1893
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2 January 1893 Giuseppe Verdi (79) and his wife arrive in Milan to oversee preparations for the premiere of Falstaff.
So stehn wir, ich und meine Weide op.32/8, a song by Johannes Brahms (59) to words of Hafis, is performed for the first time, in Vienna, 29 years after it was composed.
Incidental music to Ogilvie’s play Hypatia by Hubert Parry (44) is performed for the first time, in the Haymarket Theatre, London. See 9 March 1893.
5 January 1893 Serenade in E for string orchestra op.25 by Arthur Foote (40) is performed for the first time, in Baltimore.
6 January 1893 The final spike is driven in the Great Northern Railway at Scenic, Washingon, thus linking St. Paul, Minnesota with Seattle.
7 January 1893 Bourée fantasque for piano by Emanuel Chabrier (51) is performed for the first time.
9 January 1893 Morceaux de fantaisie op.3, five piano pieces by Sergey Rakhmaninov (19), are performed together for the first time, in Kharkov by the composer.
10 January 1893 The trial of Ferdinand de Lesseps, his son Charles, and several others on charges of bribery and corruption in the Panama Canal fiasco opens in Paris.
Fürstin Ninetta, an operetta by Johann Strauss (67) to words of Wittmann and Bauer, is performed for the first time, in the Theater-an-der-Wien, Vienna.
13 January 1893 British trade unionists convene in Bradford to create a political party.
14 January 1893 Erik Satie (26) meets Suzanne Valadon in Paris. She is a famous model for many of the leading painters in the city. In the evening, Satie proposes marriage. “She had too many things on her mind to get married; so we never brought up the subject again.” She will move in with him and they engage in a tumultuous affair. “...she has a tender little belch which is often inspiring.” See 20 June 1893.
Queen Liliuokalani attempts to replace the constitution foisted upon Hawaii by wealthy American planters.
15 January 1893 Neue Pizzicato-Polka op.449 by Johann Strauss (67) is performed in a concert setting for the first time, in Etablissement Dreher. It was first heard five days ago as part of Fürstin Ninetta.
The last two of the Three Pieces for oboe and piano by Arthur Foote (39) are performed for the first time, at the St. Botolph Club, Boston. See 13 April 1893.
16 January 1893 A three-day conference of trade unionists ends in Bradford, England with the creation of the Independent Labour Party.
North American and European residents of Hawaii organize a Committee of Public Safety and call on the American minister for aid. Marines are landed from a United States warship and surround the royal palace.
18 January 1893 Mass in D by Ethel Smyth (34) is performed for the first time, in Albert Hall, London.
The Committee of Public Safety organized yesterday in Honolulu proclaims the end of the Hawaiian monarchy, the overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani, and the establishment of a provisional government. Sanford Ballard Dole is named president. United States Minister John L. Stevens, secretly in conspiracy with the rebels, extends immediate recognition. In order to avoid bloodshed, Queen Liliuokalani accedes to the demands of the provisional government, simultaneously calling on the US government to reinstate her.
19 January 1893 The Magic Opal, a comic opera by Isaac Albéniz (32) to words of Law, is performed for the first time, at the Lyric Theatre, London.
21 January 1893 The second version of the Requiem by Gabriel Fauré (47) is performed for the first time, in the Madeleine, Paris. See 16 January 1888, 28 January 1892, and 12 July 1900.
22 January 1893 Ninetta-Walzer op.445 by Johann Strauss (67) is performed for the first time, in the Volksgarten, Vienna.
27 January 1893 WS Gilbert reads the plot of a new operetta (Utopia, Limited) to Arthur Sullivan (50) at Roquebrune. Both are pleased.
30 January 1893 Piano works by Johannes Brahms (59) are performed for the first time: Fantasias op.116/1-3 in Vienna, and the Intermezzi op.117/1-2 in London.
31 January 1893 The trademark Coca-Cola is registered by the US Patent Office.
1 February 1893 Manon Lescaut, a dramma lirico by Giacomo Puccini (34) to words of Oliva and Illica after Abbé Prévost, is performed for the first time, in Teatro Regio, Turin. Before the performance, the composer muses that if the opera is not a success he will have to change professions. Puccini receives 30 curtain calls. The press is very positive. He does not change professions.
Thomas Edison completes Black Maria, the first movie studio, in West Orange, New Jersey.
The US Minister in Hawaii proclaims a protectorate over the islands. It will not be recognized by the incoming administration.
2 February 1893 Thomas Edison films The Sneeze at his studio Black Maria in West Orange, New Jersey. The first movie closeup is a film of comedian Fred Ott sneezing.
3 February 1893 Ninetta-Galopp op.450 by Johann Strauss (67) is performed for the first time, in the Sophiensaal, Vienna.
4 February 1893 Bernard Rogers is born in New York.
5 February 1893 Melodrama from Nights of Jealousy for narrator, soprano and piano trio by Jean Sibelius (27) to words of Runeberg is performed for the first time, at the Helsinki Music Institute.
