1886
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1 January 1886 Great Britain annexes “Upper” Burma to the Indian Empire.
7 January 1886 Charles de Louis Saulces de Freycinet replaces Eugène Henri Brisson as Prime Minister of France. His Minister of War is Georges Boulanger, an advocate of revenge against Germany for losses in the Franco-Prussian War.
8 January 1886 On a visit to the Villa Medici in Rome, Franz Liszt (74) hears a piano duet version of his Faust Symphony played by Paul Vidal and Claude Debussy (23). Unfortunately, the maestro falls asleep during the performance.
Five songs by Johannes Brahms (52) are performed for the first time, in Vienna: Meerfahrt op.96/4, to words of Heine, Nachtigall op.97/1 to words of Reinhold, Dort in den Weiden op.97/4 to traditional words, Komm Bald, op.97/5 to words of Groth, and Trennung op.97/6, to traditional words.
9 January 1886 The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson is published in London.
The Sonata no.1 for piano and violin op.75 by Camille Saint-Saëns (50) is performed for the first time, in Paris, the composer at the keyboard.
10 January 1886 The Te Deum of Anton Bruckner (61) is performed for the first time with orchestra, in Vienna to great applause. See 2 May 1885.
13 January 1886 Lagos becomes a colony separate from Nigeria.
21 January 1886 Franz Liszt (74) departs Rome for Budapest. It is the last time he will see the city.
23 January 1886 Two works for solo piano by Gabriel Fauré (40) are performed for the first time, by the Société National de Musique, Paris: Mazurka op.32 and Nocturne no.3 op.33/3.
24 January 1886 Suite española for piano by Isaac Albéniz (25) is performed for the first time, in Salón Romero, Madrid by the composer.
28 January 1886 Zigeunerbaron-Quadrille op.422 by Johann Strauss (60) is performed for the first time, in the Hofburg, Vienna.
29 January 1886 Karl-Friedrich Benz patents the Motorwagen in Germany. It is the first successful gasoline-powered car.
31 January 1886 Incidental music to Domoyov’s play Voyevoda by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (45) is performed for the first time at the Malyi Theatre, Moscow.
1 February 1886 A school is opened for the first time in Maidanovo, Russia, funded by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (45).
2 February 1886 Husaren-Polka op.421 by Johann Strauss (60) is performed for the first time, in the Musikverein, Vienna.
3 February 1886 William Ewart Gladstone replaces Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, Marquess of Salisbury as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
4 February 1886 Three Love Songs op.8 for voice and piano by George Whitefield Chadwick (31) to words of Bates are performed for the first time, in Boston.
Two Pieces for piano op.8 by Arthur Foote (32) are performed for the first time, in Cleveland.
6 February 1886 Clemens Winkler isolates the element germanium in his Freiburg, Germany laboratory.
7 February 1886 A white mob forces 400 Chinese from their homes in Seattle. 100 are placed on a ship for San Francisco. Since local police sympathize with the mob, federal troops are called in. All but 15 Chinese are forced out of town. Martial law is enforced for the next two weeks.
8 February 1886 Unemployed workers riot in the West End of London after a meeting of the Social Democratic Federation in Trafalgar Square.
10 February 1886 The Song of the Viking for male chorus and piano by George Whitefield Chadwick (31) to words of Craigin is performed for the first time, in the Music Hall, Boston.
13 February 1886 An die Tauben op.63/4, a song by Johannes Brahms (52) to words of Schenkendorf, is performed for the first time, in Mannheim.
15 February 1886 Blessed are the dead, a motet for chorus and organ by Charles Villiers Stanford (33) to words of the Bible, is performed for the first time, at a memorial service for Henry Bradshaw in King’s College Chapel, Cambridge.
16 February 1886 José Luciano de Castro Pereira Corte-Real replaces António Maria de Fontes Pereira de Melo as Prime Minister of Portugal.
The Bostonians by Henry James is published in London.
20 February 1886 Suite ancienne no.1 for piano by Isaac Albéniz (25) is performed for the first time, in Círculo de la Unión Mercantil e Industrial, Madrid by the composer.
