1924
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2 January 1924 Flooding of the River Seine causes the closure of the main railroad station in Paris.
The Fourth National Assembly of Greece votes to abolish the monarchy.
4 January 1924 Begged by several Greek leaders and 279 MPs to come back, Eleftherios Venizelos returns to Athens. He is immediately elected President of the Parliament.
Ira Gershwin reads in the New York Herald Tribune that his brother George (25) is “at work on a jazz concerto.” The paper quotes Paul Whiteman. When George is apprised of this he has a vague recollection of a sketchy conversation on the subject with Whiteman.
5 January 1924 George Gershwin (25) speaks to Paul Whiteman by phone and agrees to compose an extended work in a jazz idiom for piano and orchestra. It will be orchestrated by Ferde Grofe.
6 January 1924 Les Biches, a ballet with song by Francis Poulenc for chorus and orchestra to an anonymous text, is performed for the first time, in Monaco on the eve of the composer’s 25th birthday.
7 January 1924 Baron Keigo Kiyoura replaces Count Gombei Yamamoto as Prime Minister of Japan.
Trois histoires pour enfants for voice and orchestra by Igor Stravinsky (41) to anonymous words, are performed for the first time, in Amsterdam.
10 January 1924 Cohn-Brandt-Cohn Film Sales is incorporated as Columbia Pictures in Los Angeles.
12 January 1924 Mahatma Gandhi is removed from Yeravda Central Prison to Sassoon Hospital in Poona with acute appendicitis. A British Army surgeon successfully removes the appendix. During the operation, a thunderstorm knocks out the electricity and the procedure is completed by hurricane lamp.
13 January 1924 Octandre for seven winds and one stringed instrument by Edgard Varèse (40) is performed for the first time, at an International Composers’ Guild concert in the Vanderbilt Theatre, New York. Also premiered is Vox clamans in derserto, three songs for voice and chamber ensemble by Carl Ruggles (49): Parting at Morning to words of Browning, Son of Mine to words of Meltzer, and A Clear Midnight to words of Whitman.
14 January 1924 Igor Stravinsky (41) meets Arthur Lourié (32) in Brussels.
15 January 1924 The Hochzeitspräludium by Richard Strauss (59) for two harmoniums is performed for the first time, in Vienna at the wedding of his son Franz to Alice Grab.
An orchestral suite from Sergey Prokofiev’s (32) ballet Tale of the Buffoon op.21b is performed for the first time, in Brussels. See 17 May 1921.
Piano Concerto no.2 by Colin McPhee (23) is performed for the first time, in Toronto.
17 January 1924 Charlie Rutlage, a song by Charles Ives (49) to words of O’Malley, is performed for the first time, in New Orleans.
18 January 1924 Aimo Kaarlo Cajander replaces Kyösti Kallio as Prime Minister of Finland.
Two settings of Tantum ergo (D.461, D.730) by Franz Schubert (†95) are performed for the first time, at Aula der Universität, Berlin, 108 and 103 years respectively after they were composed.
20 January 1924 String Quartet no.3 op.72 by Charles Koechlin (56) is performed for the first time, in Mulhouse.
21 January 1924 Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (Lenin) dies after ten months of incapacitation following his third stroke, at Gorky Leninsiye, just south of Moscow.
Sweet Little Devil, a musical comedy with book by Mandel and Schwab, lyrics by DeSylva and seven new songs by George Gershwin (25), is performed for the first time in New York, in the Astor Theatre. It will receive 120 performances. See 20 December 1923.
23 January 1924 James Ramsay Macdonald replaces Stanley Baldwin as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom at the head of a minority government. It is the first British government headed by the leftist Labour Party.
Aleksey Ivanovich Rykov replaces Vladimir Ilyich Lenin as Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars of the USSR.
24 January 1924 All non-fascist trade unions in Italy are dissolved.
Eleftherios Kiriakou Venizelos replaces Stilianos Epaminondou Gonatas as Prime Minister of Greece.
Edward L. Doheny of the Pan-American Petroleum and Transport Company appears before the Committee on Public Lands and Surveys of the US Senate and testifies that on 30 November 1921, he made an unsecured “loan” of $100,000 to former Secretary of the Interior Albert B. Fall. The following April, Pan-American received a contract, without competition, to lease part of the Teapot Dome oil reserve in Wyoming.
On Wenlock Edge, a song cycle by Ralph Vaughan Williams (51) to words of Houseman, is performed for the first time in its setting for voice and orchestra, in Queen’s Hall, London the composer conducting. See 15 November 1909.
25 January 1924 Voldemars Zamuels replaces Zigfrids Meierovics as Prime Minister of Latvia.
A Treaty of Alliance and Friendship between France and Czechoslovakia is signed in Paris.
The First Winter Olympic Games open in Chamonix, France.
Frauentanz, sieben Gedichte des Mittelalters op.10 for voice and orchestra by Kurt Weill (23) is performed for the first time, in the Saal der Singakademie, Berlin.
27 January 1924 The Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes and Italy sign the Pact of Rome recognizing Italian sovereignty over Fiume.
28 January 1924 Said Zaghlul Pasha replaces Abdul Fatah Yahya Ibrahim Pasha as Prime Minister of Egypt.
29 January 1924 Luigi Nono is born in Venice, the son of Mario Nono, an engineer, and Maria Manetti. Both are amateur musicians.
30 January 1924 Le cahier romand for piano by Arthur Honegger (31) is performed for the first time, at the Salle Erard, Paris.
31 January 1924 The United States Senate passes a resolution stating that the oil leases at Teapot Dome, Wyoming to the Mammoth Oil Corporation and the Pan-American Petroleum Company were “executed under circumstances indicating fraud and corruption.”
Pierre Monteux and the Boston Symphony Orchestra perform Le Sacre du Printemps in Carnegie Hall, New York. In the audience is an interested young man named Elliott Carter (15). After hearing this, he decides to become a composer.
1 February 1924 Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald of Great Britain announces his government’s recognition of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
Symphonische Musik no.2 for chamber orchestra by Ernst Krenek (23) is performed for the first time, in Berlin.
3 February 1924 Italy and Sweden recognize the USSR.
4 February 1924 Henry Cowell (26) makes his official American debut in a performance of his own works at Carnegie Hall. Critics are mixed.
5 February 1924 British authorities release Mahatma Gandhi from prison for medical reasons.
The First Winter Olympic Games close in Chamonix, France. In twelve days of competition, 258 athletes from 16 countries participated.
6 February 1924 Georgios Konstantinou Kaphandaris replaces Eleftherios Kiriakou Venizelos as Prime Minister of Greece.
Madrigal aux muses op.25 for female chorus by Albert Roussel (54) to words of Bernard, is performed for the first time, at the Salle Pleyel, Paris. On the same program is the premiere of As It Fell Upon A Day for soprano, flute, and clarinet by Aaron Copland (23) to words of Barnefield.
