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1 January 1874 Pursuant to the East India Stock Redemption Act, the British East India Company is dissolved.

King Ludwig II of Bavaria confers on Johannes Brahms (40) the Order of Maximilian.

3 January 1874 Marshal Francisco Serrano y Domínguez, duque de la Torre, conde de San Antonio becomes President of the Executive in Spain while General Manuel Pavía y Rodríguez forms a national government to end the republic.

10 January 1874 Elections are held for the second Reichstag of the German Empire.  The National Liberals and the Center Party greatly increase their numbers at the expense of the German Conservatives and Imperial Liberals.  15 seats are added for Alsace and Lorraine.

11 January 1874 Franz Liszt (62) performs in Vienna for the first time as a pianist in over 30 years.

13 January 1874 Tsar Alyeksandr II signs an edict requiring universal male conscription for 20-year-olds, ending a system which unfairly treated the poor.

Unemployed workers and their families demonstrate in Tompkins Square Park, New York.  They are charged by mounted police who beat the demonstrators with clubs indiscriminately.  Hundreds of men, women, and children are injured.  New York Commissioner of Police Abram Duryee is reported to have said “It was the most glorious sight I ever saw.”

15 January 1874 Wie froh und frisch op.33/14, a song by Johannes Brahms (40) to words of Tieck, is performed for the first time, in Leipzig.

17 January 1874 At the request of Lyudmila Shestakova, sister of Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (†16), who is fearful of the emotional state of Mily Balakirev (37), Glinka’s piano is removed from Balakirev’s home to safe keeping in the St. Petersburg Conservatory.

20 January 1874 A British protectorate is established over Perak (Malaysia).

22 January 1874 The third general election takes place in Canada.  The Liberal party of Alexander Mackenzie defeats the Conservatives of John A. Macdonald.

23 January 1874 In Dresden, Henrik Ibsen writes to Edvard Grieg (30).  He has decided to turn his dramatic poem Peer Gynt into a stage work and he wants Grieg to write incidental music for it.  The composer will readily accept.

24 January 1874 Dutch forces take Banda Aceh and announce an end to the Sultanate of Aceh.  This is more wishful thinking than fact.

Suite de valses for orchestra by Henri Duparc (26) is performed for the first time, by the Société National de Musique, Paris.

25 January 1874 After three rejections, King Ludwig II writes to Wagner that he will help finance the Bayreuth Festspielhaus.  He will approve a loan of 100,000 taler.

Piccolomini, a concert overture by Vincent d’Indy (22), an organ student of César Franck (51) is performed for the first time, in Paris.

30 January 1874 Du sprichst, dass ich mich täuschte op.32/6, a song by Johannes Brahms (40) to words of Platen, is performed for the first time, in Leipzig.

1 February 1874 Darthulas Grabesgesang op.42/3 for chorus by Johannes Brahms (40) to words of Ossian translated by Herder is performed for the first time, in Munich.

3 February 1874 King Lunalilo of Hawaii dies in Honolulu at the age of 39.

4 February 1874 British forces burn Kumasi, 200 km northwest of Accra, the last act of violence in their war against the Ashanti.

5 February 1874 Three Hungarian Dances for orchestra WoO1 by Johannes Brahms (40) is performed for the first time, in Leipzig.

8 February 1874 The second version of Boris Godunov, an opera by Modest Musorgsky (34) to his own words after Pushkin and Karamazin, is performed for the first time, at the Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg.  The composer feels a triumph but the audience is a bit bewildered.  Many people feel the performances rescue the music.  See 6 February 1928.

10 February 1874 Variations on a Theme by Joseph Haydn op.56b for two pianos by Johannes Brahms (40) is performed for the first time, in Vienna.

Fledermaus-Polka op.362 by Johann Strauss (48) is performed for the first time, in the Sophiensaal, Vienna.

12 February 1874 Kalakaua is elected by the legislature to be King of Hawaii.

13 February 1874 In the Treaty of Fomena, King Kofi Kari-Kari of the Ashanti promises free trade, an open road to Kumasi, an indemnity paid to Great Britain, and a pledge to stop human sacrifice.

14 February 1874 Hüseyin Avni Pasha replaces Sirvanizade Mehmed Rüstü Pasha as Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire.