6 February 1893 Herzenskönigen op. 445, a polka française by Johann Strauss (67), is performed for the first time, in the Sophiensaal, Vienna.
Incidental music to Tennyson’s play Becket by Charles Villiers Stanford (40) is performed for the first time, in the Lyceum, London. The composer is not in attendance as he must travel to Milan to review the premiere of Falstaff for the Daily Graphic and the Fortnightly Review.
7 February 1893 Giacomo Puccini (34) is named Cavaliere dell’Ordine della Corona d’Italia.
Lansdown Castle, an operetta by Gustav Holst (18) to words of Cunningham, is performed completely for the first time, at the Corn Exchange, Cheltenham the composer at the piano. See 22 December 1892.
8 February 1893 Two of the Six Songs op.4 for voice and piano by Sergey Rakhmaninov (19) are performed for the first time, in Kharkov, the composer at the keyboard: Oh no, I beseech you, do not depart! to words of Merezhkovsky, and In the Silence of the Night to words of Fet.
Bugle Song for chorus and piano by Arthur Foote (39) to words of Tennyson is performed for the first time, in New York.
9 February 1893 Falstaff, a commedia lirica by Giuseppe Verdi (79) to words of Boito (50) after Shakespeare, is performed for the first time, at Teatro alla Scala, Milan. Numerous state and musical luminaries are present including Giacomo Puccini (34), Pietro Mascagni (29) and Teresa Stolz. Unlike the premiere of Otello, Verdi, his wife, and Boito manage to make it out of the theatre unscathed, but when they reach the Grand Hôtel de Milan the mob of admirers and well wishers awaits. The three make it into the lobby to be greeted by dignitaries and then appear to the crowds on the balcony. See 5 February 1887.
15 February 1893 Lawrence Hargrave flies the first box kite (which he called a cellular kite) in Sydney, Australia. He invented it as a design for lifting objects as heavy as a man to be used in aircraft design.
Telefon Hirmondó begins broadcasting news, music, and other content to subscribers in Budapest over telephone lines. It is the first broadcasting service in the world.
United States President Benjamin Harrison presents the annexation of Hawaii to the Senate. The treaty, however, will remain unratified because the incoming president, Grover Cleveland, opposed to Harrison’s imperialistic schemes, withdraws it.
16 February 1893 En Saga, a tone poem by Jean Sibelius (27) is performed for the first time, in Helsinki conducted by the composer.
Unter den Linden, a song for voice and orchestra by Ferruccio Busoni (26) to words of Walther von der Vogelweide, is performed for the first time, in Mechanics’ Hall, Worcester, Massachusetts.
18 February 1893 Fantasia op.116/7 for piano by Johannes Brahms (59) is performed for the first time, in Vienna.
19 February 1893 Ninetta-Quadrille op.446 by Johann Strauss (67) is performed for the first time, in the Musikverein, Vienna.
20 February 1893 The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad goes bankrupt, causing widespread uncertainty in the markets.
21 February 1893 Poème de l’amour et de la mer for voice and orchestra by Ernest Chausson (38) to words of Bouchor is performed for the first time, in Brussels. The premiere is heard in a two-piano version with the composer at one keyboard.
22 February 1893 Ernesto Rodolfo Hintze Ribeiro replaces José Dias Ferreira as Prime Minister of Portugal.
23 February 1893 Rudolf Diesel receives a German patent for his new engine.
Great Britain creates the British Central Africa Protectorate (Malawi) and places it in the hands of the British South Africa Company.
The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad declares bankruptcy, beginning uneasiness over he state of the economy.
26 February 1893 Symphonic Rhapsody by Carl Nielsen (27) is performed for the first time.
Diplomaten-Polka op.448 by Johann Strauss (67) is performed for the first time, in the Musikverein, Vienna.
27 February 1893 String Sextet by Charles Martin Loeffler (32) is performed for the first time, in Chickering Hall, Boston.
28 February 1893 Impromptu op.1/2 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (52) is performed for the first time, 30 years after it was composed.
2 March 1893 A Corsican Dirge for voice and piano by Charles Villiers Stanford (40) to traditional Corsican words translated by Strettell, is performed for the first time, at Cambridge University, the composer at the keyboard.
3 March 1893 Dances from the unperformed opera Aleko by Sergey Rakhmaninov (19) are performed for the first time, in Moscow. See 9 May 1893.
Suite for piano, violin and cello op.35 by Horatio Parker (29) is performed for the first time, in New York.
4 March 1893 Grover Cleveland replaces Benjamin Harrison as President of the United States.
5 March 1893 Ninetta-Marsch op.447 by Johann Strauss (67) is performed for the first time, in the “Goldene Rose”, Vienna
6 March 1893 The first section of the Liverpool Overhead Railway opens to the public.
7 March 1893 Franz Wilhelm Nokk replaces Friedrich Turban as Prime Minister of Baden.
9 March 1893 New United States President Grover Cleveland withdraws the treaty annexing Hawaii from Senate consideration.
