1906
| 
| 
1 January 1906 A license is now required to operate an automobile in the Netherlands.
2 January 1906 Willis Carrier receives a US patent for an “apparatus for treating air.” It is the first practical air conditioning system and is meant to regulate humidity for machines, not people.
4 January 1906 Berlin police forbid Isadora Duncan from dancing in public.
6 January 1906 Miroirs for piano by Maurice Ravel (30) is performed for the first time, in the Salle Erard, Paris. See 3 February 1907 and 17 May 1919.
7 January 1906 Kimmochi Saionji replaces Taro Katsura as Prime Minister of Japan.
Leos Janácek (51) presides of the first meeting of the folksong working group of the Club of the Friends of Art, Brno.
8 January 1906 Edgard Varèse (22) is one of four men applying for admission to the Paris Conservatoire. They play fugues of their own composition before a nine-man jury. They are all accepted.
13 January 1906 For the first time, a radio is advertised for sale, in Scientific American. It promises that the radio will work “up to one mile.”
15 January 1906 After working for three years on his opera The Sunken Bell, Maurice Ravel (30) signs a contract with Durand for its publication. The composer will abandon the project in 1914 and incorporate some of the music into L’Enfant et les Sortilèges.
16 January 1906 Representatives of eleven European nations, the United States, and Morocco meet at Algeciras to discuss their differences over the status of Morocco.
18 January 1906 The tenth song in the cycle Des knaben Wunderhorn (Lob des hohen Verstandes) by Gustav Mahler (45) to words of Brentano and Arnim, is performed for the first time, in Vienna.
Gesang der Verklärten op.71 for chorus and orchestra by Max Reger (32) is performed for the first time, in Aachen.
Symphony no.6 “In memoriam GF Watts” by Charles Villiers Stanford (53) is performed for the first time, in Queen’s Hall, London conducted by the composer.
23 January 1906 Alyeksandr Skryabin (34), in Bogliasco, Italy, writes to his wife, in Moscow, for the last time. He is living with Tatyana Fyodorovna Schloezer, his lover and soon-to-be common law wife, mother of his newly born daughter.
24 January 1906 Igor Stravinsky (23) marries Yekaterina Gavrilova Nosenko at Novaya Derevnya, near St. Petersburg. The ceremony is small and quiet due to the imperial prohibition against the marriage of first cousins.
Sergey Rakhmaninov (32) conducts premieres of two of his operas at the Bolshoy Theatre, Moscow: The Miserly Knight op.24 to words of Pushkin and Francesca da Rimini op.25 to words of Modest Tchaikovsky after Dante.
25 January 1906 The Serenade for nine winds and strings op.95 by Charles Villiers Stanford (53) is performed for the first time, in Aeolian Hall, London.
27 January 1906 Hiver-Printemps, a symphonic diptych by Ernest Bloch (25), is performed for the first time, under the baton of the composer in Geneva.
Leos Janácek’s (51) Piano Sonata ‘1 October 1905’ “Street Scene” is performed for the first time, in Brünn (Brno). It was written in memory of a Czech worker killed in a clash between German and Czech citizens of Brno. During the final rehearsal the composer snatched the music from pianist Ludmilla Tuckova and burned the third movement on the spot. Tonight, only the first and second movements are performed. After a second, private performance, Janácek will throw the two other movements into the Vltava. Ms. Tuckova has copies, however, and the sonata will be published, with the composer’s blessing, in 1924.
28 January 1906 Cantique de Jean Racine op.11 for mixed chorus and orchestra by Gabriel Fauré (60) is performed for the first time, at the Paris Conservatoire. See 4 August 1866.
29 January 1906 King Christian IX of Denmark dies in Copenhagen and is succeeded by his son Frederik VIII.
Prime Minister Karl Rothe of Hesse dies in Darmstadt.
31 January 1906 The Pipe of Desire, an opera by Frederick S. Converse (35) to words of Barton, is performed for the first time, in Jordan Hall, Boston. Critics love the music, hate the libretto.
2 February 1906 The first time that Max Reger’s (32) Sinfonietta is played in Munich, a fight breaks out afterwards between proponents and opponents of the music and the composer. Reger’s supporters march through the streets to the home of the music critic Rudolf Louis. They “serenade” him with trumpets, tin pots and various noisemakers.
3 February 1906 Gabriel Fauré’s (60) Barcarolle no.7 for piano op.90 is performed for the first time, in the Salle Erard, Paris.
Songs of the West op.21/1 for orchestra by Gustav Holst (31) is performed for the first time, in the Pump Room, Bath, the composer conducting.
4 February 1906 Christian Wilhelm Karl von Ewald replaces Karl Rothe as Prime Minister of Hesse.
The New York Police Department begins to use fingerprint identification.
6 February 1906 Two works by Karol Szymanowski (23) are performed for the first time, in Warsaw. They are Variations on a Polish Theme op.10 for piano and the Concert Overture op.12. This concert marks the first appearance of Mloda Polska (Young Poland in Music), four young Polish composers embodying a new path for Polish music, free from ideas of “national art”.
Bardengesang op.55 for male chorus and orchestra by Richard Strauss (41) to words of Klopstock, is performed for the first time, in Dresden.
7 February 1906 Midi op.15/2 for voice and piano by Charles Koechlin (38) to words of Leconte de Lisle is performed for the first time, privately, at the home of Mme Duglé, Paris. See 30 December 1933.
