1963
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1 January 1963 Katangan President Moise Tshombe calls for a cease-fire with UN troops and negotiations to end the secession of Katanga from the Congo.
2 January 1963 At the village of Ap Bac, Viet Cong troops stand and fight the South Vietnamese army. Their victory provides inspiration to the insurgency. Government forces suffer 400 casualties. 14 out of 15 US helicopters carrying the South Vietnamese are hit and five are shot down. Three US advisers are killed, ten wounded.
3 January 1963 UN forces (India) capture Jadotville, Katanga.
Saudi Arabia mobilizes its armed forces against Egypt because of the presence of 15,000 Egyptian troops in Yemen backing republican forces against the royalist regime.
4 January 1963 Percussion Concerto by Henry Cowell (65) is performed for the first time, in Pittsburgh.
5 January 1963 The military junta ruling Peru declares a state of siege, claiming a communist plot against the country. They arrest a reported 800 people.
6 January 1963 Voters in Brazil approve a return to a presidential system of government.
7 January 1963 The Communist Party of the Soviet Union rejects the Chinese criticism of 31 December and accuses them of attempting to cause a schism in the world communist movement.
The Chinese government announces acceptance of the “Colombo Plan” for peace with India devised by six non-aligned nations.
8 January 1963 Katerina Izmailova, a “rehabilitation” of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, the opera by Dmitri Shostakovich (56) to words of Preys after Leskov, is performed for the first time, in Moscow. See 26 December 1962.
Seven Electronic Studies for Two-Channel Tape by Lejaren Hiller (38) and Robert A. Baker is performed for the first time, at the University of Illinois, Urbana.
9 January 1963 Katangan President Moise Tshombe is arrested by UN forces on orders of Secretary General U Thant, one day after he returns to Elisabethville.
The Eighty-eighth Congress of the United States convenes in Washington. The ruling Democratic Party controls both houses.
10 January 1963 President Moise Tshombe of Katanga is released by the UN after he renounces his plans for sabotage.
300 students at the University of Mississippi scream “Go home you nigger” to the school’s only black student, James Meredith, at the cafeteria.
12 January 1963 Terminus I for electronic sound generators by Gottfried Michael Koenig (36) is performed for the first time, in Cologne.
13 January 1963 President Sylvanus Olympio of Togo is shot to death outside the US embassy in Lomé. A military junta seizes control of the country and arrests most of the government.
Dance in Praise, for chorus and orchestra by Virgil Thomson (66) to the text Gaudeamus Igitur (tr. Symonds) in both Latin and English, is performed for the first time, at Goucher College, Baltimore.
14 January 1963 US and UK proposals for a multi-lateral NATO nuclear force are rejected by French President Charles de Gaulle. He also finally rejects the application of Great Britain for membership in the European Economic Community.
George Wallace is sworn in as Governor of Alabama. In his inauguration speech he pledges “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, and segregation forever.”
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath is published by William Heinemann Ltd. in London. Published under a pseudonym, the author’s identity will not be revealed until weeks after her death.
15 January 1963 In Kolwezi, President Moise Tshombe of Katanga announces his government is ceasing its attempts at secession from the Congo. In return, the central government orders an amnesty for Tshombe and his followers.
Togolese exile Nicholas Grunitsky returns to the country to assume control of the government.
16 January 1963 Soviet General Secretary Khrushchev announces in Berlin that the first 100-megaton bomb is ready.
Great Britain and Saudi Arabia resume diplomatic relations broken after the Suez War.
An agreement signed in al-Ittihad joins Aden to South Arabia.
17 January 1963 Soviet General Secretary Nikita Khrushchev visits the Berlin Wall with East German leader Walter Ulbricht. At the Friedrichstrasse crossing point he talks with western tourists.
The French government demands that EEC negotiations with Great Britain be suspended.
Italy agrees to Polaris missile protection to replace obsolete Jupiter land-based missiles.
Capriccio for tuba and chamber orchestra by Gunther Schuller (37) is performed for the first time, in Carnegie Recital Hall, New York, conducted by the composer.
18 January 1963 The British Colony of Aden is formally joined to the Federation of South Arabia.
Symphony no.9 by Roy Harris (64) is performed for the first time, in the Philadelphia Academy of Music.
19 January 1963 The first spleen transplant in history is performed by Dr. Thomas Starzl in Denver.
20 January 1963 UN troops occupy Baudouinville (Indonesia) and Kongolo (Nigeria), Katanga.
Turkey agrees to Polaris missile protection to replace obsolete Jupiter land-based missiles.
The Music Educators National Conference announces in Washington a six-year, $1,380,000 grant by the Ford Foundation to stimulate the creative aspects of music in US public schools. It will be directed by a committee chaired by Norman Dello Joio (49).
21 January 1963 UN (India) troops occupy Kolwezi, the last Katangan stronghold, without incident.
22 January 1963 The Brazilian Congress formally approves a constitutional amendment returning the country to a presidential form of government. Prime Minister Hermes Lima resigns so that President João Goulart can name a new cabinet.
An English translation of One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch by Alyeksandr Solzhenitsyn is published in the United States.
23 January 1963 The Indian government announces acceptance of the “Colombo Plan” for peace with China devised by six non-aligned nations.
24 January 1963 Ten people are shot by firing squad for plotting to kill President Habib Bourguiba of Tunisia.
Two East German policemen leap over the Berlin Wall from the roof of a three-story building.
25 January 1963 Five black students register at Tulane University in New Orleans without incident. Symphony no.8 by Karl Amadeus Hartmann (57) is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of WDR originating in Cologne.
28 January 1963 A grandmother, her grandson, and five other teenagers escape over the Berlin Wall undetected.
Hans Werner Henze (36) delivers a public lecture in the Kongreßhalle, Berlin. He will always consider it one of the most important statements of his beliefs as an artist.
Harvey Gantt becomes the first black student at Clemson College in South Carolina. He is accompanied by 150 policemen.
29 January 1963 After 18 months of negotiations, the application of Great Britain to join the EEC is vetoed by France.
Robert Frost dies in Boston at the age of 88.
30 January 1963 13:00 Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc dies of a heart attack alone in his Paris apartment, aged 64 years and 23 days.
Music for the film Spoon River, Illinois for two narrators and six instruments by Lejaren Hiller (38) is shown for the first time, over the airwaves of television station WCIA, Champaign, Illinois.
31 January 1963 The USSR breaks off negotiations at the UN on a nuclear test ban treaty.
1 February 1963 A government headed by Hastings Kamuzu Banda is sworn in in Zomba, Nyasaland. It is the first Nyasaland government dominated by blacks.
France attaches their possessions of Saint Barthelemy and Saint Martin to the department of Guadeloupe.
US President Kennedy orders resumption of nuclear testing in Nevada.
A Joyful Fugue for orchestra by Virgil Thomson (66) is performed for the first time, at the Philadelphia Academy of Music.
Romanza for wind quintet by Irving Fine (†0) is performed for the first time, at the Library of Congress, Washington.
2 February 1963 A funeral for Francis Poulenc is celebrated in Saint-Sulpice, Paris, after which his mortal remains are laid to rest in Père Lachaise Cemetery.
Two armed East German policemen walk across a bridge over the River Spree to West Berlin.
4 February 1963 In a London court, Brendan Mulholland of the London Daily Mail is sentenced to six months in prison and Reginald Foster of the London Daily Sketch receives a three-month sentence for refusing to tell their sources for stories on the William Vassall spy tribunal.
5 February 1963 The Canadian Parliament votes no confidence in the government of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker over defense policy. He will dissolve Parliament and call new elections.
Three Questions with Two Answers for orchestra by Luigi Dallapiccola (59) is performed for the first time, in New Haven, Connecticut.
The first movement of the Symphony no.17 by Henry Cowell (65) is performed for the first time, under the title Lancaster Overture, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
6 February 1963 President Kennedy bans US government-financed cargo from merchant ships engaged in trade with Cuba.
7 February 1963 In Kuala Lampur, the Sultan of Brunei agrees to bring his country into the proposed Federation of Malaysia.