A suite from the incidental music to Hypatia by Hubert Parry (45) is performed for the first time, in London. See 2 January 1893.
10 March 1893 French colonies are formally established in Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire.
11 March 1893 Freiwillige her! op.41/2 for chorus by Johannes Brahms (59) to words of Lemcke is performed for the first time, in Vienna.
Tafellied for male chorus by Anton Bruckner (68) to words of Ptak, is performed for the first time, in Vienna.
Mass in D op.86 by Antonín Dvorák (51) is performed publicly for the first time, in London.
15 March 1893 Fantasia op.116/6 for piano by Johannes Brahms (59) is performed for the first time, in St. James’ Hall, London.
17 March 1893 Les drames sacrés, incidental music to eleven tableaux of Silvestre and Morand by Charles Gounod (74), is performed for the first time at the Vaudeville, Paris.
21 March 1893 Ferdinand de Lesseps, his son, and two others are convicted in a Paris court for their part in the corruption and mismanagement of the Panama Canal venture. Seven others are acquitted. Those convicted are given jail time and heavy fines.
22 March 1893 Die Liebende schreibt op.47/5, a song by Johannes Brahms (59) to words of Goethe, is performed for the first time, in Vienna.
29 March 1893 Congressman James H. Blount, his wife, and clerk arrive in Honolulu, to assess the situation and report to US President Cleveland.
30 March 1893 Dream-King and his Love op.31, a cantata by Horatio Parker (29) to words of Geibel translated by Whitney, is performed for the first time, in Madison Square Garden, New York. It wins the prize in cantata offered by the National Conservatory of Music. The critics are pleased.
1 April 1893 At Mengo, the seat of the King of Buganda, Gerald Portal, British Special Commissioner to Uganda, lowers the flag of the British East Africa Company and raises the Union Jack, thus creating a provisional British protectorate.
Special Commissioner James Blount orders the US flag lowered in Honolulu and all American troops returned to their ships.
4 April 1893 Charles Alexandre Dupuy, dit Charles-Dupuy replaces Alexandre Félix Joseph Ribot as Prime Minister of France.
6 April 1893 The Mormon Temple is dedicated in Salt Lake City.
The Boat Journey op.18/3 for male chorus by Jean Sibelius (27) to words of the Kalevala, is performed for the first time, in Helsinki.
7 April 1893 Spanish Serenade for chorus and small orchestra by Edward Elgar (35) to words of Longfellow is performed for the first time, in Hereford. On the same program is the premiere of the second movement of Elgar’s Serenade in e minor op.20 for string orchestra.
8 April 1893 Claude Debussy’s (30) poème lyrique La damoiselle élue for soprano, female chorus, and orchestra to words of Rossetti translated by Sarrazin is performed for the first time, by the Société National de Musique in the Salle Erard, Paris. It is the first orchestral composition by Debussy to be publicly performed. The work receives a good response, including this review in Le Figaro : It has, all by itself, more life than the compositions preceded...It is so good, a breath of youth...Here is new blood...
12 April 1893 A general strike begins in Belgium after the Parliament rejects a bill for universal male suffrage.
13 April 1893 17-year-old King Aleksandar of Serbia declares himself of age and fit to rule. Lazar Dokic replaces Jovan Avakumovic as Prime Minister of Serbia.
The new US administration of Grover Cleveland rejects the protectorate over Hawaii declared 1 February.
The Second Suite in c minor for piano op.30 by Arthur Foote (40) is performed for the first time, in Boston by the composer. Also heard is the first complete performance of Foote’s Three Pieces for oboe and piano, the composer at the piano. See 15 January 1893.
14 April 1893 Giuseppe Verdi (79) is made an honorary citizen of the City of Rome by the mayor.
15 April 1893 Symphonic Tone Poem for orchestra by Ferruccio Busoni (27) is performed for the first time, in Boston. There was an open dress rehearsal of the work yesterday in Boston.
16 April 1893 Music for Club Swinging for piano by Leos Janácek (38) is performed for the first time, at the annual display by the gymnastics organization Sokol in Brno.
18 April 1893 In the wake of a week of general strikes, the Belgian parliament approves constitutional changes to increase suffrage. Though not the universal male suffrage demanded by the strikers, it is enough to call off the strike.
The Black Knight, a cantata by Edward Elgar (35) to words of Uhland translated by Longfellow is performed for the first time, in Worcester conducted by the composer. The press, although local only, is “respectable.”
19 April 1893 A Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde premieres at the Haymarket Theatre, London.
22 April 1893 Emil Stang replaces Johannes Wilhelm Christian Steen as Prime Minister of Norway.
Forces of the Congo Free State capture the stronghold of the Arab slave-traders at Kassongo.
The gold reserves of the US Treasury fall below the required minimum of $100,000,000.
24 April 1893 Die Rebe, a ballet by Anton Rubinstein (63), is performed for the first time, in the Königliche Theater, Berlin.