15 February 1874 Patrie overture by Georges Bizet (35) is performed for the first time, at the Cirque d’hiver, Paris to an appreciative audience.

16 February 1874 HMS Challenger, on a scientific mission, becomes the first steamship to cross the Antarctic Circle.

17 February 1874 18 days of voting in the British general elections conclude.  The ruling Liberal Party of Prime Minister Gladstone loses 145 seats while the Conservatives of Benjamin Disraeli make strong gains.  The Irish Home Rule League wins 60 seats for their first representation in Parliament.

20 February 1874 King Ludwig II of Bavaria makes a loan of over 200,000 marks to the Bayreuth project.

Benjamin Disraeli replaces William Ewart Gladstone as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

21 February 1874 Demetrios Georgiou Voulgaris replaces Epameinontas Mitrou Deligeorgis as Prime Minister of Greece.

Months before his graduation, Charles Villiers Stanford (21) is appointed organist at Trinity College, Cambridge for two years, with the proviso that he be allowed some part of that term to study in Leipzig.

22 February 1874 A posthumous exhibition of drawings and architectural sketches by Victor Hartmann opens in St. Petersburg, through the efforts of Vladimir Stasov.  (This could be 24 February)

Ouverture de Phèdre for orchestra by Jules Massenet (31) is performed for the first time.

26 February 1874 Juan de Zavala y de la Puente, conde de Paredes de Nava, marqués of Sierra Bullones replaces Francisco Serrano y Domínguez, duque de la Torre, conde de San Antonio as Prime Minister of Spain.

1 March 1874 István Bittó de Sárosfalva replaces József Szlávy de Erkenéz et Okányas Prime Minister of Hungary.

2 March 1874 Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov (29) makes his debut as orchestral conductor in a St. Petersburg concert to benefit famine victims in Samara.

5 March 1874 Eine gute, gute Nacht op.59/6, a song by Johannes Brahms (40) to Russian words translated by Daumer, is performed for the first time, in Vienna.

6 March 1874 Rêverie du soir op.19/1 for piano by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (33) is performed for the first time, in Moscow.

14 March 1874 Sulima op.33/13, a song by Johannes Brahms (40) to words of Tieck, is performed for the first time, in Vienna.

Alone Without Comfort for male chorus by Leos Janácek (19) to a traditional Moravian text, is performed for the first time, in Brünn (Brno), conducted by the composer.

15 March 1874 France institutes a protectorate over Annam, southeast Asia.

16 March 1874 Des toten Dichters Liebe, a melodrama for reciter and piano by Franz Liszt (62) to words of Jókai translated by Dux, is performed for the first time, in Budapest, the composer at the keyboard.

17 March 1874 After a three-day battle, Cuban rebels defeat Spanish troops at Las Guásimas.  Spanish casualties outnumber Cuban by 6-1.

19 March 1874 The adagio movement of a Violin Sonata in a minor by Antonin Dvorák (32) is performed for the first time, in Prague.  See 22 January 1875.

21 March 1874 Salvator Rosa, an opera seria by Carlos Gomes (37) to words of Ghislanzoni, is performed for the first time, in Teatro Carlo Felice, Genoa.

22 March 1874 String Quartet no.2 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (33) is performed publicly for the first time, in Moscow.

25 March 1874 Variations on a Hungarian Song op.21/2 for piano by Johannes Brahms (40) is performed for the first time, in London.

26 March 1874 Excerpts from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s (31) unperformed opera Oprichnik are performed for the first time, in Moscow.  See 24 April 1874.

27 March 1874 The Two Widows, a comic opera by Bedrich Smetana (50) to words of Züngel after Mallefille, is performed for the first time, at the Prague Provisional Theatre.  The audience response is warm but the critics are mixed.

28 March 1874 Variations on a Theme of Beethoven op.35 for two pianos by Camille Saint-Saëns (38) is performed for the first time, in Paris.

29 March 1874 Symphony no.3 by Antonin Dvorák (32) is performed for the first time, in Prague conducted by Bedrich Smetana (50).

5 April 1874 Die Fledermaus, an operetta by Johann Strauss (48) to words of Haffner and Genée after Meilhac and Halévy, is performed for the first time, in the Theater-an-der-Wien, Vienna.  The reviews are mixed but the public is ecstatic.  It will see over 300 performances to become, perhaps, the most popular operetta in German.

