1930
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1 January 1930 Charles Ives (55), in poor health since his 1918 heart attack, retires from the insurance business on disability.
2 January 1930 Sergey Rakhmaninov (56) writes to Ottorino Respighi (50) enthusiastically supporting a suggestion by Serge Koussevitzky that Respighi orchestrate some of Rakhmaninov’s Études Tableaux.
4 January 1930 Amy Beach (62) is discharged from Massachusetts General Hospital for a second time following an operation on her gall bladder and a subsequent abscess.
5 January 1930 A suite for clarinet, bassoon, trombone, violin, cello, and piano from the ballet The Kitchen Revue by Bohuslav Martinu (39) is performed for the first time, in Paris.
6 January 1930 Four of the Twenty Hungarian Folksongs for voice and piano by Béla Bartók (48) are performed for the first time, in London.
Things in Themselves for piano op.45 by Sergey Prokofiev (38) is performed for the first time, in New York.
7 January 1930 Helen Tamiris and her dance company perform the first known dance to the music of Aaron Copland (29), in New York. She calls is Sentimental Dance, to the music of Sentimental Melody: Slow Dance for piano.
10 January 1930 Austria, for male chorus and orchestra by Richard Strauss (65) to words of Wildgans, is performed for the first time, in Vienna.
11 January 1930 The first concert performance of Boléro by Maurice Ravel (54) takes place in Paris, the composer conducting. See 22 November 1928.
Piano Trio op.98 by Vincent d’Indy (78) is performed for the first time, in Paris.
13 January 1930 Lux Aeterna for viola and string quartet op.24 by Howard Hanson (33) is performed for the first time, in New York. The premiere is on cello and piano.
14 January 1930 Three scenes from The Nose, an opera by Dmitri Shostakovich (23) to words of Zamyatin, Ionin, Preys, and the composer after Gogol, are performed for the first time, before a “try-out” audience of factory workers in Leningrad. The response is very positive. See 18 January 1930.
Prelude on ‘Song 13’ by Orlando Gibbons for piano by Ralph Vaughan Williams (57) is performed for the first time, in Wigmore Hall, London.
The second version of Strike Up the Band, an operetta with a book by Ryskind, after Kaufman, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, and music by George Gershwin (31), is performed for the first time in New York, in the Times Square Theatre. It will see 191 performances. At a reception afterward, Gershwin meets Sergey Prokofiev (38) for a second time. See 5 September 1927 and 25 December 1929.
El fuego nuevo-Ballet Azteca for female chorus and orchestra by Carlos Chávez (30) to his own scenario, is performed for the first time, in a concert setting in the Teatro Arbeu, Mexico City, the composer conducting.
16 January 1930 Charles Frances Jenkins gives the first public demonstration of a commercial model of his television receiver at the Lauter Piano Company in Newark, New Jersey.
RAF Flying Officer Frank Whittle applies for a British patent for a turbojet airplane engine. It will be granted in 1932.
17 January 1930 Reisebuch aus den österreichischen Alpen, a cycle of 20 songs for voice and piano by Ernst Krenek (29) to his own words, is performed for the first time, in the Salle des Landes Konservatoriums, Leipzig.
18 January 1930 The Nose, an opera by Dmitri Shostakovich (23) to words of Zamyatin, Ionin, Preys, and the composer, after Gogol, is performed for the first time, in the Malyi Theatre, Leningrad. The audience is positive, the critics are not, perhaps for political reasons. See 25 November 1928, 16 June 1929, and 14 January 1930
The National Broadcasting Company begins a series of syndicated programs featuring the Theremin. In the opening episode, the inventor, Lev Sergeyevich Termen (Leon Theremin) (33), plays music of Rakhmaninov (56), Brahms (†33) and Chopin (†78).
19 January 1930 Leben des Orest, a grand opera by Ernst Krenek (29) to his own words, is performed for the first time, in the Neues Theater, Leipzig.
Theatre Piece op.19, a dance by Wallingford Riegger (44) to a scenario by Humphrey, is performed for the first time, in New York.
20 January 1930 The Second Hague Economic Conference resolves outstanding issues of German payment of reparations.
Tres viejos aires de danza for orchestra by Joaquín Rodrigo (28) is performed for the first time, in Teatro Principal, Valencia.
21 January 1930 Domingos Augusto Alves da Costa e Oliveira replaces Arturo Ivens Ferraz as Prime Minister of Portugal.
The Second London Naval Conference opens attended by Great Britain, France, Italy, Japan, and the United States.
Symphony no.3 “First of May” for chorus and orchestra by Dmitri Shostakovich (23) to words of Kirsanov, is performed for the first time, in the Moscow-Narva House of Culture, Leningrad.
Aubade, a “choreographic concerto” for piano and 18 instruments by Francis Poulenc (31), is staged for the first time, in the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Paris the composer at the piano. See 18 June 1929 and 1 December 1929.
22 January 1930 Le Banquet eucharistique for orchestra by Olivier Messiaen (21) is performed for the first time, at the Paris Conservatoire. It is identified in the program as Le Banquet céleste.
After three weeks as a seaman aboard an oil tanker, Harry Partch (28) is discharged from service.
23 January 1930 Wilhelm Frick becomes the first Nazi minister, in Thuringia.
All but one of the 29 Short Preludes for organ op.51 by Carl Nielsen (64) are performed for the first time, in the Skovshoved Church. See 19 March 1930.
24 January 1930 Blues for piano by Bohuslav Martinu (39) is performed for the first time, in Paris.
25 January 1930 Le chasseur perdu en forêt, a song for voice and orchestra by Arthur Honegger (37) to words of Fort, is performed for the first time, at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Paris.