21 February 1886 Khovanshchina, an opera by Modest Musorgsky (†4) to his own words, completed and orchestrated by Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov (41), is performed for the first time, in St. Petersburg. It is produced by an amateur group because the Imperial Theatres rejected it.
23 February 1886 At Oberlin College, Ohio, fourth year student Charles Martin Hall completes work on an electrolytic method of extracting pure aluminum from ore.
26 February 1886 Two months after conquering “Upper” Burma, the British government joins it with “Lower” Burma, which the already hold. The new entity is simply called Burma, within British India.
1 March 1886 Four sacred pieces for chorus by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (45) are performed for the first time, at Moscow Conservatory: Cherubic Hymn in F, We Sing To Thee, Blessed are They, whom Thou hast Chosen and Let My Prayer Ascend.
3 March 1886 The Peace of Bucharest between Serbia and Bulgaria restores the status quo ante.
6 March 1886 The first power plant in the United States to use alternating current goes into operation in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.
9 March 1886 Love’s Philosophy for solo voice and piano by Arthur Foote (33) to words of Shelley is performed for the first time.
Le Carnival des Animaux, grande fantaisie zoologique for two pianos, two violins, viola, cello, double bass, flute, clarinet, harmonica and xylophone by Camille Saint-Saëns (50) is performed for the first time, at a Shrove Tuesday concert in Paris.
15 March 1886 Emily Dickinson dies in Amherst, Massachusetts at the age of 55.
The Holberg Suite op.40 for string orchestra by Edvard Grieg (42) is performed for the first time, in Bergen, conducted by the composer.
20 March 1886 Franz Liszt (74) arrives in Paris for celebrations during the year of his 75th birthday.
William Stanley uses his newly invented alternating current voltage transformer in Great Barrington, Massachusetts to demonstrate the practicality and safety of high voltage transmission.
23 March 1886 The Manfred Symphony by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (45) is performed for the first time, in Moscow. A would-be composer named Sergey Rakhmaninov (12) attends.
24 March 1886 Duke Georg II of Saxe-Meiningen writes to his departing conductor Richard Strauss (21) thanking him for the dedication of his Piano Quartet and awarding him the Cross of Merit for Art and Learning.
25 March 1886 Paula Voit Bartók gives her son Béla his first piano lesson on his fifth birthday at their home in Nagyszentmiklós (Sînnicolau Mare).
A setting of Ave regina caelorum for unison chorus and organ by Anton Bruckner (61) is performed for the first time, in Klosterneuberg.
Charles Villiers Stanford (33) gives his first concert as conductor of the Bach Choir.
29 March 1886 After matches in New York and St. Louis, Austrian immigrant to the US Wilhelm Steinitz defeats Johannes Zukertort, representing Germany, in New Orleans, 12 ½-7 ½ in the first world chess championship.
30 March 1886 Queen Regent María Cristina appoints Isaac Albéniz (25) assistant professor of piano at the Real Conservatorio, Madrid.
31 March 1886 Hans Pfitzner (16) completes his general schooling, in Frankfurt-am-Main.
1 April 1886 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky departs Moscow to visit his brother Anatoly in Tiflis.
The Prince of Wales asks Arthur Sullivan (43) to compose an ode on words of Tennyson for the opening of the Colonial and Indian Exhibition next month. Sullivan will agree. See 4 May 1886.
3 April 1886 Richard Strauss (21) is informed that King Ludwig II of Bavaria has appointed him third conductor at the Munich Court Opera.
Franz Liszt (74) arrives in England for a performance of his Die Legende von der heiligen Elisabeth in honor of his 75th birthday. A reception in his honor tonight at Westwood House is attended by leading English political and artistic figures such as Arthur Sullivan (43).
La naissance de Venus for solo voices, chorus, and orchestra by Gabriel Fauré (40) to words of Collin is performed for the first time, by the Société National de Musique, at the Salle Pleyel, Paris. Also on the program is the premiere of the Polonaise op.77 for two pianos by Camille Saint-Saëns (50) played by the composer and Fauré. See 8 March 1883.