Baal Shem for violin and piano by Ernest Bloch (43) is performed for the first time, in Cleveland. See 19 October 1941.
7 February 1924 The first concert sponsored by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge at the Library of Congress takes place in the Freer Gallery. This marks the beginning of the long, fruitful association of Mrs. Coolidge with the library.
9 February 1924 Le Petit Elfe Ferme-l’Oeil, a ballet by Florent Schmitt (53) after Andersen, is staged for the first time, at the Opéra-Comique, Paris.
12 February 1924 “An experiment in modern music” takes place in Aeolian Hall, New York when Rhapsody in Blue for piano and jazz band by George Gershwin (25) is performed for the first time, the composer at the piano. Among the overflow audience is Ernest Bloch (43), Sergey Rakhmaninov (50), John Philip Sousa (69), Walter Damrosch, Willem Mengelberg, Leopold Stokowski, Jascha Heifetz, Fritz Kreisler, Mary Garden, John McCormack and Leopold Godowsky. Critics are strongly divided, but the Whiteman band (who plays today) will perform the Rhapsody 84 times in 1924 alone.
13 February 1924 German President Friedrich Ebert declares an end to the state of emergency, in force since 27 September.
O that it were so for voice and piano by Frank Bridge (44) to words of Landor is performed for the first time, at the Royal College of Music, London.
14 February 1924 The name of the Computing Tabulating Recording Corporation is changed to International Business Machines Corporation by President Thomas Watson.
15 February 1924 Karl Amadeus Hartmann (18) is admitted to the Staatliche Akademie der Tonkunst in Munich.
Heitor Villa-Lobos (36) conducts a concert of Latin American music in Paris. None of his own compositions are included.
17 February 1924 Drake’s Drum for solo voice and orchestra by George Whitefield Chadwick (69) to words of Newbold, is performed for the first time, in St. James Theatre, Boston, conducted by the composer. Also premiered is Chadwick’s Voice of Philomel for solo voice and orchestra to words of Stevens.
18 February 1924 US Secretary of the Navy Edwin Denby resigns due to allegations in the Teapot Dome scandal.
19 February 1924 The New Yorker is founded in New York.
Two works by Otto Luening (23) are performed for the first time, in Chicago: Sonatina for flute and piano, the composer playing flute, and Three songs for soprano and piano or small orchestra to words of Hesse and Sharpe, the composer at the keyboard.
21 February 1924 Manuel de Falla (47) is elected a permanent member of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de Granada.
22 February 1924 President Calvin Coolidge makes the first radio broadcast from the White House.
23 February 1924 Lejaren Arthur Hiller, Jr. is born in New York City, only child of Lejaren A Hiller (born John Hiller), a photographer, artist and writer, and Sarah Plummer, a model and dancer. The household will also include “35 cats and a pet monkey.”
25 February 1924 Suite for Piano op.25 by Arnold Schoenberg (49) is performed for the first time, in the Mozartsaal, Vienna.
26 February 1924 In Munich, the trial of Adolf Hitler, General Erich von Ludendorff and eight others on charges of treason, begins.
A Cello Sonata by Arnold Bax (40) is performed for the first time, in Wigmore Hall, London. It is very successful.
28 February 1924 The Greatest Man, a song by Charles Ives (49) to words of Collins, is performed for the first time, in Town Hall, New York.
3 March 1924 Former Ottoman Sultan Abdulmejid and his family are banished from Turkey. The caliphate is abolished.
Shefqet Vërlaci replaces Ahmed Zogu as Prime Minister of Albania.
4 March 1924 Fanfare for the Vienna Philharmonic for brass and timpani by Richard Strauss (59) is performed for the first time, in Vienna.
6 March 1924 Sonata for cello and piano op.66 by Charles Koechlin (56) is performed for the first time, in Salle des agriculteurs, Paris.
7 March 1924 String Quartet no.1 by Karol Szymanowski (41) is performed for the first time, in Warsaw.
9 March 1924 Italy takes possession of Fiume and abandons claims to the Dalmatian coast.
Piano Sonata no.5 op.38 by Sergey Prokofiev (32) is performed for the first time, in Paris.
Heitor Villa-Lobos (37) conducts his own music, and that of other Brazilian composers, with the Orquestra Sinfônica Portuguêsa in the Teatro São Luiz, Lisbon.
10 March 1924 Sergey Rakhmaninov (50) performs at the White House for President Coolidge.
11 March 1924 Alexandros Panagiotou Papanastasiou replaces Georgios Konstantinou Kaphandaris as Prime Minister of Greece.
13 March 1924 Ballad of the Bear op.47 for voice and piano by Carl Nielsen (58) to words of Berntsen after Almquist, is performed for the first time, in Copenhagen.
17 March 1924 Regent Pavlos Theodorou Koundouriotis becomes provisional head of state for Greece.
John Logie Baird receives a British patent for “a system of transmitting views, portraits, and scenes by telegraphy or wireless telegraphy.” It is a system for mechanical television.
Two movements of Napoli for piano by Francis Poulenc (25) are performed for the first time, in Paris. See 2 May 1926.
Charles Villiers Stanford (71) suffers a stroke at his London home.
18 March 1924 A concert of new music is given in Moscow by the Association for Contemporary Music. It includes the Sonata for cello and piano and Three Dances for violin and piano by Nikolay Roslavets (43).
During the centennial of the composer’s birth, the first, second, and fourth movements of Anton Bruckner’s (†27) Symphony in f minor are performed for the first time, at Klosterneuberg, 61 years after they were composed.
The Second Violin Sonata by Charles Ives (49) is performed for the first time, in Aeolian Hall, New York.
21 March 1924 Anti-Semitic mobs attack the Bucharest Economic Institute.
Trois nocturnes for piano trio by Ernest Bloch (43) is performed for the first time, in Aeolian Hall, New York.
22 March 1924 Jón Thorlakson replaces Sigurdur Eggerz as Prime Minister of Iceland.
24 March 1924 The Times reports “Mr. Gustav Holst (49) has been ordered a complete rest for at least six months.”
Symphony no.7 by Jean Sibelius (58) is performed for the first time, in Stockholm, the composer conducting. It is presented under the name Fantasia sinfonica.
25 March 1924 Greece is proclaimed a republic. Pavlos Theodorou Koundouriotis becomes the first President of the Republic of Greece.
26 March 1924 Friedrich Karl Akel replaces Konstantin Päts as Head of State of Estonia.
27 March 1924 Irrelohe, an opera by Franz Schreker (46) to his own words, is performed for the first time, in Cologne. Despite the glittering event, the critical response is tepid.
28 March 1924 One day after the death of Sir Walter Parratt, Master of the King’s Music, Edward Elgar (66) writes to Lord Stamfordham, private secretary to King George V, proposing himself for the job.
29 March 1924 Charles Villiers Stanford dies in London twelve days after suffering a stroke. He is aged 71 years, five months, and 29 days.
