1910
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6 January 1910 The string quartet Voces intimae op.56 by Jean Sibelius (44) is performed for the first time, in Berlin.
Ferruccio Busoni (43) performs the Emperor Concerto of Ludwig van Beethoven (†82) with the New York Philharmonic directed by Gustav Mahler (49).
8 January 1910 The Kingdom of Bhutan becomes a protectorate of Great Britain.
Zigeunerliebe, a romantische Operette by Franz Lehár (39) to words of Willner and Bodanzky, is performed for the first time, in the Carl Theater, Vienna. Lehár has produced three operettas in as many months.
The Symphony in c# minor by Ernst Bloch (29) is performed completely for the first time, in Geneva. It is very successful.
9 January 1910 Sergey Rakhmaninov (36) appears at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in a concert made up entirely of his works.
10 January 1910 18-year-old Joyce C. Hall begins selling postcards wholesale in Kansas City, Missouri. His business will eventually become Hallmark, Inc.
12 January 1910 Ibrahim Hakki Pasha replaces Hüseyin Hilmi Pasha as Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire.
The first Futurist serata takes place at the Politeama Rossetti in Trieste. Filippo Tommaso Marinetti tells the audience that their goal is national (although predominantly Italian, Trieste is still a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire). The Futurist Manifesto is read as are several poems. There will be four more serate this year.
13 January 1910 The first radio broadcast of opera is made from the stage of the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. Enrico Caruso sings arias by Pietro Mascagni (46) and Ruggero Leoncavallo (52).
14 January 1910 Arnold Schoenberg’s (35) Das Buch der hängenden Gärten op.15, to words of Stefan George, is performed for the first time, in Vienna. Also on the program is the premiere of Schoenberg’s Three Piano Pieces op.11, the fourth of his Four Songs op.2 to words of Schlaf, and excerpts from the unfinished Gurre-Lieder in a reduction for two pianos-eight hands which Schoenberg entrusted to Anton von Webern (26). The success of these excerpts prompts Schoenberg to finish the work.
15 January 1910 The French government reorganizes its holdings in central Africa into the French Equatorial Africa colony, made up of Ubangi-Chari, Middle Congo, Gabon, and Chad.
Maia, a dramma lirico by Ruggero Leoncavallo (52) to words of Nessi after Choudens, is performed for the first time, at the Teatro Costanzi, Rome, conducted by Pietro Mascagni (46).
The song The Kings Way, by Edward Elgar (52) to words of his wife, CA Elgar, is performed for the first time, at the Alexandra Palace, London.
16 January 1910 In a memorable evening in Carnegie Hall, New York, Sergey Rakhmaninov (36) gives the third performance of his Piano Concerto no.3, with the New York Philharmonic under its new music director, Gustav Mahler (49).
17 January 1910 Károly, Count Khuen-Héderváry de Hédervár replaces Sándor Wekerle as Prime Minister of Hungary.
19 January 1910 The National Institute of Arts and Letters is incorporated by the United States Congress.
20 January 1910 President José Madriz of Nicaragua cuts off negotiations with rebels.
The fantasia comica medioevale Malbruk, by Ruggero Leoncavallo (52) to words of Nessi after Boccaccio, is performed for the first time, at the Teatro Nazionale, Rome.
21 January 1910 The Seine begins to rise and flood at Paris.
22 January 1910 Edward Elgar’s (52) choral work They Are At Rest, to words of Newman, is performed for the first time, at the Royal Mausoleum on the ninth anniversary of the death of Queen Victoria.
Fireworks op.4 for orchestra by Igor Stravinsky (27) is performed publicly for the first time, in St. Petersburg. See 17 June 1908.
24 January 1910 Edward Elgar’s (52) Song Cycle op.59 to words of Parker for voice and orchestra is performed for the first time, at Queen’s Hall, London. The performance is so successful that the audience requires Oh Soft was the Song to be repeated.
25 January 1910 Nicaraguan rebels defeat government forces at La Libertad.
27 January 1910 Sergey Rakhmaninov (36) ends his first American tour in New York where he conducts The Isle of the Dead and plays the solo part of his Piano Concerto no.2.
28 January 1910 The flood in Paris reaches its height. Streets, railways, and residences are inundated.
After his recital in Christiania, Nina Grieg introduces Percy Grainger (27) to King Haakon VII of Norway and Queen Maud.
29 January 1910 King Georgios of Greece and his government agree to call a national assembly to amend the constitution.
31 January 1910 Stephanos Nikolaou Dragoumis replaces Kiriakoulis Mavromichalis as Prime Minister of Greece.
1 February 1910 Wollert Konow replaces Gunnar Knudsen as Prime Minister of Norway.
This month’s issue of The Century Magazine contains the first infrared photographs, taken by American physicist Robert Wood.
7 February 1910 Germany, Belgium, and Great Britain fix borders in their African colonies of Congo, Uganda, and German East Africa (Tanzania).
8 February 1910 The Boy Scouts of America is founded, based on a British model.
Five Movements for string quartet op.5 by Anton von Webern (26) is performed for the first time, in Vienna.
9 February 1910 José Canalejas y Méndez replaces Segismundo Moret y Prendergast as Prime Minister of Spain.
L’astre rouge op.13/4 for voice and piano by Charles Koechlin (42) to words of Leconte de Lisle is performed for the first time, in Paris, the composer at the keyboard.
11 February 1910 Ernst Bloch (29) directs his last performance as conductor of the Orchestra of Lausanne.
Iverniana op.70 for two pianos by Amy Cheney Beach (42) is performed for the first time, in Boston by the composer and Carl Faelten.
13 February 1910 Two songs for voice and piano, Cantique to words of Maeterlinck and Prière to words of Bataille, by Nadia Boulanger (22) are performed for the first time, in Paris.