The electoral college of Argentina selects Miguel Juárez as President, the son-in-law of President Julio Roca.
5 April 1886 An agreement among the great powers, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire is signed, recognizing the union of Eastern Rumelia and Bulgaria based on a personal union between Bulgaria and Turkey under the Sultan.
6 April 1886 Charles Martin Loeffler (25) becomes engaged to Elise Fay, member of a wealthy family who are important patrons of music in Boston. She is an excellent amateur pianist and met Loeffler by playing chamber music with him.
7 April 1886 Franz Liszt (74) plays for Queen Victoria in a private audience at Windsor Castle. The last time they met was 41 years ago. The Pall Mall Gazette reports, “By the time he got to Windsor, the streets were crowded as for a Royal progress, and on his appearance everyone took off his hat. The Queen sent a royal carriage to meet him--a compliment seldom bestowed upon anyone under a Minister of State. At the Castle, the whole of the Royal household and servants turned out to meet him.” (Williams, 666)
9 April 1886 All meine Herzgedanken op.62/5 for unaccompanied chorus by Johannes Brahms (52) to words of Heyse is performed for the first time, in Hamburg.
Enrique Granados (18) makes his first public appearance as pianist at the Barcelona Athenaeum in a concert by students of Joan Baptista Pujol.
10 April 1886 Richard Strauss (21) departs Meiningen to travel in Italy before taking up his new post in Munich on 1 August.
Gwendoline, an opéra by Emmanuel Chabrier (45) to words of Mendès, is performed for the first time, at the Théâtre de la Monnaie, Brussels.
11 April 1886 Trösterin Musik for male chorus and organ by Anton Bruckner (61) to words of Seuffert is performed for the first time, in Vienna.
12 April 1886 Two days after the premiere of Emmanuel Chabrier’s (45) Gwendoline at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, the director of the theatre, Henry Verdhurt, files for bankruptcy. Members of the company organize themselves to run the house for the rest of the season. But because new compositions rarely fill houses, Gwendoline will be dropped after three more performances.
The Queen of Hearts, an operetta by John Philip Sousa (31) to words of Taber, is performed for the first time, in Albaugh’s Opera House, Washington.
15 April 1886 The second setting of Um Mitternacht for tenor and male chorus by Anton Bruckner (61) to words of Prutz is performed for the first time, in Linz.
Vorschneller Schwur op.95/5, a song by Johannes Brahms (52) to traditional words, is performed for the first time, in Vienna.
18 April 1886 Two songs for voice and piano by Gustav Mahler (25) to his own words are performed for the first time, in Prague: Frühlingsmorgen and Hans und Grethe.
20 April 1886 After a triumphant 16 days in London, Franz Liszt (74) departs England for the last time.
26 April 1886 Prussia expropriates Polish landowners in Western Prussia and Posen.
The major powers demand that Greece end support for the revolution in Eastern Rumelia.
An der Wolga op.425, a polka mazurka by Johann Strauss (60), is performed for the first time, in St. Petersburg.
27 April 1886 The French Equatorial Africa Protectorate is created. Count Pierre Paul François de Brazza is named Commissioner-General.
Wiener Frauen op.423, a waltz by Johann Strauss (60), is performed for the first time, in St. Petersburg.
28 April 1886 Adelen-Walzer op.424 by Johann Strauss (60) is performed for the first time, in St. Petersburg.
29 April 1886 Russischer Marsch op.426 by Johann Strauss (60) is performed for the first time, in St. Petersburg.
1 May 1886 Young Folks magazine begins serialization of Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson.
The third version of Romeo and Juliet, a fantasy-overture by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (45), is performed for the first time, in Tiflis (Tbilisi). Also on the program is the premiere of Tchaikovsky’s Nocturne op.10/1 for piano. See 16 March 1870 and 17 February 1872.
Variations symphoniques for piano and orchestra by César Franck (63) is performed for the first time, in the Salle Pleyel, Paris.