Colin McPhee (24) gives his last piano recital in Toronto before leaving for study in Paris.
31 March 1924 A federal grand jury in Washington returns an indictment of criminal contempt of Congress against Harry F. Sinclair of the Mammoth Oil Corporation in the Teapot Dome scandal. Sinclair refused to testify before a Senate investigating committee.
1 April 1924 Adolf Hitler and two others are sentenced to five years in prison for their part in the Beer Hall Putsch of November 1923. General Erich von Ludendorff is acquitted.
Giacomo Puccini (65) travels to Florence to see Arnold Schoenberg (49) conduct his Pierrot Lunaire. “Who can say that Schoenberg will not be a point of departure to a goal in the distant future? But at present--unless I understand nothing--we are as far from a concrete artistic realization of it as Mars is from Earth.” Also present, and quite overwhelmed, is a conservatory student named Luigi Dallapiccola (20).
2 April 1924 Magic Nights, three songs by Bohuslav Martinu (33) to Chinese texts, is performed for the first time, in Prague.
3 April 1924 Dmitri Shostakovich (17) applies for admission to the Moscow Conservatory.
A funeral service in memory of Charles Villiers Stanford takes place in Westminster Abbey. His ashes are buried in the north choir aisle of Westminster Abbey, next to the remains of Henry Purcell (†229).
4 April 1924 Sonata for cello and piano by John Ireland (44) is performed for the first time, in Aeolian Hall, London.
6 April 1924 Great Britain extends a protectorate over Northern Rhodesia, effective 26 April.
A general election is held in Italy, the first one under the Acerbo Law, which is designed to give Benito Mussolini a majority. The fascist National List win 356 of 535 seats.
7 April 1924 Dmitri Shostakovich (17) auditions for the Moscow Conservatory, playing a piano arrangement of his cello pieces and Piano Trio. To his surprise, he is immediately accepted in the composition course. He will never attend the conservatory, opting instead to stay in Leningrad.
9 April 1924 An international commission headed by American Charles Dawes proposes a reparations plan to enable French forces to be removed from the Ruhr.
The first complete performance of the Suite for violin and piano by Heitor Villa-Lobos (37) takes place in the Salle des agriculteurs, Paris. Also on the program is the premiere of the Trio for oboe, clarinet and bassoon by Villa-Lobos. See 23 October 1923.
10 April 1924 Incidental music to Borras’ play La anunciación by Joaquín Turina (41) is performed for the first time, in Teatro Español, Madrid.
11 April 1924 The Third Symphony op.27 “The Song of the Night” for tenor, chorus and orchestra of Karol Szymanowski (41), to words of Rumi (tr. Micinski), is performed in Warsaw for the first time. The chorus is left out. In the audience is President Stanislaw Wojciechowski, as well as Witold Lutoslawski (11) who will remember the music as “spellbinding”, leaving him overwhelmed for weeks, as if he “had taken a large dose of a drug.” The evening is a resounding success with public and press. See 26 November 1921 and 3 February 1928.
Voting takes place for the Danish Folketing. The Social Democratic Party makes the most gains and becomes the largest party in the house, at the expense of the Left Party.
12 April 1924 Piano Sonata no.4 by Nikolay Roslavets (43) is performed for the first time, in Moscow.
13 April 1924 By a national referendum in Greece, the electorate agrees to the actions of 2 January to abolish the monarchy.
14 April 1924 Louis Sullivan dies in Chicago at the age of 67.
15 April 1924 The Romanian government declares martial law in all university areas in an attempt to quell anti-Semitic riots.
Rand McNally publishes its first comprehensive road atlas.
16 April 1924 Theatre chain owner Marcus Loew, who has already bought Metro Pictures Corp. and Goldwyn Pictures to supply films for his theatres, now buys Louis B. Mayer Pictures to form Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corporation in Los Angeles.
18 April 1924 The first crossword puzzle book is published by Simon and Schuster.
Song of the Sea, a tone poem by Frederick S. Converse (53), is performed for the first time, in Boston.
20 April 1924 Auni Rusten, the leader of the anti-Zog Union of Young Albanians, is shot in Tirana. He will die 22 April.
22 April 1924 Kurt Weill (24) signs his first contract with a publisher, Universal Edition, Vienna.
23 April 1924 Thorvald August Marinus Stauning replaces Niels Thomasius Neergaard as Prime Minister of Denmark.
King George V opens the British Empire Exhibition at an 87-hectare site at Wembley. It is designed to express faith in the continuance of the Empire with pavilions and products from all the dominions and other territories.
26 April 1924 Edward Elgar (66) is offered the position of Master of the Musicke by King George V. It is almost entirely a nominal position, calling on him only to advise the King on musical matters. Elgar will accept.
Two new works by Maurice Ravel (49), Tzigane, Rapsodie de concert for violin and piano, and Ronsard à son âme for voice and piano, are performed for the first time, in Aeolian Hall, London the composer at the keyboard for the latter. See 30 November 1924 and 17 February 1935.
28 April 1924 An agreement to end the civil war in Honduras is worked out aboard the USS Milwaukee by American envoy Sumner Welles. The war was exacerbated by competing American fruit companies backing the warring factions.
29 April 1924 From a jury that includes Richard Strauss (59), Anton Webern (40) is unanimously awarded the Prize of the City of Vienna.
Fantasie for two pianos by Samuel Barber (14) is performed for the first time, in Philadelphia.
1 May 1924 Nerone, a tragedia by Arrigo Boito (†5) to his own words, is performed for the first time, in the Teatro alla Scala, Milan in a version completed by Tommasini and Toscanini.
2 May 1924 Lev Sergeyevich Termen (Leon Theremin) (27) appears as soloist with the Leningrad Philharmonic in the first performance of A Symphonic Mystery by Andrei Filippovich Pashchenko. It is the first composition written specifically for the Termenvox.
Serenade op.24 for bass and eight instruments by Arnold Schoenberg (49) to words of Petrarch (tr. Förster) is performed for the first time, privately, in Vienna.
4 May 1924 The Games of the Eighth Olympiad of the Modern Era open in Paris, the second time that the Olympics are held in that city.
Voting for the German Reichstag results in big gains for the Communist Party and the German National Peoples Party.
5 May 1924 Edward Elgar (66) is officially appointed Master of the King’s Music.
Pan’s Holiday for female chorus, piano and strings by Frank Bridge (45) to words of Shirley is performed for the first time, in Petersfield.
7 May 1924 Overture by Ernest MacMillan (30) is performed for the first time, in Massey Hall, Toronto conducted by the composer. It is well received.
8 May 1924 Mouvement symphonique no.1: Pacific 2.3.1., by Arthur Honegger (32), is performed for the first time, at the Paris Opéra. It is a great success and will prove to be his best-known work.