30 April 1893 Rock of Ages, a song by Charles Ives (18) to words of Toplady, is performed for the first time, in Danbury, Connecticut. It is his last Sunday service at the Baptist Church.
1 May 1893 The Columbian Exposition opens in Chicago. In the evening, President Cleveland, with one act, lights 100,000 incandescent light bulbs, made possible through the 1,000 horsepower polyphase alternating current generators invented by Nikola Tesla.
Festival Jubilate op.17 by Amy Cheney Beach (25) is performed for the first time, at the dedication of the Women’s Building of the World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago.
3 May 1893 The New York Stock Exchange drops its greatest amount in nine years. Many see this as the beginning of the “Panic of ’93.”
Hora novissima op.30, an oratorio by Horatio Parker (29) to words of de Morlaix, is performed for the first time, in New York, the composer conducting. It is an unbounded success and secures Parker’s reputation.
4 May 1893 The National Cordage Company and three Wall Street brokerage houses fail. It is the first of many commercial failures through the summer.
The first all-Pfitzner concert takes place in Berlin on the eve of the composer’s 24th birthday. Herr Oluf op.12, a ballade for baritone and orchestra to words of Herder, is performed for the first time. The press is universally positive about the entire concert and the future of the young composer.
6 May 1893 Fantaisie for harp op.95 by Camille Saint-Saëns (57) is performed for the first time, in Paris.
7 May 1893 Charles Ives (18) is appointed organist at St. Thomas Episcopal Church, New Haven, Connecticut.
8 May 1893 Georg II replaces Adolf I Georg as Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe.
9 May 1893 Igor Stravinsky (10) passes an entrance examination to the Second St. Petersburg Gymnasium.
Aleko, an opera by Sergey Rakhmaninov (20) to words of Nemirovich-Danchenko after Pushkin, is performed publicly for the first time, at the Bolshoy Theatre, Moscow. See 19 May 1892.
Thomas Edison presents the first motion picture film exhibition. A blacksmith and two helpers are shown passing a bottle and forging a piece of iron. The work is displayed on a kinetograph, Edison’s invention. 400 people attend at the Department of Physics, Brooklyn Institute.
10 May 1893 A democratic government is established in Natal.
25,000 people attend the formal opening of the Imperial Institute in London by Queen Victoria. Arthur Sullivan (50) conducts the premiere of his Imperial March for the occasion.
East to West op.52, an ode for chorus and orchestra by Charles Villiers Stanford (40) to words of Swinburne, is performed for the first time, in Royal Albert Hall, London. It is dedicated to “The President and People of the United States.”
12 May 1893 Friedrich II replaces Georg Viktor as Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont under regency.
13 May 1893 Great Britain establishes the Niger Coast Protectorate.
Johannes Brahms (60) receives the gold medal of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, Vienna. He tells them, “Thirty years ago I would have found the joy and responsibility to make myself worthy of such a distinction. But now it is too late.”
15 May 1893 Sotirios Sotiropoulos replaces Charilaos Spiridonou Trikoupis as Prime Minister of Greece.
16 May 1893 Ivan Alyeksandrovich Vyshnegradsky is born in St. Petersburg, first of two children born to Alyeksandr Vyshnegradsky, a bank director and amateur composer, and Sophie Savitch, an author.
17 May 1893 Maurice Maeterlinck’s play Pelléas et Melisande is premiered at the Bouffes-Parisiens, Paris to a chorus of hostile reviews. In the audience is an interested composer named Claude Debussy (30).
21 May 1893 Our Birch Tree for male chorus by Leos Janácek (38) to words of Krásnohorská is performed for the first time, in Brünn (Brno).
Antonín Dvorák (51) is quoted in the New York Herald as saying “I am now satisfied that the future of music in this country must be founded on what are called the negro melodies.”
24 May 1893 Phryné, an opéra comique by Camille Saint-Saëns (57) to words of Augé de Lassus, is performed for the first time, at the Théâtre Lyrique, Paris.
26 May 1893 Mass in G op.46 for solo voices, chorus and orchestra by Charles Villiers Stanford (40) is performed for the first time, in Brompton Oratory, London. See 23 January 1894.
29 May 1893 Arthur Farwell (21) graduates from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
31 May 1893 The four children Antonín Dvorák (51) left at home in Bohemia in the care of relatives arrive in New York to join the rest of the family.
3 June 1893 Land to the Leeward for unison chorus and piano by Arthur Foote (40) is performed for the first time, at the Columbian Exhibition, Chicago.
4 June 1893 Fest-Marsch op.452 by Johann Strauss (67) is performed for the first time, in the Prater, Vienna.
5 June 1893 After a two-day trip from New York, Antonín Dvorák (51) and his family arrive in Spillville, Iowa, where there is a large Czech expatriate community. Here he will spend the summer and compose the String Quartet op.96 and the String Quintet op.97.
7 June 1893 A young Indian lawyer named Mohandas K. Gandhi is thrown off a train in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, when he refuses to move from first class to an area reserved for non-whites.