8 February 1906 Sidney, Baron Sonnino replaces Alessandro Fortis as Prime Minister of Italy.
At a meeting of the council of St. Petersburg Conservatory, Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov (61) storms out because of their negativity towards the students and director Alyeksandr Glazunov (40).
A month of voting in the British general election ends today. The Liberal Party of Prime Minister Henry Campbell-Bannerman increases its seats by over 200 and wins a large majority. The Conservatives lose over 60% of their seats. The Labour Representation Committee goes from two to 29 seats and soon will be known as the Labour Party.
9 February 1906 The Piano Fantasy op.14 by Karol Szymanowski (23) is performed for the first time, in Warsaw.
10 February 1906 Great Britain launches HMS Dreadnought, a battleship with ten 12” guns, seriously affecting the world balance of naval power. A naval arms race ensues.
11 February 1906 The French territories of Chad and Ubangi-Shari are joined.
Pope Pius X issues the encyclical Vehementer nos which condemns the separation of church and state in France.
16 February 1906 Lagos is incorporated into Southern Nigeria.
17 February 1906 The piano work Rustiques op.5 by Albert Roussel (36) is performed for the first time, at the Salle Pleyel, Paris.
18 February 1906 Armand Fallières replaces Emile Loubet as President of France.
Jour d’été à la montagne, a symphonic triptych by Vincent d’Indy (54), is performed for the first time, in Paris.
19 February 1906 The Habsburg army violates the Hungarian constitution and occupies Parliament in Budapest, supported by the aristocracy. Parliament is dissolved by the government. Faced with possible electoral reforms, the army backs down.
22 February 1906 Richard Strauss (41) meets Hugo von Hofmannsthal in Berlin. They have met before, but this is the first conversation of any length or significance. Hofmannsthal allows Strauss to use his play Elektra any way he likes.
24 February 1906 The drame lyrique L’ancêtre by Camille Saint-Saëns (70) to words of Augé de Lassus, is performed for the first time, in Monaco.
Festgesang for soprano, tenor, chorus, and orchestra by Engelbert Humperdinck (51) is performed for the first time, in the Berlin Musikhochschule.
25 February 1906 Sergey Rakhmaninov (32) resigns as conductor at the Bolshoy Theatre, Moscow. He claims it is because of because of an upcoming North American tour.
26 February 1906 Due to the uneasy political situation, Sergey Rakhmaninov (32) finds it unwise to be attached to a state institution like the Bolshoy Theatre. He resigns his position today and leaves for a vacation in Italy.
US President Roosevelt demands of the Chinese government that the anti-American boycott be ended as well as all anti-foreign activities by Chinese.
26 February 1906 Two Songs op.20 for voice and piano by Frederick S. Converse (35) to words of DG Rossetti are performed publicly for the first time, in Boston.
28 February 1906 Great Britain creates the Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria.
1 March 1906 Afonso Augusto Moreira Pena is elected President of Brazil unopposed.
2 March 1906 La Belle Dame sans merci op.12, a ballade for baritone and orchestra by Frederick S. Converse (35) to words of Keats, is performed for the first time with orchestral accompaniment, in Boston. See 29 March 1903.
3 March 1906 Images for piano, Book I, by Claude Debussy (43) is performed for the first time, by the Société National de Musique, Paris.
5 March 1906 Der Einsame op.51/2, a song by Richard Strauss (41) to words of Heine, is performed for the first time, in Leipzig. The piano part is performed by the composer.
6 March 1906 The Chinese government moves to end the anti-American boycott and all anti-foreign activities of its citizens.
7 March 1906 Sava Grujic replaces Ljubomir Stojanovic as Prime Minister of Serbia.
10 March 1906 A coal dust explosion in the Courrieres Mine near Lens, Pas-de-Calais kills 1,060 people. 45,000 miners will strike for 55 days protesting the working conditions which led to the explosion. The strike will eventually be ended by the French army.
An article written by Addams S. McAllister appears in Electrical World describing the Telharmonium in glowing terms.
Don Procopio, an opera buffa by Georges Bizet (†30) to words of Cambiaggio, is performed for the first time, in Monaco, 47 years after it was composed.
Sonatine for piano by Maurice Ravel (31) is performed for the first time, in Lyon.
Salammbô’s Invocation to Tänith, a song for voice and orchestra by Henry F. Gilbert (37) to words after Flaubert, is performed for the first time, in Carnegie Hall, New York.
11 March 1906 The Russian Fantasy for balalaika ensemble by Alyeksandr Glazunov (40) is performed for the first time, in St. Petersburg.
Two songs for voice and piano by Ottorino Respighi (26) are performed for the first time, in Bologna: Nebbie, and Nevicata, both to words of Negri.
12 March 1906 Jean Marie Ferdinand Sarrien replaces Maurice Rouvier as Prime Minister of France.
President Manuel A. Quintana y Sáenz de Gaona of Argentina dies in Belgrano and is replaced by José Figueroa Alcorta.
15 March 1906 The Impromptu op.12/1, Poème satanique op.36, two Preludes op.37/1, 4, Prelude op.39/3, Etudes op.42/1, 5, and Poème op.32/1 by Alyeksandr Skryabin (34) are performed for the first time, in Moscow by his estranged wife, Vera.