9 April 1874 The German Academy of Arts and Sciences elects Johannes Brahms (40) an honorary member, apparently without asking him.

11 April 1874 Poème nocturne for orchestra by Henri Duparc (26) is performed for the first time, by the Société National de Musique, Paris.

12 April 1874 Bedrich Smetana (50) first notices the symptoms of syphilis on his body.  The infection probably took place three to six weeks ago.

The electoral college for Argentina meets and elects Adolfo Alsina as President.

14 April 1874 L’ultimo Abenzeraggio, an opera by Felipe Pedrell (33) to words of Fors de Casamayor, is performed for the first time, at the Liceo, Barcelona.

15 April 1874 The first Impressionist exhibition opens in the studio of the photographer Félix Nadar 35 Boulevard des Capucines, France.  Painters included are Monet, Renoir, Cezanne, Degas, Pisarro and Sisley.  It will remain open for a month.

18 April 1874 For a second time, Anton Bruckner (50) applies to the Austrian Ministry of Education and culture, requesting that a teaching position in theory be created for him at the University of Vienna.

22 April 1874 Gille et Gillotin, an opéra by Ambroise Thomas (62) to words of Sauvage, is performed for the first time, at the Théâtre Favart, Paris.

24 April 1874 Oprichnik, an opera by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (33) to his own words after Lazhechnikov, is performed for the first time, in the Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg.  The work proves an unquestioned success.  At a dinner afterwards, Tchaikovsky is awarded the Young Composer’s Prize of 300 rubles.

28 April 1874 Richard Wagner (60), his wife and family move into the unfinished Villa Wahnfried in Bayreuth.

4 May 1874 Eduard Carleson replaces Axel Gustaf Adlercreutz as Prime Minister for Justice of Sweden.  The office has been vacant for nearly a month.

6 May 1874 O komme, holde Sommernacht op.58/4, a song by Johannes Brahms to words of Grohe, is performed for the first time, in Munich, on the eve of the composer’s 41st birthday.

9 May 1874 Wo die Citronen blüh’n op.364, a waltz by Johann Strauss (48), is performed for the first time, in Turin.

13 May 1874 Marias Wallfahrt op.22/3 for unaccompanied chorus by Johannes Brahms (41) to traditional German words is performed for the first time, in Leipzig.

14 May 1874 Serenade op.58/8, a song by Johannes Brahms (41) to words of Schack, is performed for the first time, in Vienna.

16 May 1874 Suite d’orchestre by Gabriel Fauré (29) is performed for the first time, by the Société National de Musique, Paris.  See 8 February 1873.

21 May 1874 Bagatelle, an opéra-comique by Jacques Offenbach (54) to words of Crémieux and Blum, is performed for the first time, at the Bouffes-Parisiens, Paris.

22 May 1874 Ernest Louis Octave Courtot de Cissey replaces Jacques Albert, duc de Broglie as Prime Minister of France.

Messa da Requiem for solo voices, chorus and orchestra by Giuseppe Verdi (60) is performed for the first time, in the church of San Marco, Milan, conducted by the composer.  See 2 June 1873.

25 May 1874 The scherzo from the Symphony no.4 by Antonin Dvorák (32) is performed for the first time, in Prague, conducted by Bedrich Smetana (50).  See 6 April 1892.

29 May 1874 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (34) arrives in Venice on a sojourn in Italy.  He writes to his brother Modest, “Venice is such a city that were I forced to live here a whole week, I should hang myself out of despair on the third day…”

2 June 1874 Edvard Grieg (30) receives a grant of 1,600 Norwegian kroner by the Parliament.

3 June 1874 A Piano Concerto in B flat by Charles Villiers Stanford (21) is performed for the first time, in Cambridge.

5 June 1874 Richard D’Oyly Carte takes over the management of the Opera Comique in London.  It is his goal to put on stage productions which will be the English equivalents of the operettas of Jacques Offenbach (54).

6 June 1874 Isaac Albéniz (14) fails to appear for his solfege examination at the Real Conservatorio de Madrid.  He is in the middle of a concert tour of Spain lasting almost a year.

8 June 1874 Charles Gounod (55) and Georgina Weldon, after a stormy love affair of over three years, see each other for the last time, at Charing Cross Railroad Station.  They will correspond, sometimes bitterly, sometimes accusingly, for many years to come.