12 June 1893 Sergius Winogradsky presents evidence to the French Academy of Sciences that bacteria are the critical agents in processing nitrogen into a form usable by living creatures.
A concert celebrating tomorrow’s degree recipients takes place in Cambridge. Max Bruch conducts a scene from his choral work Odysseus, Camille Saint-Saëns (57) conducts his Fantasy L’afrique, Arrigo Boito (51) conducts the prologue from his Mefistofele, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (53) conducts his Francesca da Rimini and Charles Villiers Stanford (40), the musical organizer of the festivities, conducts Edvard Grieg’s (49) Peer Gynt Suite no.1. Stanford finishes the concert by conducting his own East to West.
Sonata for violin and piano op.2 by Frederick Shepherd Converse (22) is performed for the first time, at concert for the Harvard University commencement. See 28 June 1893.
13 June 1893 Cambridge University confers honorary Doctor of Music degrees on Camille Saint-Saëns (57), Arrigo Boito (51), Max Bruch, Edvard Grieg (49) and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (53). Grieg is unable to attend due to illness.
15 June 1893 The French high court rules that the convictions of Ferdinand de Lesseps and others for the corruption and mismanagement of the Panama Canal venture are void because they came outside the statute of limitations.
Voting for the ninth Reichstag of the German Empire leaves the Center Party with the most seats, followed by the Conservative Party.
Poor Jonathan, an operetta with 16 numbers by Isaac Albéniz (33) to words of Wittmann, Bauer, and Greenbank, is performed for the first time, at the Prince of Wales Theatre, London, conducted by the composer.
17 June 1893 Crackerjack is sold for the first time, at the Chicago Columbian Exposition.
20 June 1893 Suzanne Valadon moves out of Erik Satie’s (27) apartment in Paris and back in with her former lover Paul Mousis, a wealthy lawyer. The composer responds by placing large posters in the street outside his door, questioning her virtue. See 14 January 1893.
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Borden is acquitted in a Fall River, Massachusetts court of hacking her parents to death with an axe.
US President Grover Cleveland calls a special session of Congress to deal with the current economic crisis. He wants them to repeal the Sherman Silver Act.
21 June 1893 Alois Hába is born in Vizovice, Bohemia.
22 June 1893 France converts its protectorate over Porto Novo (Benin) into a colony.
24 June 1893 Fridtjof Nansen sets sail from Christiania (Oslo) aboard the Fram for the arctic, with the intent of getting frozen into the pack ice.
28 June 1893 Frederick Shepherd Converse (22) graduates from Harvard University.
6 July 1893 Romance for violin and piano op.23 by Amy Beach (25) is performed for the first time at the Chicago Columbian Exposition, the composer at the keyboard. The audience requires that the piece be repeated.
8 July 1893 A protocol is signed by Germany and Great Britain defining borders between their respective colonial possessions in equatorial Africa.
10 July 1893 Daniel Hale Williams becomes the first physician to accomplish heart surgery, at Provident Hospital in Chicago, America’s first interracial hospital, which he founded. Williams opens a patient’s chest, without modern anesthetics or blood transfusion, and repairs the sac that surrounds the heart.
12 July 1893 Great Britain and France agree on the borders of their colonial possessions on the Gold Coast.
15 July 1893 Richard Strauss (29) arrives in Munich after spending nine months in Greece, Egypt, and Sicily.
17 July 1893 Special Commissioner James H. Blount submits his report on Hawaii to President Cleveland. Blount concludes that US Minister Stevens exceeded his authority in granting recognition to the republican government. In fact, the January coup occurred because of the US diplomats.
26 July 1893 As part of a summer of bank and other commercial failures, the Erie Railroad goes into receivership, prompting a further sharp drop in the stock market.
31 July 1893 Great Britain and France agree on the borders of their colonial possessions in the area of the upper Mekong River.
3 August 1893 A Waltz-Caprice for piano-four hands op.9 by Max Reger (20) is performed for the first time, in Wiesbaden by the composer.
6 August 1893 The Corinth Canal opens, connecting the Aegean and Ionian Seas.
7 August 1893 The Fifty-third Congress of the United States convenes in Washington. The Democratic Party holds majorities in both houses.
12 August 1893 At a special “Bohemian Day” at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Antonín Dvorák (51) conducts his Symphony no.8. He is one of 30,000 Czechs and Moravians present and has come over from his stay in Spillville, Iowa.
14 August 1893 The first driving licenses are issued in France.
18 August 1893 Ernest Alexander Campbell MacMillan is born in Mimico, Ontario, first of four children born to Alexander MacMillan, a Presbyterian minister and musician, and Wilhelmina Catherine Ross, the daughter of a Presbyterian minister.
21 August 1893 Marie-Juliette Olga (Lili) Boulanger is born at 30 rue La Bruyère, Paris, the third child born to Ernest-Henri-Alexandre Boulanger, composer and professor of violin at the Paris Conservatoire, and Princess Raisa Ivanovna Myschetsky Shuvalov, daughter of Russian nobility.
