1911
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1 January 1911 The Northern Territory is separated from South Australia. A small area of New South Wales is separated to form a new Federal Capital Territory.
A law goes into effect in Belgium limiting miners to nine-and-a-half hours of work per day.
Under the terms of the Dawson Pact of last October, Juan J. Estrada is sworn in as President of Nicaragua.
8 January 1911 Florent Schmitt’s (40) symphonic poem La tragedie de Salomé is performed for the first time, in Paris.
10 January 1911 Petre Carp relaces Ion I.Constantin Bratianu as Prime Minister of Romania.
The United States and Honduras sign a treaty allowing for US control of Honduran customs.
14 January 1911 New works by Claude Debussy (48) are performed for the first time, by the Société National de Musique, Paris: Le Promenoir des deux amants, for solo voice and piano to words of Lhermite, and three of the Préludes, Book I (Les collines d’Anacapri, La fille aux cheveux de lin, La sérénade interrompue).
16 January 1911 Through the efforts of Maurice Ravel (35), Erik Satie (44) is given his first important hearing at a concert of the Société Musicale Indépendente. Ravel premieres the Sarabande no.2 from 1887 and the Gymnopédie no.3 from 1888. Also premiered is the Rhapsody no.1 for clarinet and orchestra by Claude Debussy (48). The concert proves a great success.
17 January 1911 A deranged man fires two shots from the spectators’ gallery to the floor of the French Chamber of Deputies in an attempt to kill Prime Minister Aristide Briand. Briand is unhurt but Leon Mirman, Director of Public Relief, is wounded in the leg. He will survive. Spectators and deputies subdue the man and turn him over to police. Police identify him as one who has spent time in an insane asylum for attempting to kill a British diplomat.
18 January 1911 26 Japanese leftists and anarchists are convicted of plotting to kill Emperor Mutsuhito. 24 of them are sentenced to death, the other two to prison terms.
Lt. Eugene Ely, USN becomes the first person to land an airplane on a ship, the cruiser USS Pennsylvania, in San Francisco Bay.
The lease on the US naval base in Magdalena Bay, Mexico expires. The US Navy is forced to leave.
Sonata for cello and piano op.116 by Max Reger (37) is performed for the first time, in Hamburg.
20 January 1911 Ethel Smyth’s (52) feminist anthem March of the Women, to words of Hamilton, is performed for the first time, at a ceremony for released suffragette prisoners.
21 January 1911 The first Monte Carlo Rally takes place, won by Frenchman Henri Rougier driving a Turcat-Méry.
Phantasy in f sharp minor for piano quartet by Frank Bridge (31) is performed for the first time, in Steinway Hall, London.
23 January 1911 Even though she has received a Nobel Prize, Marie Curie’s nomination to the French Academy of Sciences is voted down.
24 January 1911 Eleven of the Japanese leftists and anarchists convicted on 18 January are hanged. Twelve have their sentences commuted to life in prison. The last will be executed tomorrow.
26 January 1911 Der Rosenkavalier op.59, a Komödie für Musik by Richard Strauss (46) to words of Hofmannsthal, is performed for the first time, at the Dresden Court Opera. The production is a great success. This year alone, there will be 50 performances in Dresden and 37 in Vienna. Special trains are run to handle the number of people desirous of seeing the opera.
Two Poems of Verlaine for voice and piano by Igor Stravinsky (28) is performed for the first time, in St. Petersburg.
28 January 1911 Arnold Bax (27) marries Elsa Luisa (Elsita) Sobrino. Her father is a concert pianist, her mother an operatic soprano.
The Suite in f# minor op.14 for piano by Albert Roussel (41) is performed for the first time, at the Salle Pleyel, Paris.
Christmas Day for chorus and orchestra by Gustav Holst (36) is performed for the first time, at Morley College, London.
5 February 1911 Trois ballades de Villon, for solo voice and piano by Claude Debussy (48) is given its first complete performance, in Paris.
9 February 1911 Incidental music to Browne’s play Everywoman by George Whitefield Chadwick (56) is performed for the first time, in Parsons Theatre, Hartford, Connecticut.
12 February 1911 Two works for orchestra by Béla Bartók (29) are performed for the first time, in Budapest: a Romanian Dance, and the first of the Two Portraits. See 20 April 1916.
16 February 1911 Edward Elgar’s (53) Romance for bassoon and orchestra op.62 is performed for the first time, in Hereford, directed by the composer.
17 February 1911 Edward Elgar (53) agrees to replace Hans Richter as principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra.
18 February 1911 Clara Marcy, mother of Amy Beach (43), dies in Boston, eight months after the death of Dr. Beach. The composer is on her own, without family ties to hold her back.
21 February 1911 Against his doctor’s orders, Gustav Mahler (50) conducts the New York Philharmonic in Carnegie Hall while he is suffering with a fever from his recurring throat ailment. It turns out to be his last performance. He directs the premiere of Berceuse élégiaque op.42 for orchestra by Ferruccio Busoni (45).
22 February 1911 Anton von Webern (27) marries Wilhelmine Mörtl, the daughter of Webern’s uncle, a notary, in a civil ceremony in the courthouse of Danzig. After she became pregnant last autumn, the pair made every effort to marry in the Church. Application was made for papal dispensation, owing to the fact that they were first cousins. Without response from the Church, the two are forced into a civil ceremony. The Church will finally bless the union in 1915, after the birth of three children.
24 February 1911 Concertmaster Theodore Spiering fills in for the ailing Gustav Mahler (50) in conducting the New York Philharmonic. Ferruccio Busoni (44) conducts his own Berceuse élégiaque. Spiering will conduct subsequent concerts as well.