29 June 1874 Práxedes Mateo-Sagasta Escolar replaces Juan de Zavala y de La Puente, conde de Paredes de Nava, marqués de Sierra-Bullones as Prime Minister of Spain.

4 July 1874 A bridge spanning the Mississippi River at St. Louis opens to the public.  It was designed by James Buchanan Eads.  At almost 2,000 meters, it is the longest arch bridge in the world.

13 July 1874 To protest the Kulturkampf, a Catholic cooper named Heinz Kullmann attempts to kill German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck as he rides in a carriage in Kissingen.  Bismarck is wounded but will survive.

14 July 1874 Christian Andreas Fonnesbech replaces Ludwig, Count Holstein as Prime Minister of Denmark.

28 July 1874 Bedrich Smetana (50) reports that his ears are blocked and he feels giddy, early symptoms of syphilis.

2 August 1874 Du und Du op.367, a waltz by Johann Strauss (48), is performed for the first time, in Schwender’s “Neue Welt”, Vienna.

6 August 1874 An agreement between Chile and Bolivia signed in Sucre defines their common border.

21 August 1874 Newspaper editor Theodore Tilton files suit in Brooklyn accusing Reverend Henry Ward Beecher of adultery with his wife, Elisabeth.

27 August 1874 Jan Heemskerk and Constantine Theodoor, Baron van Lynden van Sandenburg replace Gerrit de Vries and Isaac Dignus Fransen van de Putte as chief ministers of the Netherlands.

30 August 1874 The Factory Act in Great Britain institutes a work week of 56.5 hours.

6 September 1874 Leos Janácek (20) conducts the choir of Svatopluk for the last time, in Slapanice.

Tik-Tak op.365, a polka schnell by Johann Strauss (48), is performed for the first time, in Schwender’s “Neue Welt”, Vienna.

13 September 1874 Arnold Franz Walter Schönberg is born in Vienna, eldest of three children born to Samuel Schönberg, shoestore owner and amateur musician, and Pauline Nachod, daughter of a family of cantors.  Schönberg’s parents moved to Vienna from Pressburg (Bratislava), giving him Hungarian nationality and in 1918, Czechoslovakian nationality, when that country is created.

14 September 1874 300 members of the White League stage a putsch against the city government of New Orleans, seizing city hall.  27 people are killed, 105 wounded.

19 September 1874 The rebellion in New Orleans is crushed by Federal troops.

21 September 1874 Gustavus Theodore von Holst is born in Cheltenham, the first of two children born to Adolphus von Holst, a pianist and organist, and Clara Cox Lediard, daughter of a solicitor.  She is a singer and pianist and one of her husband’s pupils.

23 September 1874 At the Halfdan Kjerulf Statue, a cantata for tenor and male chorus by Edvard Grieg (31) to words of Munch, is performed for the first time, in Christiania.

1 October 1874 Civil registration of births, marriages and deaths is mandated in Prussia.

4 October 1874 Count Harry Karl Kurt Eduard Von Arnim, former German ambassador to France and seen as an opponent of Bismarck, is arrested in Stettin and charged with embezzling state papers.

9 October 1874 The Universal Postal Union is organized with headquarters in Bern.

10 October 1874 The Kingdom of Viti (Fiji) is made a British colony.

16 October 1874 Blanca Albéniz, 19-year-old sister of Isaac (14), kills herself in the Retiro, a large park near the Prado in Madrid.  She is a singer and has failed to win a contract at the Teatro de la Zarzuela.  Isaac Albéniz will end his concert tour, currently in Barcelona, and return home to Madrid.

19 October 1874 Richard Joshua Reynolds buys a parcel of land in Winston, North Carolina on which he will build a tobacco processing plant.

20 October 1874 Bedrich Smetana (50) becomes deaf in his left ear.  Within a few days he will be completely deaf.

Charles Edward Ives is born in Danbury, Connecticut, first of two children born to George E. Ives, bandmaster and choir director, and Mary Elizabeth Smith Parmalee, daughter of a storekeeper.

26 October 1874 Carl August Peter Cornelius dies in Mainz, aged 49 years, ten months and two days.

27 October 1874 The WD Lawrence is launched in Maitland, Nova Scotia.  With a keel of 74.6 meters and a main mast of 61.16 meters it is the largest square-rigger ever built in Canada.