8 February 1963 US pilots fly the heaviest air strikes yet to support a government offensive against the Viet Cong southwest of Saigon.
Iraqi rebels murder Prime Minister Abdul Karim Kassem after a military coup in Baghdad. About 1,000 people died in the coup. A junta is organized and Colonel Abdel-Salem Mohammed Arif is named President.
Katangan President Moise Tshombe departs the country for Europe.
Two works by Anton Webern (†17) are performed for the first time, in Vienna: a Piano Piece (1925) and a Movement for string trio, almost 40 years after they were composed.
9 February 1963 The USSR releases the Archbishop of Lvov (Lviv) after 18 years in prison.
10 February 1963 Mikis Theodorakis (37) and the poet Yiannis Ritsos are invited to a public rally by the Bertrand Russell Peace Movement which leads pacifism in Greece. After a series of disturbances by Stalinists, an audience member rushes the platform and wrests the microphone from Theodorakis. The two argue, which brings the audience to the support of one or the other. The meeting is ended before it can dissolve into a riot.
On the 200th anniversary of the Treaty of Paris, a committee is formed in Paris to promote the independence of Quebec.
11 February 1963 Four months after leaving her husband, Ted Hughes, 30-year-old Sylvia Plath kills herself in her London apartment.
12 February 1963 The Soviet government orders the closure of the Moscow News Bureau of the National Broadcasting Company, a US network. They claim NBC aired programs personally insulting to Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.
The 17-nation UN disarmament committee resumes talks in Geneva. They were recessed last 20 December.
Nine leftist guerrillas seize the Venezuelan freighter Anzoategui off the coast of the country.
Five Pieces for piano by George Crumb (33) is performed for the first time, at the University of Colorado in Boulder.
14 February 1963 Indonesian President Sukarno states publicly his government’s opposition to the creation of Malaysia and that he will support rebels in the northern Borneo territories.
The film To Kill a Mockingbird is released in the United States.
15 February 1963 Five people (three junior officers and two women connected with the École militaire) are arrested on charges of plotting to kill President Charles de Gaulle during his trip to the school today.
Spirit of the Avalanche, an opera by Alan Hovhaness (51), is performed for the first time, in Tokyo.
16 February 1963 A Portrait of Vanzetti for speaker, two flutes/piccolo, clarinet, two horns, trumpet, trombone, percussion, and electronic sound generators by Roger Reynolds (28) to words of Vanzetti is performed for the first time, in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
17 February 1963 Violin Concerto by Alois Haba (69) is performed for the first time, in Prague.
May Rain for voice, piano, and percussion by Lou Harrison (45) to words of Gidlow is performed for the first time, in Aptos, California, 22 years after it was composed. Also premiered is Harrison’s Holly and Ivy: A Carol for tenor, harp, two violins, cello, and bass.
18 February 1963 Soviet ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin delivers a message to US President Kennedy that several thousand Soviet troops in Cuba will be withdrawn by 15 March.
The Venezuelan freighter Anzoategui, commandeered off of the country on 12 February, anchors in Brazilian waters near the island of Maracá where the ship is seized by Brazilian authorities.
15 études pour alto saxophone et piano op.188 by Charles Koechlin (†12) is performed completely for the first time, over the airwaves of Radio France III. See 14 March 1962.
Piece for Two Instrumental Units by Stefan Wolpe (60) is performed for the first time, in McMillin Theatre of Columbia University.
22 February 1963 At the Norwegian embassy in London, Helge Ingstad announces the discovery of Scandinavian artifacts at L’Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland, thus proving the presence of Vikings in North America around 1000 AD.
Triptych on Texts of Blake for voice, violin, cello, and piano by Ulysses Kay (46) is performed for the first time, at Winston-Salem State Teachers College, North Carolina.
25 February 1963 The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan is published in the US.
26 February 1963 Antoine Argoud, leader of the National Council of Resistance, is indicted for treason in Paris. He was apparently abducted yesterday by French agents in Munich and spirited away to France.
27 February 1963 Juan Bosch is inaugurated President of the Dominican Republic after the first free and fair elections in the country since 1924.
28 February 1963 Eight NATO nations express support for a US-UK proposal for a multi-lateral nuclear force. France opposes it.
James Travis, a black voter-registration worker, is shot and wounded by gunfire from a car carrying three white men in Greenwood, Mississippi.
Canciones a Guiomar for soprano, six female voices and instruments by Luigi Nono (39) to words of Machado is performed for the first time, in London conducted by the composer.
Suite for Percussion by Lou Harrison (45) is performed for the first time, in the Museum of Modern Art, New York, 21 years after it was composed.
1 March 1963 Coal miners in France walk off the job in a pay dispute. They are joined by potash, iron, and uranium miners.
Roman Catholic Archbishop Lawrence Shehan of Maryland bans racial segregation from any church organ in his archdiocese.
A major black voter-registration drive gets underway in Greenwood, Mississippi.
2 March 1963 The foreign ministers of China and Pakistan sign a provisional agreement in Peking setting out the border between China and Pakistani-occupied Kashmir.
3 March 1963 Labyrinth, an opera by Gian-Carlo Menotti (51) to his own words, is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of the NBC television network.
4 March 1963 President Charles de Gaulle signs an order requiring striking miners to return to work. For the most part, the miners remain out.
Six black families file suit in federal court in Jackson, Mississippi to force desegregation of the city’s schools.
Six members of the right wing National Council of Resistance are convicted and sentenced to death in Vincennes for the attempted murder of President Charles de Gaulle last August. Six others are given prison terms.
William Carlos Williams dies in Rutherford, New Jersey at the age of 79.
Canto for orchestra by Peter Mennin (39) is performed for the first time, in San Antonio.
6 March 1963 Paul Hindemith (67) and his wife arrive in New York from Le Havre aboard the SS America.
The City Commission of Albany, Georgia repeals all segregation ordinances.
Incidental music to Smalley’s play Man with the Oboe by Lejaren Hiller (39) is performed for the first time, at the University of Illinois, Urbana.
8 March 1963 Members of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and intelligentsia hear a two and a half hour speech by General Secretary Nikita Khrushchev on literature and the arts. In terms of music, he demands melody, among other things, and condemns dodecaphony and jazz. His beliefs become the standard for Soviet artists until his departure in 1964.
Pro-Nasser elements of the Syrian military overthrow the government of Prime Minister Khaled el Azem. Salah ed-Din Bitar is named to succeed him. Mohammed Ziyad al-Hariri is named head of state. The new regime is immediately recognized by Egypt and Iraq.
British Commonwealth and Colonial Secretary Duncan Sandys announces in Nairobi that Kenya will be granted internal self-government following elections in May.
Variations on a Theme by Hindemith for orchestra by William Walton (60) is performed for the first time, in Royal Festival Hall, London the composer conducting. The work was commissioned by the Royal Philharmonic Society to celebrate its 150th anniversary.
Six Elizabethan Songs, a cycle for high voice and baroque ensemble by Dominick Argento (30) to words of various authors, is performed for the first time, at the First Unitarian Society, Minneapolis. See 23 April 1958.
9 March 1963 United States officials claim that the chemical defoliants they are presently using in Vietnam are not harmful to humans or animals.
An expanded version of Jephtha’s Daughter, a theatre piece with flute, percussion, and other optional instruments by Lou Harrison (45), is performed for the first time, at Cabrillo College, Aptos, California. See 26 February 1941.
10 March 1963 Georges Bidault, former Prime Minister of France and leader of the right-wing National Council of Resistance, is arrested by West German police in Steinebach-am-Wörthsee, west of Munich. A judge orders him returned to his home until his request for asylum can be adjudicated.
Il Re Corvo, oder Die Irrfahrten der Wahrheit, an opera by Hans Werner Henze (36) to words of von Cramer after Gozzi, is performed for the first time, in the Staatstheater, Kassel. The work is a reduction and rewriting of the composer’s König Hirsch. See 23 September 1956.