Incidental music to Yeats’ play The Countess Cathleen by Charles Martin Loeffler (63) is performed for the first time, in Concord, Massachusetts.
9 May 1924 Schlagobers op.70, a ballet by Richard Strauss (59) to his own scenario, is performed for the first time, at the Vienna Staatsoper, the composer conducting, to begin the celebrations surrounding his 60th birthday. It is not a success.
10 May 1924 Voting in Japan for the Diet makes Kenseikai the largest party. Their leader, Prince Takaaki Kato, will form a coalition government.
11 May 1924 An Oboe Quintet by Arnold Bax (40) is performed for the first time, in the Hyde Park Hotel, London.
Fragments of the incomplete romantic opera Viola by Bedrich Smetana to words of Krásnohorská after Shakespeare, are staged for the first time, in the National Theatre, Prague, on the eve of the 40th anniversary of the composer’s death and in the centennial year of his birth. See 15 March 1900.
14 May 1924 The Concerto for piano and winds by Igor Stravinsky (41) is performed for the first time, privately, at the Paris home of the Princesse de Polignac, the composer at the keyboard. The orchestral part is played on a second piano. See 22 May 1924.
15 May 1924 At the registry office in Frankfurt-am-Main, Paul Hindemith (28) marries Gertrud Rottenberg, daughter of Ludwig Rottenberg, music director of the Frankfurt Opera, in whose orchestra Hindemith plays.
The first of the Deux poèmes de Ronsard op.26/1 for voice and flute by Albert Roussel (55), is performed for the first time, at the Théâtre du Vieux Colombier, Paris. Also premiered is the Chanson de Ronsard for voice and piano by Arthur Honegger (32). See 28 May 1924, 24 January 1925.
17 May 1924 The third and fourth movements of the Symphony no.0 by Anton Bruckner (†27) are performed for the first time, at Klosterneuburg, 65 years after their composition. See 12 October 1924.
Salade, a ballet chante by Darius Milhaud (31) to a scenario by Flament, is performed for the first time, in Paris. The work will be reworked into Le Carnaval d’Aix.
21 May 1924 The Sonata for unaccompanied violin op.31/1 by Paul Hindemith (28) is performed for the first time, in Donaueschingen.
In what will become one of the most celebrated crimes of the century, two wealthy teenagers, Nathan Leopold, 19, and Richard Loeb, 18, already college graduates, abduct 14-year-old Bobby Franks off a Chicago street and kill him, taking his body to a marshland where they pour hydrochloric acid over it and then stuff it in a drainage pipe. Their intent is to commit the “perfect crime.” In the evening they call the Franks family and claim that Bobby was kidnapped and they demand a ransom.
22 May 1924 As they attempt to hatch their ransom scheme, the body of Leopold and Loeb’s victim, Bobby Franks, is discovered. Nathan Leopold’s glasses are found at the scene. The two are arrested by Chicago police. They will confess.
The Concerto for piano and winds by Igor Stravinsky (41) is performed publicly for the first time, at the Paris Opéra, the composer at the keyboard. At the beginning of the largo movement, conductor Serge Koussevitzky has to hum the first few bars to the pianist who has forgotten them. The work, however, is a triumphant success. See 14 May 1924.
23 May 1924 The USSR renounces most treaties made by the Tsarist government with China.
24 May 1924 Lev Sergeyevich Termen (Leon Theremin) (27) marries Yekaterina Pavlovna Konstantinova. She is the sister of Termen’s best friend and the daughter of a building contractor who disappeared during the revolution. Katia is presently a student at the Petrograd Medical Institute.
25 May 1924 An armed uprising against Ahmed Zogu begins in Albania.
A second round of voting in the French general election results in victory for the left and moderately leftist parties.
In a civil case in Los Angeles, United States v. Pan American Petroleum and Transport Company, Judge Paul J. McCormick rules that the leases made by the United States government in Teapot Dome, Wyoming are void. Both sides appeal.
26 May 1924 A new Comprehensive Immigration Act is signed into law by US President Coolidge in Washington. It favors immigration from northern Europe but sets severe quotas on immigration from southern Europe, Mexico, and Asia. A quota for each nation is set at two percent of that nation’s population in the US in 1890. Japan declares 26 May a national day of humiliation.
28 May 1924 The second of the Deux poèmes de Ronsard op.26/2 for voice and flute by Albert Roussel (55) is performed for the first time, in Paris. See 15 May 1924.
Mirages op.70 for orchestra by Florent Schmitt (63) is performed for the first time, in Paris.
29 May 1924 Sergey Prokofiev’s (33) cantata They are Seven op.30 for tenor, chorus, and orchestra, to words of Balmont, is performed for the first time, in Paris.
30 May 1924 In a concert devoted to the works of Heitor Villa-Lobos (37) in the Salle des agriculteurs, Paris, Nonetto for chorus, flute, oboe, clarinet, saxophone, bassoon, harp, and percussion is performed for the first time.
Memories of My Childhood for orchestra by Charles Martin Loeffler (63) is performed for the first time, in Evanston, Illinois.
31 May 1924 China recognizes the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
Lauri Johannes Ingman replaces Aimo Kaarlo Cajander as Prime Minister of Finland.
Kaleidoscopic Changes on an Original Theme for piano by Ruth Crawford (22) is performed for the first time, in Kimball Hall, Chicago by the composer.
2 June 1924 The United States Congress extends citizenship to all Native Americans.
Carl (48) and Charlotte Ruggles buy the old schoolhouse in Arlington, Vermont for $1,200. They will move in in November.
3 June 1924 Franz Kafka dies in a tuberculosis sanitorium in Kierling, near Vienna, at the age of 40.
4 June 1924 Concerto for violin and orchestra op.34 by Hans Pfitzner (55) is performed for the first time, in Nuremberg.
The American painter Gerald Murphy and his wife invite several friends to lunch in their Paris home, including John Alden Carpenter (48) and his wife, Darius Milhaud (31), Leon Bakst, and the Princesse de Polignac. Murphy will do much to introduce Carpenter into the circles of European music making.
5 June 1924 Swedish-born American inventor Ernest FW Alexanderson transmits the first facsimile message across the Atlantic Ocean.
6 June 1924 Arnold Schoenberg’s (49) monodrama Erwartung op.17 to words of Pappenheim, is performed for the first time, at the Neue Deutsches Theater, Prague.
8 June 1924 Frédéric François-Marsal replaces Raymond Nicolas Landry Poincaré as Prime Minister of France.
The Orquesta Filarmónica of Havana opens its first season.
9 June 1924 Der Sprung über den Schatten op.17, a comic opera by Ernst Krenek (23) to his own words, is performed for the first time, in the Frankfurt-am-Main Opera House. The public is moderately pleased but the critics are mixed, finding particular fault with the libretto.
10 June 1924 Ahmed Zogu flees to Yugoslavia. Insurgents enter Tirana, Albania.
Giacomo Matteotti, leader of the Socialist Party in the Italian Parliament, who publicly denounced the 24 April elections, mysteriously disappears.