A general strike is called in the United States in favor of the eight-hour work day.
3 May 1886 Fighting begins between police, strikers and scabs at the McCormick Reaper factory in Chicago when police attack unarmed workers. Several people are killed.
4 May 1886 Queen Victoria officially opens the Colonial and Indian Exhibition in Royal Albert Hall, London. Ode for the Opening of the Colonial and Indian Exhibition by Arthur Sullivan (43) to words of Tennyson is performed for the first time for the event.
Chichester Bell and Charles Sumner Tainter receive three patents to cover improvements on their graphophone. It is the first practical phonograph.
Chicago police attack a peaceful meeting of laborers called to protest the killings of yesterday. A bomb is thrown killing several policemen. Police respond by opening fire, killing or wounding an unknown number of workingmen.
5 May 1886 In response to the events of yesterday, Chicago police arrest dozens of labor leaders in the city.
8 May 1886 Due to the failure of Greece to demobilize following the ultimatum of 30 December, the major powers begin a blockade of Greece, compelling the government to end its support for Eastern Rumelia.
12 May 1886 Dimitrios Valvis replaces Theodoros Pangaiou Diligiannis as Prime Minister of Greece.
The Farewell of Hiawatha op.11 for solo voices, chorus and orchestra by Arthur Foote (33) to words of Longfellow is performed for the first time, at the Apollo Club, Boston.
15 May 1886 The eighth and last Impressionist exhibition opens in Paris. Among the paintings is Sunday on the Island of Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat.
Suite in E for string orchestra op.12 by Arthur Foote (33) is performed for the first time, in Boston.
17 May 1886 On the day of his birth, Alfonso XIII becomes King of Spain, replacing his sister, Maria de las Mercedes, under regency of Queen Maria Cristina.
Franz Liszt (74) arrives back in Weimar after attending 75th birthday celebrations in Paris and London. He is so weak that his students have to lift him from the train and take him home.
19 May 1886 Symphony no.3 op.78 by Camille Saint-Saëns (50) is performed for the first time, in St. James’ Hall, London conducted by the composer. In the same program, Saint-Saëns plays the Piano Concerto no.4 by Ludwig van Beethoven (†59) conducted by Arthur Sullivan (44).
21 May 1886 Charilaos Spiridonou Trikoupis replaces Dimitrios Valvis as Prime Minister of Greece.
24 May 1886 Richard Strauss (21) arrives in Munich to take up his post at the Munich Court Opera. In the two months before his contract goes into effect, he will compose Aus Italien, inspired by the five weeks he just spent in Italy.
27 May 1886 31 labor leaders are indicted in Chicago for the events surrounding the Haymarket riot of 4 May.
29 May 1886 A group of Sioux present a special performance of their dances at the Zoological Garden in Budapest.
2 June 1886 US President Grover Cleveland marries Frances Folsom in the Blue Room of the White House.
4 June 1886 A Mannheim newspaper announces that the first successful gasoline-powered car, the Motorwagen by Karl-Friedrich Benz, has completed its first test run. The announcement appears under “Miscellaneous.”
7 June 1886 The blockade of Greece by the great powers ends one month after it began when Greece demobilizes.
8 June 1886 Neurologist Bernhard von Gudden signs a document which declares King Ludwig II of Bavaria mentally unfit to rule.
10 June 1886 King Ludwig II of Bavaria is declared insane by a panel of doctors.
Piano Quintet op.25 by Charles Villiers Stanford (33) is performed for the first time, at the Cambridge Guildhall, the composer at the keyboard.
13 June 1886 King Ludwig II of Bavaria dies under mysterious circumstances in Lake Starnberger near Schloss Berg. His body is found floating in the water along with that of the psychiatrist, Bernhard von Gudden. It is believed that Ludwig drowns himself while von Gudden dies in the attempt to save him, but there is no direct evidence to support this. Ludwig is succeeded by his brother Otto. Since King Otto is mad, a regency is established under his uncle Luitpold.
A fire in Vancouver destroys a thousand buildings.