15 February 1910 After eleven weeks of strikes, rallies, scabs, and attacks by company thugs, the women of the “Uprising of the 20,000” call off their strike, begun 23 November in New York. Most of their demands are met.
The second Futurist serata, in Milan, turns into an anti-Austrian demonstration and fisticuffs break out, spilling into the street. Police quell the violence and politely release all they detain.
19 February 1910 Arnold Schoenberg (35) applies for a professorship in music theory at Vienna Conservatory. His application will be supported by Gustav Mahler (49).
Jules Massenet’s (67) comédie héroique Don Quichotte, to words of Cain after Le Lorrain, is performed for the first time, at the Opéra de Monte Carlo. The audience loves it, calling repeatedly for encores.
20 February 1910 In the midst of a Moslem revolt in Egypt, British-backed Prime Minister Butros Ghali the first native Prime Minister of Egypt, is shot by a nationalist in Cairo. He will die tomorrow.
Ibéria from Images for orchestra by Claude Debussy (47) is performed for the first time, in Paris.
22 February 1910 A constitution is proclaimed for Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Frank E. Shailor of General Electric receives a US patent for an electric toaster.
Five weeks of voting in the British general election conclude. The ruling Liberals of Prime Minister Asquith lose over 120 seats and their majority. Asquith will form a minority government with support from the Irish Parliamentary Party.
23 February 1910 Feuillet d’album op.58 for piano by Alyeksandr Skryabin (38) is performed for the first time, in Moscow by the composer.
Psalm 100 for chorus, orchestra, and organ op.106 by Max Reger (36) is performed for the first time, in Chemnitz. It is received very positively by press and critics.
La chanson des ingénues op.22/1 for voice and piano by Charles Koechlin (42) to words of Verlaine is performed for the first time, in Paris.
25 February 1910 The Dalai Lama flees to India in the face of oncoming Chinese troops.
26 February 1910 String Quartet op.54/1 by Max Reger (36) is performed for the first time, in Trieste.
1 March 1910 A Suite in A for orchestra by Antonín Dvorák (†5) is performed for the first time, in Prague.
Marshal Hermes Rodrigues da Fonseca is elected President of Brazil.
2 March 1910 Rondes de Printemps from Images for orchestra by Claude Debussy (47) is performed for the first time, in Paris, conducted by the composer.
Der Wind, a Tanzallegorie by Franz Schreker (31) to a story by Wiesenthal, is performed for the first time, in Vienna.
3 March 1910 Nicaraguan rebels resort to guerrilla tactics in hopes that the United States will intervene on their behalf.
5 March 1910 A chorus by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (†16), The Golden Cloud Did Sleep, to words of Lermontov, is performed for the first time, in Moscow, 23 years after it was composed.
6 March 1910 Piano Sonata no.1 op.1 by Sergey Prokofiev (18) is performed for the first time, by the composer, in Moscow. Also premiered is Prokofiev’s Four Studies for piano op.2.
8 March 1910 King Alfonso XIII authorizes women to attend university in Spain.
The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale bestows a pilot’s license on French citizen Raymonde de Laroche, the first woman to receive one.
9 March 1910 Samuel Osmond Barber II is born at 35 High Street in West Chester, Pennsylvania, first of two children born to Roy Barber, a physician, and Marguerite McLeod Beatty, daughter of a minister.
10 March 1910 Slavery is abolished in China.
12 March 1910 A memorial tablet to Thomas Augustine Arne (†132) is unveiled in St. Paul’s, Covent Garden on the 200th anniversary of his birth. On it are inscribed the opening measures of “Rule, Britannia.”
Two Romanian Dances op.8a for piano by Béla Bartók (28) are performed for the first time, by the composer, in Paris. Also on the program, movements 2 and 3 of the Sonata for cello and piano op.4 by Zoltán Kodály (27) are performed for the first time, Béla Bartók (28) at the piano. Bartók’s Fourteen Bagatelles are also given their first public performance. It is a concert of all-Hungarian music unprecedented in the French capital. See 29 June 1908 and 17 March 1910.
13 March 1910 The Fairy-Tale for cello and piano by Leos Janácek (55) is performed for the first time, in Brünn (Brno).
14 March 1910 Séguidille, one of the Trois mélodies for voice and piano by Manuel de Falla (33) to words of Gautier, is performed for the first time, at the Schola Cantorum, Paris, the composer at the keyboard. See 4 May 1910.
15 March 1910 Four songs by Charles T. Griffes (25) are performed for the first time, at Elmira College School of Music, Elmira, New York, the composer at the piano: Auf dem Teich, dem Regungslosen and Auf geheimen Waldespfade, both to words of Lenau, and Wohl lag ich einst in Gram and Zwei Könige sassen auf Orkadahl, both to words of Geibel.
17 March 1910 An evening devoted to the music of Zoltán Kodály (27) takes place in Budapest, including the String Quartet no.1 op.2, Piano Music (9 pieces) op.3 and a Sonata for cello and piano op.4 (first complete).
Mese Mariano, an opera by Umberto Giordano (42) to words of Di Giacomo, is performed for the first time, in Teatro Massimo, Palermo.
18 March 1910 The Pipe of Desire by Frederick S. Converse (39) becomes the first opera by an American to be performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
19 March 1910 At his first “composer’s evening”, in Budapest, Béla Bartók’s (28) String Quartet no.1 is heard for the first time. This concert and the all-Kodály evening two days ago will be known as “the double birthday of modern Hungarian music.”
Walter Damrosch and the New York Symphony read through the last three movements of Charles Ives’ (35) First Symphony in New York. Unable to negotiate the three against two in the second movement, Damrosch advises Ives to “make up your mind.” See 26 April 1953.
20 March 1910 Indian Home Rule by Mohandas K. Gandhi is published in English in Phoenix, Natal. The original Gujarati version is banned in India.