11 June 1924 Prince Takaaki Kato replaces Baron Keigo Kiyoura as Prime Minister of Japan.
Leopold and Loeb are arraigned in a Chicago courtroom for the murder of Bobby Franks. They plead not guilty.
Drei Bruchstücke aus Wozzeck for soprano and orchestra by Alban Berg (39) are performed for the first time, in Frankfurt-am-Main.
Dos Preludios for chamber orchestra by Manuel de Falla (47) is performed for the first time, in Teatro Llorens, Seville.
13 June 1924 Pierre Paul Henri Gaston Doumergue replaces Étienne Alexandre Millerand as President of France.
14 June 1924 Roger Sessions (27) departs from New York for Europe aboard SS Olympic. It is his first trip to Europe and will last three months.
15 June 1924 Edouard Herriot replaces Frédéric François-Marsal as Prime Minister of France.
Mercure, a ballet by Erik Satie (58) to a scenario by de Beaumont and Massine, scenery and costumes by Picasso, is performed for the first time, at the Théâtre de La Cigale, Paris. A small group of surrealists disrupts the performance with shouts of “Long live Picasso, down with Satie!”
The Ford Motor Company announces the production of its 10,000,000th car.
16 June 1924 Fan Noli becomes Prime Minister of Albania.
17 June 1924 The Splendour Falls on the Castle Walls, a work for chorus by Frederick Delius (62) to words of Tennyson, is performed for the first time, in Aeolian Hall, London.
18 June 1924 Antanas Tumenas replaces Ernestas Galvanauskas as Prime Minister of Lithuania.
Ruth Crawford (22) receives a baccalaureate degree from the American Conservatory in Chicago.
19 June 1924 Voting for the House of Assembly of South Africa results in a defeat for the South Africa Party government of Jan Smuts. The National Party becomes the largest group in the house.
20 June 1924 Le Train bleu, an operette dansée by Darius Milhaud (31) to words of Cocteau, is performed for the first time, in Paris.
25 June 1924 Johan Ludwig Mowinckel replaces Abraham Teodor Berge as Prime Minister of Norway.
28 June 1924 Cecil James Sharp dies in London, aged 64 years, seven months, and six days.
Alfredo Rodrigues Gaspar replaces Alvaro Xavier de Castro as Prime Minister of Portugal.
30 June 1924 James Barry Munnik Hertzog replaces Jan Christiaan Smuts as Prime Minister of South Africa.
A federal indictment is filed in Washington naming Edward L. Doheny of the Pan-American Petroleum and Transport Company, his son Edward L. Doheny, Jr., and former Secretary of the Interior Albert B. Fall. The three are charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States in the Teapot Dome scandal. Another indictment charges that Albert B. Fall and Harry F. Sinclair of the Mammoth Oil Corporation conspired to defraud the United States.
George White’s Scandals of 1924, a revue with book by Wells and White, lyrics by DeSylva and MacDonald and seven songs by George Gershwin (25), is performed for the first time, at the Apollo Theatre, New York. One of the new songs is Somebody Loves Me.
4 July 1924 Hugh the Drover, or Love in the Stocks, a romantic ballad opera by Ralph Vaughan Williams (51) to words of Child, is performed for the first time, privately, at the Royal College of Music, London. See 14 July 1924.
5 July 1924 John Alden Carpenter (48) meets with Sergey Diaghilev in Paris. Diaghilev commissions a ballet on an American theme, suggesting a policemen’s strike. Carpenter gleefully accepts.
8 July 1924 The Fifth Congress of the Communist International is held. Delegates move to organize all communist parties along Soviet lines.
George Gershwin (25) boards ship in New York for his second trip to Britain.
11 July 1924 Hindus and Moslems begin six days of rioting in Delhi.
12 July 1924 General Horacio Vásquez is inaugurated as President of the Dominican Republic after free elections in March. Almost immediately, United States troops begin to withdraw from the country.
14 July 1924 Hugh the Drover, or Love in the Stocks, a romantic ballad opera by Ralph Vaughan Williams (51) to words of Child, is given its first public performance at His Majesty’s Theatre, London. See 4 July 1924.
15 July 1924 Great Britain cedes Jubaland (in East Africa) to Italy (Somaliland).
19 July 1924 Six Bagatelles for string quartet op.9 by Anton Webern (40) is performed for the first time, in Donaueschingen.
20 July 1924 Serenade op.24 for bass and eight instruments by Arnold Schoenberg (49) to words of Petrarch (tr. Förster) is given its first public performance, in Donaueschingen conducted by the composer. See 2 May 1924.
Six Songs on Poems of Georg Trakl op.14 for soprano and five players by Anton Webern (40) is performed for the first time, in Donaueschingen, conducted by the composer.
Carlos Chávez (25) begins a series of new music concerts in Mexico City. He will introduce the city to many of the major contemporary composers.
21 July 1924 On advice from their counsel, Clarence Darrow, Leopold and Loeb change their plea from not guilty to guilty.
The Pageant of the Empire, a stage work by Edward Elgar (67) to words of Noyes, is performed for the first time, in Wembley Stadium.
22 July 1924 The Bayreuth Festspielhaus reopens after a hiatus of ten years.
24 July 1924 Themistoklis Panagiotou Sophoulis replaces Alexandros Panagiotou Papanastasiou as Prime Minister of Greece.
Alban Berg (39) is awarded the Artist Prize of the City of Vienna.
25 July 1924 Enfantines for piano by Ernest Bloch (44) is performed for the first time, at the San Francisco Conservatory by the composer.
27 July 1924 03:30 Ferruccio Dante Michelangelo Benvenuto Busoni dies in Berlin of “chronic inflammation of the kidneys and heart,” aged 58 years, three months, and 26 days. His cremated remains will be placed in the Schöneberg cemetery, Berlin.
The Games of the Eighth Olympiad of the Modern Era close in Paris. In competition lasting two months and 23 days, 3,089 athletes from 44 countries participated.
Ljubomir Davidovic replaces Nikola Pasic as Prime Minister of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes.
3 August 1924 Joseph Conrad dies near Canterbury at the age of 66.
5 August 1924 String Quartet no.4 by Ernst Krenek (23) is performed for the first time, in Salzburg.
6 August 1924 String Trio no.1 by Paul Hindemith (28) is performed for the first time, in Salzburg, the composer playing the viola.
8 August 1924 Great Britain and the USSR agree on normal trading relations.
An orchestral suite from the opera Fête galante by Ethel Smyth (66) is performed for the first time, at Winter Gardens, Bournemouth, conducted by the composer. See 4 June 1923.