Newcastle Troppo for jazz band by Ben Johnston (36) is performed for the first time, at the University of Illinois.
11 March 1963 Lt. Colonel Jean-Marie Bastien-Thiry is shot by a firing squad in Paris for his part in the attempted murder of President Charles de Gaulle last August. Two other death sentences are commuted to life in prison by the President.
13 March 1963 7,000 South Vietnamese troops invade the Plain of Reeds near the Cambodian border. They will return to base in three days having failed to confront any major Viet Cong forces.
Alceste, an opera by Ton de Leeuw (36) to his own words after Euripides, is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of Dutch television.
When My Soul Touches Yours, a song for voice and piano by Leonard Bernstein (44) to words of Rilke (tr. Lemont), is performed for the first time, in Philharmonic Hall, New York.
Densities no.1 for clarinet, harp, vibraphone, and double bass by Gunther Schuller (37) is performed for the first time, in New York.
The Long Christmas Dinner, an opera by Paul Hindemith (67) to words of Wilder, is performed for the first time in the original English version, at the Juilliard School of Music, New York, conducted by the composer. See 17 December 1961.
15 March 1963 Railroad workers stage a 24-hour nationwide strike for higher pay in France.
Two Soviet planes violate US airspace over Alaska. They leave after 20-25 minutes. Tomorrow, the US will protest the flight.
About 2,000 Soviet troops leave Cuba.
Five Bagatelles for oboe, violin, and harpsichord by TJ Anderson (34) is performed for the first time, at the University of Oklahoma.
San Fernando Sequence by Ernst Krenek (62) is performed for the first time, at San Fernando State College, California.
16 March 1963 General Park Chung Hee, chairman of the ruling junta of South Korea, announces a ban on all civilian political activity.
India begins withdrawing its troops from the UN force in the Congo.
Maarten Schmidt publishes an article in Nature suggesting that one particular quasar is actually the nucleus of another galaxy.
Il capitan Spavento, an opera by Gian Francesco Malipiero (80) to his own words after Ruzante and de Fatouville, is performed for the first time, in Teatro San Carlo, Naples.
17 March 1963 A volcanic eruption on Bali kills an estimated 1,500 people.
Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton is beatified by Pope John XXIII, the first American so honored.
Sonata for unaccompanied violin by Lou Harrison (45) is performed for the first time, in Aptos, California, 27 years after it was composed.
18 March 1963 In the case of Gideon v. Wainwright, the US Supreme Court rules that states must provide an attorney to all criminal defendants who can not afford one.
19 March 1963 The Bavarian government allows Georges Bidault to remain in the country under strict conditions.
20 March 1963 140,000 gas and electric workers stage a four-hour nationwide strike for higher pay in France. Electric railroads halt and businesses close. Iron miners in Lorraine return to work after gaining concessions from the government.
Antithèse for electronic and environmental sounds by Mauricio Kagel (31) is performed for the first time, in Munich. See 23 June 1963 and 1 April 1966.
Incidental music to Dumas’ play The Lady of the Camelias by Ned Rorem (39) is performed for the first time, in Winter Garden Theatre, New York.
21 March 1963 A lengthy interview with Fidel Castro appears in Le Monde. Castro voices strong criticism of Nikita Khrushchev and communist parties around the world for their actions (or lack of them) during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Prime Minister János Kádár of Hungary announces an amnesty for most political prisoners.
The US federal prison on Alcatraz Island is closed.
Symphony no.16 “Icelandic” by Henry Cowell (66) is performed for the first time, at the University of Iceland in Reykjavik.
Two new works for chorus and strings are performed for the first time at the Museum of Modern Art, New York: Choral Triptych by Ulysses Kay (46) to words of the Bible and The Prayer of Jonah by Charles Wuorinen (24).
22 March 1963 Amidst persistent rumors, Secretary of State for War John Profumo makes a statement to Parliament, Prime Minister MacMillan at his side. He denies any impropriety with Christine Keeler or that there was any breach of security. He warns that he will sue anyone inside or outside of Parliament who repeats such allegations. The allegations say that Ms. Keeler was having a simultaneous affair with Captain Yevgeny Ivanov of the Soviet Embassy.
24 March 1963 Negotiations aimed at ending the strike of 170,000 French coal miners collapse in Paris.
25 March 1963 The US Supreme Court holds 5-4 that government investigators must first prove that a group is engaged in subversive activity before gaining access to their membership lists. Such tactics have been used to intimidate civil rights organizations.
26 March 1963 Right-wing leader Georges Bidault arrives in Lisbon from West Germany. He is “invited to leave” Portugal by the authorities there because he allegedly carries false identification.
Three Inventions for bassoon by George Perle (47) is performed for the first time, in New York.
27 March 1963 The Moscow conference of the Union of Writers denounces Yevgeny Yevtushenko for allowing publication of his autobiography in the West.
Blacks in Greenwood, Mississippi begin a week of rallies and marches for voter registration. Each day, a group of about 35-50 march to the courthouse to register. Each day they are dispersed by police.
28 March 1963 The Birds, a film by Alfred Hitchcock, is released in the United States.
Symphony no.15 “Silver Pilgrimage” by Alan Hovhaness (52) is performed for the first time, in New York.
29 March 1963 The British government announces that none of the countries in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland will be kept in against their will. This assures its breakup.
Composition in Three Parts for orchestra by Gunther Schuller (37) is performed for the first time, in Minneapolis.
30 March 1963 Fighting breaks out between Pathet Lao and neutralist forces in the Plaine des Jarres, Laos.
The Algerian government seizes the property of all assets owned by French citizens who fled the country after independence last year.
The US government announces that it will not allow attacks on Cuban or Soviet territory or interests by Cuban exiles from its territory.
Sonata for violin and piano in D by Bohuslav Martinu (†3) is performed for the first time, in Prague, 37 years after it was composed.
1 April 1963 Foreign Minister Quinim Pholsena of Laos is shot to death on returning to his home in Vientiane. The assassin is a soldier guarding his house who feels the minister opposes the coalition government.
The military government of Syria declares a state of emergency in the face of large pro-Nasser demonstrations. An 18-hour curfew is imposed.
While in Berlin on a concert tour, Henry Cowell (66) suffers a reaction to medication, originally diagnosed as a heart attack. He will spend the next week recuperating and has to cancel several speaking engagements.
2 April 1963 A drive begins to end segregation in Birmingham, Alabama.
Prophecy of Isaiah for chorus and orchestra by Bohuslav Martinu (†3) to words of the Bible, is performed for the first time, in Jerusalem.
3 April 1963 Most French coal miners agree to a negotiated wage increase and end their strike begun 1 March.
4 April 1963 Aventures for three singers and seven instrumentalists by György Ligeti (39) is performed for the first time, over NDR, Hamburg. See 16 October 1970.
Andromache’s Farewell op.39 for soprano and orchestra by Samuel Barber (53) to words of Euripides (tr. Creagh) is performed for the first time, in Lincoln Center, New York.
6 April 1963 General Park Chung Hee, leader of the South Korean junta, lifts the ban on civilian political activity and promises elections for the Autumn.
Cánticos nupciales for three sopranos and organ by Joaquín Rodrigo (61) to words of the Bible, is performed for the first time, in the Church of the City University, Madrid.
7 April 1963 A new constitution is adopted in Yugoslavia. It makes Josip Broz Tito president for life.
8 April 1963 In a general election in Canada, the Liberal Party ousts the Progressive Conservatives from office, but they do not win enough seats for a majority government.
For 5 or 10 Players by Christian Wolff (29) is performed presumably for the first time, at the University of Illinois.
9 April 1963 French right-wing leader Georges Bidault arrives in Rio de Janeiro from Lisbon. The Brazilian government offers him a 90-day visa provided he refrain from political activity. The Portuguese did not want him.