25 February 1911 Emanuel Libman, the foremost expert on endocarditis in New York, meets with Gustav Mahler (50) in Mahler’s rooms at the Hotel Savoy. Libman has been consulted by Mahler’s doctor, Joseph Fraenkel. He makes a bacteriological study and confirms the diagnosis of endocarditis.
26 February 1911 Aux étoiles for orchestra by Henri Duparc (63) is performed for the first time, in Paris.
Ferruccio Busoni (44) dines at the New York home of Arturo Toscanini. The conductor attended the New York Philharmonic concert of 21 February. The two are instant soul mates. Busoni plays on Toscanini’s Steinway, which pleases him greatly.
27 February 1911 The Captain’s Daughter, an opera by Cesar Cui (76) after Pushkin, is performed for the first time, in the Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg.
Maurice Ravel’s (35) orchestration of his Pavane pour une Infante défunte is performed for the first time, in Manchester. See 5 April 1902.
3 March 1911 The Sacrifice, an opera by Frederick S. Converse (40) to words of Macy and the composer, is performed for the first time, in Boston.
4 March 1911 Antoine Emmanuel Ernest Monis replaces Aristide Briand as Prime Minister of France.
6 March 1911 Interlude d’orgue op.42/6 by Charles Koechlin (43) is performed for the first time, in Salle Gaveau, Paris.
7 March 1911 When the US ambassador to Mexico tells him that the unrest in Mexico may threaten American lives, President Taft orders 20,000 troops to the Mexican border.
8 March 1911 Alan Vaness Chakmakjian is born in Somerville, Massachusetts to Haroutiun Chakmakjian, a chemistry professor, and Madeline Scott.
The Guarantors’ Committee of the New York Philharmonic Society votes to end negotiations with its present conductor Gustav Mahler (50) under conditions he set forth, and to approach Felix Weingartner to conduct the orchestra next season.
A revised version of Järnefelt’s play Death takes place in Helsinki. Jean Sibelius’ (45) music is used with two new numbers: Canzonetta op.62a and Valse romantique op.62b.
9 March 1911 Thomas Cahill, representing his New York Cahill Telharmonic Company, signs a franchise agreement with the City of New York, signed by Mayor William J. Gaynor. They are now allowed to place their cables under New York streets for the next 25 years.
10 March 1911 A rebellion begins in Morelos state, Mexico to protest the dispossession of campesinos by wealthy landowners. It is led by Emiliano Zapata.
11 March 1911 Albert Roussel’s (41) La ménace op.9 for voice and orchestra, to words of Régnier, is performed for the first time, in Paris.
Two piano works in honor of Franz Joseph Haydn (†101) are performed for the first time, at the Salle Pleyel, Paris: Menuet sur le nom d’Haydn, by Maurice Ravel (36) and Homage à Haydn, by Claude Debussy (48).
String Quartet “de la guitarra” op.4 by Joaquín Turina (28) is performed for the first time, in Salle Pleyel, Paris.
New works by Enrique Granados (43) are performed for the first time, in the Palau de Musica Catalana, Barcelona by the composer: the piano suite Goyescas (public premiere), Cant de les estrelles for piano, organ, and chorus, to words of Heine translated into Catalan, and Azulejos for piano by Isaac Albéniz (†1) finished by Granados.
11 March 1911 Alma Mahler writes to Walter Gropius from New York and, for the first time, reveals the serious nature of Gustav Mahler’s (50) condition.
12 March 1911 A String Sextet op.118 by Max Reger (37) is performed for the first time, in Leipzig.
14 March 1911 Déjanire, a drame lyrique by Camille Saint-Saëns (75) to his own words and Gallet after Sophocles, is performed for the first time, in Monaco. See 28 August 1892.
15 March 1911 Prométhée, le poème du feu, for orchestra, piano, organ, chorus, and light machine by Alyeksandr Skryabin (39), is performed for the first time, in Moscow. The composer is at the piano while Sergey Koussevitzky conducts. This performance is without the light machine. See 20 March 1915.
16 March 1911 The third group of Choral Hymns from the Rig-Veda by Gustav Holst (36) to his own translation, for female chorus, harp, and orchestra, is performed for the first time, in Blackburn.
17 March 1911 Anna Rogstad is seated as the first female member of the Norwegian Storting.
Aretusa for mezzo-soprano and orchestra by Ottorino Respighi (31), to words of Shelley, is performed for the first time, in Teatro Comunale, Bologna.
18 March 1911 Anton Bruckner’s (†14) Abendzauber op.57 for baritone, male chorus, three yodelers, and four horns, is performed for the first time, in Vienna.
22 March 1911 The second group of Choral Hymns from the Rig-Veda by Gustav Holst (36) to his own translation, for female chorus and orchestra, is performed for the first time, in Queen’s Hall, London.
23 March 1911 At a meeting of the Woman’s Suffrage Party in Albert Hall, a ceremony takes place honoring Ethel Smyth (52). She is presented with a gold baton.
24 March 1911 As part of a judicial reform, Denmark abolishes corporal punishment.
25 March 1911 16:40 Fire breaks out on the top three floors of the Asch Building in New York containing the sweatshop of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company. Within one-half hour the fire is brought under control, but not before 146 people are killed, mostly young immigrant women. Many die by jumping from the inferno. Some escape doors have been locked by the management.
Claude Debussy’s (48) orchestration of his Children’s Corner Suite is performed for the first time, in Paris, the composer conducting.