22 August 1893 Alfred replaces Ernst II as Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
In his visit to the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Charles Ives (18) attends the first of the “largely popular” orchestral concerts.
27 August 1893 A hurricane makes landfall at Savannah, Georgia and turns north. Between 1,000 and 2,000 people are killed, mostly from storm surge on the Georgia Sea Islands.
29 August 1893 Whitcomb L. Judson receives two US patents for a “clasp locker or unlocker” for shoes. It will not be called the “zipper” until the 1920s.
1 September 1893 The Second Irish Home Rule Bill passes the House of Commons. It will fail in the House of Lords.
2 September 1893 Charles Ives (18) attends a recital by the organist Alexandre Guilmant at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Guilmant is the first organist of his level to visit America and will be highly influential to American organists. Ives’ experience in Chicago inspires him to compose more and to seek publishers for his music.
3 September 1893 A second round of voting in the French general election leaves the Moderate Republicans with a majority of seats in the legislature.
6 September 1893 Rear Admiral Custódio José de Melo, aboard the cruiser Aquidabã in Rio de Janeiro harbor, along with his staff and some deputies, raises the white flag of rebellion. The 33 ships and crews in the Niterói naval base join him. No sympathetic uprisings occur, however, and foreign warships in the port join together to protect their interests.
7 September 1893 The constitution of Belgium is amended to create universal suffrage.
10 September 1893 Gunfire begins between naval mutineers in the harbor of Rio de Janeiro and loyal shore batteries. It will cease tomorrow.
13 September 1893 More shooting begins in Rio de Janeiro harbor.
Overture to an Unwritten Tragedy by Hubert Parry (45) is performed for the first time, in Worcester, conducted by the composer. The critics are mixed.
17 September 1893 The naval mutineers get two ships out of Rio de Janeiro harbor and send them south to foment rebellion.
After a stay of three months, Antonín Dvorák (52) and his family depart Spillville, Iowa for New York. While in the Czech community there, he composed his “American” Quartet and his “American” Quintet”.
19 September 1893 Governor David Boyle, Earl of Glasgow signs the Electoral Bill giving women the right to vote in New Zealand.
20 September 1893 The first automobile commercially produced in the United States is test driven by its manufacturer, Charles E. Duryea of Springfield, Massachusetts.
27 September 1893 The first of numerous foreign warships arrives in Rio de Janeiro harbor, the USS Charleston. Shortly, 16 foreign warships from eight countries will arrive.
28 September 1893 John Ireland (14) enrolls at the Royal College of Music, London.
30 September 1893 Early morning. Arthur Sullivan (51) completes the composition of Utopia Limited.
1 October 1893 A hurricane in Mississippi kills 1,800 people.
3 October 1893 The Bangkok Conference sets out the spheres of influence of Great Britain and France in the Far East. A French protectorate is established over Laos, which is added to the Colony of Indochina.
7 October 1893 Utopia Limited, or the Flowers of Progress, an operetta by Arthur Sullivan (51) to words of Gilbert, is performed for the first time, in the Savoy Theatre, London. The line for tickets began to form at 10:00. The first-night audience is enthusiastic and the show will run well, but the critics are lukewarm. It goes for 245 performances.
Incidental music to Cottinet’s play Vercingétorix by Camille Saint-Saëns (57) is performed for the first time, in Théâtre de l’Odéon, Paris.
8 October 1893 Helgoland for male chorus and orchestra by Anton Bruckner (69) to words of Silberstein is performed for the first time, in the Winterreitschule, Vienna.
13 October 1893 A Russian naval squadron visits the French naval base at Toulon in a show of friendship between the two countries.
15 October 1893 Charles Gounod (75) collapses into a coma in his home at St. Cloud, just west of Paris.
Erik Satie (27) founds the Église Métropolitaine d’Art de Jésus Conducteur. He appoints himself Parcier et Maître de Chapelle.
16 October 1893 For Me the Jasmine Buds Unfold, a song for voice and piano by Amy Beach (26) is performed for the first time, in Boston.
17 October 1893 Sonata for cello and piano op.5 by Max Reger (20) is performed for the first time, the composer at the piano.
18 October 1893 06:25 Charles François Gounod dies at St. Cloud, aged 75 years and four months.
21 October 1893 Night for chorus and piano by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (53) is performed for the first time, in Moscow Conservatory.
22 October 1893 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (53) arrives in St. Petersburg for the premiere of his Sixth Symphony.
Auf dem Tanzboden, musikalische Illustration zu dem gleichnamigen Gemälde von Franz Defregger op.454 by Johann Strauss (67) is performed for the first time, in the Musikverein, Vienna.
27 October 1893 After a state funeral in the Madeleine, where the organ is played by Gabriel Fauré (48) the earthly remains of Charles Gounod are laid to rest in the family vault in Auteuil Cemetery.
Three songs from the cycle Des knaben Wunderhorn by Gustav Mahler (33) to words of Brentano and von Arnim are performed for the first time, in Hamburg: Trost im Unglück, Wer hat dies Liedlein erdacht?, and Rheinlegendchen, along with the song Das himmlische Leben.