10 April 1963 The atomic submarine USS Thresher is lost in the north Atlantic.
An Italian magazine apologizes to John Profumo and pays him damages for printing allegations that he had an affair with Christine Keeler.
Sonata for clarinet and piano by Francis Poulenc (†0) is performed for the first time, in New York by Benny Goodman and Leonard Bernstein (44).
Variations on a Medieval Tune for band by Norman Dello Joio (50) is performed for the first time.
11 April 1963 China releases all 3,213 soldiers it captured during the 1962 border war with India.
Pope John XXIII issues the encyclical Pacem in terris on relationships with non-Catholics, communists, and the pacific settlement of disputes.
The heads of government of Egypt, Syria, and Iraq announce in Cairo that their countries are joining to form a new United Arab Republic.
Sept répons des Ténèbres for boy soprano, boys’ chorus, male chorus, and orchestra by Francis Poulenc (†0) is performed for the first time, in Philharmonic Hall, New York.
12 April 1963 Rebels armed by Indonesia attack Tebedu, Sarawak on the border with Indonesia.
Molotov cocktails are thrown at the Clarksdale home of the president of the Mississippi NAACP.
Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King is arrested along with 60 others marching against segregation in Birmingham, Alabama.
13 April 1963 Piano Quintet op.29 by Alberto Ginastera (47) is performed for the first time, in Teatro La Fenice, Venice. On the same program is the premiere of Diagramma IV for flute by Henryk Górecki (29).
14 April 1963 India returns 800 Chinese soldiers captured during the 1962 border war.
18 April 1963 Pathet Lao forces capture Phongsavan, the last neutralist town on the Plaine des Jarres.
José Miró Cardona resigns as leader of the anti-Castro Cuban Revolutionary Council claiming that US President Kennedy has broken a promise to invade Cuba in favor of peaceful coexistence.
19 April 1963 Serge Bernier, one of those convicted in absentia for participation in the assassination attempt on President de Gaulle, is arrested in Paris. A companion is killed in a gunfight with police.
Deo ac veritati for male chorus by William Schuman (52) is performed for the first time, at Colgate University, Hamilton, New York.
20 April 1963 Prime Minister Samir el-Rifai of Jordan resigns on the third day of pro-Nasser riots throughout the country. The protesters demand that Jordan join the new United Arab Republic.
Julian Garcia Grimau, leader of the Communist underground of Spain, is executed by firing squad in Madrid. He was arrested last 8 November.
The Front Liberation de Quebec begins a terrorism campaign for the independence of Quebec by exploding a bomb in a Montreal armory. A night watchman is killed.
21 April 1963 Prime Minister Souvanna Phouma of Laos announces a second cease-fire between the Pathet Lao and neutralist forces. A cease-fire agreed to on 14 April lasted only hours.
The Peace Movement in Greece begins the first Marathon March. The government arrests several thousand people to stop it, including Mikis Theodorakis (37). Shielded by his parliamentary immunity, the march leader, Grigoris Lambrakis, makes the march alone.
Two Songs and a Proverb for chorus and string quartet by Ned Rorem (39) to words of the Bible is performed for the first time, in the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
22 April 1963 Liberal Lester Bowles Pearson replaces Progressive Conservative John George Diefenbaker as Prime Minister of Canada.
23 April 1963 President Isaac Ben Zvi of Israel dies of stomach cancer in Jerusalem. He is replaced ad interim by Kadish Luz.
William Moore, a white man who began a personal pilgrimage from Chattanooga to Mississippi yesterday to protest segregation, is found dead by a road in Attalla, Alabama. He was shot to death.
24 April 1963 Novae de Infinito laudes, a cantata for four solo voices, chorus, and small orchestra by Hans Werner Henze (36) to words of Bruno, is performed for the first time, in Teatro La Fenice, Venice, under the baton of the composer.
25 April 1963 Stratégie for two orchestras by Iannis Xenakis (40) is performed for the first time, in Venice.
Concerto for organ and orchestra by Paul Hindemith (67) is performed for the first time, in New York, the composer conducting.
26 April 1963 The US and USSR issue a joint statement in favor of a neutral, independent Laos.
From the Steeples and the Mountains for trumpet, trombone, and four sets of bells by Charles Ives (†8) is performed for the first time, at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts.
Enactments for three pianos by Stefan Wolpe (60) is performed completely for the first time, at the New School, New York.
28 April 1963 General elections in Italy result in gains by the Communist Party and the Liberal Party, and losses for the Christian Democrats. However, the Christian Democrats remain the largest party and will form a new coalition.
Alma Mahler Gropius Werfel writes to Deryck Cooke expressing admiration for his realization of Gustav Mahler’s (†51) 10th Symphony and rescinding her prohibition against performances of this version.
29 April 1963 The US Supreme Court outlaws racial segregation in courtrooms.
30 April 1963 The State of New Hampshire institutes the first legal state lottery in the US since 1894.
The Flood, a musical play by Igor Stravinsky (80) to words of Craft, after the York and Chester Mystery Plays and Genesis, is staged for the first time, in the Hamburg Staatsoper. See 14 June 1962.
Variations on a Theme by Edward Burlingame Hill for orchestra by Walter Piston (69) is performed for the first time.
1 May 1963 The United Nations transfers sovereignty over West Irian to Indonesia.
Students protest against the government and poor economy in Prague.
Plans to shift their nuclear test center from the Sahara to Tahiti are announced by the French government.
Eight blacks are arrested in Attalla, Alabama attempting to complete the Freedom Walk of William Moore who was killed a week ago.
2 May 1963 President Charles Swart of South Africa signs a “sabotage bill” into law. It allows the government to hold political prisoners indefinitely, jail suspects for 90 days without warrant, and provides the death penalty for advocating the overthrow of the government.
Hundreds of black school children demonstrate for integrated facilities in Birmingham, Alabama. Over 700 are arrested.
Paul Hindemith (67) and his wife depart New York for Switzerland. The pair, both US citizens, will never see America again.
3 May 1963 Fire hoses and attack dogs are used to disperse civil rights marchers in Birmingham, Alabama. Demonstrators remain non-violent until a state policeman drives into the crowd. Blacks respond with rocks and bottles followed by rioting. 450 people are arrested.
A second group attempting to complete William Moore’s Freedom Walk are accosted by about 100 whites in Tennessee who hurl rocks and eggs at them. When they cross into Alabama, they are arrested.
4 May 1963 Hundreds of anti-segregation demonstrators are arrested in Birmingham, Alabama.
5 May 1963 Several hundred blacks hold a mass prayer vigil and anti-segregation march in Birmingham, Alabama.
Dr. Thomas J. Starzl performs the first liver transplant, in Denver. The 48-year-old patient will survive 22 days.
6 May 1963 Samuel Barber (53) wins a second Pulitzer Prize in Music for his Piano Concerto no.1. See 24 September 1962.
Anti-segregation demonstrations in Birmingham, Alabama begin to get more violent. 1,000 people are arrested today.
Passaggio, messa in scena for soprano, two choruses, and instruments by Luciano Berio (37) to words of Sanguineti and the composer, is performed for the first time, in Milan.
Trio for flute, oboe, and piano no.2 by Charles Wuorinen (24) is performed for the first time, in McMillin Theatre, Columbia University, New York the composer at the keyboard.
Folk Fantasy for Festivals for folk singers, soloists, speakers, chorus, and piano by Roy Harris (65) is performed completely for the first time, at San Francisco State College. See 22 February 1956 and 14 November 1957.
7 May 1963 Former Soviet official Oleg Penkovsky is convicted of espionage and sentenced to death in a Moscow court. He will be executed. Also convicted is British citizen Greville Wynne. He is sentenced to three years in prison and five years in labor colonies.
Fire hoses are turned on civil rights demonstrators in Birmingham, Alabama. Demonstrators retaliate with stones. Twelve people are injured, 40 arrested.
