op.347, a polka mazur by Johann Strauss (45), is performed for the first time, in the Volksgarten, Vienna.
5 June 1871 Charles Villiers Stanford (18) is elected to the post of assistant conductor of the Cambridge University Musical Society.
6 June 1871 Georges Bizet (32) and his family return to Paris from Le Vesinet.
8 June 1871 Mme Manuel Debussy writes to the authorities, pleading that they release her husband due to financial hardship (her four children) and claiming that he only joined the National Guard to help feed them. This last plea is rejected but in a year he will be released.
12 June 1871 A parade by Orangemen to celebrate the Battle of the Boyne begins in New York. Originally denied a permit because of the riot of last 12 June, the authorities give in after charges by the Protestant elite of the city of the undue influence of Irish Catholics. Over 6,000 police and National Guard troops surround the marchers, attempting to protect them from thousands of angry Catholics. For almost the entire route of the march, the Orangemen and their protectors are assailed by flying missiles. They respond with gunfire which produces gunfire in return. Over 60 people are killed and 150 injured.
13 June 1871 Emperor Franz Joseph II, King Ferenc József I of Hungary, confers on Franz Liszt (59) the title of Royal Hungarian Councilor with a salary.
16 June 1871 The University Test Act is approved, allowing entry into Oxford or Cambridge without a religious test.
Lust’ger Rath op.350, a polka française by Johann Strauss (45), is performed for the first time, in the Volksgarten, Vienna. Also premiered is Strauss’ Die Bajadere op.351, a polka schnell.
19 June 1871 Charles Gounod (53) moves into Tavistock House, Georgina Weldon’s home in London.
27 June 1871 Japan adopts the Yen as its unit of currency.
29 June 1871 The Trade Union Act is given royal assent by Queen Victoria. Workers are now free to make and join unions.
1 July 1871 The government of Italy moves from Florence to Rome.
2 July 1871 King Vittorio Emanuele II of Italy enters Rome.
Voting is held today in 114 French constituencies to fill seats left vacant by the February elections. Republicans do very well.
7 July 1871 German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck suppresses the Roman Catholic department for spiritual affairs of Prussia, thus beginning his “Kulturkampf” against the Roman Catholic Church.
8 July 1871 The New York Times begins a series of articles laying bare the massive fraud, theft and corruption of William Tweed, “Boss” of the Democratic Party machine of New York City known as Tammany Hall, and his confederates.
11 July 1871 Yohannes IV replaces Tekle Giyorgis II as Emperor of Ethiopia.
12 July 1871 39 people are killed and 91 wounded in rioting between Irish Catholics and Protestants in New York City.
20 July 1871 British Columbia becomes a province of Canada.
22 July 1871 Friedrich Adam Justus, Baron Hegnenberg-Dux replaces Otto Cammillus Hugo, Count Bray-Steinberg as Prime Minister of Bavaria.
24 July 1871 Manuel Ruiz Zorrilla replaces Francisco Serrano y Domínguez, duque de la Torre, conde de San Antonio as Prime Minister of Spain.
26 July 1871 Mikhail Azanchevsky, director of the St. Petersburg Conservatory, invites Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov (27) to teach composition and orchestration. Rimsky-Korsakov accepts.
29 July 1871 Anton Bruckner (46) arrives in London. He has been selected to represent his country at the International Exhibition, along with organists from several other nations. In the evening he goes to the hall to practice but is told the fires for the steam engines have been allowed to go out. There is still enough steam for him to practice and, after hearing Bruckner play, the hall manager orders the fires relit. His abilities attract a little audience which listens to him well into the evening. The British press, fuming at the presence of so many foreigners, affords him only faint praise. Ten recitals, however, will produce loud applause.
11 August 1871 The Basutoland protectorate is annexed to the Cape Colony.
14 August 1871 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (31) signs the preface to his Guide to the Practical Study of Harmony.
20 August 1871 A setting of the Ave Maria for male chorus and organ by Gabriel Fauré (26) is performed for the first time, at the Chapel of the Hospice of Saint-Bernard, Switzerland.
29 August 1871 Feudal domains are abolished in Japan and replaced with prefectures.
31 August 1871 Marie Joseph Louis Adolphe Thiers is elected the first President of the Third French Republic.
2 September 1871 Gustav Mahler (11) enters the Prague Gymnasium.
7 September 1871 Mahmud Nedim Pasha replaces Mehmed Emin Ali Pasha as Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire.
12 September 1871 The September Rescript, an imperial decree, promises that Emperor Franz Joseph will be crowned King of Bohemia, thus granting home rule and greater autonomy to the region.