27 March 1911 Giovanni Giolitti replaces Luigi Luzzatti as Prime Minister of Italy.
Crépuscule/Twilight op.62, a concert aria for mezzo-soprano and orchestra by Horatio Parker (47) to words of de Beaufort (tr. Whitney), is performed for the first time, in Philadelphia. It wins first prize in a contest sponsored by the National Federation of Music Clubs.
29 March 1911 Ivan Evstratiev Geshov replaces Aleksandur Pavlov Malinov as Prime Minister of Bulgaria.
A prelude and parts of Acts I and II of Sorochintsy Fair, an opera by Modest Musorgsky (†30), orchestrated by Lyadov and edited by Karatigin, are performed for the first time, privately, in St. Petersburg. See 30 December 1911.
Four of the Préludes Book I by Claude Debussy (48) are performed for the first time, in Paris by the composer: Les Sons et les Parfums, Le Vent dans la plaine, Des Pas sur la neige, and Minstrels.
The Suite Symphonique by George Whitefield Chadwick (56) is performed for the first time, in the Philadelphia Academy of Music, conducted by the composer. Reviews are generally favorable.
1 April 1911 Songs of Sunrise, a cycle for chorus by Ethel Smyth (52) to her own words and Hamilton, is performed for the first time, in Queen’s Hall, London, conducted by the composer. The suffragists in the audience like it, the critics do not.
2 April 1911 The First Suite from Maurice Ravel’s (36) yet to be performed ballet Daphnis et Chloé is performed for the first time, in Paris. See 8 June 1912.
3 April 1911 The Symphony no.4 by Jean Sibelius (45) is performed for the first time, in Helsinki directed by the composer. Reaction to the symphony is confused. There is no applause until garlands are brought on stage.
4 April 1911 The Sixty-second Congress of the United States convenes in Washington. Democrats have taken control of the House of Representatives while Republicans still organize the Senate with a reduced majority.
5 April 1911 80,000 people march for four hours along Fifth Avenue, New York, to attend the funeral of those who died in the Triangle Shirtwaist fire.
6 April 1911 The Fantasiestücke op.2 for oboe and string quartet by Gustav Holst (36) are performed for the first time, at the Oxford and Cambridge Musical Club.
Rincones Sevillanos op.5 for piano by Joaquín Turina (28) is performed for the first time, in Paris.
7 April 1911 Symphony no.2 op.19 by Karol Szymanowski (28) is performed for the first time, in Warsaw. The press is positive.
8 April 1911 Gustav (50) and Alma Mahler depart New York aboard the SS Amerika. Also on board is Mahler’s friend, Ferruccio Busoni (45).
10 April 1911 Four Pieces for piano op.3 by Sergey Prokofiev (19) is performed for the first time, in St. Petersburg. The music of Arnold Schoenberg (36) is heard in Russia for the first time, when Prokofiev (19) plays the Klavierstücke op.11 on the same program.
Lili Boulanger (17) travels with her mother to Nice to take advantage of healing baths there. They will remain in Nice for a month.
11 April 1911 Lied et Scherzo op.54 for horn or cello, nine winds, and piano by Florent Schmitt (40) is performed for the first time, in Salle des Agricultueurs, Paris (cello solo).
15 April 1911 The foundation of the New Hungarian Music Society (UMZE) is announced in an issue of Zeneközlöny by Sândor Kovács.
16 April 1911 Gustav (50) and Alma Mahler reach Cherbourg aboard the Amerika.
17 April 1911 05:00 Gustav (50) and Alma Mahler reach Paris by train and take rooms at the Elysée Palace Hotel.
20 April 1911 France sends troops to Fez, Morocco in apparent violation of the Algeciras agreement of 1906.
21 April 1911 Church and state are separated in Portugal by the new republican government.
Gustav Mahler (50) is transported by car from the Elysée Palace Hotel in Paris to a clinic in Neuilly for treatment of his condition.
24 April 1911 Disciples of Arnold Schoenberg (36) figure prominently in a performance at the Ehrbarsaal, Vienna. Premiered this evening are two works by Alban Berg (26), the Piano Sonata op.1 and the String Quartet op.3, along with the Four Pieces for violin and piano op.7 by Anton von Webern (27).
25 April 1911 Piano Sonata no.1 in f# minor by Arnold Bax (27) is performed for the first time, in Bechstein Hall, London. The audience is very pleased.
28 April 1911 One of the Hymns from the Rig-Veda for solo voice and piano op.24/3a by Gustav Holst (36) to his own translation, is performed for the first time, in Bechstein Hall, London.
29 April 1911 Adolf II replaces Georg II as Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe.
30 April 1911 The constitutional court in Portugal authorizes women to vote.
1 May 1911 Mexican rebels capture Durango from government forces.
2 May 1911 Invocation op.19/2 for cello and orchestra by Gustav Holst (36) is performed for the first time, in Queen’s Hall, London.
Pietro Mascagni (47) arrives in Buenos Aires to produce Isabeau.
3 May 1911 Alban Berg (26) marries Helene Nahowski, the daughter of an Austrian civil servant. The bride’s father is so opposed to the marriage (on the grounds of Berg’s ill health and lack of profession) that as a condition of his consent, the couple must become Protestant, in order to facilitate a divorce. They will return to Catholicism and remarry in the Church before Berg enters the army in 1915.
By a unanimous decision of the judges, Mona by Horatio Parker (47) is chosen as the winner of a contest sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera of New York for an opera in English composed by a native-born American. See 14 March 1912.