21 March 1910 Gustav Mahler (49) conducts his farewell performance at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. It is Tchaikovsky’s (†16) Queen of Spades. It is the last time he conducts an opera.
Ballade in f minor op.69 for violin and piano by Arthur Foote (57) is performed for the first time, in Boston, the composer at the keyboard.
26 March 1910 Finnish Fantasy op.88 for orchestra by Alyeksandr Glazunov (44) is performed for the first time, in St. Petersburg.
27 March 1910 An Easter celebration in Ököritó (Ököritófülpös), Hungary turns tragic when the barn in which it is happening catches fire. Over 300 people are killed and 100 injured.
28 March 1910 Henri Fabre successfully tests his Hydravion at Martigues, France. Flying 457 meters, it is the first sea plane.
29 March 1910 The Oceanographic Museum at Monaco is formally inaugurated. During the ceremonies, Ouverture du fête op.133 for orchestra by Camille Saint-Saëns (74) and La Nef triomphale for chorus and orchestra by Jules Massenet (67) to words of Aicard are performed for the first time. 30 March 1910 Luigi Luzzatti replaces Sidney, Baron Sonnino as Prime Minister of Italy.
Theodor Wulf takes an electroscope to the top of the Eiffel Tower and over the next four days discovers that the Earth is bombarded by high energy rays from outer space.
4 April 1910 Pietro Mascagni (46) and Anna Lolli, a 22-year-old chorus member at the Teatro Costanzi, Rome, fall in love. They will continue their liaison until his death 35 years from now.
5 April 1910 Gustav Mahler (49) and his family sail from New York after his third season in the United States.
6 April 1910 Incidental music to Lybeck’s play The Lizard by Jean Sibelius (44) for violin and string quintet, is performed for the first time, at the Swedish Theatre, Helsinki, directed by the composer.
A Somerset Rhapsody op.21/2 for orchestra by Gustav Holst (35) is performed for the first time, in Queen’s Hall, London conducted by the composer.
9 April 1910 The third incarnation of the Telharmonium is demonstrated to 200 invited guests in the Hotel Hamilton in Holyoke, Massachusetts. It is barely noticed by the press.
12 April 1910 The electoral college of Argentina selects Roque Sáenz Peña Lahitte as President.
Gustav Mahler (49) and his family arrive in Cherbourg from New York.
13 April 1910 Voters in the Australian general election give majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate to the Labour Party led by Andrew Fisher. The new Commonwealth Liberal Party, a merger of the Protectionists and the Free Trade Party, becomes the opposition.
14 April 1910 Der Abend for solo voice and orchestra by Alphons Diepenbrock (47) to words of Brentano, is performed for the first time, in the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam.
19 April 1910 German bacteriologist Paul Ehrlich and his Japanese student Sahachiro Hata inform the Congress for Internal Medicine at Wiesbaden of their discovery of arsphenamine and their clinical studies which reveal its effectiveness against syphilis.
20 April 1910 Halley’s Comet comes into view on Earth. It is the first time that photographs are taken of it.
At the inaugural concert of the Société Musical Indépendente at the Salle Gaveau, the song cycle La Chanson d’Eve op.95 by the society’s president Gabriel Fauré (64) to words of van Lerberghe, is given its first complete performance, the composer at the piano. Other premieres heard on this occasion are Ma mère l’oye by the force behind the new society, Maurice Ravel (35) for piano four hands, performed by two pianists aged six and ten, and Claude Debussy’s (47) D’un cahier d’esquisses, performed by Maurice Ravel at the keyboard. See 3 February 1908, 26 May 1909 and 29 January 1912.
21 April 1910 The Cahill Music Machinery Manufacturing Company is incorporated in New Jersey with its main office in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Its purpose is to build Telharmoniums.
Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) dies at his home in Redding, Connecticut at the age of 74.
23 April 1910 Alfredo Casella (26) directs first performances of three of his orchestral works, in the Salle Gaveau, Paris: Symphony no.2, Suite in C major, and the rhapsody Italia.
25 April 1910 While making a house call in Boston, Dr. HHA Beach falls down a flight of stairs. He will not recover from his injuries.
26 April 1910 Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson dies in Paris at the age of 77.
28 April 1910 Louis Paulhan of France wins £10,000 from the Daily Mail when he becomes the first person to fly from London to Manchester.
Idle Wishes op.61/7, a song for voice and piano by Jean Sibelius (44) to words of Runeberg, is performed for the first time, in Helsinki.
29 April 1910 Andrew Fisher replaces Alfred Deakin as Prime Minister of Australia.
1 May 1910 The National Negro Committee, founded last year by WEB DuBois, is transformed into the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
2 May 1910 The Daffodil for male chorus by Carl Nielsen (44), to words of Grundtvig, is performed for the first time, in Copenhagen.
3 May 1910 Gustav Mahler (49) arrives back in Vienna after conducting in Paris and Rome.
A patent is granted to Miller R. Hutchinson by the United States Patent Office for a motor-driven Diaphragm Actuated Horn and Resonator which will be marketed under the name “Klaxon.”
4 May 1910 An earthquake strikes Cartago, Costa Rica killing 700 people.
A bill for the creation of the Canadian Naval Service receives royal assent. Next year, the service will be renamed the Royal Canadian Navy.
Trois Mélodies for voice and piano by Manuel de Falla (33) to words of Gautier are performed completely for the first time, in Salle Gaveau, Paris, the composer at the keyboard. See 14 March 1910.
5 May 1910 Two Sacred Songs op.105 for medium voice and organ by Max Reger (37) are performed for the first time, in Dortmund, the composer at the keyboard.
6 May 1910 King Edward VII of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Emperor of India, dies in London after a short illness. He is succeeded by his son, George V.