21 June 1886 Trial begins in Chicago of eight men (six of whom are immigrants) charged with conspiracy in the 4 May bombing.
23 June 1886 The Bonaparte and Orléans families are banished from France.
24 June 1886 Johann Strauss, Jr. (60) is granted citizenship of the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha in order to marry his mistress, Adèle Deutsch Strauss (no relation).
25 June 1886 When an Italian violinist named Superti is invited to conduct Aida in Rio de Janeiro, the audience hisses him off the conductor’s stand. Frantic, the management asks a young member of the cello section to fill in. The young man, Arturo Toscanini, is a compromise for the warring Brazilian and Italian factions among the musicians.
26 June 1886 Ferdinand Moissan isolates the element fluorine, in Paris.
Manuel de Falla (9) receives First Communion in Cádiz.
28 June 1886 The first Canadian transcontinental passenger train leaves Montreal.
1 July 1886 Franz Liszt (74) arrives in Bayreuth for the wedding of his granddaughter, Daniela von Bülow.
4 July 1886 Divine Love for chorus by John Knowles Paine (47) to words of Charles Wesley is performed for the first time, in Portland (Maine) City Hall as part of the centennial celebrations of the city.
The first Canadian transcontinental passenger train arrives in Port Moody, British Columbia.
7 July 1886 Queen Victoria gives the Cocos Islands to the Clunies-Ross family.
9 July 1886 Anton Bruckner (61) is awarded the Knight Cross of the Order of Franz Joseph.
10 July 1886 The British Royal Niger Company is chartered to administer the Niger River Delta protectorate.
15 July 1886 Gustav Mahler (26) departs Prague. He will soon be taking up a new position as opera conductor in Leipzig.
19 July 1886 Franz Liszt (74) plays the piano in public for the last time, at a concert in the Luxembourg Casino.
21 July 1886 After an all-night train ride, Franz Liszt (74) arrives in Bayreuth for the Wagner (†3) festival. He suffers from a bad cough and high fever.
23 July 1886 The Republic of Counani (Republic of Independent Guiana) is proclaimed in territory claimed by both France and Brazil (Amapá). The new government favors the French.
25 July 1886 Gustav Mahler (26) arrives in Leipzig to take up his new position as opera conductor.
Against his doctor’s orders, Franz Liszt (74) is carried into Wagner’s (†3) box at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus to view a complete performance of Tristan und Isolde, its Bayreuth premiere.
26 July 1886 Several of Franz Liszt’s (74) pupils arrive for the Wagner (†3) festival and are unable to see the master due to Cosima’s ban on visitors. A doctor orders that he give up his daily alcohol.
27 July 1886 Although the condition of Franz Liszt (74) takes a turn for the worse, his daughter, Cosima Wagner, can not attend him as she is required for a reception at Wahnfried. He begins to hallucinate and sweat profusely.
Held seven months after the last election, four weeks of voting in the British general election come to an end. The Conservative Party of Lord Salisbury wins the most seats but fails to win a majority. However, they will govern with the support of the Liberal Unionist Party.
28 July 1886 A second doctor called in by Cosima Wagner to attend her father, Franz Liszt (74), diagnoses pneumonia.
31 July 1886 23:30 Franz Liszt dies at Bayreuth of pneumonia, aged 74 years, nine months and nine days. In attendance are his daughter, Cosima Liszt von Bülow Wagner, and his four grandchildren.
1 August 1886 Richard Strauss (22) enters into a three year contract as third conductor at the Munich Court Opera.
3 August 1886 As various dignitaries arrive for the Wagner (†3) Festival, the mortal remains of Franz Liszt are laid to rest at Bayreuth city cemetery.
Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, Marquess of Salisbury replaces William Ewart Gladstone as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
4 August 1886 At the request of Cosima Wagner, Anton Bruckner (61) performs at a Requiem mass in honor of Franz Liszt in Bayreuth. He improvises themes from Parsifal at the organ. No music of Liszt is heard.