16 March 1906 The first public demonstration of the Telharmonium, is given in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Selections of mostly classical music, with some popular, are sent by telephone from the Cahill factory to the Hotel Hamilton ballroom, about a kilometer away. This first important electronic instrument was developed over the last ten years by Thaddeus Cahill.
17 March 1906 An earthquake centered on Taiwan kills 1,200 people.
20 March 1906 Ernesto Rodolfo Hintze Ribeiro replaces José Luciano de Castro Pereira Corte-Real as Prime Minister of Portugal.
21 March 1906 Melanie Köchert, confidant, lover and support to Hugo Wolf (†3) during his last years, falls to her death from the fourth floor window of her Vienna home. Overcome with grief and guilt at the fate of Wolf, she kills herself.
23 March 1906 Gabriel Fauré’s (60) Piano Quintet no.1 op.89 is performed for the first time, at the Cercle Artistique, Brussels. The piano part is performed by the composer.
24 March 1906 Jean Sibelius' (40) dance intermezzo Pan och Echo is performed for the first time, in Helsinki.
Noël des jouets, a song by Maurice Ravel (31) to his own words, is performed for the first time, with the composer at the keyboard, in the Salle Fourcroy, Paris, the composer at the keyboard. See 26 April 1906.
25 March 1906 Claude Debussy (43) and Richard Strauss (41) meet for the first and only time, at the home of Jacques Durand. Strauss has asked for the meeting to discuss organizations to distribute royalties. Since Debussy knows little of the subject, Strauss is probably disappointed.
26 March 1906 The Free Lance, an operetta by John Philip Sousa (51) to words of Smith, is performed for the first time, at the Court Square Theatre in Springfield, Massachusetts.
27 March 1906 Rioting breaks out in Bucharest over worsening economic conditions.
30 March 1906 A concert of Polish composers in Berlin is warmly applauded by the audience, but critics pan it due to anti-Polish feelings.
31 March 1906 The Railroad Nationalization Act is agreed to in Japan. It authorizes the government to buy all 17 of the nations railroads, which it will do by 1 October 1907.
4 April 1906 A setting of Psalm 114 for chorus and three trombones by Anton Bruckner (†9) is performed for the first time, in Linz.
5 April 1906 Edvard Grieg (62) leaves Christiania (Oslo) for a concert tour to Berlin, Leipzig, Prague, and Amsterdam.
6 April 1906 Sándor Wekerle replaces Géza, Baron Fejérváry de Komlós-Keresztes as Prime Minister of Hungary as part of a compromise between liberal and absolutist elements. Liberals will form a government but not make any reforms in the military. They will observe all trade agreements made by the previous government and not hold that government responsible for any of its actions.
A ballet to the music of Chopin (†56) entitled Chopiniana is performed for the first time, at the Imperial Opera House, St. Petersburg. It will be produced in Paris by Dyaghilev as Les Sylphides. See 2 June 1909.
7 April 1906 Suite im alten Stil op.93 for violin and piano by Max Reger (33) is performed for the first time, in Berlin, the composer at the keyboard.
8 April 1906 The Algeciras Act is signed by representatives of Morocco, the United States, and eleven European nations. Morocco will remain independent, but under international control.
10 April 1906 The New York Times reports that the fourth meeting of the MacDowell Club took place at Carnegie Hall last night, with some of the most important cultural figures in the country. They planned to discuss a suitable memorial for Edward MacDowell (45). The attendance of 100 members is called “sparse.”
“The Gift of the Magi”, a story by O. Henry is published in a collection of short stories.
Divertissement op.6 for wind quintet and piano by Albert Roussel (37) is performed for the first time, at the Salle des Agriculteurs, Paris.
Four songs for voice and piano by Charles Martin Loeffler (45) are performed for the first time, in Boston: A Dream within a Dream and To Helen, to words of Poe, Sudden Light to words of DG Rossetti, and Sonnet to words of Lodge.
11 April 1906 Edvard Grieg records six of his piano pieces onto rolls on a “Phonola electric piano” at Ludwig Hupfeld’s piano factory in Leipzig.
Maxim Gorky arrives in New York to raise funds for a revolution in Russia.
16 April 1906 5,000 striking coal miners battle with police in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Four miners are killed.
17 April 1906 Edvard Grieg (62) records three of his piano pieces onto rolls on a Welte-Mignon piano at Popper & Co. in Leipzig.
The Metropolitan Opera performs Carmen (with Enrico Caruso as Don José) to an overflow crowd in San Francisco. A few hours after the conclusion of the opera the city is rocked by a devastating earthquake. Caruso spends two nights sleeping in Golden Gate Park.
18 April 1906 05:13 San Francisco is destroyed by an earthquake and fire. Between 450 and 500 people are killed. 28,000 buildings are demolished and 250,000 people are left homeless. The sets and costumes of the Metropolitan Opera, currently performing in the city, are completely destroyed.
20 April 1906 San Francisco firefighters, assisted by hundreds of volunteers, the US Navy, and some favorable winds, bring the fire under control. 13 sq km of the city have been destroyed.
21 April 1906 Quatre poèmes op.3 for solo voice and piano by Albert Roussel (37), to words of de Régnier, is performed for the first time, at the Salle Pleyel, Paris.