8 May 1910 Die Nonnen op.112 for chorus by Max Reger (37) is performed for the first time, in Dortmund.
A second round of voting concludes the French general election with moderate leftists continuing to win a majority of seats.
9 May 1910 The National Assembly of Crete requests union with Greece.
10 May 1910 Sixty members of the Imperial Bolshoy Orchestra, along with four soloists, pianist Alyeksandr Skryabin (38), violinist Alyeksandr Yakovlevich Mogilevsky, tenor Vasily Damayev and cellist Erlich, two German journalists and the leader of all, Sergey Koussevitzky, board a steamboat on the Volga River at Tver. They will cruise the river as far as Astrakhan playing 19 concerts in 11 cities, bringing concert music to these regions for the first time.
14 May 1910 Agreements reached at Brussels between Great Britain, Germany and Belgium settles their various claims to lands around Lake Albert in central Africa.
17 May 1910 Gabriel Fauré’s (65) Preludes nos.1-3, op.103/1-3, are performed for the first time, by the Société Musical Indépendante, Paris.
18 May 1910 Earth passes through the tail of Halley’s Comet.
Pauline Viardot dies in Paris at the age of 88.
20 May 1910 Only one year after the last election, Danish voters go to the polls to elect an new Folketing. The Left Party makes gains and will form the next government.
21 May 1910 The novel The Vagabond by (Sidonie-Gabrielle) Colette begins appearing in serialized form in France.
Gustav Mahler (49) signs a contract with Universal Edition for the publication of his Symphony no.9 and Das Lied von der Erde.
23 May 1910 The French radio service begins broadcasting regular time signals from the Eiffel Tower.
25 May 1910 Southern Morocco is occupied by French troops.
Some of the Préludes for piano (Danseuses de Delphes, Voiles, La cathédrale engloutie, La danse de Puck) by Claude Debussy (47) are performed for the first time, by the composer in Paris.
27 May 1910 A bill to reform antiquated suffrage requirements is rejected by the Prussian Diet.
29 May 1910 06:30 Mily Alyekseyevich Balakirev dies of pleurisy from a cold, in St. Petersburg, aged 73 years, four months, and 27 days. His body will be buried in the cemetery of the Alyeksandr Nevsky Monastery, St. Petersburg.
String Quartet no.1 by Zoltán Kodály (27) is performed for the first time, in Zürich.
31 May 1910 Great Britain joins the former republics of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State with the Cape Colony and the Natal Colony to form the Union of South Africa. Louis Botha, a Boer, becomes its first Prime Minister.
2 June 1910 La fille aux cheveux de lin, one of the Préludes, Book I for piano by Claude Debussy (47), is performed for the first time, in Bechstein Hall, London.
4 June 1910 Alma Mahler meets Walter Gropius for the first time, at Tobelbad, a spa specializing in women’s ailments. For the next three to four weeks they will see each other every day.
Bohuslav Martinu (19) is expelled from the Royal and Imperial State Conservatory of Bohemia for “incorrigible negligence.”
Incidental music to Oehlenschlaeger’s play Hagbarth and Signe by Carl Nielsen (44) is performed for the first time, at a new open air theatre in Copenhagen.
5 June 1910 William Sydney Porter (O. Henry) dies in New York at the age of 47.
7 June 1910 La muse et le poète op.132 for violin, cello and orchestra by Camille Saint-Saëns (74) is performed for the first time, in Queen’s Hall, London. For the premiere, the composer plays a piano reduction of the accompaniment.
9 June 1910 Les temples, op.46/1, the first part of Études antiques for orchestra by Charles Koechlin (42) is performed for the first time, in Salle Gaveau, Paris.
Giacomo Puccini (51) signs a contract in New York to produce La Fanciulla del West in December at the Metropolitan Opera.
10 June 1910 Alphons Diepenbrock (47) begins an intimate relationship with Johanna Jongkindt.
15 June 1910 At the opening of the Bosnian Parliament, a Serbian, Bogdan Zerajich, attempts to murder the governor, General Marian von Varesanin-Vares. He fails and immediately kills himself. Zerajich becomes a martyr to the pan-Serb cause.
18 June 1910 The Mann-Elkins Act is passed by the US Congress, placing telephone and telegraph under federal jurisdiction.
19 June 1910 Richard Strauss (46) conducts the Vienna Opera for the first time, in a production of his own Elektra.
21 June 1910 Pietro Mascagni (46) and the singer Anna Lolli consummate their relationship at Castell’Arquato near Piacenza, the home of his librettist, Luigi Illica. They will continue to celebrate 21 June as their anniversary.
22 June 1910 The German Zeppelin Deutschland becomes the first airship to transport passengers, in Berlin.
24 June 1910 Japanese forces invade Korea.
The United States Congress requires that radio equipment be aboard all American ships leaving American ports.
25 June 1910 The Mann Act is passed by the US Congress. It forbids the transportation across state lines of minors “for the purpose of prostitution or debauchery.”
The Firebird, a ballet by Igor Stravinsky (28) to a scenario by Fokin, is performed for the first time, at the Paris Opéra. After the performance, Claude Debussy (47) is brought on stage to meet the young composer and compliments him warmly.
26 June 1910 António Teixeira de Sousa replaces Francisco António da Veiga Beirão as Prime Minister of Portugal.
28 June 1910 Russia and Japan reach further agreement over Manchuria and Korea at Harbin.
Authorities at the Vienna Music Academy agree to allow Arnold Schoenberg (35) to teach music theory in spite of his ethnic background.
Dr. HHA Beach, husband of Amy Cheney Beach (42), dies at his Boston home, of septicemia following injuries sustained in a fall on 25 April. This will change her life dramatically.
1 July 1910 The Union of South Africa becomes a British dominion.
Anarchists initiate a massive protest in Paris against the execution of Jean-Jacques Liabeuf.