26 January 1930 Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian National Congress encourage all of their countrymen to fly the flag of free India and issue a Declaration of Independence. “The British Government of India has not only deprived the Indian people of their freedom but has based itself on the exploitation of the Masses, and has ruined India economically, politically, culturally and spiritually. We believe, therefore, that India must sever the British connection and attain Purna Swaraj or Complete Independence.” Thousands of Indians sign the pledge.
28 January 1930 King Alfonso XIII of Spain removes the military government of General Primo de Rivera and appoints a largely civilian cabinet.
Préludes for piano by Olivier Messiaen (21) are performed for the first time, privately in Paris by the composer. See 1 March 1930.
30 January 1930 Alban Berg (44) is nominated to the Prussian Academy of Arts.
Dámaso Berenguer y Fusté, conde de Xauen replaces Miguel Primo de Rivera Orbaneja, Marquis of Estella as Prime Minister of Spain.
Twenty Hungarian Folksongs for voice and piano by Béla Bartók (48) are performed for the first time, in Budapest, the composer at the piano.
5 February 1930 Twelve Songs op.48 for voice and piano by Gustav Holst (55) to words of Wolfe are performed completely for the first time, in Wigmore Hall, London. See 9 November 1929.
Pascal Ortiz Rubio replaces Emilio Cándido Portes Gil as President of Mexico.
6 February 1930 The first complete performance of Petite Suite op.39 for orchestra by Albert Roussel (60) takes place in Paris. See 11 April 1929.
11 February 1930 After five years, Ernest Bloch (49) resigns as director of the San Francisco Conservatory.
15 February 1930 Çançunik for orchestra by Florent Schmitt (59) is performed for the first time, in Paris. Also premiered is his orchestration of J’entends dans le lointain for piano and orchestra.
17 February 1930 Cello Concerto by Arthur Honegger (37) is performed for the first time, in Boston.
18 February 1930 Claude Tombaugh, an assistant at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, witnesses the image of the planet Pluto on a blink microscope. He is the first Earth being to observe the solar system’s ninth planet.
20 February 1930 In voting for the Japanese Diet, the Minsei Party of Prime Minister Osachi Hamaguchi wins a strong majority.
Ethel Smyth (71) and Virginia Woolf meet for the first time at Woolf’s London home.
Sergey Prokofiev (38) accepts a fee of $1,000 to compose a string quartet for Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge and the Library of Congress.
Olivier Messiaen (21) gives his first public recital in Paris, playing organ at the Trinité. Here he gives the first performance of his Diptyque: Essai sur la vie terrestre et l’éternité bienheureuse
21 February 1930 Camille Chautemps replaces André Pierre Gabriel Amédée Tardieu as Prime Minister of France.
Anna Christie, a film by Clarence Brown starring Greta Garbo, is released in the US.
22 February 1930 The second meeting of the New York Musicological Society takes place in Blanche Walton’s apartment in New York. One of the founders, Charles Seeger, does not allow his student Ruth Crawford (28) to attend because he desires the group “not be confused with a women’s club.” However he does allow her to sit outside the room with the door ajar. When she arrives, she finds the door closed. Later that evening, Crawford confides to Blanche Walton that she is fond of Seeger.
23 February 1930 Momoprecoce for piano and orchestra by Heitor Villa-Lobos (42) is performed for the first time, in the Salle Pleyel, Paris.
26 February 1930 The first traffic lights in New York are installed in Manhattan.
27 February 1930 Norway formally annexes Jan Mayen.
Men and Machines, dance music by Henry Cowell (32) to a story by Findlay, is performed for the first time, in Brooklyn.
1 March 1930 Préludes for piano by Olivier Messiaen (21) are performed publicly for the first time, in Salle Erard, Paris. See 28 January 1930.
Bagatelle for violin, viola, and piano by Benjamin Britten (16) is performed for the first time, at Gresham’s School, Holt, Norfolk. The composer plays the viola part.
Júlio Prestes is elected President of Brazil over Getúlio Vargas.
2 March 1930 Mahatma Gandhi writes to the British Viceroy that he is about to begin a campaign of civil disobedience with the aim of the removal of British rule.
André Pierre Gabriel Amédée Tardieu replaces Camille Chautemps as Prime Minister of France.
DH Lawrence dies in Vence, France at the age of 44.
3 March 1930 Piano Sonata no.1 by Roger Sessions (33) is performed completely for the first time. See 6 May 1928.
6 March 1930 Three Piano Pieces op.59 by Carl Nielsen (63) are performed completely for the first time, in Copenhagen. See 14 April 1928.
Silently Swaying on the Water’s Quiet Breast for female chorus and strings by George Whitefield Chadwick (75) to words of von Scheffel (tr. Parker), is performed for the first time, in Kilbourn Hall, Rochester, New York.
9 March 1930 Siciliana for cello and piano by Joaquín Rodrigo (28) is performed for the first time, in the École Normale de Musique, Paris the composer at the keyboard in a recital of compositions by students of Paul Dukas (64).
Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, an opera by Kurt Weill (30) to words of Brecht, is performed for the first time, in the Neues Theater, Leipzig. Brownshirts carrying signs greet the audience as they arrive. During the performance shouts and insults are thrown at the stage while fistfights break out in the hall. Some cast members walk to the edge of the stage and hurl insults back to the audience. Loud applause and expressions of approval are also heard.
Suite no.2 for four strings and piano by Ruth Crawford (28) is performed publicly for the first time, in New York.