19 August 1886 A jury in Chicago convicts all eight of the defendants charged with complicity in the Haymarket incident of 4 May. Seven are sentenced to death. One is given 15 years in prison.
20 August 1886 As part of a military coup, Prince Aleksandur of Bulgaria is kidnapped by Russian officers and transported to Russian territory.
21 August 1886 Archbishop Kliment Turnovski becomes regent for the Prince of Bulgaria. He replaces Prime Minister Petko Stoychev Karavelov with himelf.
24 August 1886 Petko Stoychev Karavelov replaces Archbishop Kliment Turnovski as regent and Prime Minister for Bulgaria.
28 August 1886 A three-man regency takes power in Bulgaria in opposition to the coup. They ask Prince Aleksandur to return. Vasil Hristov Radoslavov replaces Petko Stoychev Karavelov as Prime Minister.
3 September 1886 Prince Aleksandur of Bulgaria returns to Sofiya.
4 September 1886 Apache leader Geronimo surrenders to United States forces in Arizona.
7 September 1886 Unable to engender Russian support, Prince Aleksandur of Bulgaria abdicates and once again leaves the country. He is replaced by a four-man regency council.
9 September 1886 Suite moderne for orchestra by Hubert Parry (38) is performed for the first time, in Gloucester. It is very well received.
13 September 1886 Eleven months after buying them from Spain, Germany declares a protectorate over the Marshall Islands.
21 September 1886 William Stanley receives a US patent for an induction coil (transformer) making alternating current possible.
23 September 1886 Anton Bruckner (62) is received by Emperor Franz Joseph II.
1 October 1886 Richard Strauss (22) makes his opera conducting debut, in Munich with a production of Jean de Paris by Adrien Boieldieu (†51).
6 October 1886 A 38-year-old woman named Alice Roberts arrives at the door of Edward Elgar (29) in Malvern, Worcestershire, answering his advertisement of piano lessons. It is the first time he sees his future wife.
Slavery is abolished in Cuba, mostly because it is less costly to pay them tiny wages than to provide year-round support.
14 October 1886 The Revenge: a Ballad of the Fleet op.24 for chorus and orchestra by Charles Villiers Stanford (34) to words of Tennyson is performed for the first time, in Leeds. It is his greatest success so far.
15 October 1886 The Vienna Philharmonic plays through Hugo Wolf’s (26) symphonic poem Penthesilea. At the conclusion, orchestra members openly ridicule the work.
St. Ludmilla, an oratorio by Antonín Dvorák (45) to words of Vrchlicky, is performed for the first time, in Leeds, conducted by the composer. During the rehearsals, the composer’s interpreter was Arthur Sullivan (44).
16 October 1886 The Golden Legend, a cantata by Arthur Sullivan (44) to words of Bennett after Longfellow, is performed for the first time, in Leeds conducted by the composer. The work receives tremendous critical and popular acclaim.
17 October 1886 A statue of Hector Berlioz (†17) by Alfred Lenoir is inaugurated in the Square Vintimille, Paris.
21 October 1886 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (46) confides to his diary about Johannes Brahms (53). “It angers me that this presumptuous mediocrity is declared a genius.” (Wiley, 294)
28 October 1886 Liberty Enlightening the World, a colossal sculpture by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, is dedicated on Bedloe’s Island, New York by President Grover Cleveland.
Symphony no.6 by Anton Rubinstein (56) is performed for the first time, in the Leipzig Gewandhaus, conducted by the composer.
30 October 1886 Great Britain proclaims a protectorate over the island of Sokotra.
Beim Abschied op.95/3, a song by Johannes Brahms (53) to words of Halm, is performed for the first time, in Hermannstadt.
1 November 1886 An agreement between Great Britain and Germany establishes spheres of influence in East Africa (later to become Kenya and Tanganyika).
Giuseppe Verdi (73) writes the last note of Otello.
4 November 1886 Ophelia, a symphonic poem by Edward MacDowell (25), is performed for the first time, in New York. See 26 December 1886.