4 May 1911 The New York Times announces that Joseph Stransky has been hired to replace Gustav Mahler (50) as conductor of the New York Philharmonic.
5 May 1911 Kahlil Gibran draws a portrait of Arthur Farwell (39) at Farwell’s New York studio. Gibran intends to include it in his publication of portraits of important men of art and knowledge. Farwell is extremely pleased with the drawing and expresses his desire that a photograph be made of it.
8 May 1911 The Archbishop of Paris forbids Catholics to attend Claude Debussy’s (48) setting of D’Annunzio’s mystery play Le martyre de Saint-Sébastien in which Ida Rubenstein, a Jew, is to play the title role.
Iceland grants suffrage to women.
9 May 1911 Edward Elgar (53) arrives in Liverpool from New York after a conducting tour of North America.
Valses nobles et sentimentales for piano by Maurice Ravel (36) is performed for the first time, at the Salle Gaveau, Paris. See 22 April 1912.
10 May 1911 Mexican revolutionaries under Orazco and Pancho Villa capture Ciudad Juárez from federal troops.
11 May 1911 Béla Bartók’s (30) collection of Romanian folk songs of the Bihar district is accepted for publication by the Romanian Academy of Sciences.
Gustav Mahler (50) is examined in Paris by Viennese specialist Franz Chvostek. Chvostek suspects the worst and orders Mahler to Vienna as soon as possible.
12 May 1911 17:55 After unsuccessful treatments at a clinic in Neuilly, Gustav Mahler (50) arrives in Vienna, aware that he is terminally ill. He is placed in Loew Sanatorium.
The Festival of Empire opens at the Crystal Palace in London. It will run through October. Exhibits from all the dominions and elsewhere in the Empire are designed to give the average English citizen an idea of just how much they rule.
13 May 1911 Four Old Hungarian Folk-songs for male chorus by Béla Bartók (30) are performed for the first time, in Szeged.
15 May 1911 The Supreme Court of the United States finds that Standard Oil Company is an illegal trust and is guilty of restraint of trade. It must be dissolved within six months.
16 May 1911 Gabriel Fauré’s (66) scène biblique Rébecca, to words of Collin, is performed for the first time in an orchestral setting, at the Salle Gaveau, Paris. See 15 March 1881.
18 May 1911 Four Dirges and Three Burlesques for piano by Béla Bartók (30) are performed for the first time, in Budapest.
23:05 Gustav Mahler dies at the Loew Sanatorium in Vienna of heart disease complicated by a bacterial infection. He is aged 50 years, ten months, and eleven days.
19 May 1911 L’heure espagnole, a comédie musicale by Maurice Ravel (36) to words of Franc-Nohain, is performed for the first time, at the Opéra-Comique, Paris.
21 May 1911 At the beginning of Paris to Madrid air race at Issy, French War Minister Maurice Berteaux is struck by an airplane and killed. Prime Minister Monis and several others are badly injured. Issy is the site of the exploits of Manuel Debussy (father of the composer) during the war of the Commune in 1871.
French troops occupy Fez, Morocco at the request of the Sultan to save him from internal opposition. The Germans think it is a French ruse to occupy the entire country.
Mexican factions come to an agreement outside Ciudad Juárez. President Díaz will resign and turn over the government to Francisco de la Barra, pending new elections.
22 May 1911 The earthly remains of Gustav Mahler are laid to rest in the Grinzing cemetery, Vienna, in the same grave as his daughter. Hundreds of mourners line the route and attend the burial in a steady rain, including Arnold Schoenberg (36), Alfons Diepenbrock (48), Bruno Walter, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Gustav Klimt, and representatives of major artistic organizations in Vienna and beyond.
Incidental music to D’Annunzio’s mystery play Le martyre de St. Sébastien by Claude Debussy (48) is performed for the first time, at the Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris. The work is generally a failure, partly because of yesterday’s accident, partly because the Archbishop of Paris has forbidden Catholics to attend.
23 May 1911 Liberal Party leader Istvan Tisza becomes speaker of the Hungarian Parliament while demonstrations erupt outside opposing him.
The New York Public Library opens in ceremonies including President William Howard Taft. The library holds 1,000,000 volumes.
24 May 1911 Almost a week after the death of Mahler, Anton Webern (27) writes to Arnold Schoenberg (36) from Berlin, “Gustav Mahler and you: there I see my course quite distinctly. I will not deviate. God’s blessing on you.”
Dante and Beatrice, a symphonic poem by Granville Bantock (42), is performed for the first time, in Glasgow, under the direction of the composer.
Rima op.6, a song for voice and piano by Joaquín Rodrigo (28) to words of Becquer, is performed for the first time, in Aeolian Hall, London.
The Second Symphony of Edward Elgar (53) is performed for the first time, in Queen’s Hall, London, conducted by the composer. Both the public and critics are confused and lukewarm.
After announcement of the 21 May treaty, crowds swell into the streets of Mexico City demanding the immediate resignation of President Díaz. Federal troops fire into the mob killing 200 people.
The symphonic movement Americanesque by Henry Gilbert (42) is performed for the first time, in Symphony Hall, Boston. It is sometimes titled Humoresque on Negro Minstrel Tunes. The critics are generally positive about the music while noting the particularly bad performance.
25 May 1911 Only a week after the death of Gustav Mahler, Thomas Mann visits Venice and conceives his novella, Tod in Venedig.
President José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori of Mexico, ill with an abscessed tooth, succumbs to popular demands and family pressure and resigns, thus ending 26 years of dictatorship. He is replaced by Francisco León de la Barra y Quijano. The news brings general delirious pandemonium to the capital.