12 March 1930 Mahatma Gandhi and 78 of his followers begin a march of 275 km from their ashram near Ahmedabad to the sea to protest the British monopoly on salt.
Three days after its Leipzig premiere, Augstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny by Kurt Weill (30) and Bertolt Brecht is performed in Kassel and Braunschweig. The performance in Kassel goes on without incident but in Braunschweig, some Nazi students begin demonstrating during the second act and it turns into a riot. After one more performance, the opera is withdrawn.
13 March 1930 Fantasia on Sussex Folk Tunes for cello and orchestra by Ralph Vaughan Williams (57) is performed for the first time, in Queen’s Hall, London.
The Theremin is transferred from the Radiola Division of RCA Victor to the Victor Division. It is henceforth marketed as the Victor Theremin.
The discovery of Pluto is announced by Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, Arizona.
14 March 1930 Symphony no.3 by Arnold Bax (46) is performed for the first time, in Queen’s Hall, London.
New works by Heitor Villa-Lobos (43) are performed for the first time, in the Salle Chopin, Paris: Quinteto em forma de chôros for woodwind quintet, three of the cycle for voice and orchestra Canções típicas brasileiras (Mokocê-cê-maká, Nozani-ná and Xangô), Poème de l’enfant et de sa mère for solo voice, flute, clarinet, and cello to words of Vallalba Filho (pseud. of Villa-Lobos), Saudades das selvas brasileiras for piano, Chôros bis for violin and cello, and Canções indígenas for voice and orchestra to words of Valalocê conducted by the composer.
19 March 1930 A suite from The Golden Age, a yet to be performed ballet by Dmitri Shostakovich (23), is performed for the first time, in Philharmonic Hall, Leningrad. See 26 October 1930.
29 Short Preludes for organ op.51 by Carl Nielsen (64) are performed completely for the first time, in the church of St. Johannes in Copenhagen. See 23 January 1930.
23 March 1930 Otto Luening (29) receives a letter in New York informing him that he has received a Guggenheim Fellowship of $2,500 to compose an opera named Evangeline.
28 March 1930 The names of important cities in Turkey are changed. The most populous city is changed from Constantinople to Istanbul. The capital is changed from Angora to Ankara. Adrianople is renamed Edirne and Smyrna becomes Izmir.
Robert Reynolds Ashley is born in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Konzertmusik op.48 for viola and chamber orchestra by Paul Hindemith (34) is performed for the first time, in Hamburg, the composer as soloist.
Suite for orchestra by Walter Piston (36) is performed for the first time, in Boston the composer conducting.
29 March 1930 Walery Slawek replaces Kazimierz Bartel as Prime Minister of Poland.
30 March 1930 Heinrich Brünig replaces Hermann Müller as Chancellor of Germany.
Cantata for the 50th Anniversary of the Danish Cremation Union by Carl Nielsen (64) to words of Michaelis is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of Danish Radio.
31 March 1930 John Logie Baird installs a Televisor at 10 Downing Street.
1 April 1930 Cosima Liszt von Bülow Wagner dies at Bayreuth at the age of 92.
3 April 1930 Haile Selassie I replaces Zauditu to become Emperor of Ethiopia.
Concerto for two violins and orchestra by Gustav Holst (55) is performed for the first time, in Queen’s Hall, London. During the intermission, Holst is presented with the gold medal of the Royal Philharmonic Society.
A revised version of the symphonic poem Summer Evening by Zoltán Kodály (47) is performed for the first time, in New York.
Suite sugestiva for soprano, baritone, and chamber orchestra by Heitor Villa-Lobos (43) is performed for the first time, in the Paris home of Mme Frédéric Moreau. See 26 August 1929.
4 April 1930 Serranilla for voice and piano by Joaquín Rodrigo (28) to words of the Marqués de Santillana is performed for the first time, in Ville de Chatellerault, France.
William Schuman (19) attends a performance of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Arturo Toscanini. He is so enthralled that decides on music as a profession.
5 April 1930 After a march of 390 km in 24 days, Mahatma Gandhi and thousands of his followers reach Dandi on the Indian Ocean.
A concert at Barn Theatre, Oxted, features the first public performance of any music by Michael Tippett (25), including a Concerto in D for chamber orchestra, Three Songs for voice and piano to words of Mew, Variations on Jockey to the Fair for piano, String Quartet in F and Psalm in C for chorus and orchestra to words of Fry. Tippett designed the program himself, but forgot to include his own name.
6 April 1930 On the beach at Dandi, Mahatma Gandhi goes into the water, returns to the beach and picks up salt left by the waves. He thus breaks the law which forbids anyone to possess salt not produced by the British salt monopoly. The act spurs all India to make salt illegally. 60,000 people, including Gandhi, will be arrested.
Africa for orchestra by William Grant Still (34) is performed for the first time, in a reduced orchestra setting, in the Guild Theatre, New York.
New works by American composers are performed for the first time, at a League of Composers’ Concert in New York: Five Songs on Poems by Carl Sandburg (first public) by Ruth Crawford (28), Piano Sonata by Roy Harris (32), and Three Poems by ee cummings for voice and piano by Marc Blitzstein (25).
8 April 1930 Pauls Kalnins replaces Gustavs Zemgals as President of Latvia ad interim.
Begleitungsmusik zu einer Lichtspielszene op.34 for orchestra by Arnold Schoenberg (56) is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of Südwestfunk, Frankfurt. See 6 November 1930.
10 April 1930 George (31) and Ira Gershwin sign contracts with Fox Studios to produce a movie musical.
11 April 1930 Alberts Kviesis replaces Gustavs Zemgals as President of Latvia.
Fiedellieder, a cycle of seven songs for voice and piano by Ernst Krenek (29) to words of Storm and Mommsen, is performed for the first time, in Dresden.