24 April 1906 In the Treaty of Peking, Great Britain recognizes China as the controlling power in Tibet.
25 April 1906 John Knowles Paine dies in Cambridge, Massachusetts of pneumonia complicated by diabetes mellitus, aged 67 years, three months, and 16 days.
26 April 1906 Maurice Ravel’s (31) orchestration of his own song Noël des jouets, to his own words, is performed for the first time, in the Salle Erard, Paris. The composer conducts. See 24 March 1906.
27 April 1906 A funeral service is held in memory of John Knowles Paine in Appleton Chapel, Harvard University. Following this, the mortal remains are taken to Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge for cremation.
28 April 1906 Nikola Pasic replaces Sava Grujic as Prime Minister of Serbia.
30 April 1906 Konrad Wilhelm von Rüger replaces Georg von Metzsch-Reichenbach as Prime Minister of Saxony.
1 May 1906 Marie Curie becomes the first female professor at the Sorbonne since its founding in the Middle Ages.
Charles T. Griffes (21) has his last lesson with Engelbert Humperdinck (51) at Humperdinck’s home near Berlin. Griffes thinks that Humperdinck is going away to compose.
2 May 1906 Konrad, Prince Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst replaces, Paul, Baron Gautsch von Frankenthurn as Chancellor of Austria.
Pablo Casals and Edvard Grieg (62) perform Grieg’s Cello Sonata op.36 at a chamber music concert in Amsterdam.
3 May 1906 Britain forces the Ottoman Empire to give up the Sinai to Egypt.
6 May 1906 The Fundamental Laws are promulgated in Russia. These, among other things, make the prime minister responsible only to the Tsar, thus lessening the hoped-for power of the Duma.
8 May 1906 Ivan Longinovich Goremykin replaces Sergey Yulyevich Witte as Prime Minister of Russia.
9 May 1906 The first book of the piano suite Iberia by Isaac Albéniz (45) is performed for the first time, at the Salle Pleyel, Paris.
10 May 1906 As provided by the October Manifesto, the first Duma is opened in St. Petersburg by Tsar Nikolay II.
12 May 1906 The Captive Queen op.48, a cantata by Jean Sibelius (40) to words of Cajander, for mixed chorus and orchestra, is performed for the first time, in Helsinki for the centenary of the birth of Finnish philosopher Johan Snellman.
Evening Scene for mixed chorus by Edward Elgar (48) to words of Patmore, is performed for the first time, in Morecombe.
16 May 1906 Banned in Vienna, the Austrian premiere of Richard Strauss’ (41) Salome takes place in Graz. Gustav (45) and Alma Mahler are in the audience, as is a 17-year-old aspiring artist named Adolf Hitler.
17 May 1906 João Franco Ferreira Pinto Castelo Branco replaces Ernesto Rodolfo Hintze Ribeiro as Prime Minister of Portugal. He has been given power to eliminate his political opposition by King Carlos.
After giving a concert in Queen’s Hall, Edvard Grieg (62) and his wife observe the first Constitution Day since the independence of Norway at a celebration at the Hotel Cecil, London given by the Norwegian Club. Fritjof Nansen and Norwegian diplomats are present. Nansen’s speech on the occasion moves Grieg to tears.
19 May 1906 King Vittorio Emanuele II of Italy and President Ludwig Forrer of Switzerland preside over ceremonies opening the Simplon Tunnel at Brig. It is the longest railway tunnel in the world.
20 May 1906 A second round of voting concludes the French general election with moderate leftists winning a majority of seats.
22 May 1906 The Wright Brothers receive the first US patent for an airplane.
23 May 1906 Henrik Ibsen dies in Christiania (Oslo) at the age of 78.
Edvard Grieg (62), in London, receives news of the death of Henrik Ibsen. “How much I owe him...He was not a happy man, for it is as if he carried within him a chunk of ice that would not melt. But under this chunk lay a fervent love of mankind.”
24 May 1906 Sea Drift, for baritone, chorus, and orchestra by Frederick Delius (44) to words of Whitman, is performed for the first time, in Essen.
27 May 1906 The Symphony no.6 by Gustav Mahler (45) is performed for the first time, under the baton of the composer, in Essen. The composer-conductor receives six curtain calls, including a standing ovation from the orchestra. Critics range from tepid to scathing.
28 May 1906 Edvard Grieg (62) is received by King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra at Buckingham Palace. After telling Grieg he likes his music, the king proceeds to converse loudly while the composer plays.
The Snow Hero, a children’s opera-fairy tale by Cesar Cui (71) to words of Pol, is performed for the first time, in Yalta.
29 May 1906 The Finnish Diet passes electoral reforms providing for universal suffrage. These will be signed 20 July.
Edvard Grieg (62) receives an honorary DMus from Oxford University.
Final examinations for the year take place at the Paris Conservatoire. First-year student Edgard Varèse (22) does not show up, thus ending his formal musical education.
Giovanni Giolitti replaces Sidney, Baron Sonnino as Prime Minister of Italy.
Solomon Arvid Achates Lindman replaces Karl Albert Staaff as Prime Minister of Sweden.
Voting for the Danish Folketing results in losses for the ruling Left Reform Party and gains for the Radical Left and Social Democratic parties.