26 May 1911 Germany grants a constitution to Alsace-Lorraine.
Former president Porfirio Díaz leaves Mexico City for exile in Europe.
27 May 1911 Halfar the Schoolmaster for male chorus by Leos Janácek (56) is performed for the first time, in Pils (Plzen).
28 May 1911 Elections are held in Portugal for a constituent assembly.
29 May 1911 William Schwenck Gilbert dies while saving a drowning woman in the artificial lake at his home, Grim’s Dyke.
The Supreme Court of the United States orders the dissolution of the American Tobacco Company as it is a monopoly in violation of the Sherman Anti-trust Act.
31 May 1911 Bombs set by rebels destroy the Presidential Palace in Managua. 18 people are killed.
2 June 1911 A syndicate of US companies is granted all the mineral wealth of Guatemala by that country’s legislature.
Isabeau, a leggenda drammatica by Pietro Mascagni (47) to words of Illica after the Lady Godiva legend, is performed for the first time, at the Teatro Coliseo, Buenos Aires, the composer conducting. It is a success and Mascagni is given 20 curtain calls at the end.
The first movement of a Sonata in d minor for piano by Arnold Bax (27) is performed for the first time, in Aeolian Hall, London.
4 June 1911 Speaker of the Hungarian Parliament Istvan Tisza ends debate on a defense bill illegally. While the majority pass the bill, Social Democrats are removed from the Parliament building by police. They will be barred from several sessions in which increased powers will be given to the monarchy.
7 June 1911 Horatio Parker’s (47) Collegiate Overture op.72 is performed for the first time, in Norfolk, Connecticut.
Hommage, a song for voice and piano by Charles Martin Loeffler (50) to words of Kahn, is performed for the first time, in St. Edward’s Church, Medfield, Massachusetts.
8 June 1911 Edward Elgar (54) conducts the first of his concerts with the London Symphony Orchestra. The hall is only one-quarter full and he refuses to be paid.
10 June 1911 For the first time, the Paris Opéra stages the complete Der Ring des Nibelungen by Richard Wagner (†28), 35 years after it was first performed. It will run through 14 June.
The Fairy Queen by Henry Purcell (†216) is performed for the first time since the life of the composer, in Royal Victoria Hall, London, in a production by Morley College students led by Gustav Holst (36).
11 June 1911 More than 50 amendments to the Greek constitution are adopted, creating an essentially new, liberal constitution.
In an attempt to get over the suicide of his friend, Sergey Prokofiev (22) and his mother depart St. Petersburg for a European tour. See 9 May 1913.
13 June 1911 Petrushka, a ballet by Igor Stravinsky (28) to a story by Benois, is performed for the first time, at the Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris.
American Dances for orchestra by Henry F. Gilbert (42) is performed for the first time, in Symphony Hall, Boston.
14 June 1911 Charles, Baron de Broqueville replaces Frans Schollaert as Prime Minister of Belgium.
16 June 1911 Songs of Sunset, for mezzo-soprano, baritone, chorus and orchestra by Frederick Delius (49) to words of Dowson, is performed for the first time, in Queen’s Hall, London.
17 June 1911 Edward Elgar (54) is officially notified that he is to receive the Order of Merit.
A massive parade of between 40,000-60,000 march on an eight km route through London in favor of suffrage for women. The event is timed around the coronation of King George V. As they march, they sing Ethel Smyth’s (53) March of the Women accompanied by bands.
Arnold Schoenberg (36) completes the last of his Six Little Piano Pieces in response to the death of Gustav Mahler (†0).
22 June 1911 Several works by British composers are heard for the first time, at the coronation of King George V of Great Britain in Westminster Abbey: the Coronation March op.65 and O Hearken Thou op.64 for chorus and orchestra by Edward Elgar (54), the Gloria from the Festal Communion Service op.128 by Charles Villiers Stanford (58), Te Deum in D for chorus and orchestra by Hubert Parry (63), and a revised version of Parry’s coronation anthem I was glad, first heard at the coronation of Edward VII. See 9 August 1902.
L’ocell profeta for voice and piano by Enrique Granados (43) is performed for the first time, in Barcelona.
27 June 1911 Joseph Caillaux replaces Antoine Emmanuel Ernest Monis as Prime Minister of France.
28 June 1911 Paul, Baron Gautsch von Frankenthurn replaces Richard, Baron Beinerth as Prime Minister of Austria.
29 June 1911 A Spring Canticle for chorus and orchestra by Ethel Smyth (53) is performed for the first time, in Queen’s Hall, London, conducted by the composer.
1 July 1911 The German gunboat Panther arrives in Agadir, precipitating a crisis in Morocco. It was sent by the German foreign secretary to protect German interests as France asserts control in Morocco. To the French, it is seen as a threat of war.
The Triad A-1, designed by Glenn Curtiss, flies for the first time. Equipped with a pontoon and retractable wheels, it is the first amphibious airplane, and will become popular with several navies.
Arnold Schoenberg (36) completes his Harmonielehre in Vienna.
3 July 1911 One of Nadia Boulanger’s (23) first pupils begins studying fugue with her, her sister Lili (17).
4 July 1911 Hymn to Liberty op.35 for chorus by Arthur Farwell (39) is performed for the first time, in New York.
7 July 1911 Gian Carlo Menotti is born in Cadegliano, near Lake Lugano, sixth of ten children born to Alfonso Menotti, an affluent businessman and Ines Pellini, an amateur pianist.