28 October 1893 Symphony no.6 “Pathetique” by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (53) is performed for the first time, in St. Petersburg conducted by the composer. The audience loves the composer, but they are confused by the music. During the intermission, Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov (49) asks Tchaikovsky if there is any program to the work. Tchaikovsky says there is, but he will not tell him what it is.
29 October 1893 When his coalition splits over universal suffrage, Edvard, Count von Taaffe, resigns as Chancellor of Austria.
31 October 1893 Today is the date of the alleged “court of honor” organized by Nikolay Jacoby, to “try” Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (53). A letter from Prince Stenbock-Fermor has been handed to the Procurator of the Appeals Court to be given to the Tsar accusing Tchaikovsky of homosexual acts with his nephew. The “court” includes Jacoby and six other former students of the School of Jurisprudence who decide that their fellow alumnus must kill himself to avoid bringing dishonor on the school and all its alumni. According to the story, Tchaikovsky agrees.
1 November 1893 About 700 British troops engaged in an invasion of Matabeleland (Zimbabwe) are set upon by thousands of Ndebele warriors near the Bembesi River. They beat off the attack with heavy losses.
2 November 1893 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (53) sets out from his brother's home in St. Petersburg to visit Eduard Napravnik. He suffers an acute stomach attack in the cab and immediately returns. Through the day his condition grows worse. At about 17:00 he is visited by Alyeksandr Glazunov (28). In the evening he is seen by Dr. Lev Bertenson and diagnosed with cholera, now present in the city.
3 November 1893 The condition of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (53) improves considerably. It is believed that he has survived the illness.
British forces take Bulawayo in Matabeleland (Zimbabwe).
4 November 1893 A crowd begins to assemble outside the St. Petersburg apartment of Modest Tchaikovsky, where his brother, Pyotr Ilyich (53) lies ill. They have been told he has cholera, now present in the city.
5 November 1893 The condition of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (53) takes a turn for the worse. He starts to become delirious. A notice appears on the door outside reading, “The dangerous symptoms are still present, and are not responding to treatment. There is complete retention of the urine, together with drowsiness and a marked general weakness.” He is given a hot bath to increase blood circulation and his condition seems to improve slightly. But in the evening he becomes comatose. A priest is summoned.
Some of the Six Impromptus op.5 for piano by Jean Sibelius (27) are performed for the first time, in Helsinki.
6 November 1893 03:00 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky dies in St. Petersburg, possibly of cholera, possibly of self-administered aresenic poisoning, aged 53 years, five months and 30 days. The body is placed in an open coffin in the apartment of his brother Modest, where he died. Through the next two days, five requiem services are sung. Thousands of people stream up to the apartment to view the body, in contravention of rules governing cholera deaths. Already there are rumors that the composer's death was not due to cholera. Tsar Alyeksandr III agrees to fund the funeral.
Five months after graduating from Harvard University, Frederick S. Converse (22) is hired by Price & Co., a Boston banking firm.
7 November 1893 Anarchist Santiago Salvador explodes a bomb in the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona during a performance of Guillaume Tell of Gioachino Rossini (†25). Dozens of people are killed or injured. The bomber will be executed next year.
The right to vote is granted to women in the American state of Colorado.
9 November 1893 Ruggero Leoncavallo’s (36) poema epico in forma di trilogia storica Crepusculum: I medici to his own words is performed for the first time, in Teatro dal Verme, Milan. The public responds very well. The critics find it interesting but derivative. Parts two and three will never be composed.
The mortal remains of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky are carried in procession from the apartment of his brother Modest to the Mariinsky Theatre where a requiem is sung. At noon they reach the Kazan Cathedral. This is the main requiem of the day, on the order of Tsar Alyeksandr III, the first time that a civilian has been given this honor. At 14:00 they proceed down Nevsky Prospect to the cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky monastery, St. Petersburg. After another requiem and several orations and poems, the body is laid to rest not far from those of Modest Musorgsky (†12), Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (†36) and Alyeksandr Borodin (†6).
10 November 1893 Anton Bruckner (69) signs his will in Vienna.
11 November 1893 Alfred August, Prince Windischgrätz replaces Edvard, Count von Taaffe as Chancellor of Austria.
Charilaos Spiridonou Trikoupis replaces Sotirios Sotiropoulos as Prime Minister of Greece.
12 November 1893 Hochzeitsreigen op.453, a waltz by Johann Strauss (68), is performed for the first time, in the Musikverein, Vienna.
13 November 1893 By the Pretoria Convention, Great Britain allows the annexation of Swaziland by the Transvaal.
Music to accompany a set of historical tableaux by Jean Sibelius (27) is performed for the first time, in Helsinki. See 17 November 1893.
Two songs from op.21 of Amy Beach (26) are performed for the first time, in New York: Elle et moi to words of Boret, and Extase to words of Hugo.