9 August 1924 At a meeting in London, the allies accept the Dawes Plan of 9 April concerning German reparation payments.
16 August 1924 The stabbed body of Giacomo Matteotti, Italian Socialist leader, is found 23 km north of Rome.
18 August 1924 French troops evacuate Offenburg and Appenweier.
22 August 1924 In a Chicago courtroom, with mobs rioting outside, Clarence Darrow makes the most important speech of his career, pleading with the judge for twelve hours to spare Leopold and Loeb from the death penalty.
Symphonic Song on Old Black Joe op.67 for orchestra and audience by Arthur Farwell (52) is performed for the first time, in Hollywood Bowl.
24 August 1924 Carlos Chávez (25) publishes the first of a series of articles denouncing Julián Carrillo (49) and his microtonal system as simply derivative of techniques already explored in Europe. See 29 November 1924.
28 August 1924 Arnold Schoenberg (49) marries his second wife, Gertrud Kolisch in the Mödling Lutheran Parish Church.
30 August 1924 Germany accepts the Dawes Plan, stipulating a schedule of reparation payments. The Reichsbank becomes independent of the government and begins issuing its own currency, the Reichsmark.
4 September 1924 Three Preludes for piano by Frederick Delius (62) are performed for the first time, over the airwaves of the BBC originating in London.
9 September 1924 Moslems riot for three days in Kohat, Northwest Frontier Province, India. Hundreds of Hindus and Sikhs are killed, the rest leave the area.
10 September 1924 Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb are sentenced by an Illinois judge to life in prison plus 99 years for the kidnapping and murder of Bobby Franks.
11 September 1924 Istar, a ballet by Bohuslav Martinu (33) to a story by Zeyer after Babylonian texts, is performed for the first time, in Prague.
Primrose, a musical comedy with book by Bolton and Grossmith, lyrics by Carter and Ira Gershwin, and music by George Gershwin (25), is performed for the first time, at the Winter Garden Theatre, London. It will go for 255 performances.
15 September 1924 Lev Sergeyevich Termen (Leon Theremin) (28) receives a Soviet patent for his new electronic instrument.
Saks Fifth Avenue opens its doors for business in New York.
17 September 1924 In Delhi, Mahatma Gandhi begins a 21-day fast to protest communal violence.
Julián Carrillo (49) publishes in El Universal his “Teoría del sonido 13” (Theory of the 13th sound). He proposes the division of the half step. It has already been published within the last two years.
Roger Sessions (28) returns to New York aboard SS Majestic after three months in Europe, where he met Nadia Boulanger (37), among others.
18 September 1924 The last United States troops leave the Dominican Republic. For the first time in over eight years, there are no US troops in the country.
19 September 1924 After finishing his String Quartet at Annecy, Gabriel Fauré (79) is forced to bed with double pneumonia.
A Piano Quartet by William Walton (22) is performed for the first time, in Liverpool.
21 September 1924 The Wandering Madman for soprano and male chorus by Leos Janácek (70) to words of Tagore is performed for the first time, in Rosice v Brna, near Brno.
22 September 1924 Tanzstücke op.19 for piano by Paul Hindemith (28) are performed for the first time, in Dresden.
23 September 1924 Amy Beach (57) is elected to the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers.
24 September 1924 From the Vienna Rathaus Tower is heard for the first time Fanfare zur Eröffnung der Musikwoche der Stadt Wien im September 1924, for brass and timpani, by Richard Strauss (60).
During the centennial year of his birth, Apollo-Marsch for woodwinds, brass, and percussion by Anton Bruckner (†27) is performed for the first time, in the Stadtkapelle, Vöcklabruck, 62 years after it was composed.
27 September 1924 The Seal Woman, an opera by Granville Bantock (56) to words of Kennedy-Fraser, is performed for the first time, in Birmingham.
29 September 1924 The Dominican Republic is admitted to the League of Nations.
Legend op.5 for cello and piano by Alyeksandr Vasilyevich Mosolov (24) is performed for the first time, in Moscow the composer at the keyboard.
30 September 1924 Das Feuerwerk D.642 for chorus and piano by Franz Schubert (†95) to words of Eberhard, is performed for the first time, in the Vienna Konzerthaus.
1 October 1924 Romania adopts the Gregorian calendar.
The Curtis Institute of Music opens in Philadelphia, founded by Mary Louis Curtis Bok and named after her father. The second person through the door is Samuel Barber (14).
The judge in the Sacco-Vanzetti case denies eight motions for a new trial.
6 October 1924 Ali ibn Husain replaces his father, Husain ibn Ali as King of Arabia.
7 October 1924 Andreas Michalakopoulos replaces Themistoklis Panagiotou Sophoulis as Prime Minister of Greece.
The Second Violin Sonata by Frederick Delius (62) is performed for the first time, in Westminster.
8 October 1924 Heitor Villa-Lobos (37) signs a contract with the French publisher Max Eschig to produce his Suite for voice and violin. It is his first contract with a European publisher.
9 October 1924 Anton Webern’s (40) Sacred Songs op.15 for soprano and chamber group are performed for the first time, in Vienna.
10 October 1924 Giacomo Puccini (65) travels to Florence see a specialist, Dr. Torrigiani. He will be diagnosed with a benign papilloma. It is not believed to be life threatening, but he is advised to have it removed immediately.
12 October 1924 Anatole France dies in Tours at the age of 80.
Three works by Anton Bruckner (†28) are performed in Klosterneuberg for the first time during the centennial year of his birth: March for orchestra in d minor, Three Pieces for orchestra, the third movement of his Symphony in f minor, and the complete Symphony no.0, 62, 62, 61 and 65 years after their composition, respectively. See 17 May 1924.
The first and third movements of the unfinished Symphony no.10 by Gustav Mahler (†13) are performed for the first time, in Vienna.
13 October 1924 Forces of ibn Saud capture Mecca.
During the centennial year of his birth, Anton Bruckner’s (†28) Piece in B flat for orchestra is performed for the first time, in Vienna, 62 years after being written.
14 October 1924 Die glückliche Hand op.18, a drama with music by Arnold Schoenberg (50) to his own words, is performed for the first time, at the Vienna Volksoper.
Concerto grosso no.2 by Ernst Krenek (24) is performed for the first time, in Zürich.
The Surrealist Manifesto by André Breton is published in Paris.
17 October 1924 Leos Janácek’s (70) String Quartet no.1 is performed for the first time, in Prague.
The bequest of Augustus D. Juilliard becomes the Juilliard Graduate School in New York. This is not really a graduate school because no undergraduate degree is required for admittance. Only private instruction in piano, violin, voice, and composition is offered.
18 October 1924 After his pneumonia grows worse, Gabriel Fauré (79) is moved by train from Annecy to Paris to spend his last days at home.
19 October 1924 Karl Hjalmar Branting replaces Ernst Trygger as Prime Minister of Sweden.
La mascherata delle principesse prigionere, a dramma sinfonico by Gian Francesco Malipiero (42) to a story by Prunières, is performed for the first time, in Théâtre de la Monnaie, Brussels.