8 July 1911 Milovan Milovanovic replaces Nikola Pasic as Prime Minister of Serbia.
9 July 1911 Liliana, a poema by Enrique Granados (43) to words of Mestres, is performed for the first time, in Barcelona. It is a success and the composer is praised in the press.
10 July 1911 The Russian government informs Germany that it supports France in the Morocco crisis.
17 July 1911 The United States Naval Station at Tutuila is renamed American Samoa.
24 July 1911 US explorer Hiram Bingham first sets eyes on Machu Picchu.
1 August 1911 Sergey Prokofiev’s (20) orchestral work Autumn is performed for the first time, in Moscow.
4 August 1911 Arnold Schoenberg (36) and his family depart Vienna to live in Berlin. They will first stay in Munich for two months.
17 August 1911 Two provinces administered by the British South African Company, North-Eastern Rhodesia and North-Western Rhodesia are united to form Northern Rhodesia (Zambia).
18 August 1911 Carl (35) and Charlotte Ruggles return to New York after their first and only trip to Europe.
19 August 1911 Anton Webern (27) writes to Arnold Schoenberg (36): I believe that the disciples of Jesus Christ could not have felt more deeply for their Lord than we for you.
The Potsdam Agreement is concluded between Russia and Germany. Russia supports the Baghdad Railroad in return for a free hand in Persia.
21 August 1911 A new constitution is adopted in Portugal. The monarchy is abolished and the Roman Catholic Church disestablished. Church and state are completely separated.
22 August 1911 Mona Lisa is found missing from the Louvre. It was stolen by Vincenzo Peruggia yesterday. He simply took it off the wall and walked out with it. He will be caught in 1913.
26 August 1911 Incidental music to Gozzi’s play (translated by Vollmoeller) Turandot by Ferruccio Busoni (45) is performed for the first time, in the Deutchestheater, Berlin.
27 August 1911 Speaking in Hamburg, Kaiser Wilhelm II states “No one can dispute with us the place in the sun that is our due.”
30 August 1911 Kimmochi Saionji replaces Prince Taro Katsura as Prime Minister of Japan.
2 September 1911 Manuel José de Arriaga Brum da Silveira e Peyrelongue replaces Joaquim Teófilo Fernandes Braga as President of Portugal.
Spain occupies Ifni on the Moroccan coast.
4 September 1911 João Pinheiro Chagas becomes Prime Minister of Portugal.
5 September 1911 After her husband’s death, Amy Cheney Beach sets sail for Europe in an attempt to gain a reputation as performer and composer, on her 44th birthday.
7 September 1911 Guillaume Apollinaire is arrested and charged with receipt of stolen property, namely Mona Lisa.
9 September 1911 Air mail service begins between Windsor and London.
11 September 1911 Great Britain and other European monarchies recognize the new Republic of Portugal.
13 September 1911 Among the communications received by Arnold Schoenberg in Berlin on the occasion of his 37th birthday is a letter from Anton Webern (27) informing him that the anonymous buyer of three of Schoenberg’s paintings in 1910 was Gustav Mahler (†0).
14 September 1911 Five Mystical Songs for baritone, chorus and orchestra by Ralph Vaughan Williams (38), to words of Herbert, is performed for the first time, in Worcester Cathedral, the composer conducting. A back desk violinist has fallen ill and during the performance his place is quietly taken by Fritz Kreisler. The master is to play the Elgar (54) concerto later in the program and wants to play in a new string. He asks his astonished deskmate to “nudge me if there’s anything difficult and I’ll leave it out.” The composer, glancing to the last row while conducting, thinks he is hallucinating.
During an intermission in a performance of Rimsky-Korsakov’s (†3) opera Tsar Saltan in Kiev, Russian Prime Minister Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin is shot twice at point blank range by Dmitri Bogrov, a revolutionary in police employ. Bogrov is taken into custody by police. The attack takes place within view of the Tsar.
Pennsylvania Station, New York, designed by McKim, Mead, and White, is opened to the public with no ceremony.
18 September 1911 Russian Prime Minister Stolypin dies in Kiev as a result of wounds suffered four days ago.
Martial law is declared in Valencia to deal with a general strike.
21 September 1911 Voting is held to elect the Twelfth Parliament of Canada. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier is defeated and replaced by the Conservatives.
23 September 1911 Vladimir Nikolayevich Kokovtsev replaces the late Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin as Prime Minister of Russia.
50,000 people rally near Belfast against home rule for Ireland.
28 September 1911 Italy announces to Turkey its intentions to seize Libya.
29 September 1911 Turkey responds to Italy that it will accede to all Italian demands short of territorial cession. Italy declares war on the Ottoman Empire. Within hours, Italian ships sink a Turkish torpedo boat in the harbor of Prevesa. This conflict will see the first use of airplanes in warfare.
2 October 1911 A new opera house is inaugurated in Helsinki with Jules Massenet’s (69) La Navarraise.
3 October 1911 The Sonata for violin and piano no.8 op.122 by Max Reger (38) is performed for the first time, in Duisberg, the composer at the keyboard.
4 October 1911 Küçük Mehmed Said Pasha replaces Ibrahim Hakki Pasha as Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire.
6 October 1911 Eine Lustspielouvertüre op.120 for orchestra by Max Reger (38) is performed for the first time, in Boston.
7 October 1911 Karl Albert Staaff replaces Solomon Arvid Achates Lindman as Prime Minister of Sweden.
9 October 1911 While revolutionaries are assembling bombs in Hankow (Hankou), one prematurely explodes. Imperial agents raid the headquarters of the rebels, kill three leaders on the spot, and confiscate a list of members. They are surprised to learn that about one-third of the local army units are on it.