12 April 1930 From the House of the Dead, an opera by Leos Janácek (†1) to his own words after Dostoyevsky is performed for the first time, in the National Theatre, Brno. The libretto of this version is revised by Zitek, the music revised and reorchestrated by Chlubna and Bakala.
String Quartet no.3 op.96 by Vincent d’Indy (79) is performed for the first time, in Paris.
13 April 1930 String Quartet no.1 by Roy Harris (32) is performed for the first time, in the President Theatre, New York.
14 April 1930 Poet Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky shoots himself to death while playing Russian Roulette in his Moscow office. He is 36 years old.
Over a hundred farm workers are arrested for trying to organize a union in Imperial Valley, California. Eight of them will be convicted of “criminal syndicalism.”
The first complete performance of Alban Berg’s (45) Three Pieces for orchestra op.6 takes place in Oldenburg. They are dedicated to Arnold Schoenberg (55). See 5 June 1923.
18 April 1930 Hindu extremists raid arsenals in Chittagong, killing six people.
21 April 1930 Set no.8 for chamber orchestra by Charles Ives (55) is performed for the first time, in a version for trumpet and piano, in Carnegie Chamber Music Hall, New York.
Rat Riddles, a song for alto, oboe, percussion, and piano by Ruth Crawford (28) to words of Sandburg, is performed for the first time, in Carnegie Chamber Hall, New York.
22 April 1930 The Second London Naval Conference concludes. Great Britain, the United States, and Japan agree to a ratio agreement of naval power. France and Italy do not agree. They all agree to a five-year moratorium on capital ship construction.
23 April 1930 Moslem followers of Mahatma Gandhi in Peshawar conduct angry demonstrations over the arrest of their local leader. Police flee and give up the city to them.
25 April 1930 Ten Victor Theremins, a group of ten people playing Theremins, debuts at Carnegie Hall in what must be the first all-electronic orchestra. Among the performers are the inventor, Lev Sergeyevich Termen (Leon Theremin) (33) and Wallingford Riegger (44).
26 April 1930 Hindu troops are sent to restore order in Peshawar. They break ranks, however, refusing to fire on the Muslims.
The first two movements of Henry Cowell’s (33) Concerto for piano and orchestra are performed for the first time, in New York, the composer at the keyboard. See 28 December 1930.
The Royal Welsh Fusiliers no.2, a march by John Philip Sousa (75), is performed for the first time, in the Willard Hotel, Washington, at a dinner attended by President Hoover.
27 April 1930 The British Viceroy of India forbids any press mention of civil disobedience.
Roberto Gerhard (33) marries Leopoldina Feichtegger in Barcelona.
29 April 1930 A setting of the 100th Psalm for chorus and orchestra by Ralph Vaughan Williams (57) is performed for the first time, in the Drill Hall, Dorking the composer conducting.
30 April 1930 A system of national insurance is instituted in France covering health, maternity, disability, old age, and death for lower wage workers.
Three Choral Hymns for baritone or tenor, chorus, and orchestra by Ralph Vaughan Williams (57) to words of Coverdale are performed for the first time, in the Drill Hall, Dorking conducted by the composer.
1 May 1930 Three Children’s Songs for a Spring Festival for unison chorus, by Ralph Vaughan Williams (57) to words of Farrer, are performed for the first time, in the Drill Hall, Dorking.
Preludio para un poema a la Alhambra for orchestra by Joaquín Rodrigo (28) is performed for the first time, in the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Paris.
2 May 1930 Benedicite for soprano, chorus, and orchestra by Ralph Vaughan Williams (57) to words from the apocrypha and Austin, is performed for the first time, at Dorking Drill Hall the composer conducting.
4 May 1930 Gurkha troops with British air support retake Peshawar.
5 May 1930 After writing to the Viceroy of his intention to take possession of the Dharasana Saltworks (240 km north of Bombay), Mahatma Gandhi is arrested and imprisoned without trial at Camp Karadi, the first of 100,000 Indians who will be interned by the British before the end of the year.
Five Short Pieces for violin and piano by Bohuslav Martinu (39) is performed for the first time, in Paris.
Serenade for string quartet op.1 by Samuel Barber (20) is performed for the first time, at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. On the same program is the premiere of Variations on a Theme of Schumann for piano by fellow student Gian Carlo Menotti (18).
Christophe Colomb, an opera by Darius Milhaud (37) to words of Claudel, is performed for the first time, in the Staatsoper, Berlin.
6 May 1930 Colin McPhee (30) marries Jane Belo, an amateur anthropologist in Connecticut. He is a homosexual, and she knows it.
8 May 1930 Fanfare for a Cheerful Occasion for brass and percussion by Arnold Bax (46) is performed for the first time, privately at the Musicians Benevolent Fund annual dinner in the Savoy Hotel, London. Also premiered is Hot Potatoes, a fanfare for brass and percussion by Ethel Smyth (72). See 26 May 1932.
9 May 1930 Incidental music for the play by Gorbenko and Lvov, Virgin Soil by Dmitri Shostakovich (23), is performed for the first time, in the Working Youth Theatre, Leningrad.
12 May 1930 The Canticle of the Sun op.123 for solo voices, chorus and orchestra by Amy Cheney Beach (62) is performed for the first time in its orchestration, in Toledo. See 9 December 1928.
15 May 1930 Trio phantasie for violin, cello, and piano by Ernst Krenek (29) is performed for the first time, in the Berlin Beethovensaal.