Meditation for concert band by Gunther Schuller (37) is performed for the first time, in Greensboro, North Carolina.
8 May 1963 A crowd of about 9,000 gathers in Hue, South Vietnam, to protest the government ban on the flying of the Buddhist flag on Buddha’s birthday. Government soldiers fire on them killing nine and injuring 14, including children.
Pro-Nasser mobs taking control of most of Halab, Syria are dispersed by police. At least 50 people are killed.
Black leaders temporarily suspend demonstrations in Birmingham, Alabama to give time for negotiations with business leaders. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King and 25 others are imprisoned for demonstrating without a permit. They are released on bond and continue negotiations.
Mass demonstrations in favor of desegregated public facilities begin in Nashville and Raleigh.
9 May 1963 Pro-Nasser mobs in Damascus are fired on and dispersed by police.
Three Poems of Henri Michaux for chorus and orchestra by Witold Lutoslawski (50) are performed for the first time, in Zagreb.
Piece for violin and instruments by Ralph Shapey (42) is performed for the first time, in Kaufmann Auditorium, New York the composer conducting.
10 May 1963 Indonesian rioters begin a week of looting, burning and destruction against Chinese homes and businesses.
Black leaders and business leaders in Birmingham, Alabama announce a plan to desegregate the city’s public facilities, institution of hiring without regard to race, and the release on bond of black demonstrators from jail.
Battles between whites, blacks and police take place in Nashville.
Addressing the American Psychiatric Association in St. Louis, Dr. Jerome Kummer reports that the estimated 1,000,000 illegal abortions per year in the United States result in the deaths of 5,000 women annually.
Outline for flute, percussion, and bass by Pauline Oliveros (30) is performed for the first time, at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.
Still Are New Worlds for narrator, tape, choir, and orchestra by Ross Lee Finney (56) is performed for the first time, in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
11 May 1963 Prime Minister Lester Pearson of Canada confirms that his government will accept US nuclear warheads on missiles on its territory.
Eugene “Bull” Connor, Public Safety Commissioner of Birmingham, Alabama, calls on white citizens to boycott any business honoring the agreement announced yesterday. “That’s the best way I know to beat down integration in Birmingham.” At night, a bomb destroys the front of the Birmingham home of Rev. AD King (brother of Martin Luther King). Rev. King, his wife and five children are not injured. Another bomb, just before midnight, goes off at the AG Gaston Motel, an integrated motel which is the headquarters for the desegregation campaign. Four people are injured and extensive damage is done to the motel. Anger at the authorities is directed at police and firemen who arrive at the motel after the bombing. They are pelted with bottles and rocks.
Highway No.1 USA, an opera by William Grant Still to words of Arvey, is performed for the first time, in Coral Gables, Florida on the composer’s 68th birthday.
Three songs by Charles Ives (†8) are performed for the first time, in McMillin Theatre of Columbia University: On the Antipodes and Tom Sails Away, both to his own words, and September to words of Rossetti after Folgore.
12 May 1963 The Robert Schumann (†106) Museum opens in Endenich, a suburb of Bonn, at the private clinic where Schumann spent his last days.
About 2,500 blacks riot in Birmingham in reaction to the bombings of last night. 50 people are injured. Local police manage to quell the violence with the help of black leaders. Some state police run amok, attacking blacks who are not involved in the violence. In a nationwide address in the evening, President Kennedy orders federal troops into the area and nationalizes the Alabama National Guard. Governor George Wallace of Alabama claims he has enough force to keep peace and requests the troops be withdrawn.
The entire cabinet of President José María Guido of Argentina resigns when Interior Minister General Enrique Rauch demands the power to purge the government of Perónists and others.
13 May 1963 Ten officials of the US and UK missions in Moscow are declared persona non grata by the Soviet government after being named in the Penkovsky-Wynne spy trial.
Rev. Martin Luther King and 100 followers visit two pool halls in Birmingham to persuade blacks to refrain from violence. They are forcibly dispersed by police.
The Merchants Bureau of Raleigh announces support for desegregation of businesses.
14 May 1963 The Sultanate of Kuwait is admitted to the United Nations.
A Concerto for violin by Krzysztof Penderecki (29) is performed for the first time, in Zagreb. The composer will withdraw this work.
15 May 1963 L. Gordon Cooper becomes the eighth human in space as he blasts off from Cape Canaveral, Florida aboard Faith 7.
In parliamentary elections in the Netherlands, the Catholic Peoples Party continues with one-third of the seats, but the Labor Party slips five seats. The Catholic Peoples Party continues to head the ruling coalition.
16 May 1963 L. Gordon Cooper returns to Earth in the Pacific Ocean 185 km east southeast of Midway. He splashes down less than seven km from recovery vessels.
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union announces a complete reorganization of the Soviet Academy of Sciences.
Marko the Miser, a children’s mime by Thea Musgrave (34) to words of Afanasyev (tr. Samson), is performed for the first time, in Farnham, Surrey Parish Church.
Symphony no.5 by Hans Werner Henze (36) is performed for the first time, in New York, directed by Leonard Bernstein (44).
For the First Time for orchestra by Howard Hanson (66) is performed for the first time, in Eastman Theatre, Rochester, New York directed by the composer.
17 May 1963 President José María Guido of Argentina issues a decree which bars Perónists from running for any executive post in the upcoming national elections.
Twelve mail bombs arrive in mailboxes in and around Montreal, sent by the Front Liberation de Quebec. Six explode in the boxes, five are found and diffused and one explodes while a demolition expert is trying to dismantle it. He is hospitalized.
18 May 1963 The Peoples Provisional Congress appoints President Sukarno of Indonesia “President for life.”
Three days of demonstrations by thousands of blacks begin in Durham, North Carolina. They are protesting segregation of public facilities. 1,400 people are arrested.
A federal court rules that a Louisiana law requiring segregation of hotels is unconstitutional.
Epitaphe de Jean Harlow op.164 for flute, alto saxophone, and piano by Charles Koechlin (†12) is performed for the first time, in the Théâtre Municipal, Dijon 26 years after it was composed.
The Death of the Bishop of Brindisi, a cantata for soprano, bass, children’s chorus, chorus, and orchestra by Gian-Carlo Menotti (51), is performed for the first time, in the Music Hall, Cincinnati.
19 May 1963 Eleven people engaged in a third attempt to complete William Moore’s Freedom Walk are arrested by police and sheriff’s deputies in Alabama.
The Second Dream of the High Tension Line Stepdown Transformer for unspecified instruments, one of the Four Dreams of China by LaMonte Young (27), is performed for the first time, at the New Jersey farm of George Segal. The work is performed on bowed mandolins.
20 May 1963 Great Britain agrees to grant internal self-government to the Bahamas.
The US Supreme Court holds in six decisions that it is unconstitutional for a city to prosecute blacks for seeking service in private businesses if the city requires segregation.
Die Soldaten, a “vocal-symphony” for six vocal soloists and orchestra by Bernd Alois Zimmermann (45), is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of WDR, Cologne. See 15 February 1965.
21 May 1963 Zalman Shazar becomes President of Israel, replacing provisional President Kadish Luz.
A federal judge in Birmingham orders the admission of two black students to the all-white University of Alabama. Governor George Wallace announces that he will personally bar the admission of blacks to the school.
Anti-segregation protests are ended in Durham, North Carolina when the mayor announces that seven restaurants have agreed to desegregate.
El amor propiciado, the second revision of Panfilo and Lauretta, an opera by Carlos Chávez (63) to words of Kallman after Boccaccio (tr. Lindsay and Hernández Moncada), is performed for the first time, in Mexico City. See 9 May 1957, 28 October 1959 and 26 July 1968.
22 May 1963 Greek deputy Grigoris Lambrakis, leader of the peace movement, is run down in the streets of Thessaloniki by conservative thugs after a meeting. Another deputy, George Tsaroukhas has his skull fractured. Within hours, Mikis Theodorakis (37) arrives in the city but is immediately arrested. After strong protests from many elements of society, he is released to visit Lambrakis.