2 July 1910 Anarchist Jean-Jacques Liabeuf is executed by guillotine, convicted of killing a policeman. Many people, including Maurice Ravel (35), believe that Liabeuf was convicted only because he is an anarchist.
3 July 1910 Tsar Nikolay II abolishes self-government in Finland.
4 July 1910 Russia and Japan reach further agreement over Manchuria and Korea.
5 July 1910 Klaus Bernsten replaces Carl Theodor Zahle as Prime Minister of Denmark.
8 July 1910 Edward Elgar (53), Hubert Parry (62), Charles Villiers Stanford (57), Edward German and Alexander Mackenzie all conduct their works at a concert to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra. Elgar and Stanford do not speak to each other.
14 July 1910 Marius Petipa dies in Gurzuf, Russia at the age of 92.
22 July 1910 France creates the military territory of Niger.
Dr. Thomas H. Morgan publishes “Sex-limited inheritance in Drosophila” in Science. It is the first description of sex-linked inherited characteristics.
24 July 1910 Ottoman forces enter Scutari (Shkodër) during the Albanian revolt.
26 July 1910 Ce qu’a vu le vent d’Ouest, one of the Préludes, Book I by Claude Debussy (47), is performed for the first time, in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.
29 July 1910 A letter intended for Alma Mahler from her lover Walter Gropius is sent instead to her husband Gustav Mahler (49) at Toblach. He confronts her with it and the affair is in the open. (There is reason to believe that Gropius sent the letter to Mahler intentionally.)
30 July 1910 A mob of 200 whites in Palestine, Texas open fire on a group of unarmed blacks outside a dancehall. 18 black bodies are found.
31 July 1910 Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen and his mistress Ethel Neave are arrested on board the SS Montrose in the St. Lawrence River at Quebec. He is wanted in Britain for murdering his wife, deboning the body, removing the head and limbs, and burying the remains under the basement of his house. It is the first case of the use of wireless to apprehend a fugitive.
1 August 1910 Having been locked out, miners at three mines in South Wales go on strike.
3 August 1910 Zoltán Kodály (27) marries Emma Sándor, a prize-winning composer, pianist, poet and translator. She will translate the texts of many of Kodály’s vocal compositions into German.
4 August 1910 William Howard Schuman is born in New York, the second of three children of Samuel Schuman, a veteran of the war against Spain who works at a printing company, and Rachel Heilbrunn, daughter of a butcher and an amateur pianist. Due to the intense patriotism of his father, the child is named after President William Howard Taft.
5 August 1910 About this time, Walter Gropius goes to Toblach to meet with Gustav (50) and Alma Mahler. Alma decides to stay with her husband.
9 August 1910 Mayor William Gaynor of New York is shot in the neck by James Gallagher on board the SS Kaiser Wilhelm docked at Hoboken, New Jersey. Gaynor will survive. Gallagher, who had recently been sacked by the city, is arrested and will die in prison in 1913.
13 August 1910 Florence Nightingale dies in London at the age of 90.
14 August 1910 Pierre Schaeffer is born in Nancy, the son of a violinist and a singing teacher.
16 August 1910 President Pedro Montt of Chile dies of a heart attack in Germany.
17 August 1910 Comedy Overture on Negro Themes by Henry F. Gilbert (41) is performed for the first time, in Central Park, New York.
20 August 1910 A fire in the US states of Washington, Idaho, and Montana destroys over 1,200,000 hectares of forest. 87 people are killed.
Francesco Pratella (30) meets Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, the organizer of Futurism, at a concert including some of Pratella’s music at Imola. The two find common ground.
21 August 1910 Elections are held in Greece to a National Assembly to amend the constitution.
22 August 1910 By a treaty concluded today, the Japanese Resident-General in Korea is raised to a Governor-General, effectively annexing the country.
24 August 1910 The Domain of Hurakan op.15 for orchestra by Arthur Farwell (38) is performed for the first time, in Central Park, New York.
26 August 1910 Upset about his relationship with his wife (who has begun a liaison with Walter Gropius) and after cancelling three previous appointments, Gustav Mahler (50) sees Sigmund Freud on approximately this date in Leyden, the Netherlands. They meet at a hotel and then perambulate through the town for four hours. Immediately afterwards, Freud returns to his vacation and Mahler returns to the Tyrol.
William James dies in Tamworth, New Hampshire at the age of 68.
28 August 1910 Prince Nikola I Petrovic-Njegos of Montenegro takes on the title of king. The principality is now a kingdom.
29 August 1910 The Japanese annexation of Korea is made public. Count Masatake Terauchi becomes the first Japanese governor of Korea.
30 August 1910 In the Faery Hills for orchestra by Arnold Bax (26) is performed for the first time, in Queen’s Hall, London.
1 September 1910 Ferruccio Busoni (44) gives a month of recitals and master classes in Basel beginning today.
Fantasia on English Folk Songs, a work for orchestra by Ralph Vaughan Williams (37), is performed for the first time, in Queen’s Hall, London.
2 September 1910 Henri Rousseau dies in Paris at the age of 66.
3 September 1910 Gustav Mahler (50) travels from Vienna to Munich for the premiere of his Symphony no.8.
5 September 1910 Gustav Mahler (50) forces himself out of his sick bed to conduct the first rehearsal of his Symphony no.8 in Munich. Those who know him are surprised by his emaciated appearance.
6 September 1910 Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis for string orchestra by Ralph Vaughan Williams (37) is performed for the first time, in Gloucester, conducted by the composer.
7 September 1910 The Dresden Court Opera notifies Richard Strauss (46) that it will not produce Der Rosenkavalier if he continues to insist that they also produce Salome and Elektra.
8 September 1910 The Violin Concerto of Edward Elgar (53) is performed for the first time, privately, in Gloucester. See 10 November 1910.
10 September 1910 The International Court at The Hague awards reparations of $54,000,000 to the United States for losses suffered during the rebellion of 1899 in Venezuela.