Ellen Church from Cressbill, Iowa becomes the world’s first flight attendant on a Boeing Air Transport (United) flight from San Francisco to Cheyenne, Wyoming.
16 May 1930 The Salvation Army, a march by John Philip Sousa (75), is performed for the first time, in New York in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Salvation Army in the United States.
17 May 1930 Suite in four movements op.91 by Vincent d’Indy (79) is performed for the first time, in Paris.
18 May 1930 Albert Roussel’s (61) Prelude and Fughetta op.41 for organ is performed for the first time, in the Chapelle des Dominican, Paris.
19 May 1930 The right to vote is extended to the white women of the Union of South Africa.
21 May 1930 In temperatures reaching 47°C, 2,500 members of the Indian National Congress attempt to peacefully take possession of the Dharasana Salt Works (240 km north of Bombay) from 400 policemen guarding it. As the marchers advance towards them, police attack with clubs. Congress members accept the blows without resisting. For two hours they peacefully march into the police and are clubbed to the ground, abused, and thrown into ditches. Two people are killed, 290 are seriously injured. American journalist Webb Miller reports, “In 18 years of reporting in 22 countries, during which I have witnessed innumerable civil disturbances, riots, street fights, and rebellions, I have never witnessed such harrowing scenes as at Dharasana.”
24 May 1930 A Duo for soprano, contralto, and piano by Roberto Gerhard (33) to words of Carner is performed for the first time, in Barcelona.
27 May 1930 Richard Gurley Drew of St. Paul, Minnesota receives a patent for cellophane tape. He assigns it to 3M Company who will begin marketing it in September.
The Chrysler Building, designed by William van Alen, opens to the public in New York. It is the tallest man-made structure in the world.
28 May 1930 George William Forbes replaces Joseph Ward as Prime Minister of New Zealand.
4 June 1930 Der Wein for solo voice and orchestra by Alban Berg (45) to words of Baudelaire (tr. George), is performed for the first time, in Königsberg.
5 June 1930 Gian Francesco Malipiero (48) has his first audience with Benito Mussolini, in Rome. He brings scores of 47 of his compositions, four of his books, ten volumes of the Monteverdi (†286) edition he has been overseeing, and five of his arrangements of early music.
6 June 1930 Carl Gustaf Ekman replaces Salomon Arvid Achates Lindman as Prime Minister of Sweden.
Americans William Beebe and Otis Baron pilot their bathysphere on its maiden voyage to a depth of 245 meters off Bermuda.
Norman Dello Joio (17) graduates from All Hallows High School in New York. He will call his high school experience “a time of excruciating boredom.”
7 June 1930 Gheorghe G. Mironescu replaces Juliu Maniu as Prime Minister of Romania.
Entrada for orchestra and organ by Carl Orff (34) after William Byrd (†306) is performed for the first time, in Königsberg.
8 June 1930 The Romanian Parliament abolishes the regency for King Mihai I allowing his father, Prince Carol to take the throne as King Carol II.
9 June 1930 Dane Rudhyar (35) marries his first wife, Malya Contento.
11 June 1930 Excerpts from the Suite for viola and piano by Aram Khachaturian (27) are performed for the first time, privately in Moscow.
13 June 1930 Iuliu Maniu replaces Gheorghe G. Mironescu as Prime Minister of Romania.
15 June 1930 Heitor Villa-Lobos (43) arrives back in Rio de Janeiro from Paris.
18 June 1930 Grammophonplatten-eigene Stücke by Paul Hindemith (34) is performed for the first time, in Berlin.
19 June 1930 Paul Hindemith’s (34) radio play Sabinchen is performed for the first time, in Berlin.
20 June 1930 The first public performance on the Trautonium takes place at the Berlin Academy of Music. The three instruments are played by Paul Hindemith (34), his student Oskar Sala, and a piano teacher at the academy, Rudolph Schmidt. The electronic instrument was developed by Friedrich Trautwein over the last two years. Hindemith’s Des kleinen Elektromusicers Lieblinge is performed for the first time.
21 June 1930 Wir bauen eine Stadt, a children’s opera by Paul Hindemith (34) to words of Seitz, is performed for the first time, in Berlin.
22 June 1930 The University of Wales at Swansea awards an honorary DMus to Ralph Vaughan Williams (57).
23 June 1930 Kurt Weill’s (30) school opera Der Jasager, to words of Brecht, after a Noh drama (translated into English by Waley and into German by Hauptmann), is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of Berlin Radio.
24 June 1930 Kurt Weill’s (30) school opera Der Jasager, to words of Brecht, after a Noh drama (translated into English by Waley and into German by Hauptmann), is staged for the first time, in Berlin.
29 June 1930 20,000 people rally in Kraków protesting the dictatorship of General Pilsudski.
30 June 1930 The third and last Rhineland Occupation Zone (Mainz) is evacuated by the Allies. The Rhineland is now completely demilitarized.
4 July 1930 Pehr Evind Svinhufvud replaces Kyösti Kallio as Prime Minister of Finland.
12 July 1930 Incidental music to Michaelis’ play Cupid and the Poet by Carl Nielsen (65) is performed for the first time, in Odense as part of celebrations surrounding the 125th anniversary of the birth of Hans Christian Andersen.
16 July 1930 One day after they were rejected by the Reichstag, German Chancellor Heinrich Brüning enacts economic measures by decree. He institutes a tax on civil servants, directors of companies, and private professionals, as well as a local authority poll tax.
Transcontinental Air Transport and Western Air Express merge to form Transcontinental and Western Air (later TWA).
18 July 1930 The Reichstag annuls the decrees of 16 July retroactively. Chancellor Brüning dissolves the Reichstag and calls new elections.