A pro-Nasser attempt to overthrow the Syrian government is put down.
The American Academy of Arts and Letters awards $2,500 grants to Mel Powell (40) and Vladimir Ussachevsky (51).
String Quartet no.3 by Leslie Bassett (40) is performed for the first time, in Rome.
23 May 1963 Hymnody for flute/piccolo, oboe, clarinet, horn, trumpet, trombone, two pianos, and percussion by Roberto Gerhard (66) is performed for the first time, in London.
24 May 1963 NATO foreign ministers meeting in Ottawa announce plans for a multi-lateral nuclear strike force.
25 May 1963 The charter of the Organization of African Unity is adopted in Addis Ababa and signed by representatives of 31 countries, including 29 heads of state.
A pro-Nasser attempt to overthrow the Iraqi government is put down.
26 May 1963 Pacifika Rondo for various eastern and western instruments by Lou Harrison (46) is performed for the first time, at the University of Hawaii.
27 May 1963 Greek deputy Grigoris Lambrakis, leader of the peace movement, dies of his wounds suffered on 22 May.
The US Supreme Court rules that Memphis must immediately desegregate all public facilities.
28 May 1963 500,000 people march in a funeral procession for peace movement leader Grigoris Lambrakis in Athens. Among other things, they shout “Lambrakis zi!” (Lambrakis lives). The letter Z becomes a symbol of resistance to the corrupt conservative government blamed for his murder.
A black man and two black women sit at an all-white lunch counter in Jackson, Mississippi. They are joined by a small number of white supporters. A crowd of 200 whites begin pouring condiments and other lunch counter items onto the demonstrators. A white man knocks the black man to the ground and kicks him in the face. A melee ensues during which some demonstrators are punched or thrown out the door. Police do not intervene but later charge the two principals with crimes.
About 300 blacks, including Olympic champion Wilma Rudolph Ward, are denied service at a segregated restaurant in Clarksville, Tennessee.
29 May 1963 A windstorm over the past two days in East Pakistan (Bangladesh) kills 22,000 people.
Businesses in Charlotte, North Carolina agree to desegregate.
Virtutes, a cycle of nine songs and melodramas for speaker, chorus, and players by Alexander Goehr (30) to words of Humphreys after the Bible, is performed for the first time, at King Edward’s School, Whitley, Surrey.
Three Pieces for orchestra by Ross Lee Finney (56) is performed for the first time, in McMillin Theatre of Columbia University.
30 May 1963 Memphis city officials agree to desegregate public facilities.
221 people are arrested at a demonstration in front of an all-white movie theatre in Tallahassee.
31 May 1963 Christopher Sly, a comic opera by Dominick Argento (35) after Shakespeare, is performed for the first time, in Minneapolis at the University of Minnesota.
1 June 1963 Kenya is granted internal self-government by Great Britain. Jomo Kenyatta is sworn in as the first Prime Minister.
2 June 1963 The organization “Lambrakis Youth” is set up at a meeting of 20 Greek scientists, artists, workers, students, and journalists in Athens. It is designed to continue the work of murdered peace activist Grigoris Lambrakis. Mikis Theodorakis (37) will be elected president.
Hymn of St. Columba for chorus and organ by Benjamin Britten (49), commissioned to mark the 1400th anniversary of St. Columba’s mission to Iona, is performed for the first time, in Churchill, County Donegal, Ireland the birthplace of the saint.
3 June 1963 Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, Pope John XXIII, dies of complications of stomach cancer in the Vatican.
4 June 1963 Businesses in Durham, North Carolina agree to desegregate.
5 June 1963 John Profumo, British State Secretary for War, resigns his cabinet post and seat in Parliament after admitting he lied about an affair with Christine Keeler.
Shiites riot in Teheran in opposition to a government plan to redistribute church land to peasants and the granting of equal rights to women. The military disperses the rioters and martial law is imposed. These riots and those in other cities kill 86 people and injure 200 others.
A federal judge in Birmingham, Alabama orders Governor George Wallace not to obstruct the admission of two black students to the University of Alabama.
Businesses in Winston-Salem, North Carolina agree to desegregate.
6 June 1963 Dr. Stephen Ward, who brought John Profumo and Christine Keeler together, denies running a call-girl service and says that he notified British authorities long ago about the relationship.
One day after blacks request service at several businesses in Lexington, North Carolina, 500 whites invade the black district. They are met by about 100 blacks and a riot ensues with flying missiles and shots fired. One person is killed, one injured.
280 people are arrested in Greensboro, North Carolina as they march to protest the arrest of local student leader Jesse Jackson.
7 June 1963 The mayor of Lexington, North Carolina declares a state of emergency and 200 state police are called in.
8 June 1963 Over 800 state police seal off the University of Alabama campus in Tuscaloosa and forbid entrance to unauthorized people.
Sonata for oboe and piano by Francis Poulenc (†0) is performed for the first time, in Strasbourg.
9 June 1963 Iraq begins a military offensive against its Kurdish citizens.
17 blacks who attempt to attend worship services at four white churches in Jackson, Mississippi are turned away by all four.
10 June 1963 President Kennedy signs a law requiring equal pay for equal work regardless of gender.
New negotiations on a nuclear test ban between the US, UK, and USSR are announced.
Major hotels, motels, and restaurants in Nashville, Tennessee agree to desegregate.
Police in Danville, Virginia use fire hoses to break up an anti-segregation demonstration. 47 marchers are injured, 38 arrested.
A peaceful anti-segregation march in Gadsden, Alabama is broken up by police using cattle prods and nightsticks.
Sit-ins by blacks begin at lunch counters in Charleston, South Carolina.
11 June 1963 Quang Duc, a 73-year-old Buddhist monk, sits down in the middle of an intersection a few blocks from the American ambassador’s residence in Saigon. Another monk douses him with gasoline. Then, Quang Duc strikes a match, immediately enveloping himself in flames, as a protest against the corrupt government of South Vietnam and its American backer.
The Manila Accord is agreed to by Indonesia, Malaya, and the Philippines. They agree to resolve their differences, especially over Sabah, by peaceful means. Each nation is assured of its own sovereignty.
The first human lung transplant is performed by Dr. James D. Hardy in Jackson, Mississippi.
Accompanied by Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach and surrounded by 150 state troopers and an equal number of journalists, Vivian Juanita Malone and James Alexander Hood attempt to register as the first black students at the University of Alabama. Governor George Wallace stands in the door of the registration auditorium and prevents their entrance. At this, President Kennedy signs an order nationalizing the Alabama National Guard who arrive on campus and respectfully carry the President’s demand that the Governor adhere to the federal court order. At this, Governor Wallace leaves without incident and the students are registered. In the evening, President Kennedy makes a televised nationwide speech pleading for an end to racial discrimination.
12 June 1963 A few hours after President Kennedy addressed the nation on the subject of civil rights, NAACP organizer Medgar Evers is shot and killed in front of his Jackson, Mississippi home.
Lord Chancellor Dilhorne announces the results of his investigation. There was no breach of security in the Profumo affair.
21 people are found by a coroner’s jury in Montreal to be criminally responsible for the death of a night watchman on 20 April.
13 June 1963 Rightist forces defeat Pathet Lao attacks near Attopeu, over 550 km south of the Plaines des Jarres.
About 50 businesses in Greensboro, North Carolina agree to desegregate.
Municipal swimming pools are desegregated in Atlanta without incident.
14 June 1963 Valery Fyodorovich Bykovsky becomes the ninth human in space as he blasts off from Baikonur, Kazakhstan aboard Vostok 5.
National Guard troops are ordered into Cambridge, Maryland by the governor of the state to quell racial violence. A curfew and other martial law restrictions are put into effect.
Three Movements for Orchestra by George Perle (48) is performed for the first time, in the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam.