31 May 1906 As King Alfonso XIII and his new bride, Victoria Eugenie, Princess of Battenberg, granddaughter of Queen Victoria, leave their wedding in the Church of San Jeronimo El Real, Madrid, a bomb is thrown at their carriage by an anarchist from a balcony. 24 people are killed and over a hundred wounded, but the royal couple is unhurt. The new queen is splattered with blood from a guard who was killed near her. The bomber is apprehended.
1 June 1906 At the Consolidated Copper Company mines at Cananea, Sonora, Mexico, 5,360 Mexican workers go on strike over the disparity of pay and conditions between them and their US coworkers. 2,000 of them march to the company lumberyard and are fired upon. This results in a riot where 23 people are killed and 22 injured. The Mexicans manage to set fire to some company buildings before they are chased into the mountains.
2 June 1906 Max Vladimir, Baron von Beck replaces Konrad, Prince Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst as Chancellor of Austria.
5 June 1906 The Third Navy Law is agreed to in Germany. It authorizes the navy to build six large cruisers.
The first commencement exercises of the Institute of Musical Art (Juilliard School) are held in New York. All of the eight graduates are women.
8 June 1906 The last concert in Holyoke, Massachusetts of the Telharmonium is given in the Hotel Hamilton. The device will now be dismantled and shipped to New York.
10 June 1906 The First Church of Christ Scientist is dedicated in Boston.
20 June 1906 The doctoral dissertation of Anton von Webern (22) at the University of Vienna, on the music of Heinrich Isaac (†389), is approved.
Florence Smith (19) graduates from New England Conservatory with a diploma in organ performance and piano pedagogy.
22 June 1906 Phantasie in f minor for string quartet by Frank Bridge (27) is performed for the first time, in Bechstein Hall, London.
25 June 1906 Pittsburgh millionaire Harry Kendall Thaw shoots the famous architect Stanford White three times in the face during a performance on the roof theatre of Madison Square Garden, New York, killing him. Thaw is jealous of a pre-marital relationship between his wife, the former actress and model Evelyn Nesbit, and White. It will take two trials for Thaw to be found not guilty by reason of insanity.
26 June 1906 The first French Grand Prix auto race is held at Le Mans. After 1,200 km it is won by Hungarian Ference Szisz in a Renault.
Anton von Webern (22) passes his oral examination in musicology at the University of Vienna.
27 June 1906 Thou Danish Man, a song by Carl Nielsen (41) to words of Drachmann, is performed for the first time, in Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen. It shortly becomes a favorite throughout the country.
30 June 1906 US President Theodore Roosevelt signs the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Federal Meat Inspection Act into law. They require sanitary conditions in the production of food from the farm to the plate.
Poème op.32/2 and the Valse op.38 for piano by Alyeksandr Skryabin (34) are performed for the first time, at the Geneva Conservatory by the composer.
4 July 1906 Representatives of France, Great Britain, and Italy sign a Tripartite Pact in London which guarantees the independence of Ethiopia.
6 July 1906 José López Domínguez replaces Segismundo Moret y Prendergast as Prime Minister of Spain.
10 July 1906 Anton von Webern (22) passes his test in secondary subjects, the last hurdle to the Doctor of Philosophy.
11 July 1906 Roald Amundsen completes the first navigation of the Northwest Passage.
12 July 1906 After almost twelve years, the Dreyfus affair ends with a decision of the Supreme Court of Appeals clearing Dreyfus of all charges.
13 July 1906 The French Chamber of Deputies establishes Alfred Dreyfus at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Lieutenant Colonel Georges Picquart, the former head of French Intelligence who first began working for Dreyfus’ exoneration, and who suffered imprisonment for his efforts, is established at the rank of Commander-General.
19 July 1906 Two songs without words op.22 for chamber orchestra by Gustav Holst (31) are performed for the first time, at the Royal College of Music in London, under the baton of the composer.
20 July 1906 Lieutenant Colonel Alfred Dreyfus is made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor in the courtyard of the École Militaire, where he was publicly degraded eleven years ago.
Aboard the USS Marblehead the governments of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras sign a peace treaty ending their war. The deal was brokered by Mexico and the United States.
22 July 1906 Tsar Nikolay II dissolves the Duma, two months after it was opened.
23 July 1906 Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin replaces Ivan Longinovich Goremykin as Prime Minister of Russia.
24 July 1906 The Nocturne from the Suite for String Orchestra by Charles T. Griffes (21) is performed for the first time, in Elmira College Chapel, Elmira, New York. Also premiered is an arrangement for solo piano of Griffes’ song Si mes vers avaient des ailes played by the composer. He has recently returned from Berlin, and will go back to Berlin next month. See 21 May 1903.
9 August 1906 Jean Sibelius (40) writes from Helsinki to his wife: “Here it is-and has been-very calm on the surface, but it strikes me as being very much the ‘calm before the storm.’ Feelings run so high that I have difficulty in recalling such strong class hatred. Eyes literally blaze.”
The Victor Talking Machine Company announces a new design for a phonograph, with the horn inside the cabinet. They call it a Victrola.
11 August 1906 Frenchman Eugene Augustin Lauste patents a process for producing sound-on-film motion pictures.
16 August 1906 An earthquake in Valparaiso, Chile causes 20,000 deaths.
20 August 1906 16 townspeople of Policka, Bohemia, petition the town government to grant funding to their very talented favorite son, Bohuslav Martinu (15), to seek further musical training. The council will agree.