Roger Sessions (33) sails from Europe for home after a two-year fellowship at the American Academy in Rome.
22 July 1930 Anton Webern (46) reaches the summit of the Dachstein, a 3,000 meter mountain in Styria. This is his fourth attempt at the peak since 1906 and the first successful.
Los Cuatros Soles, a ballet by Carlos Chávez (31), is performed for the first time, in concert in the Teatro Iris, Mexico City. See 31 March 1951.
25 June 1930 John Philip Sousa (75) presents the score to his Royal Welsh Fusiliers march to the organization after whom it is named.
26 July 1930 With the Reichstag dissolved, German Chancellor Heinrich Brüning re-enacts his decrees of 16 July.
The losing candidate for Vice-President of Brazil in recent elections, João Pessoa, is murdered in Recife.
28 July 1930 Voters elect the 17th Parliament of Canada. The Conservative Party of Richard Bennett defeats the Liberal government and wins a majority.
30 July 1930 Uruguay defeats Argentina 4-2 in Montevideo to win the first FIFA World Cup™.
4 August 1930 Siegfried Wagner, director of the Bayreuth Festival, dies of a heart attack in Bayreuth at the age of 61.
7 August 1930 Richard Bedford Bennett replaces William Lyon Mackenzie King as Prime Minister of Canada.
The first complete performance of Henry Cowell’s (33) opera The Building of Bamba, to words of Varian, takes place in Halcyon, California. See 18 August 1917.
15 August 1930 Arthur Honegger (38) and his wife arrive in Buenos Aires from France. They will concertize until 7 October.
After an election marked by fraud and coercion, Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina is inaugurated President of the Dominican Republic.
17 August 1930 Spanish Republicans, Socialists, and Catalan leftists all agree on the path of revolution in the Pact of San Sebastian.
18 August 1930 Lev Sergeyevich Termen (Leon Theremin) (33) forms the Theremin Television Corporation.
19 August 1930 Ruth Crawford (29) sails from Quebec for Europe aboard the SS Empress of Scotland. Over the summer, she and Charles Seeger have worked on A Manual of Composition and Dissonant Counterpoint at Seeger’s home in Connecticut. They have also fallen in love.
20 August 1930 The Barretts of Wimpole Street, a play by Rudolf Besier, is first performed at the Malvern Festival, England.
24 August 1930 The town of Ciboure in French Basque country changes the name of the rue du Quai to quai Maurice Ravel. A plaque is placed on no.12 to mark the house where Maurice Ravel was born 55 years ago. The composer is present for the day full of festivities.
25 August 1930 Józef Klemens Pilsudski replaces Walery Slawek as Prime Minister of Poland at the head of a largely military government.
26 August 1930 Seven days out of Quebec, Ruth Crawford (29) reaches Southampton aboard the SS Empress of Scotland.
Philo Taylor Farnsworth receives two US patents for an electric television system and a television receiving system.
2 September 1930 Arthur Honegger (38) and his wife give the first of three all-Honegger concerts at Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires.
3 September 1930 Ross Lee Finney (23) marries Carol Gretchen Ludke, amateur violinist and daughter of a groceries wholesaler, at her home in Alexandria, Minnesota.
4 September 1930 Ode Anacréontique for voice and orchestra by Ethel Smyth (72) to anonymous words, is performed for the first time, in Queen’s Hall, London.
6 September 1930 The military of Argentina seizes control of the government, replacing Juan Hipólito del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús Yrigoyen Alem with José Félix Benito de Uriburu y Uriburu as President.
7 September 1930 Karelia’s Fate for male chorus and piano by Jean Sibelius (64) to words of Nurminen is performed for the first time, in Sortavala.
10 September 1930 Wincenty Witos and other Polish opposition leaders are arrested and imprisoned in the military fortress of Brzesc (Brest, Belarus).
12 September 1930 Prelude and Fugue in c minor for orchestra by Ralph Vaughan Williams (57), arranged from his organ work, is performed for the first time, in Hereford Cathedral the composer conducting.
Larry Don Austin is born in Duncan, Oklahoma.
13 September 1930 All public political meetings are banned in Poland. Arrests and intimidation of opposition politicians will continue for weeks.
14 September 1930 In general elections in Germany, the Nazi party becomes the second largest bloc in the Reichstag, going from 12 seats to 107 seats. Communists also gain, from 54 to 77 seats.
18 September 1930 Pomp and Circumstance March no.5 by Edward Elgar (73) is performed for the first time, at a HMV recording session in Kingsway Hall, London. See 20 September 1930.
20 September 1930 Pomp and Circumstance March no.5 by Edward Elgar (73) is performed publicly for the first time, in Queen’s Hall, London.
22 September 1930 Benjamin Britten (15) enters the Royal College of Music, London.
George (31) and Ira Gershwin sign a contract with Fox Studios to write songs for talking pictures.
24 September 1930 Ruth Crawford (29) arrives in Berlin and takes up residence in the city until Spring on a Guggenheim Fellowship.
Private Lives by Noel Coward opens in London.
27 September 1930 Severn Suite op.87 for brass band by Edward Elgar (73) is performed for the first time, in the Crystal Palace, London. The work is dedicated to George Bernard Shaw who says, “it will secure my immortality when all my plays are dead and damned and forgotten.” The composer is not present owing to an attack of “sciatica.” In fact it is the first signs of the disease which will take his life.
29 September 1930 String Quartet no.5 by Ernst Krenek (30) is performed for the first time, in Copenhagen.
Girl Crazy, a musical comedy with a book by Bolton and McGowan, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, and music by George Gershwin (32), is performed for the first time, in Philadelphia. It includes the songs Embraceable You and I Got Rhythm. See 14 October 1930.