10 October 1911 Revolutionary troops seize the main forts in Wuchang.
Robert Laird Borden replaces Wilfred Laurier as Prime Minister of Canada.
Ferruccio Busoni (45) telegrams Béla Bartók (30), informing him that he is withdrawing from the inaugural concert of the New Hungarian Music Society (UMZE). This withdrawal will cause Bartók and the other organizers to turn from modern works to older music.
String Quartet no.5 op.121 by Max Reger (38) is performed for the first time, in Dresden.
The first five of the Ten Piano Pieces op.58 by Jean Sibelius (45) are performed for the first time, in Helsinki, along with the premiere of the Two Rondinos op.68 for piano.
11 October 1911 Revolutionaries seize Hanyang, its arsenal and factories.
Scènes historiques Suite I by Jean Sibelius (45) is performed for the first time, in Helsinki directed by the composer.
12 October 1911 Troops in Hankow (Hankou) mutiny.
Die Weihe der Nacht op.119 for alto, male chorus, and orchestra by Max Reger (38) is performed for the first time, in Berlin.
20 October 1911 A Norwegian expedition led by Roald Amundsen sets out from their base camp at the Bay of Whales making for the South Pole.
22 October 1911 Army mutinies in Shensi (Shaanxi) and Hunan provinces kill many imperial officials.
23 October 1911 While marching through Mechiya oasis outside Tripoli, Italian troops are set upon by Turks and Arabs, suffering heavy losses. In retribution, Italian troops indiscriminately kill 4,000 residents of the oasis.
The Parliament of Crete again votes for unification with Greece.
26 October 1911 Verzweiflung und Ergbebung, an appendix to the Turandot Suite of Ferruccio Busoni (45), is performed for the first time, in the Deutsches Theater, Berlin for a production of Turandot. See 21 October 1905.
27 October 1911 The Nestor Motion Picture Company of Bayonne, New Jersey, run by brothers David and William Horsley, open the first movie studio in Hollywood, California.
28 October 1911 The Festival of Empire closes at the Crystal Palace after a run of over five months.
29 October 1911 The Hochschule für Frauen opens amidst much fanfare in Leipzig. It is the first college for women in Germany. The primary benefactor is Henri Hinrichsen of CF Peters music publishers.
31 October 1911 Pietro Mascagni (47) gives two farewell concerts in Buenos Aires and after the second, boards ship to return to Italy. During six months in Argentina, Mascagni has conducted 174 performances.
1 November 1911 Francisco Indalecio Madero González replaces Francisco León de la Barra as President of Mexico.
The Chevrolet Motor Company is incorporated in Detroit by William Durant and Louis Chevrolet.
The British expedition under Robert F. Scott departs their base camp on McMurdo Sound making for the South Pole.
Giulio Gavotti becomes the first person to deliver explosives by means of an airplane when he drops four grenades on Turkish troops at Tagiura (Tajura) Oasis and Ain Zara.
3 November 1911 Vladimir Alyekseyevich Ussachevsky is born in Hailar, China, in the far north of Inner Mongolia, the last of four children born to Alyeksey Ivanovich Ussachevsky, a Russian army officer, and Maria Mikhailovna Panov, a professionally trained pianist. The father is posted to northern Manchuria to protect Russian interests on the Trans-Siberian Railway.
Kiangsu (Jiangsu) province declares independence from the Chinese emperor.
Karl, Count Stürgkh replaces Paul, Baron Gautsch von Frankenthurn as Prime Minister of Austria.
4 November 1911 In an agreement signed in Berlin, France and Germany come to terms over conflicting interests in Africa. France receives the right to intervene in Morocco in return for 260,000 sq.km. of the French Congo handed over to Germany.
The MS Selandia is launched at Copenhagen. It is the first diesel-powered ocean-going ship.
5 November 1911 Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti of Italy announces the annexation of Libya.
Calbraith Rodgers lands his airplane at Pasadena, California having completed the first flight across the continent of North America. The trip began in Sheepshead Bay, New York on 17 September and featured 70 stops.
8 November 1911 As the empire disintegrates, the Chinese National Assembly names Yüan Shih-k’ai (Yuan Shikai) as Prime Minister.
11 November 1911 The Chinese imperial court appoints Yüan Shih-k’ai (Yuan Shikai) as prime minister.
The Amundsen expedition to the South Pole discovers and names the Queen Maud Mountains.
Cantata with words by W. von Konow for women’s chorus by Jean Sibelius (45) is performed for the first time, in Turku.
12 November 1911 Augusto César de Almeida Vasconcellos Correia replaces João Pinheiro Chagas as Prime Minister of Portugal.
14 November 1911 Swedish-born American inventor Ernest FW Alexanderson receives a US patent for his high-frequency alternator. It allows voice and music to be transmitted by radio and was used in the Fessenden broadcast of 24 December 1906.
19 November 1911 The first chapter of Jules Massenet’s (69) Mes Souvenirs appears in L’Echo de Paris. Further installments will continue until July 1912.
President Ramon Caceres of the Dominican Republic is shot to death as part of an attempted coup.
Morceau op.51/3 for piano by Alyeksandr Skryabin (39) is performed for the first time, in St. Petersburg by the composer.
20 November 1911 Das Lied von der Erde for solo voice and orchestra by Gustav Mahler (†0) to words of Bethge (adapted from the Chinese), is performed for the first time, in Munich. Bruno Walter conducts. Anton von Webern (27) and Alban Berg (26) are in the audience.