15 November 1893 Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov (49) applies for retirement from his post as assistant superintendant of the Imperial Court Chapel. He later writes, “...serving with Balakirev (56) (the superintendant) in the pious and sanctimonious chapel is unbearable to me.”
Great Britain and Germany reach agreement over the Shari district, defining boundaries between Nigeria and the German Protectorate of Northwest Africa (Cameroon).
17 November 1893 France extends a protectorate over Dahomey (Benin).
18 November 1893 The Symphony no.6 of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (†0) is performed again, in the Hall of the Nobility, St. Petersburg. Unlike its premiere, three weeks ago before the composer’s death, it is received tumultuously. In the audience is Igor Stravinsky (11), brought to the occasion by his mother.
Music, When Soft Voices Die for male chorus by Ralph Vaughan Williams (21) is performed for the first time, at the Cambridge University Musical Club by a solo quartet.
19 November 1893 An overture and six numbers from the historical tableaux by Jean Sibelius (27), presented on 13 November, are performed for the first time as the Karelia Suite, in Helsinki, conducted by the composer.
27 November 1893 Intermezzo op.117/3 for piano by Johannes Brahms (60) is performed for the first time, in Hamburg.
28 November 1893 Voting for the New Zealand Parliament returns a Liberal majority. Women are allowed to vote for the first time in a New Zealand general election.
1 December 1893 The rebel Admiral de Melo breaks out of Rio de Janeiro harbor aboard his flagship. He proceeds to Santa Catarina Province to organize rebellion.
3 December 1893 Jean Paul Pierre Casimir-Périer replaces Charles Alexandre Dupuy, dit Charles-Dupuy as Prime Minister of France.
4 December 1893 Great Britain and France reach agreement over Siam.
5 December 1893 Sava Grujic replaces Lazar Dokic as Prime Minister of Serbia.
9 December 1893 Anarchist Auguste Vaillant throws a bomb full of nails into the French Chamber of Deputies sending plaster and other parts of the building on to the sitting members. No one is killed.
10 December 1893 Francesco Crispi replaces Giovanni Giolitti as Prime Minister of Italy. Giolitti’s government fell over bank scandals.
11 December 1893 On the Way to Kew for voice and piano by Arthur Foote (40) to words of Henley is performed for the first time, the composer at the keyboard.
12 December 1893 Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov (49) conducts an evening of the music of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (†0) as one of the Russian Symphony Concerts in honor of the late composer in St. Petersburg. Tchaikovsky’s song We Sat Together op.73/1, to words of Ratgauz, is performed for the first time.
Fantasia for two pianos op.5 by Sergey Rakhmaninov (20) is performed for the first time, in Moscow. The composer plays one part.
Bal masque op.22 for orchestra by Amy Cheney Beach (26) is performed for the first time, in New York.
15 December 1893 Prince Edmond de Polignac marries the American heiress Winnaretta Eugénie Singer. She is, and will continue to be, a very important patron of the arts in Paris for years to come.
Critic Henry Krehbiel publishes an article in the New York Daily Tribune of 2,500 words explaining and trumpeting the New World Symphony of Antonín Dvoarák (52), complete with musical examples.
Symphony no.9 “from the New World” by Antonín Dvorák (52) is given a public rehearsal in New York.
16 December 1893 Two songs by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (†0) to words of Ratgauz, are performed for the first time, in Kiev: Amid Sombre Days op.73/5 and Again, As Before, Alone op.73/6.
Symphony no.9 “from the New World” by Antonín Dvorák (52) is performed for the first time, in New York. “The success of the symphony was tremendous; the papers write that no composer has ever had such success. I was in a box; the hall was filled with the best New York audience, the people clapped so much that I had to thank them from the box like a king!? alla Mascagni in Vienna (don’t laugh!...)”
18 December 1893 In a special message to Congress, US President Grover Cleveland calls American actions in Hawaii last January “an act of war…without authority of Congress.” He calls for the monarchy to be restored in Hawaii.
Carnaval Overture op.40 and Concert Waltz no.1 op.47, both for orchestra by Ayeksandr Glazunov (28), are performed for the first time, in the Hall of the Nobility, St. Petersburg, conducted by Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov (49).
21 December 1893 Italian forces defeat an invading Mahdist army over twice their size at Agordat, Eritrea.
23 December 1893 Hänsel und Gretel, a Märschenoper by Engelbert Humperdinck (39) to words of A. Wette, H. Wette, and the composer after Grimm, is performed for the first time, in the Weimar Court Theatre, conducted by Richard Strauss (29). It is an instant success.
24 December 1893 Our Father for chorus by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (†0) is performed for the first time, in Moscow.
O Mother of God, Vigilantly Praying for chorus by Sergey Rakhmaninov (20) is performed for the first time, in Moscow.
29 December 1893 The String Quartet by Claude Debussy (31) is performed for the first time, by the Société National de Musique, Paris.
©Paul Scharfenberger 2004-2012
15 August 2012
Last Updated (Wednesday, 15 August 2012 05:29)