30 September 1930 Karl Vaugoin replaces Johann Schober as Chancellor of Austria.
Nonet for flute, oboe, clarinet, harp, string quartet, and double bass by Arnold Bax (46) is performed for the first time, in Queen’s Hall, Bradford.
1 October 1930 Great Britain restores Wei-hai-wei (Weihai) to China after 32 years.
2 October 1930 Concerto for piano and orchestra by John Ireland (51) is performed for the first time, in Queen’s Hall, London.
3 October 1930 A revolution begins in Brazil, led by the Aliança Liberal’s Getúlio Vargas. The military soon joins in the fighting to overthrow the government.
6 October 1930 William Faulkner’s novel As I Lay Dying is published in New York.
7 October 1930 After six weeks of concertizing, Arthur Honegger (38) and his wife depart Buenos Aires for Lisbon aboard the Massilia.
8 October 1930 Toru Takemitsu is born in Tokyo, the son of Takeo and Reiko Takemitsu.
9 October 1930 President Paul Doumer of France presides over the opening of the Plougastel Bridge over the River Elorn at Brest, designed by Eugène Freyssinet. At 900 meters and 43 meters high, it is the largest reinforced concrete bridge.
Arthur Foote (77) delivers an address, “Fifty Years in Fifty Minutes” as part of the celebrations surrounding the 50th anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
10 October 1930 Gheorghe G. Mironescu replaces Iuliu Maniu as Prime Minister of Romania.
11 October 1930 Veni creator spiritus and Der gute Mensch, two cantatas by Carl Orff (35) to words of Werfel, are performed for the first time, in Munich.
12 October 1930 Konzertmusik op.49 for piano, brass, and two harps by Paul Hindemith (34) is performed for the first time, in Chicago.
14 October 1930 Girl Crazy, a musical comedy with a book by Bolton and McGowan, lyrics by Ira Gershwin and music by George Gershwin (32), is performed for the first time in New York, in the Alvin Theatre, conducted by the composer. Ethel Merman’s interpretation of the Gershwin numbers causes wild applause and calls for encores. During intermission, George Gershwin tells her, “Don’t ever let anybody give you a singing lesson. It’ll ruin you.” Girl Crazy includes the songs Embraceable You and I Got Rhythm and will run for 272 performances. See 29 September 1930.
16 October 1930 Benjamin Britten (16) has his first full composition lesson with John Ireland (51) and the Royal College of Music. Britten finds Ireland “terribly critical.” (Evans, 55)
Partita for violin and piano by Charles Martin Loeffler (69) is performed for the first time, in Chicago.
17 October 1930 The case of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill (30) against the producers of the Die Dreigroschenoper film, for artistic control, begins.
20 October 1930 Nazis throw stink bombs in the Frankfurt Opera House during a performance of Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny. In a brawl after the performance, one communist student is killed.
21 October 1930 Das dunkle Reich op.38 for solo voices, chorus, organ, and orchestra by Hans Pfitzner (61) is performed for the first time, in Cologne.
23 October 1930 A concert version of Job, a Masque for Dancing, a ballet by Ralph Vaughan Williams (58), is performed for the first time, in St. Andrew’s Hall, Norwich. See 5 July 1931.
24 October 1930 Karol Szymanowski (48) moves into Atma, a villa near Zakopane. He will live there for five years.
Symphony no.3 by Albert Roussel (61) is performed for the first time, in Boston.
Augusto Tasso Fragoso replaces Washington Luis Pereira de Souza as President of Brazil at the head of a junta.
25 October 1930 Check and Double Check, a film with music by Duke Ellington (31), is released in the United States.
27 October 1930 The Golden Age, a ballet by Dmitri Shostakovich (24) to a scenario by Ivanovsky, is performed publicly for the first time, at the Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet, Leningrad. Two days ago there was a matinee preview and yesterday a private performance. It is extremely successful. See 19 March 1930.
30 October 1930 A treaty of friendship is signed by Greece and Turkey.
3 November 1930 Cantata for the 50th Anniversary of the Young Merchants’ Education Association for reciter, solo voice, chorus, and orchestra by Carl Nielsen (65) to words of Petersen is performed for the first time.
4 November 1930 Verdicts are returned in the suits by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill (30) against the producers of the Die Dreigroschenoper film (see 17 October 1930). The judge has split the case in two, handling the two artists’ suits separately. Brecht’s claims are not accepted but Weill’s are. Nero Films pays Brecht RM16,000 and agrees to revert the film rights to him in two years. The court requires that all the music in the film must be by Weill, however the resulting soundtrack is simply a pastiche of his most popular songs.
Getúlio Dornelles Vargas replaces Augusto Tasso Fragoso as President of Brazil.
Voting takes place in the United States for seats in Congress. Blamed for the depression, over 50 seats in the House of Representatives flip from President Hoover’s Republican Party to the Democratic Party. Republican’s hold on barely to organize the Senate.
5 November 1930 Violin Sonata no.1 by Bohuslav Martinu (39) is performed for the first time, in Paris.
George (32), Ira, and Lee (Mrs. Ira) Gershwin board a train in New York for Los Angeles. They will be working on the music of the film Delicious.
6 November 1930 Violin Sonata no.3 by Frederick Delius (68) is performed for the first time, in Wigmore Hall, London. Arnold Bax (47) is at the piano.
Begleitungsmusik zu einer Lichtspielszene op.34 for orchestra by Arnold Schoenberg (56) is performed for the first time before a live audience, in Berlin. See 8 April 1930.