20 October 1924 Die Zwingburg op.14, a scenic cantata by Ernst Krenek (24) to words of Werfel after Demuth, is performed for the first time, at the Berlin Staatsoper, in the presence of the President of Germany. Critics are enthusiastic but the public is lukewarm.
21 October 1924 Youth for wind sextet by Leos Janácek (70) is performed for the first time, in Brno. The premiere is something of a fiasco. One key on the clarinet does not work. At the conclusion of the piece Janácek rushes on stage and tells his audience that the music they just heard was not composed by him. Subsequent performances are more successful.
22 October 1924 The New Music Society, founded by Henry Cowell (27), gives its first concert, in Los Angeles.
25 October 1924 In the middle of a general election campaign, the “Zinoviev Letter” is published in Britain. It is purported to be a directive from the Communist International to the British Communist Party to foment revolution. Its authenticity is backed up by British intelligence. It is almost certainly leaked by a British intelligence officer friendly to the Conservative Party four days before a general election.
El retablo de maese Pedro, a puppet opera by Manuel de Falla (47) to his own words, after Cervantes, is publicly staged for the first time.
Suite for Two Pianos founded upon Old Irish Melodies op.104 by Amy Cheney Beach (57) is performed for the first time, in Paris.
26 October 1924 Giacomo Puccini (65) makes a long-planned visit to his ancestral home of Celle. He is feted by the local population.
27 October 1924 The Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic is created.
28 October 1924 France recognizes the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
29 October 1924 Four days after the Zinoviev letter is published, the British Labour government, led by Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald, is soundly defeated in a general election. The results are even more disastrous for the Liberal Party. Conservatives gain over 150 seats and a majority.
30 October 1924 The cantata Die Seranaden op.35 by Paul Hindemith (28) to the words of several Romantic poets, is performed for the first time over the airwaves of Radio Frankfurt.
Benjamin Britten (10) attends his first orchestral concert, at the Norwich Festival. He will recall that he is “knocked sideways” by The Sea by Frank Bridge (45).
31 October 1924 Kammermusik no.2 op.36/1 for piano and orchestra by Paul Hindemith (28) is performed for the first time, in Frankfurt-am-Main.
1 November 1924 The British Empire Exhibition in Wembley closes after its first year.
2 November 1924 Huang Fu replaces T’sao K’un (Cao Kun) as President of China in the Canton administration.
Five of the six Lieder nach alten Texten op.33/1-4, 6 for chorus by Paul Hindemith (29) are performed for the first time, in Donaueschingen. See 26 July 1925.
4 November 1924 01:50 Gabriel Urbain Fauré dies of pneumonia at his Paris home, aged 79 years, five months, and 23 days.
Giacomo Puccini (65) travels by train from Pisa to Brussels for treatment of his throat ailment.
Intermezzo op.72, an opera by Richard Strauss (60) to his own words, is performed for the first time, at the Dresden Staatsoper.
Voting in the United States ensures the reelection of President Calvin Coolidge over former Ambassador John W. Davis and Senator Robert LaFollette. His Republican Party wins comfortable majorities in both houses of Congress.
5 November 1924 Members of the army of the Republic of China force Emperor Pu’i (Puyi) to vacate the Forbidden City in Peking where he has been living since 1912.
6 November 1924 Stanley Baldwin replaces James Ramsay Macdonald as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
Nikola Pasic replaces Ljubomir Davidovic as Prime Minister of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes.
The Cunning Little Vixen, an opera by Leos Janácek (70) to words of Tesnohlidek, is performed for the first time, in the National Theatre, Brno.
7 November 1924 The second suite of Ancient Airs and Dances by Ottorino Respighi (45) is performed for the first time, in Cincinnati.
8 November 1924 A state funeral for Gabriel Fauré takes place in the Madeleine, Paris. The eulogy is delivered by Nadia Boulanger (37). His Requiem is performed, after which, the mortal remains are laid to rest in Passy Cemetery.
11 November 1924 Desire Under the Elms by Eugene O’Neill opens in New York.
15 November 1924 Khamma, a ballet by Claude Debussy (†6), is performed for the first time, in a concert setting, in Paris. See 26 March 1947.
17 November 1924 Six Poésies de Jean Cocteau for voice and piano by Arthur Honegger (32) are performed for the first time, in the Salle Pleyel, Paris, the composer at the keyboard.
Lady Be Good, a musical comedy with book by Bolton and Thompson, lyrics by Ira Gershwin and music by George Gershwin (26), is performed for the first time in Philadelphia. Songs by Gershwin include Fascinating Rhythm and the title song. The Man I Love will be cut before the play reaches New York. See 1 December 1924.
18 November 1924 The last French and Belgian troops depart the Ruhr.
19 November 1924 Rudolf Ramek replaces Ignaz Seipel as Chancellor of Austria.
La giara, a ballet by Alfredo Casella (41) after Pirandello, is performed for the first time, in Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Paris.
19 November 1924 An Egyptian nationalist shoots Sir Lee Stack, commander of British forces in Egypt and Governor-General of the Sudan, and three others in Cairo.
20 November 1924 Sir Lee Stack dies of wounds suffered yesterday.
21 November 1924 Ali Fethi Okyar Bey replaces Mustafa Ismet Pasha as Prime Minister of Turkey.
José Domingues dos Santos replaces Alfredo Rodrigues Gaspar as Prime Minister of Portugal.
France lays claim to part of the Antarctic continent from 142°E to 136°W.
22 November 1924 The British government sends an ultimatum to Egypt, demanding punishment of the killers of Sir Lee Stack, an apology, the ending of anti-British demonstrations, and the removal of all Egyptian forces from Sudan. Egyptian Prime Minister Said Zaghlul Pasha agrees to all of these but the last.
24 November 1924 Tuan Ch’i-jui (Duan Qirui) replaces Huang Fu as President of China in the Canton administration.
After ten days of X-ray treatments for throat cancer in Brussels, Giacomo Puccini (65) undergoes an operation for the ailment. The four-hour procedure places seven radioactive needles around the tumor in his throat.
Under British pressure, Said Zaghlul Pasha resigns as Prime Minister of Egypt. His successor, Ahmad Ziwar Pasha agrees to remove Egyptian troops from Sudan.
25 November 1924 The US Patent and Trademark Office grants trademark registration on “Kleenex” to the Cellucotton Products Company of Neenah, Wisconsin. The trademark will be reassigned to Kimberly-Clark Corporation in 1955.
Go not, happy day for voice and piano by Frank Bridge (45) to words of Tennyson, is performed for the first time, at the Royal College of Music, London.
26 November 1924 The Mongolian People’s Republic is declared with the adoption of a constitution. It is the second national communist government.
27 November 1924 The first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade takes place in New York.
Evening. Before the needles inserted into the throat of Giacomo Puccini (65) on 24 November can be removed, he suffers a heart attack.