31 October 1874 The faculty of philosophy at the University of Vienna vote against the request of Anton Bruckner (51) that a teaching position in music theory be created for him.  See 18 April 1874.

Madame l’archiduc, an opéra-bouffe by Jacques Offenbach (55) to words of Halévy and Millaud, is performed for the first time, at the Bouffes-Parisiens, Paris.

8 November 1874 Three of the seven songs for chorus op.62 by Johannes Brahms (41) to words of Heyse are performed for the first time, in Vienna:  Von altern Liebesliedern, Waldesnacht and Dein Herzlein mild.

10 November 1874 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (34) writes to his brother Modest from Moscow.  “I have thoroughly studied Boris Godunov ...  With my whole heart I consign Musorgsky’s (35) music to the devil; it is the most vulgar and foul parody of music.”

14 November 1874 The third movement of Souvenir of Hupsal op. 2/3, “Song Without Words” for piano by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (34), is performed for the first time, in St. Petersburg.

18 Liebeslieder Waltzes op.52a by Johannes Brahms (41) are performed for the first time, in Vienna in a setting for piano four hands.  See 5 January 1870 and 19 March 1870.

15 November 1874 Giuseppe Verdi (61) is made a member of the Italian Senate.  He will not go to Rome to be sworn in because he does not wish to be involved in the production of Aida currently at the Teatro Apollo, Rome.

18 November 1874 Leos Janácek (20) is awarded a certificate allowing him to teach in primary schools in either the Czech or German languages.

The founding convention of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union opens in Cleveland.

21 November 1874 Richard Wagner (61) writes the last note of Götterdämmerung at Wahnfried, his Bayreuth home, thus completing Der Ring des Nibelungen.

22 November 1874 Gabriel Fauré (29) becomes secretary of the Société National de Musique.

24 November 1874 The second version of King and Charcoal Burner, a comic opera by Antonin Dvorák (33) to words of Lobesky, is performed for the first time, at the Prague Provisional Theatre.

1 December 1874 An die nachtigall op.46/4, a song by Johannes Brahms (41) to words of Hölty, is performed for the first time, in Leipzig.

3 December 1874 Incidental music to Sardou’s play La haine by Jacques Offenbach (55) is performed for the first time, in the Théâtre de la Gaîté, Paris.  An aimless plot and a snowstorm combine to sink the production.

4 December 1874 The overture to Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s (34) unperformed opera Vakula the Smith is performed for the first time, in Moscow.

5 December 1874 Acim Cumic replaces Jovan Marinovic as Prime Minister of Serbia.

7 December 1874 125 armed blacks march into Vicksburg, Mississippi demanding the reinstatement of a black sheriff who had been forced out at gunpoint.  Whites retaliate, shooting some blacks, forcing others to flee.  Over the next several days, an estimated 300 blacks are lynched or shot to death.

12 December 1874 Two songs by Gabriel Fauré (29) are performed for the first time, by the Société National de Musique, Paris:  Rêve d’amour op.5/2, to words of Hugo, and Ici bas! op.8/3 to words of Prudhomme.

16 December 1874 Four songs by Johannes Brahms (41) are performed for the first time, in Munich:  Junge Lieder, I&II to words of F. Schumann, and Heimweh I&II to words of Groth.

18 December 1874 The Piano Trio op.22 by John Knowles Paine (35) is performed for the first time, at the home of John Fiske in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  See 18 February 1882.

19 December 1874 Incidental music to Shakespeare’s play The Merry Wives of Windsor by Arthur Sullivan (32) is performed for the first time, in the Gaiety Theatre, London.

26 December 1874 Whittington, a grand-opéra-bouffe-féerie by Jacques Offenbach (55) to words of Nuitter, Tréfeu and Farnie, is performed for the first time, at the Alhambra Theatre, London.

29 December 1874 General Martínez Campos and the Army of the Center proclaim at Sagunto for Alfonso XII, son of Francisco de Asis de Borbón and Queen Isabella II, as King of Spain.

31 December 1874 The Spanish government is handed over to the monarchist Antonio Cánovas del Castillo.

©2004-2012 Paul Scharfenberger

13 January 2012