7 November 1930 A setting of Veni Creator (tr. Wyspianski) for soprano, chorus, orchestra, and organ by Karol Szymanowski (48) is performed for the first time, in Warsaw at the inaugural ceremonies of the Higher School of Music, an academy created largely through the efforts of Szymanowski. President Ignacy Moscicki and other national dignitaries are in attendance.
Four Etudes for Orchestra by Igor Stravinsky (48) are performed completely for the first time, in Berlin. See 16 November 1928.
Metamorphosen, Modi XII by Ottorino Respighi (51), composed for the fiftieth anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, is performed for the first time, in Symphony Hall, Boston.
Symphony no.2 by Daniel Gregory Mason (56) is performed for the first time, in Cincinnati.
12 November 1930 The first Round Table Conference on India between three British parties and almost all organized Indian groups begins in London. It agrees to an “all-India Federation.”
14 November 1930 Prime Minister Yuko Hamaguchi is shot at a Tokyo railroad station by Tomeo Sagoya, a member of Aikokusha, a right-wing militarist organization. Seriously injured, he will survive for another nine months. Sagoya is taken into custody.
Piano Trio no.1 by Bohuslav Martinu (39) is performed for the first time, in Paris.
Symphony no.4 op.47 by Sergey Prokofiev (39), composed for the fiftieth anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, is performed for the first time, in Boston.
16 November 1930 After government censorship, intimidation, and the arrest of 20 opposition leaders, Polish citizens vote for a new Sejm. The Nonpartisan Bloc for Cooperation with the Government wins most of the seats.
The first review of any work by Harry Partch (29) appears in the New Orleans Times-Picayune. It is a review of his Exposition of Monophony by Selby Noel Mayfield, to whom Partch has shown the manuscript.
21 November 1930 Proclaimed John Philip Sousa Day by the mayor of Philadelphia, Sousa (76) directs the 52-member Philadelphia Harmonica Band in his new march, Harmonica Wizard.
22 November 1930 Two works by Ottorino Respighi (51) are performed for the first time, in Siena: Lauda per la natività del Signore for three solo voices, chorus, and nine players to words attributed to Jacopone da Todi, and Suite della tabacchiera for two flutes, two oboes, two bassoons, and piano four hands. Both are directed by the composer.
25 November 1930 Sonata op.51 for violin and piano by Joaquín Turina (47) is performed for the first time, in Madrid.
28 November 1930 Symphony no.2 “Romantic” by Howard Hanson (34), composed for the fiftieth anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, is performed for the first time, in Boston.
Dances of Marosszék for orchestra by Zoltán Kodály (47), after the composer’s own piano work, is performed for the first time, in the Dresden Opera House. See 14 March 1927.
3 December 1930 A great fog spreads over the Meuse Valley between Liège and Huy in Belgium. Over three days, 60 people are killed, largely by heart attacks. The cause is unknown as it happens but it is probably fluorine gas from nearby factories.
4 December 1930 Otto Ender replaces Karl Vaugoin as Chancellor of Austria.
5 December 1930 Walery Slawek replaces Józef Klemens Pilsudski as Prime Minister of Poland.
Concerto for percussion and chamber orchestra by Darius Milhaud (38) is performed for the first time, in Paris.
A suite from Roger Sessions’ (33) incidental music to The Black Masters (a play by Andreyev) is performed for the first time, in Cincinnati. See 14 June 1923.
10 December 1930 A run begins on a Bronx branch office of the Bank of the United States. Over 20,000 people jam the bank and police are called in. $2,000,000 are withdrawn in one day.
11 December 1930 Trying to avoid a run on the entire bank, the directors of the Bank of the United States in New York close the bank, intending that the closure last only a few weeks. It will never reopen. It is the first major bank failure of the Great Depression, with 1,300 to follow.
The first known performance of Our Song for chorus by Leos Janácek (†2) to words of Cech takes place over the airwaves of Czechoslovak Radio, Brno.
12 December 1930 The last allied troops leave the Saarland.
Karol Szymanowski (48) is awarded an honorary doctorate from Jagiellonian University, Krakow.
At Jaca, Captain Galán begins the Spanish revolution prematurely and is subdued by government troops.
Arthur Honegger’s (38) operetta Les aventures du roi Pausole, to words of Willemetz, after Louÿs, is performed for the first time, at the Bouffes-Parisiennes, Paris.
13 December 1930 Théodore Steeg replaces André Pierre Gabriel Amédée Tardieu as Prime Minister of France.
Symphony of Psalms for chorus and orchestra by Igor Stravinsky (48) is performed for the first time, in the Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels. The work was commissioned by Serge Koussevitzky and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, but the music is delayed in transit and their performance has to be put off until 19 December.
19 December 1930 Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov replaces Aleksey Ivanovich Rykov as Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars of the USSR.
20 December 1930 Elegy on the Death of Our Daughter Olga, a cantata by Leos Janácek (†2) to words of Veveritsa, is performed for the first time, in Brno. Also performed is Janácek’s orchestral Adagio (possibly composed around 1890) probably for the first time.
28 December 1930 Piano Concerto by Henry Cowell (33) is performed completely for the first time, in Havana, the composer at the piano. See 26 April 1930.
31 December 1930 Sandinista guerillas ambush a US Marine patrol in Nueva Segovia. Eight of the ten Marines are killed.
Pope Pius XI issues the encyclical Casti Connubii which declares birth control a sin.
©2004-2011 Paul Scharfenberger
18 September 2011
Last Updated (Monday, 19 September 2011 08:47)