13 September 1871 António Maria de Fontes Pereira de Melo replaces António José de Avila, marquês de Avila e Bolama, conde de Avila as Prime Minister of Portugal.
At a gathering in Baden-Baden to celebrate the 52nd birthday of Clara Schumann and her 31st wedding anniversary, Johannes Brahms (38) presents her with the autograph manuscript of his Capriccio op.76/1.
15 September 1871 Fest-Polonaise op.352 by Johann Strauss (45) is performed for the first time, in the Volksgarten, Vienna.
19 September 1871 Incidental music to Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice by Arthur Sullivan (29) is performed for the first time, in Prince’s Theatre, Manchester.
23 September 1871 Teresa Stolz pays her first visit to Sant’Agata to study her part for Aida with Giuseppe Verdi (57).
26 September 1871 David Oliver Saylor of Allentown, Pennsylvania receives a US patent for his “portland” cement mixture of magnesium clay with limestone clay.
29 September 1871 Cesar Cui (36), Modest Musorgsky (32), Valdimir Stasov, Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov (27), and Mikhail Azanchevsky gather at Stasov’s to hear Anton (41) and Nikolay Rubinstein play Anton’s recently completed opera The Demon. They are at first unimpressed, later enthusiastic.
1 October 1871 Richard, Baron Friesen replaces Johann Paul, Baron Falkenstein as Prime Minister of Saxony.
5 October 1871 José Malcampo y Monge, marqués de San Rafael, conde de Jolo replaces Manuel Ruiz Zorrilla as Prime Minister of Spain.
8 October 1871 Croatians led by Eugen Kvaternik revolt in Rakovica against Austro-Hungarian rule.
Fire breaks out in Chicago. Over the next four days, 250 people will be killed and 17,450 buildings destroyed.
A forest fire around Peshtigo, Wisconsin, kill 1,200 people and 2,000,000,000 trees.
11 October 1871 The Croatian uprising in Rakovica is suppressed. Its leader, Eugen Kvaternik, is killed.
14 October 1871 Edvard Grieg (28) along with several leading Norwegian artists, publishes an invitation to create a Music Association with the aim of establishing a permanent orchestra in Christiania (Oslo). See 2 December 1871.
16 October 1871 The German Reichstag meets in a renovated porcelain warehouse on the Leipzigerstrasse, Berlin. It will meet here for 23 years.
18 October 1871 Schicksalslied for chorus and orchestra by Johannes Brahms (38) to words of Hölderlin is performed for the first time, in Karlsruhe, conducted by the composer from manuscript. Among the audience is Clara Schumann (52).
24 October 1871 An ein Veilchen op.49/2, a song by Johannes Brahms (38) to words of Zappi, is performed for the first time, in Leipzig.
500 whites attack the Chinese quarter of Los Angeles. They hang 15 people and kill three others. Looters steal $30,000 in cash and property.
25 October 1871 Bey Muhammad as-Sadiq of Tunisia ceases to pay tribute to Constantinople, but recognizes nominal Ottoman sovereignty.
26 October 1871 Minister for Education Jules Simon addresses the Académie Française, “We have not only material ruins to deplore, but spiritual ruins as well…We have replaced glory with money, work with speculation, loyalty and honor with skepticism, the battles of parties and doctrines with the competition of interests, the school with clubs, Méhul (†54) and Lesueur with chansonnettes.”
27 October 1871 Great Britain annexes newly discovered diamond fields at Kimberley, Griqualand West, 850 km northeast of Cape Town.
29 October 1871 The French premiere of Charles Gounod’s (53) Gallia takes place at the Paris Conservatory. Among the performers is the composer’s lover, Georgina Weldon.
30 October 1871 Ludwig, Baron Holzgethan replaces Karl Siegmund, Count Hohenwart as Chancellor of Austria.
1 November 1871 Angelo Mariani conducts a performance of Lohengrin at Teatro Communale, Bologna, the first performance of a Wagner (58) opera in Italy. Giuseppe Verdi (58) considers Mariani a traitor but this does not preclude him from attending a later performance on 19 November.
For the first time, Richard Wagner (58) writes to the town fathers in Bayreuth, laying out the plans for his new theatre. Their response is enthusiastic.
7 November 1871 The town of Bayreuth formally approves of Richard Wagner’s (58) plan for a new theatre.
9 November 1871 Thrasivoulos Andreou Zaimis replaces Alexandros Koumoundouros as Prime Minister of Greece.
Henri Duparc (23) marries Ellie MacSwiney.