29 November 1924 04:00 Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini dies in Brussels of heart failure following X-ray treatment and surgery for throat cancer. He is aged 65 years, eleven months, and seven days.
Julián Carrillo (49) publishes an article in La Antorcha answering the criticisms of Carlos Chávez (25). “I do not believe we should deny the Mexican mestizos…the right to produce something new that Europeans have not found so far…I understand my musical knowledge as a continuation of the glorious German music tradition.” (Madrid, 18)
30 November 1924 Tzigane, rapsodie de concert, in the version for violin and orchestra, by Maurice Ravel (49), is performed for the first time, in Paris. See 26 April 1924.
The transmission of photographs from Marconi offices in London to New York by wireless telegraph (Radio Facsimilie Transmission) is demonstrated by the Radio Corporation of America.
The first issue of Der deutsche Rundfunk containing the writing of their new music correspondent, Kurt Weill (24), is published.
The first radio station in Mexico, established by Educación Pública, begins broadcasting in Mexico City.
Two works for chamber orchestra by Arthur Honeger (32) are performed for the first time, at a League of Composers concert in the Klaw Theatre, New York: L’ombre and L’homme et la mer.
1 December 1924 A funeral service is held in memory of Giacomo Puccini in the Church of Sainte-Marie, Brussels. The body is then transported by train to Milan.
Plutarco Elías Calles replaces Alvaro Obregón Salido as President of Mexico.
Lady Be Good, a musical comedy with book by Bolton and Thompson, lyrics by Ira Gershwin and music by George Gershwin (26), is performed for the first time in New York, at the Liberty Theatre. Songs by Gershwin include Fascinating Rhythm and the title song. The Man I Love was cut before the play reached New York. It will see 330 performances. See 17 November 1924.
2 December 1924 Three Little Pieces for cello and piano op.11 by Anton Webern are performed for the first time, in Mainz on the eve of he composer’s 41st birthday.
Lachian Dances for orchestra by Leos Janácek (70) is performed for the first time, in Brno. It is a hit. The audience calls for two of them to be encored. See 19 February 1925.
3 December 1924 Rites of the Roman Catholic Church are performed for the remains of Giacomo Puccini in the Milan Cathedral as the La Scala orchestra plays his music from Edgar conducted by Arturo Toscanini. The body is then placed temporarily in the Toscanini family tomb in the Cimitero Monumentale. The funeral oration is given by Prime Minister Benito Mussolini. See 29 November 1926.
4 December 1924 Relâche (No Performance), a ballet instantanéiste by Erik Satie (58) to a scenario by Picabia and Börlin, is performed for the first time, in a public dress rehearsal at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Paris. The premiere was scheduled for 29 November but, true to its title, the show was cancelled because the lead dancer became ill. See 7 December 1924.
Herbert Putnam, US Librarian of Congress, forwards to Congress a proposal from Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge offering $60,000 for the construction of an auditorium for the Music Division of the library, and for any equipment necessary therein.
5 December 1924 The Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic is created.
6 December 1924 Incidental music to Andreyev’s play King Hunger by Marc Blitzstein (19) is performed for the first time, in the Hedgerow Theatre in Rose Valley, near Philadelphia.
7 December 1924 Half-time, a rondo for orchestra by Bohuslav Martinu, is performed for the first time in Prague, on the eve of the composer’s 34th birthday.
Relâche (No Performance), a ballet instantanéiste by Erik Satie (58) to a scenario by Picabia and Börlin, is performed for the first time, at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Paris. Posters onstage tell the audience, “Those who aren’t satisfied are authorized to f--- off.” Satie and Picabia appear onstage in a 5CV car owned by the conductor, Roger Désormière. The critics find the music beneath contempt. See 4 December 1924.
In the second Reichstag election this year, German voters give increased confidence to the Social Democratic Party. The biggest losers are the Communist Party.
The symphonic suite Men and Mountains by Carl Ruggles (48) is performed for the first time, in Aeolian Hall, New York. The reaction of the audience and critics is strongly mixed. See 6 June 1931.
8 December 1924 A gala performance of the music of Leos Janácek (70) takes place in Prague as part of celebrations surrounding the 70th year since his birth. He is presented to President Tomás Masaryk in the presidential box.
10 December 1924 Willem Einthoven of the Netherlands is awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his invention of the electrocardiogram.
11 December 1924 After being mercilessly assailed in the first issue of its magazine, Arnold Schoenberg (50) resigns from the Austrian Association of Teachers of Music.
12 December 1924 Two Piano Suites op.26 by Ernst Krenek (24) are performed for the first time, in the Berlin Blüthnersaal.
Ellen Borden is divorced from John Borden. She has been carrying on a long affair with John Alden Carpenter (48).
13 December 1924 With Albanian followers, mercenaries and Yugoslavs, Ahmed Zogu invades Albania.
14 December 1924 The Pines of Rome, a symphonic poem by Ottorino Respighi (45) is performed for the first time, in the Teatro Augusteo, Rome.
Sechs Liebeslieder nach Gedichten von Ricarda Huch op.35 for female voice and piano by Hans Pfitzner (55) are performed for the first time, in Berlin.
16 December 1924 Hugo Celmins replaces Voldemars Zamuels as Prime Minister of Latvia.
Jüri Jaakson replaces Friedrich Karl Akel as Head of State of Estonia.
18 December 1924 The Romanian government bans the Communist Party.
20 December 1924 By order of the Bavarian Supreme Court, Adolf Hitler is released from Landsberg Prison after serving nine months of a five year sentence for his part in the Beer Hall Putsch of November 1923. During his time in prison, he penned his manifesto: Mein Kampf.
Austria undergoes another disastrous devaluation. 1,000,000 kronen now equal 100 schillings.
La cena delle beffe, a poema drammatico by Umberto Giordano (57) to words of Benelli, is performed for the first time, in Teatro alla Scala, Milan.
23 December 1924 In his Johannesburg laboratory, Raymond Dart completes the 73-day process of removing an Australopithecus skull from its surrounding stone. It is the first discovered skull of this species, one of the first “missing link” species. The name is coined by Dart.
24 December 1924 Ahmed Zogu enters Tirana. The Albanian government flees.
27 December 1924 Igor Stravinsky (42) sails from Le Havre aboard the SS Paris for his first tour of the United States, a three-month performing tour.
Amy Beach (57) sells the home on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston which she occupied with her husband before his death in 1910. The large profit on the sale puts her in a much more secure financial condition.
28 December 1924 Nikolay Roslavets (43) resigns as director of the political section of MUSEKTOR, the music sector of the state publishers of the USSR. He is unhappy with recent decisions made, especially the abandonment of Musical Culture.
31 December 1924 Nadia Boulanger (37) arrives in New York from France on her first sojourn in America.
©2004-2011 Paul Scharfenberger
18 September 2011
Last Updated (Monday, 19 September 2011 08:41)