11 September 1910 Demonstrators favoring opposition candidate Francisco Madero throw stones through the window of the house of dictator Porfirio Díaz in Mexico City. The crowd is run down by police on horseback.
12 September 1910 Symphony no.8 “of a thousand” for three sopranos, two altos, tenor, baritone, bass, boys chorus, mixed chorus, and orchestra by Gustav Mahler (50) to the medieval hymn Veni Creator Spiritus and words of Goethe, is performed for the first time, at the Neue Musik Festhalle, Munich, conducted by the composer. The performers include eight soloists, 170 in the orchestra (plus organ) and 850 singers (both children and adult). It is the greatest success of Mahler’s life. Among the glittering audience are Camille Saint-Saëns (74), Alphons Diepenbrock (48), Richard Strauss (46), Paul Dukas (44), Max Reger (37), Alfredo Casella (27), Anton Webern (26), Auguste Rodin, Lilli Lehmann, Siegried Wagern, Willem Mengelberg, Bruno Walter, Leopold Stokowski, and Thomas Mann. Mann will send Mahler a copy of his new book Königliche Hoheit. “It is certainly a very poor return for what I received—a mere feather’s weight in the hand of the man who, as I believe, expresses the art of our time in its profoundest and most sacred form.” It is the last time Mahler and Strauss meet.
15 September 1910 The first general election of the Union of South Africa takes place, three months after the effective union. The National Party of Louis Botha wins a majority of the 121 seats.
16 September 1910 The new Greek Assembly to amend the constitution meets in Athens.
A meeting of the South Wales Miners Federation decides to support the strikers of 1 August.
27 September 1910 Mexican dictator Porfirio Díaz is once again declared “elected”, precipitating the Mexican Revolution.
29 September 1910 Gimbel’s opens its New York department store.
Winslow Homer dies in his studio in Prout’s Neck, Maine at the age of 74.
30 September 1910 Ferruccio Busoni (44) gives the first performance of two of his piano works in the Musikhochschule, Basel: Sonatina no.1 and Fantasia Contrappuntistica.
1 October 1910 President Hermes da Fonseca of Brazil arrives in Lisbon, providing a pretext for widespread republican demonstrations.
01:07 A bomb explodes in an alley next to the building housing the Los Angeles Times. It is too small to destroy the building but it ignites a gas line and the entire building is engulfed in flames. 21 people are killed. Union members are blamed. The publisher, Harrison Gray Otis, recently raised thousands of dollars to break the strike of iron workers in Los Angeles.
3 October 1910 In an attempt to placate its opponents, the Portuguese government suppresses the Society of Jesus. Meanwhile, the army refuses to put down a mutiny of crews of two warships in the Tejo.
Frenchman René Thomas collides with Englishman Bertram Dickson while flying over Milan. It is the first midair crash in history. Both pilots are injured but survive.
4 October 1910 11:00 Revolution in Portugal begins as two rebellious gunboat crews shell the royal palace in Lisbon. The army refuses to intervene. At 14:00, King Manuel II flees the city by car.
Incidental music to Verhagen’s play Marsyas, or The Enchanted Spring by Alphons Diepenbrock (48) is performed for the first time, in the Paleis voor Voksvlijt, Amsterdam.
5 October 1910 Revolutionary troops land at the Terreiro do Paço, Lisbon. At 07:00 the German chargé d’affaires requests an armistice to cover a retreat of German nationals. Under cover of this white flag, revolutionary forces take control of the city. A provisional republican government is established under Joaquim Teófilo Fernandes Braga. King Manuel flees to Britain.
7 October 1910 Mexican opposition candidate Francisco Madero escapes into Texas. In San Antonio he will publish his manifesto, declaring the election void and himself provisional president. He also calls for revolution, beginning 20 November.
8 October 1910 An exhibition of the paintings of Arnold Schoenberg (36) opens in Vienna.
Two works for orchestra by Jean Sibelius (44) are performed for the first time, in Christiania (Oslo), conducted by the composer: In memoriam op.59, and the tone poem The Dryad. The composition of In memoriam was inspired by the assassination of the Russian governor-general of Finland in 1904. Also premiered is Sibelius’ song The Tree op.57/5 to words of Josephson.
10 October 1910 The new Portuguese government orders the expulsion of the Society of Jesus from the country.
Primary School Children’s March for children’s chorus by Jean Sibelius (44) to words of Pekka is performed for the first time, simultaneously at several Finnish primary schools.
11 October 1910 Workers begin a strike on the Northern Railway of France. Prime Minister Briand responds by conscripting 30,000 of the workers and ordering them to maintain the railroad.
Francesco Pratella (30) issues his Manifesto dei Musicisti Futuristi in Milan. He calls on young composers to leave conservatories and ignore critics and give up music for sale.
12 October 1910 A nationwide strike begins in the French transportation industry.
Max Reger (37) receives an honorary MD from the faculty of medicine at the University of Berlin since “the harmoniousness of his music raises the spirits of those stricken with melancholy and heals sick minds.”
The Symphony no.1 “A Sea Symphony” by Ralph Vaughan Williams for soprano, baritone, mixed chorus, and orchestra, to words of Whitman, is performed for the first time, in Leeds, conducted by the composer on his 38th birthday.
Roque Sáenz Peña Lahitte replaces José Figueroa Alcorta as President of Argentina.
13 October 1910 Songs of the Fleet op.117 for baritone, chorus, and orchestra by Charles Villiers Stanford (58) to words of Newbolt is performed for the first time, in Leeds.
14 October 1910 A powerful hurricane strikes western Cuba and over the next three days makes a loop over the area. It is one of the worst natural disasters to hit Cuba, with floods and mudslides causing 100-700 deaths, villages destroyed and millions of dollars in damage.