16 June 1963 An agreement between the South Vietnamese government and the country’s Buddhists is signed. Thousands of Buddhists riot as they try to attend the funeral of Quang Duc who killed himself on 11 June. Police fire tear gas and warning shots. One person is killed, five injured, 30 arrested.
Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova becomes the tenth human and the first woman in space as she blasts off from Baikonur, Kazakhstan aboard Vostok 6.
David Ben-Gurion resigns his posts as Prime Minister, Defense Minister and member of the Knesset. He cites personal reasons.
17 June 1963 The British House of Commons votes confidence in Prime Minister MacMillan’s handling of the Profumo affair. However, 27 members of the ruling Conservative Party abstain from voting to show their displeasure.
Olivier Messiaen (54) and his wife arrive in Montevideo on a trip to Buenos Aires. The plane overshoots the runway and the passengers go through an emergency evacuation. No one is hurt.
The US Supreme Court rules that recitation of the Bible in public schools violates the First Amendment to the Constitution.
18 June 1963 The 50th anniversary of Le Sacre du printemps by Igor Stravinsky (81) is celebrated in a gala concert at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Paris, its original venue. The concert, which also includes Stravinsky’s Symphonies of Wind Instruments and Zvezdoliki, establishes Pierre Boulez (38) as a formidable conductor.
19 June 1963 11:20 After 48 orbits of the Earth in 70 hours and 50 minutes aboard Vostok 6, Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova returns to Earth 611 km north of Karaganda (Qaraghandy), Kazakhstan.
14:06 After a record 81 orbits in 119 hours and six minutes in space aboard Vostok 5, Valery Fyodorovich Bykovsky returns to Earth 531 km northwest of Karaganda, Kazakhstan.
Panagiotis Pipinelis replaces Konstantinos Georgiou Karamanlis as Prime Minister of Greece.
During one of the daily anti-segregation marches in Savannah, police arrest 300 demonstrators. Blacks begin to riot, throwing rocks and bottles. Police use tear gas to disperse them.
Over the next three days, 140 people are arrested in Albany, Georgia in anti-segregation demonstrations.
20 June 1963 Representatives of the US and USSR sign a memorandum of understanding in Geneva establishing a direct communication link between their respective governments. It will become known as the “Hot Line.”
John Sturges’ film The Great Escape is shown for the first time, in London.
21 June 1963 Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, archbishop of Milan, becomes Pope Paul VI, in Rome.
The British government announces that it is unable to reach agreement with the USSR on a peace plan for the three-way civil war in Laos.
Prime Minister Harold MacMillan of Great Britain announces in Parliament that there will be a judicial inquiry into the Profumo affair. Opposition leader Harold Wilson calls it a cover-up.
Giovanni Leone replaces Amintore Fanfani as Prime Minister of Italy.
22 June 1963 British Prime Minister Harold MacMillan assures the country that the Profumo scandal will not force him to resign.
LaMonte Young (27) marries Marian Zazeela, an artist and calligrapher.
Seven Pieces for orchestra by Zoltán Kodály (80) are performed for the first time, in Budapest.
23 June 1963 A revised version of Antithèse for actor, electronic and environmental sounds by Mauricio Kagel (31) is performed for the first time, in Munich. See 20 March 1963 and 1 April 1966.
Deux nocturnes op.32bis for flute, horn and piano or harp by Charles Koechlin (†12) is performed for the first time, privately, at the home of M. Lerique, Verrières-le-Buisson. See 22 June 1965.
24 June 1963 Levi Eshkol replaces David Ben-Gurion as Prime Minister of Israel.
Great Britain grants internal self-government to Zanzibar as a native government takes power.
The home videotape recorder is first demonstrated, at BBC studios, London.
Psalm 150 op.67 for children’s choir and instruments by Benjamin Britten (49) is performed publicly for the first time, in Jubilee Hall, Aldeburgh conducted by the composer. See 29 July 1962.
25 June 1963 Serge Bernier is sentenced to life in prison in Paris for participation in the 1962 assassination attempt on President de Gaulle. Gyula Sari is also convicted and sentenced to 20 years.
La Noire à soixante for tape by Pierre Henry (35) is performed for the first time, at the Church of Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre, Paris.
Darius Milhaud’s (70) orchestral retort A Frenchman in New York is performed for the first time, in Boston.
26 June 1963 In a speech to a wildly appreciative throng before the Berlin City Hall, US President Kennedy declares “All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin. And therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words, Ich bin ein Berliner.”
Governor Bert Combs of Kentucky orders an end to racial segregation in state-licensed businesses.
27 June 1963 Variations pour une porte et un soupir by Pierre Henry (35) is performed for the first time, in L’Église Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre, Paris. See 21 February 1964.
29 June 1963 Farmers in Brittany and southern France begin (sometimes violent) protests against falling produce prices and foreign competition.
30 June 1963 Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini is crowned Pope Paul VI at the Vatican.
Petar Stambolic replaces Josip Broz Tito as President of the Federal Executive Council of Yugoslavia.
1 July 1963 Lord Privy Seal Edward Heath reveals to the House of Commons that Harold Philby was the “third man” who informed Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean they were about to be arrested on espionage charges in 1951. The two fled to the USSR. At the time, Philby worked for the British Foreign Office. He disappeared this January from his Beirut post as correspondent for the London Sunday Observer.
3 July 1963 Sinfonia for orchestra by Thea Musgrave (35) is performed for the first time, in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.
5 July 1963 Talks between the Communist Parties of China and the USSR begin in Moscow over their ideological split.
In today’s issue of Time magazine, an article appears about Harry Partch (62) called “Harry isn’t kidding.” The anonymous article lambastes Partch, his instruments and his music, calling him “a hopeless, penniless outsider.”
6 July 1963 Variations for orchestra by Leslie Bassett (40) is performed for the first time, in Rome. This work will win Bassett the Pulitzer Prize for 1966.
7 July 1963 Peter Sculthorpe (34) accepts the position of lecturer at the University of Sydney.
Little Symphony op.15 by Alexander Goehr (30) is performed for the first time, in York.
8 July 1963 Brunei withdraws from talks in London creating the Federation of Malaysia.
The US government outlaws almost all financial transactions with Cuba.
National Guard troops are ordered out of Cambridge, Maryland and anti-segregation demonstrations resume.
9 July 1963 Final agreement is signed in London by representatives of Great Britain, Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo, and Sarawak to create Malaysia on 31 August.
King Pavlos, Queen Frederika, and Prime Minister Panayotis Pipinelis of Greece arrive in London for a visit. They are accompanied by demonstrations against their government and its complicity in the Lambrakis murder and the holding of political prisoners. 94 people are arrested.
A federal appeals court in New Orleans orders Mobile, Alabama to start desegregation of schools in September.
10 July 1963 A federal judge in Columbia orders the University of South Carolina to admit a black student. He also orders the state to desegregate its public parks.
An appeals court in New York rules that Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller is “flagrantly obscene.”
The day after local black leader Hosea Williams is arrested, blacks riot in Savannah. Crowds are dispersed by police using tear gas. Henceforth, anyone seen demonstrating in the city is arrested on sight.
11 July 1963 Police battle demonstrators in Trafalgar Square. The protesters oppose the presence of the King and Queen of Greece in Britain.
South African police raid a farm near Rivonia and arrest several ANC leaders including Walter Sisulu.
After gunfire and other violence resume in Cambridge, Maryland, the governor orders the National Guard back into the city.
Demonstrations begin at several construction sites in New York City in an attempt to force more minority hiring in the industry.
Governor Ross Barnett of Mississippi testifies before a US Senate Committee that the President and the Attorney General are abetting a “world Communist conspiracy to divide and conquer” the US by creating racial unrest.
15 July 1963 Buddhist leaders announce the resumption of protests against the South Vietnamese government of President Ngo Dinh Diem. They feel the government discriminates against their religion.
Talks between representatives of the US, UK, and USSR over a nuclear test ban resume in the Kremlin.
Governor George Wallace of Alabama testifies before a US Senate Committee that a proposed Civil Rights Bill will “destroy free enterprise” and create a socialist state.