22 August 1906 The government of the Transvaal publishes a draft law called the “Asiatic Law Amendment Ordinance.” It calls for the fingerprinting of all Indians over age eight and all Indians must now carry a certificate of registration at all times. Police may enter any home to demand to see the pass.
23 August 1906 Norfolk Rhapsody no.1, an orchestral work by Ralph Vaughan Williams (33), is performed for the first time, in Queen’s Hall, London.
25 August 1906 At his dacha on Aptecarsky Island, Social Revolutionaries explode two bombs in an attempt to kill Russian Prime Minister Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin. 27 people are killed, 32 injured. His son and daughter are wounded, but Prime Minister Stolypin is unharmed.
26 August 1906 Charles T. Griffes (21) returns to Berlin from America.
1 September 1906 One week after an attempt on the life of Prime Minister Stolypin killed 33 and wounded 26, a state of emergency is declared in Russia. Special authority is given to provincial governors to maintain order.
The British New Guinea colony is transferred to the sovereignty of Australia and renamed the Territory of Papua.
8 September 1906 Cuban rebels led by Pino Guerra ambush an armored train west of Havana.
11 September 1906 In perhaps the first event in the twentieth century’s history of non-violent resistance, 3,000 Indians gather in the Empire Theatre, Johannesburg in an indignation meeting to oppose the new pass law of 22 August. The last of the approximately 20 speakers is the organizer, Mohandas K. Gandhi. A few hours later, the theatre burns to the ground.
12 September 1906 The USS Denver enters Havana harbor to help in restoring order in the face of Pino Guerra’s insurrection.
The Soul’s Ransom, a sinfonia sacra for soprano, bass, chorus, and orchestra by Hubert Parry (58) to words of the Bible and the composer, is performed for the first time, in Hereford, conducted by the composer.
13 September 1906 The commander of USS Denver lands 130 marines at Havana.
14 September 1906 US President Roosevelt orders that the marines landed yesterday in Havana be removed. Meanwhile, USS Marietta lands half of its crew at Cienfuegos to protect local US-owned sugar operations.
15 September 1906 A Dutch fleet anchors off Bali as a prelude to invasion.
At Troldhaugen, Edvard Grieg (63) completes three of the Four Psalms op.74. It is his last composition.
Incidental music to Shakespeare’s play (tr. Tieck) Das Wintermärchen, by Engelbert Humperdinck (52) is performed for the first time, at the Deutsches Theater, Berlin.
16 September 1906 Dutch forces invade Bali at Sanur.
Two companies of US Marines land at Cienfuegos to aid the sailors who went ashore two days ago.
18 September 1906 A typhoon causes 10,000 deaths in Hong Kong.
22 September 1906 A major race riot takes place over the next three days in Atlanta. 20-40 people are killed.
23 September 1906 The Raja of Tabanan offers to surrender to the Dutch on Bali if he can retain his title and lands. The Dutch forces detain him until they can receive instructions from Batavia (Djakarta). While in custody, the Raja kills himself.
24 September 1906 Ruggero Leoncavallo (49) departs Bremen aboard the Kaiser Wilhelm der Große making for New York. He will tour the United States for two months with seven singers and a 75-piece orchestra.
Incidental music to Clarke’s (after Wallace) play The Prince of India by Horatio Parker (43) is performed for the first time, at the Broadway Theatre, New York.
25 September 1906 Prince Georgios of Greece, unable to “rule the unrulable” resigns as governor of Crete.
17:00 Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich is born in St. Petersburg, second of three children born to Dmitri Boleslavovich Shostakovich, chemist and engineer working at the Central Department of Weights and Measures, and Sofia Vasiliyevna Kokoulina, daughter of a Siberian mine operator, who studied piano at St. Petersburg Conservatory.
Laudate Dominum op.22, a motet for male chorus, organ, and brass by Frederick S. Converse (35), is performed for the first time, at the opening ceremonies for new buildings of the Harvard Medical School.
26 September 1906 Edward Elgar (49) receives an honorary doctorate from the University of Aberdeen.
The first New York concert on the Telharmonium is given in the Music Hall at Broadway and 39th Street before 900 members of the New York Electrical Society. The investors intend the music produced by this instrument to be piped by telephone lines to restaurants around the city.
28 September 1906 US Secretary of War William Howard Taft declares himself governor of Cuba following the resignation of President Estrada Palma. He will attempt to quell hostilities between the government and liberal rebels, and organize new elections.
29 September 1906 2,000 US Marines begin landing at Havana.
1 October 1906 Alexandros Zaimis arrives on Crete as the new governor appointed by King Giorgios of Greece.
2 October 1906 Ruggero Leoncavallo (49) arrives in New York at the start of a two-month tour.
3 October 1906 The oratorio The Kingdom, by Edward Elgar (49) to his own words after the Bible, is performed for the first time, in Birmingham, conducted by the composer. The hall is filled and the press and public are “ecstatic.”
6 October 1906 900 US troops arrive in Havana to oversee the surrender of arms by Cuban government soldiers and rebels. 5,500 soldiers will eventually be sent.
7 October 1906 A liberal constitution for Persia is signed by Shah Muzaffar ad-Din.
Because of the inheritance from a recently deceased aunt, Alban Berg (21) quits his job as an accountant for the government of Lower Austria.