15 October 1910 Prime Minister Teófilo Braga is named the first President of the Republic of Portugal.
17 October 1910 The provisional government of Portugal abolishes monarchy and banishes the royal family.
Julia Ward Howe dies in Portsmouth Rhode Island at the age of 91.
18 October 1910 In the face of conscription, the strike on the Northern Railway of France is ended.
Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen is tried in London for the murder of his wife and the dismemberment of her body. The jury takes 27 minutes to convict him.
Howard’s End by EM Forster is published in London.
Gustav Mahler (50) sails from Bremerhaven aboard the Kaiser Wilhelm II for New York.
19 October 1910 Eleftherios Kiriakou Venizelos, a Cretan, replaces Stephanos Nikolaou Dragoumis as Prime Minister of Greece.
Alma Mahler, her daughter and nurse join Gustav Mahler (50) aboard the Kaiser Wilhelm II in Boulogne for the crossing to New York and his fourth season in America. (This could be 20 October)
20 October 1910 RMS Olympic is launched at Belfast. At 269 meters it is the biggest ship in the world.
23 October 1910 Vajiravudh (Rama VI) replaces Chulalongkorn (Rama V) as King of Siam.
The Orquesta Sinfónica of Barcelona gives its inaugural concert.
24 October 1910 Naughty Marietta, an opera by Victor Herbert (51) to words of Young, is performed for the first time, at the Wieting Opera House in Syracuse, New York.
25 October 1910 Gustav (50) and Alma Mahler arrive in New York for his fourth season in the city. Also disembarking are the singers Mary Garden, John McCormack, and Charles Dalmorès. Large crowds have gathered for their arrival.
26 October 1910 Hey Nonny No for chorus and orchestra by Ethel Smyth (52) to anonymous words, is performed for the first time, in Queen’s Hall, London.
27 October 1910 The recently victorious conservative rebels in Nicaragua sign the Dawson Pact. In return for United States recognition, they agree to convene a constituent assembly which will ensure the election of conservatives to all important posts. They must guarantee the “legitimate rights of foreigners” and make good all claims of foreign companies. They must then negotiate a loan, even though the government shows a surplus. This is so the United States can have greater control over the nation’s economy.
28 October 1910 Percy Grainger’s (28) orchestral works Mock Morris and Molly on the Shore are performed publicly for the first time, in Copenhagen.
1 November 1910 This month, the Journal of the American Medical Association, publishes an article by Dr. James B. Herrick which describes sickle-cell anemia.
On the day that the strike by 147,000 South Wales miners goes into effect, 30,000 other miners decide to join the strike in solidarity.
Gustav Mahler (50) conducts the first concert of his last season with the New York Philharmonic.
3 November 1910 The new republican government of Portugal legalizes divorce.
The Chicago Grand Opera Company is organized.
4 November 1910 Amy Beach (43) is baptized into the Episcopal faith in Emmanuel Church, Boston.
Three Sketches for piano by Frank Bridge (31) is performed for the first time, in Bechstein Hall, London.
5 November 1910 Suite from The Firebird for orchestra by Igor Stravinsky (28) is performed for the first time, in St. Petersburg. See 25 June 1910.
A newly constructed building to house the Institute of Musical Art (Juilliard School) is dedicated at the corner of Claremont Avenue and 122nd Street in New York.
7 November 1910 In the midst of a miners strike, the only South Wales colliery still operating, Llwynypia, is surrounded by strikers and furious battles take place with police.
Phil O. Parmalee carries a shipment of silk from Dayton to Columbus, Ohio in his Wright airplane. It is the first commercial air transport flight.
Naughty Marietta, an opera by Victor Herbert (51) to words of Young, is performed for the first time in New York, in the New York Theatre.
8 November 1910 Serious fighting resumes at Llwynypia, Wales. 500 strikers and 80 policemen are injured.
Voting in the United States for the House of Representatives results in big gains for the opposition Democratic Party who increase their numbers by almost 60 and take control of the House. Victor Berger of Wisconsin becomes the first member of the Socialist Party elected to the US Congress. The State of Washington grants its female citizens the right to vote.
9 November 1910 Two songs for voice and piano by Jean Sibelius (44) to words of Josephson are performed for the first time, in Helsinki: Friendship op.57/7, and The Elfing op.57/8.
10 November 1910 The Violin Concerto of Edward Elgar (53) is performed publicly for the first time, in Queen’s Hall, London, conducted by the composer and featuring dedicatee Fritz Kreisler as soloist. The audience affords it “rapturous applause” which lasts for 15 minutes. See 8 September 1910.
14 November 1910 Lt. Eugene Ely, USN becomes the first person to fly an airplane off a ship, the cruiser USS Birmingham in Hampton Roads, Virginia.
15 November 1910 Hermes Rodrigues da Fonseca replaces Nilo Procópio Peçanha as President of Brazil.
Incidental music to Cammaerts’ (tr. Brand) play The Two Hunchbacks by Frank Bridge (31) is performed for the first time, in the Savoy Theatre, London, directed by the composer.
19 November 1910 Mexican opposition leader Francisco Madero crosses from Texas into Mexico.
20 November 1910 Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy dies at Astapovo train station at the age of 82.
Quatre morceaux op.56 for piano by Alyeksandr Skryabin (38) are performed for the first time, in St. Petersburg by the composer.
The poema tragico Semirama by Ottorino Respighi (31) to words of Cerè is performed for the first time, in Teatro Comunale, Bologna.
Francisco Madero openly calls for revolution against the Mexican dictator Porfirio Díaz at Ciudad Porfirio Díaz (Piedras Negras). The appearance of federal troops forces him to flee back into Texas. Other uprisings occur in the country, most successfully at San Isidro (Orozco, Chihuahua) led by Pascual Orozco.