5 November 1886 Symphony no.2 by Alyeksandr Glazunov (21) is performed for the first time, in St. Petersburg. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (44) is in the audience and is greatly impressed by the music of his young friend.
After dinner in his London home, WS Gilbert reads the complete libretto of Ruddygore to Arthur Sullivan (44).
9 November 1886 Meeting in Tirnova, the Sobranje elects Prince Waldemar of Denmark to succeed Prince Aleksandur of Bulgaria.
11 November 1886 The Dirección General de Bellas Artes creates Isaac Albéniz (26) a member of the Royal Order of Isabella the Catholic. The ceremony will take place 22 November.
14 November 1886 Two works for male chorus by Leos Janácek (32) to traditional Moravian words are performed for the first time, in Brünn (Brno) conducted by the composer: O Love and Ah, the war.
15 November 1886 Erik Satie (20) joins the 33rd infantry regiment of the French army.
21 November 1886 Romain Bussine and Camille Saint-Saëns (51) resign from the Société national de musique when the committee agrees to allow old and foreign music. Within a week, César Franck (63) will become president, Vincent d’Indy (35) and Ernest Chausson (31) secretaries, and Gabriel Fauré (41) treasurer.
24 November 1886 Sonata for cello and piano no.2 op.99 by Johannes Brahms (53) is performed for the first time, in the Kleiner Musikvereinsaal, Vienna, the composer at the keyboard.
26 November 1886 Heimkehr op.7/6, a song by Johannes Brahms (53) to words of Uhland, is performed for the first time, in Vienna, 35 years after it was composed.
2 December 1886 Sonata for violin and piano no.2 op.100 by Johannes Brahms (53) is performed for the first time, in the Kleiner Musikvereinsaal, Vienna, the composer at the keyboard.
A Partita for violin and piano by Hubert Parry (38) is performed for the first time, in London.
5 December 1886 Today is the name day of Mitrofan Petrovich Belyayev for which a string quartet has been composed with the four movements by Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov (42), Alyeksandr Borodin (53), Anatol Konstantinovich Lyadov and Alyeksandr Glazunov (21) respectively. Each movement is based on the theme B flat-A-F.
8 December 1886 25 craft unions form the American Federation of Labor in convention in Columbus, Ohio. Samuel Gompers is elected first president.
9 December 1886 Erik Satie (20) leaves Paris with the 33rd Infantry Regiment for Arras.
10 December 1886 Symphony no.2 by George Whitefield Chadwick (32) is performed completely for the first time, in the Music Hall, Boston, the composer conducting. See 7 March 1884 and 29 April 1885.
12 December 1886 Solitude dans les bois, a symphonic poem by Ernest Chausson (31) is performed for the first time, in the Eden Theatre, Paris.
15 December 1886 Love Took Me Softly By the Hand, the third of the Five Songs op.13 by Arthur Foote (33), is performed for the first time, in Boston, the composer at the piano.
16 December 1886 René Goblet replaces Charles Louis de Saulces de Freycinet as Prime Minister of France.
Sonata for violin and piano in A by César Franck (64) is performed for the first time, in Brussels.
20 December 1886 Trio for piano and strings no.3 op.101 by Johannes Brahms (53) is performed for the first time, in Budapest the composer at the keyboard.
21 December 1886 Incidental music to Sardou’s play Le crocodile by Jules Massenet (44) is performed for the first time, at the Théâtre de la Porte St. Martin, Paris.
23 December 1886 In Monza, a son is born to Giacomo Puccini and his lover, Elvira Bonturi Gemignani, whose husband is a merchant in Lucca, a day after the composer’s 28th birthday.
26 December 1886 The symphonic poems Hamlet and Ophelia by Edward MacDowell (26) are performed together for the first time, in Wiesbaden. See 4 November 1886.
28 December 1886 Josephine Garis Cochran receives a US patent for the first practical dishwashing machine.
30 December 1886 An agreement between Portugal and Germany sets the boundary between Angola and South West Africa.
©2004-2012 Paul Scharfenberger
14 January 2012
Last Updated (Monday, 16 January 2012 09:15)