8 October 1906 Hot permanent wave for hair is first demonstrated in London by German hairdresser Nestle.
Ruggero Leoncavallo (49) gives his first performance in North America at Carnegie Hall, New York. It includes excerpts from his operas and the first performance of his march Viva l’America! Reviews are mixed.
9 October 1906 Incidental music to Drachmann’s play Master Oluf Rides by Carl Nielsen (41) is performed for the first time, under the direction of the composer, at the Royal Theatre, Copenhagen.
Charles Magoon arrives in Havana from the United States to replace William Howard Taft as leader of a provisional government for Cuba.
10 October 1906 Massive demonstrations take place in Hungary protesting the withholding of universal suffrage.
11 October 1906 Two songs by Jean Sibelius (40) to words of Dehmel are performed for the first time, in Helsinki: Aus banger Brust op.50/4 and Die stille Stadt op.50/5.
The San Francisco Board of Education approves a rule requiring all students of Japanese and Korean descent to attend schools already segregated for Chinese. After the board is personally lobbied at the White House by President Roosevelt, the order will be rescinded, in return for decreased Asian immigration.
13 October 1906 Charles Magoon takes over at the head of a US military government for Cuba.
15 October 1906 Incidental music to MacKaye’s play Jeanne d’Arc by Frederick S. Converse (35) is performed for the first time, at the Lyric Theatre in Philadelphia. See 10 January 1907.
20 October 1906 A joint British-French condominium is established over the New Hebrides Islands.
22 October 1906 Paul Cezanne dies in Aix-en-Provence at the age of 67.
Summer Evening, for orchestra, by Zoltán Kodály (23) is performed for the first time, at a diploma concert of the Budapest Academy of Music. The work wins a scholarship for the composer.
23 October 1906 Serenade for orchestra op.95 by Max Reger (33) is performed for the first time, in Cologne.
26 October 1906 Incidental music to Shakespeare’s play (tr. Schlegel) Die Sturm, by Engelbert Humperdinck (52) is performed for the first time, in the Neues Schauspielhaus, Berlin.
Four songs for voice and piano by Jean Sibelius (40) are performed for the first time, in Helsinki: Sehnsucht op.50/2 to words of Weiss, Im Feld ein Mädchen singt op.50/3 to words of Susman, Rosenlied op.50/6 to words of Ritter, and Hertig Magnus op.57/6 to words of Josephson.
27 October 1906 The poema Gaziel, by Enrique Granados (39) to words of Mestres, is performed for the first time, at the Principal, Barcelona. It is fairly successful. The composer is called to the stage after the second tableau.
28 October 1906 Georges Clemenceau replaces Jean Marie Ferdinand Sarrien as Prime Minister of France.
30 October 1906 Versailles, a song by Nadia Boulanger (19) to words of Samain, is performed for the first time, in the Salon d’autonne of the Grand Palais des Champs-Elysées, Paris. The composer performs the piano part.
31 October 1906 Ariane, an opéra by Jules Massenet (64) to words of Mendès, is performed for the first time, at the Paris Opéra. The critics are strongly divided.
3 November 1906 The International Wireless Telegraph Convention is agreed to in Berlin by representatives of 27 countries. Among other things, they adopt SOS as the universal distress signal, replacing CQD, to take effect 1 July 1908.
Camille Saint-Saëns (71) gives his first concert in the United States, in Carnegie Hall, New York.
4 November 1906 Incidental music to Procopé’s play Belshazzar’s Feast by Jean Sibelius (40) is performed for the first time, at the Swedish Theatre, Helsinki, the composer conducting. The press is not positive.
5 November 1906 Dimitur Nikolov Petkov replaces Racho Petrov Stoylov as Prime Minister of Bulgaria.
6 November 1906 US President Roosevelt departs for a trip to Panama. He is the first president to leave the country while in office.
Voting for the US House of Representatives sees considerable gains for the Democratic Party but Republicans still control.
8 November 1906 Mohandas K. Gandhi and Haji Ojeer Ally appear before Lord Elgin, Secretary of State for the Colonies, in London, to beg him to refuse assent to the Transvaal pass law of 22 August. On their return to South Africa, they will learn that he agrees.
9 November 1906 Due to the political unrest in Russia, Sergey Rakhmaninov (33) and his family take up residence in Dresden.
Music from the Telharmonium is broadcast to a restaurant for the first time, from “Telharmonic Hall” at 39th Street and Broadway to the Café Martin on 26th Street between Fifth Avenue and Broadway where a banquet given by the directors of the New York Electric Music Company is taking place. The press is present. Their reports vary.
11 November 1906 Carl Nielsen’s (41) opera Maskarade, to words of Andersen after Holberg, is performed for the first time, at the Royal Theatre, Copenhagen, conducted by the composer. The dean of Scandinavian composers, Edvard Grieg (63), is present and is very pleased, as are the audience and critics.
Strandrecht, a lyrical drama by Ethel Smyth (48) to words of Brewster and the composer (tr. Decker and Bernhoff), is performed for the first time, in the Neuestheater, Leipzig. See 22 June 1909.
12 November 1906 Introduction, Passacaglia, and Fugue op.96 for two pianos by Max Reger (33) is performed for the first time, in Cologne, the composer at the piano.
14 November 1906 The overture to the opera Jenufa by Leos Janácek (52) is performed for the first time, under the name Jealousy, in Prague.