23 November 1910 Charles Hardinge, Baron Hardinge of Penshurst replaces Gilbert John Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, Earl of Minto as Viceroy of India.
Notorious convicted wife-murderer Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen is hanged in Pentonville Prison, London.
25 November 1910 With a gift of $10,000,000, Andrew Carnegie announces the creation of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, on his 75th birthday.
27 November 1910 Pascual Orozco, a storekeeper, and Pancho Villa, a bandit, lead a force which defeats Mexican federal troops at Pedernales. They are now masters of southern Chihuahua state.
28 November 1910 Engelbert Humperdinck (56), his wife and eldest daughter sail for New York for the premiere of his new opera Königskinder.
The Liberal Party, formed to support the candidacy of Eleftherios Venizelos, wins 300 of 369 seats in the Greek Parliament.
30 November 1910 The opera Macbeth by Ernest Bloch (30) to words of Fleg after Shakespeare, is performed for the first time, at the Opéra-Comique, Paris. Reaction is widely mixed.
The New York Times reports that a production of Richard Strauss’ (46) Salome starring Mary Garden, scheduled for 2 December, has been cancelled. The police asked that “offensive” parts of the opera be toned down. The soprano refused and the production was cancelled.
1 December 1910 Viktor Alexander von Otto replaces Konrad Wilhelm von Rüger as Prime Minister of Saxony.
3 December 1910 The Paris Motor Show opens. During the show, Georges Claude makes the first public demonstration of his “glow discharge” tubes. They are the first neon lights.
5 December 1910 The symphonic poem Dreams op.6, by Sergey Prokofiev (19), is performed for the first time, at a student concert in St. Petersburg Conservatory, conducted by the composer.
Gustav Mahler (50) conducts the New York Philharmonic in Pittsburgh.
When Sweet Sixteen, a song play by Victor Herbert (51) to words of Hobart, is performed for the first time, at the Court Square Theatre in Springfield, Massachusetts. See 14 September 1911.
6 December 1910 Gustav Mahler (50) conducts the New York Philharmonic in Cleveland.
7 December 1910 Gustav Mahler (50) meets his wife Alma in Buffalo and they visit Niagara Falls together. This evening, Mahler conducts the New York Philharmonic in Buffalo.
8 December 1910 The Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom for chorus by Sergey Rakhmaninov (37) is performed for the first time, in Moscow. This most sacred work is produced in a secular concert, the religious authorities not having reacted well to the music of Rakhmaninov.
Angelus op.56/1 for chorus by Edward Elgar (53) to anonymous words, is performed for the first time, at the Royal Albert Hall, London.
Gustav Mahler (50) conducts the New York Philharmonic in Rochester, New York.
9 December 1910 Claude Debussy (48) signs a contract to write music for Gabriele D’Annunzio’s mystery play Le martyre de Saint-Sébastien. He is guaranteed 20,000 francs and a percentage of the performances.
Gustav Mahler (50) conducts the New York Philharmonic in Syracuse, New York.
10 December 1910 La fanciulla del West, an opera by Giacomo Puccini (51) to words of Civinini and Zangarini after Belasco, is performed for the first time, before a glittering audience (which includes Engelbert Humperdinck (56)) at the Metropolitan Opera, New York. Although there is no applause through the first act, Puccini, Toscanini, and the cast receive 14 curtain calls at the intermission, 19 after the second act and 14 at the end. Even though the critics are mixed, the production is a spectacular success.
Charles Martin Loeffler (49) marries Elise Fay, member of a wealthy family and eight years his senior, at the home of Frank Webster on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston. The couple became engaged on 6 April 1886. They will move into his recently purchased home in Medfield, Massachusetts.
Gustav Mahler (50) conducts the New York Philharmonic in Utica, New York.
11 December 1910 Neon tubes, recently invented by French physicist Georges Claude, are used for the first time to light sections of the Grand Palais in Paris.
15 December 1910 The symphonic poem Bourgogne by Edgard Varèse (26) is performed for the first time, in Bluthner Hall, Berlin. The performance was made possible through the intervention of Richard Strauss (46). The critics are scathing. Varèse will destroy this manuscript about 1962.
The Piano Concerto op.114 by Max Reger (37) is performed for the first time, in Leipzig.
17 December 1910 The legislature of the new Union of South Africa opens. The new nation holds dominion status within the British Empire.
19 December 1910 The first four of the Chants populaires for voice and piano by Maurice Ravel (35) is performed for the first time, in the Salle des Agriculteurs, Paris. See 23 February 1975.
17 days of voting in the British general election conclude with the state of the parties virtually unchanged. Liberal Prime Minister Asquith once again forms a minority government with the support of the Irish Parliamentary Party.
20 December 1910 Mayor J. Barry Mahool of Baltimore signs an ordinance requiring that citizens of different races reside in different areas of the city. It is the first such ordinance in a major American city.
21 December 1910 Gas explodes in a mine in Over Hulton, Lancashire (Westhoughton) England. Almost 350 men are killed.
24 December 1910 John Philip Sousa (56) and his band sail from New York for Britain at the start of a world tour.
Vocalist Luisa Tetrazzini performs to an audience of 250,000 people at Lotta’s fountain in San Francisco.
25 December 1910 New laws are announced by the republican government of Portugal making civil marriage compulsory, granting equal rights to both sexes in marriage, and ensuring the rights of children.
26 December 1910 The London Palladium is opened.
After great success with La Fanciulla del West, Giacomo Puccini (52) departs New York for Europe.
28 December 1910 Engelbert Humperdinck’s (56) Märchenoper Königskinder, to words of Rosmer (pseud. of Bernstein-Porges), is performed for the first time, at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York. It is very successful and even does better than Puccini’s (52) La fanciulla del West currently playing in the city.
©2004-2016 Paul Scharfenberger
16 July 2016
Last Updated (Saturday, 16 July 2016 04:53)