10 November 1871 After seven months of search, Henry M. Stanley, sent by the owner of the New York Herald, James Gordon Bennett, finds Scottish missionary Dr. David Livingstone at Ujiji (now in Tanzania). Stanley utters the famous words “Dr. Livingstone, I presume.”
Baltzar von Platen replaces Carl Wachtmeister replaces Ludvig Manderström as Prime Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden.
12 November 1871 Huldigungsmarsch WWV 97 by Richard Wagner (58) is performed for the first time in the setting for orchestra, at the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, Vienna. See 5 October 1864.
14 November 1871 Manyhért Count Lónyay de Nagylónya et Vásáros-nameny replaces Gyula, Count Andrássy de Csíkszentkirály et Krasznahorska as Prime Minister of Hungary.
17 November 1871 The first performance of the Société National de Musique takes place in the Salle Pleyel, Paris.
19 November 1871 Giuseppe Verdi (58) attends a performance of Richard Wagner’s (58) Lohengrin in Bologna, also attended by Arrigo Boito (29). Verdi is recognized after the second act and applauded for 15 minutes, but refuses to show himself to the crowd. He brings with him a copy of the score and makes notes on it throughout the performance. His opinion: “Impression mediocre.”
25 November 1871 Adolf Wilhelm Daniel, Prince Auersperg replaces Ludwig, Baron Holzgethan as Chancellor of Austria.
Trio de salon op.1/2 for violin, cello and piano by César Franck (48) is performed for the first time, by the Société National de Musique, Paris.
26 November 1871 Scènes hongroise, the second suite for orchestra by Jules Massenet (29), is performed for the first time, in the Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris.
27 November 1871 The Italian Parliament meets for the first time in the new capital, Rome.
2 December 1871 The first concert of the new Music Association orchestra takes place in Christiania (Oslo). See 14 October 1871.
3 December 1871 Volkslied op.7/4, a song by Johannes Brahms (38) to traditional words, is performed for the first time, in Vienna.
4 December 1871 Germany adopts the gold standard.
6 December 1871 Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll is published in London.
7 December 1871 Jules Malou replaces Jules Joseph, Baron d’Anethan as head of government for Belgium.
Le Rouet d’Omphale op.31, a symphonic poem by Camille Saint-Saëns (36), is performed for the first time, in a version for two pianos, in the Salle Erard, Paris. The composer performs one part. See 14 April 1872.
8 December 1871 Two of the lieder op.41 for unaccompanied chorus by Johannes Brahms (38) are performed for the first time, in Vienna: Ich schwing mein Horn ins Jammertal to anonymous old German words, and Gebt acht! Gebt acht! to words of Lemcke.
10 December 1871 Remembrance, a song by Antonin Dvorák (30) to words of Krásnohorská, is performed for the first time, in Prague.
Marche héroïque op.34 for orchestra by Camille Saint-Saëns (36) is performed for the first time, in Paris.
11 December 1871 Manuel Debussy, father of Claude (9), is sentenced to four years in prison for his part in the Commune.
14 December 1871 Boule de neige, an opéra-bouffe by Jacques Offenbach (52) to words of Nuitter and Tréfeu, is performed for the first time, at the Bouffes-Parisiens, Paris.
15 December 1871 Geneva. A United States demand of reparation for damage caused by British-built ships used by the Confederacy is decided by an international group in favor of the United States. The United Kingdom agrees to pay $15,500,000.
21 December 1871 Práxedes Mateo-Sagasta Escolar replaces José Malcampo y Monge, marques de San Rafael, conde de Jolo as Prime Minister of Spain.
24 December 1871 Aida, an opera by Giuseppe Verdi (58) to words of Ghislanzoni after Mariette, is performed for the first time, at the Cairo Opera House. It is very successful. The composer is not present.
26 December 1871 Thespis, or The Gods Grown Old, an operetta by Arthur Sullivan (29) to words of Gilbert, is performed for the first time, at the Gaiety Theatre, London. The first night audience does not approve, it will never be revived, never published and the score will be lost. But it does receive 64 performances. This marks the first collaboration in the often stormy association of the two artists who will come to dominate the English musical stage.
31 December 1871 Anton Rubinstein (42) conducts a concert in Vienna which includes the first part of Christus, in the presence of the composer, Franz Liszt (60) and with Anton Bruckner (47) playing the organ part.
©2004-2012 Paul Scharfenberger
13 August 2012
Last Updated (Monday, 13 August 2012 06:22)