15 November 1906 Affonso Augusto Moreira Penna replaces Fransisco de Paula Rodriguez Alves as President of Brazil.
18 November 1906 An anarchist’s bomb explodes in St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome near the tomb of Pope Clement XIII. No one is injured and little damage is done.
21 November 1906 Two Preludes op.37/2, 3, Quasi Valse op.47, Four Preludes op.48 and the Trois morceaux op.45 by Alyeksandr Skryabin (34) are performed for the first time, in Brussels by the composer.
23 November 1906 Enrico Caruso is found guilty of “molesting a woman in the monkey house in the Central Park Zoo (New York) by touching her left forearm with his right elbow.” The court fines the tenor ten dollars.
30 November 1906 Segismundo Moret y Prendergast replaces José López Domínguez as Prime Minister of Spain.
1 December 1906 Alyeksandr Skryabin (34) sails second class aboard the Ryndam from Rotterdam bound for Hoboken, New Jersey. His only confirmed playing engagement is gratis. Skryabin will eventually perform in Cincinnati, Chicago, and Detroit but will see no profit from the trip. He will reach Paris with 30 francs in his pocket.
Henry Russell meets with Frederick S. Converse (35) to enlist artistic support for his plans to found a Boston Opera Company.
4 December 1906 Karl, Baron Weizsäcker replaces Wilhelm August von Breitling as Prime Minister of Württemberg.
Antonio Aguilar y Correa, marqués de la Vega de Armijo replaces Segismundo Moret y Prendergast as Prime Minister of Spain.
6 December 1906 Great Britain grants self-government to the Transvaal and Orange River Colonies.
Six Pieces for piano op.94 by Max Reger (33) are performed for the first time, in Berlin, the composer at the keyboard.
Dolly, suite for orchestra op.56 by Gabriel Fauré (61), is performed for the first time, in Monaco. See 30 April 1898 and 9 January 1913.
Love’s Secret op.14/2 for voice and piano by Arthur Farwell (34) to words of Blake is performed for the first time, in Detroit.
11 December 1906 Incidental music to von Stach’s play Das Christ-Elflein op.20 by Hans Pfitzner (37) is performed for the first time, in Munich. See 11 December 1917.
12 December 1906 Voters elect a new Parliament in Australia. In the House of Representatives, the Anti-Socialists and Labour hold equal standing followed by the Protectionists. Anti-Socialists are the largest party in the Senate. Alfred Deakin will continue in power.
Oscar Straus is sworn in as US Secretary of Commerce and Labor. He is the first Jewish member of a US cabinet.
13 December 1906 France, Great Britain, and Italy reach agreement in London on spheres of influence for the three countries in Ethiopia.
After opposing expenditures for colonial wars, the German Reichstag is dissolved by the Kaiser.
An Irish Overture for orchestra by Arnold Bax (23) is performed for the first time, at the Winter Gardens, Bournemouth.
For One Who Fell in Battle for chorus by Charles Martin Loeffler (45) to words of Parsons is performed for the first time, in Jordan Hall, Boston.
14 December 1906 After two months of concerts in the United States, Ruggero Leoncavallo (49) departs New York for Italy.
19 December 1906 Béla Bartók (25) and Zoltán Kodály (23) publish Hungarian Folk Songs with piano accompaniment.
20 December 1906 Alyeksandr Skryabin (34) makes his playing debut in the United States with a performance of his Piano Concerto in New York.
21 December 1906 The Trade Disputes Act receives royal assent by King Edward VII. It enshrines the right to strike in law and says that unions may not be the subject of litigation for damages incurred during a strike.
22 December 1906 Alyeksandr Glazunov (41) conducts the premiere of his Symphony no.8 in St. Petersburg.
23 December 1906 Ross Lee Finney is born in Wells, Minnesota, the youngest of three children born to Ross L. Finney, a minister, and Caroline Mitchell, who has a degree in music.
After two months in the United States, Camille Saint-Saëns (71) boards ship in New York for home.
24 December 1906 Canadian inventor Reginald A. Fessenden makes the first public broadcast of voice and music from Brant Rock, Massachusetts. The letters CQ are followed by a song, a poem, a violin solo, and a speech.
26 December 1906 The Story of the Kelly Gang, the first full-length feature film, opens at Town Hall, Melbourne, Australia. It was filmed in Melbourne.
27 December 1906 A setting of Psalm 47 for orchestra, chorus, and organ by Florent Schmitt (36) is performed for the first time, in Paris. Jules Massenet (64) and Gabriel Fauré (61) are in the audience. The work is a great success but Schmitt is so shy he can not be persuaded from his box to take a bow.
29 December 1906 Pohjola’s Daughter, a symphonic poem by Jean Sibelius (41), is performed for the first time, in St. Petersburg, conducted by the composer. He is called back several times by the audience.
At a reception for the American Association for the Advancement of Science at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, music is provided throughout the evening by a Telharmonium.
30 December 1906 The founding convention of the All-India Muslim League takes place in Dhaka.
The melodramatisches Krippenspiel Bübchens Weihnachtstraum, by Engelbert Humperdinck (52) to words of Falke, is performed for the first time, in Berlin.
©Paul Scharfenberger 2004-2012
16 August 2012
Last Updated (Thursday, 16 August 2012 05:21)