21 November 1911 Suffragettes armed with hammers break windows in London at the Home Office, Local Government Board, the Treasury, the Scottish Educational Office, Somerset House, the National Liberal Federation, the Guards' Club, two hotels, the Daily Mail and Daily News, Swan and Edgar's, Lyon's, and Dunn's Hat Shop, as well as several small businesses. 223 are arrested.
22 November 1911 Szechwan (Sichuan) province declares for the revolution.
Two days after its premiere, Arnold Schoenberg (37) and Anton von Webern (27) play through a piano-four hand version of Gustav Mahler’s (†0) Das Lied von der Erde. The experience leaves them literally speechless.
The second and third of the Three Choruses op.6 by Max Reger (38) are performed for the first time, in Berlin.
25 November 1911 Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes publishes his paper “On the Sudden Rate at Which the Resistance of Mercury Disappears.” He describes his findings that resistance in mercury abruptly drops off when cooled to 4.19° K. It is the beginning of superconductivity.
27 November 1911 The New Hungarian Music Society (UMZE), founded by several Hungarian musicians including Béla Bartók (30) and Zoltán Kodály (28), gives an inaugural performance in the Royal Hall, Budapest. Within a year, the society will fail, largely due to public indifference.
28 November 1911 Hymns from the Rig-Veda op.24 for solo voice and piano by Gustav Holst (37) to his own translation, is given its first complete performance, in Bechstein Hall, London.
29 November 1911 Trois rapsodies for two pianos by Florent Schmitt (41) is performed for the first time, in Paris.
1 December 1911 Outer Mongolia declares independence from China with Russian protection.
Max Reger (38) enters upon duties as court conductor to Duke Georg II von Sachsen-Meiningen.
The Second Piano Sonata op.21 of Karol Szymanowski (29) is performed for the first time, in Berlin.
Horatio Parker’s (48) cantata A Song of Times op.73, to words of Long, is performed for the first time, at the Wannamaker Department Store, Philadelphia.
6 December 1911 Two works by Hans Pfitzner (42) are performed for the first time, in Strasbourg: Columbus op.16 for chorus to words of Schiller, and Der Blumen Rache for alto, women’s chorus, and orchestra to words of Freiligrath.
The first group of Choral Hymns from the Rig-Veda, by Gustav Holst (37) to his own translation, for chorus and orchestra, is performed for the first time, in Newcastle.
7 December 1911 Arthur Foote (58) sells his home in Dedham, Massachusetts. He and his wife will move to Coolidge Corner, Brookline early next year.
8 December 1911 The San Francisco Symphony Orchestra is established.
9 December 1911 Friede auf Erden op.13 for acappella chorus by Arnold Schoenberg (37) to words of Meyer, is performed for the first time, in Vienna, Franz Schreker (33) conducting.
After almost a year abroad, the John Philip Sousa (57) band plays the last concert of its world tour at the New York Hippodrome.
10 December 1911 Marie Curie becomes the first person to receive a second Nobel Prize.
A “Gala Massenet”, an evening devoted to the works of Jules Massenet (69), takes place at the Paris Opéra.
11 December 1911 Bohuslav Martinu (21) fails miserably in the State Teaching Examination.
12 December 1911 Shantung province declares for the Chinese revolution.
King George V of Great Britain is created Emperor of India and moves the capital from Calcutta to Delhi.
14 December 1911 Norwegians Roald Amundsen, Olav Bjaaland, Helmer Hanssen, Sverre Hassel, Oscar Wisting and seventeen Greenland huskies become the first living beings in recorded history to stand on the South Pole.
18 December 1911 The first Der Blaue Reiter exhibition of young expressionists opens at the Moderne Gallerie, Munich, including three paintings by Arnold Schoenberg (37).
Thirteen Preludes op.32 for piano by Sergey Rakhmaninov (38) are performed for the first time, in St. Petersburg, by the composer.
American President William Howard Taft informs Russia of the abrogation of the treaty of 1832 because of Russia’s refusal to recognize US passports carried by Jews and others.
23 December 1911 In the Great Nobleman’s Hall, Moscow, Alyeksandr Skryabin (39) and Sergey Rakhmaninov (38) perform a joint concert. Skryabin plays the first half as pianist while Rakhmaninov conducts in the second half. The audience is filled with partisans of the two who see the evening as a rivalry between the performers and each other. The antagonists are a microcosm of Russian artistic thought: Slavophiles follow Rakhmaninov while cosmopolitans support Skryabin.
Das Mirakel, a pantomime by Engelbert Humperdinck (57) to a story of von Heisterbach and Maeterlinck, is performed for the first time, at the Olympia Theatre, London.
25 December 1911 Sun Yat-sen (Sun Yixian) arrives in Shanghai from fundraising in North America and Europe.
27 December 1911 The two owners of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company, Isaac Harris and Max Blanck, are found not guilty in the deaths of 146 of their workers who died in a fire on 25 March.
29 December 1911 Delegates from 16 provincial assemblies elect Sun Yat-sen (Sun Yixian) provisional president of the Chinese Republic in Nanking (Nanjing).
30 December 1911 A prelude and parts of Acts I and II of Sorochintsy Fair, an opera by Modest Musorgsky (†30), orchestrated by Lyadov and edited by Karatigin, are staged for the first time, in the Comedia Theatre, St. Petersburg. See 29 March 1911.
31 December 1911 Four Pieces op.4 for piano by Sergey Prokofiev (20) are performed for the first time, in St. Petersburg.
©Paul Scharfenberger 2004-2012
17 January 2012
Last Updated (Tuesday, 17 January 2012 07:42)