16 July 1963 An anti-segregation march in Charleston, South Carolina ends in a riot.
17 July 1963 Variations IV by John Cage (50) is performed for the first time, at UCLA.
19 July 1963 Royal Academy of Music student John Tavener (19) is informed that he has been awarded the William Wallace Exhibition, giving him free tuition for one year.
20 July 1963 Talks in Moscow between the Communist Parties of the Soviet Union and China recess after two weeks without progress to bridge their differences.
Incidental music to Shakepeare’s play Timon of Athens by Duke Ellington (64) is performed for the first time, in Stratford, Ontario. Critics are generally positive.
22 July 1963 President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt renounces the new United Arab Republic announced 17 April. He refuses to join with any country ruled by the Baath Party (Syria) which he considers fascist.
23 July 1963 The Lambrakis Democratic Youth opens its first hall in Athens. The hall is full with young people who overflow into the streets. After fighting through a police cordon, the group’s president, Mikis Theodorakis (37), addresses them, calling on them to organize youth groups throughout Greece, uniting all political factions in an anti-fascist movement to save democracy.
Black leaders and city fathers in Cambridge, Maryland sign a tentative agreement to end violence and demonstrations in their city, in the office of US Attorney General Robert Kennedy.
62 merchants in Charleston, South Carolina agree to discontinue segregation practices at their establishments. Demonstrations continue at other stores.
24 July 1963 Victor Marijnen replaces Jan Eduard de Quay as Prime Minister of the Netherlands.
After the United States freezes all Cuban accounts in the country, the Cuban government takes over the American embassy in Havana.
25 July 1963 A Nuclear Test Ban Treaty is initialed by representatives of the US, UK, and USSR in Moscow.
Suite de sonnets op.401 for vocal quartet and chamber ensemble by Darius Milhaud (70) is performed for the first time, in Dieppe.
26 July 1963 A series of earthquakes destroys 80% of the buildings in Skopje, Yugoslavia (Macedonia). Over 1,000 people are killed, 3,350 are injured.
27 July 1963 Maj. General Amin el-Hafez replaces Lt. General Louai al-Attassi as chairman of the ruling military council of Syria.
29 July 1963 President de Gaulle announces that France will not sign the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty recently negotiated in Moscow.
30 July 1963 Tens of thousands of Buddhists stage anti-government rallies in Saigon, Da Lat, Nha Trang, Quon Nhon, and Hue.
31 July 1963 Shortly before he is convicted for “living off the earnings of prostitution” by a London jury, Dr. Stephen Ward is found in a coma from an overdose of barbiturates, at the home of a friend where he is staying.
The UN Security Council votes 8-0-3 to impose a ban on any weapons that would assist Portugal in carrying out its colonial wars in Portuguese Guinea, Angola, and Mozambique.
1 August 1963 The British government announces that it will grant independence to Malta by 31 May 1964.
2 August 1963 Rheinische Kirmestänze for 13 winds by Bernd Alois Zimmermann (45) is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of WDR, Cologne.
Pied Beauty for baritone, cello, and percussion by Lou Harrison (46) to words of Hopkins is performed for the first time, in San Francisco, 23 years after it was composed.
3 August 1963 Dr. Stephen Ward dies in a London hospital from an overdose of barbiturates he ingested on 31 July. He was the most important figure in the Profumo scandal.
685 blacks are arrested in Gadsden, Alabama in a large anti-segregation march.
4 August 1963 The African Development Bank is founded.
These Times for small orchestra and piano concertante by Roy Harris (65) is performed for the first time, in Sherwood Hall Art Center, La Jolla, California the composer conducting.
5 August 1963 A limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty is signed in Moscow by the foreign ministers of the United States, Great Britain, and the USSR. It bans nuclear tests in the atmosphere, under water and in outer space.
6 August 1963 138 people are arrested in anti-segregation demonstrations in Athens, Georgia.
7 August 1963 The UN Security Council votes 9-0-2 for a voluntary ban on all arms shipments to South Africa until they dismantle apartheid.
The Fire and Police Research Association of Los Angeles passes a resolution warning loyal Americans of the subversive, communistic perils inherent in folk music.
8 August 1963 The Great Train Robbery takes place in Britain when thieves take £2,600,000 from a Royal Mail train.
9 August 1963 A premature two-day-old child born to President and Mrs. Kennedy dies in Boston of hyaline membrane disease.
10 August 1963 Spain announces that it will grant partial autonomy to Spanish Guinea.
Joaquín Rodrigo (61) and his wife fly to Puerto Rico from Spain. He is to give a course in music history at the University of Rio Piedras.
11 August 1963 Former Prime Minister Song Yo Chan of South Korea is arrested for killing demonstrators during the uprisings of 1960. Song claims his arrest is political payback.
13 August 1963 Thich Thanh Thuc, a 17-year-old Buddhist student priest, burns himself to death near Hue to protest the anti-Buddhist policies of the South Vietnamese government.
15 August 1963 Dieu Quang, a Buddhist nun in her 20s, burns herself to death in Ninh Hoa to protest the anti-Buddhist policies of the South Vietnamese government.
Clifford Odets dies in Los Angeles of cancer at the age of 57.
16 August 1963 A 71-year-old Buddhist monk burns himself to death in Hue to protest the anti-Buddhist policies of the South Vietnamese government.
Duke Ellington’s (64) My People is performed for the first time, in the McCormick Place center in Chicago.
18 August 1963 15,000 people assemble at the Xa Loi Pagoda in Saigon for a day of prayers and speeches denouncing the corrupt, anti-Buddhist government of the Catholic Ngo Dinh Diem.
At a concert of sacred music in the Cathedral of Santa Fe, New Mexico, Igor Stravinsky (81) is invested with the insignia of the Order of St. Sylvester. Last October, Pope John XXIII conferred on him the honor of Knight Commander of St. Sylvester with star.
James Meredith becomes the first black graduate of the University of Mississippi.
Folk Suite for Band by William Grant Still (68) is performed for the first time, in MacArthur Park, Los Angeles.
20 August 1963 Two Israeli farmers are ambushed and killed by Syrian troops at Almagor near the Sea of Galilee.
21 August 1963 00:30 Thousands of CIA-trained South Vietnamese Special Forces troops assault Buddhist pagodas throughout the country in order to suppress opposition to the Catholic regime in Saigon. About 1,400 monks and nuns are arrested, some of whom will never be heard from again. In the evening, President Ngo Dinh Diem declares martial law.
22 August 1963 Several professors at Saigon University are arrested for refusing to sign a loyalty oath. Foreign Minister Vu Van Mau and two high-ranking diplomats resign in protest to the persecution of Buddhists.
The Czechoslovak news agency announces that Rudolf Slansky and eight other Communist Party leaders deposed in 1952 have been absolved of treasonable crimes. Eight of the nine were hanged.
23 August 1963 Students at Saigon University hold an anti-government rally to protest the arrests of yesterday.
The Norwegian Storting votes no confidence in the Labor Party government of Einar Gerhardsen.
The UN Security Council meets and is presented with 98 instances of aggression by Syria against Israel since 4 December 1962. Syria claims they are all lies.
24 August 1963 The South Vietnamese military closes all schools in Saigon in the face of growing student activism.
Three East Berliners disguised as construction workers disarm border guards and escape across a canal bridge to West Berlin.
25 August 1963 Police and troops attack an anti-government rally by students in Saigon. One student is killed, 600 arrested. Over 1,000 students are now detained.
26 August 1963 The US State Department blames South Vietnamese special forces, led by the President’s brother Ngo Dinh Nhu, for the repressive measures against Buddhists.
A UN report supports Israel’s claim that two Israeli farmers were killed by Syrian troops on 20 August. They find no evidence to support a counter-claim by Syria that Israel invaded their territory.
27 August 1963 Citing numerous cross-border violations and the persecution of Buddhists, Cambodia breaks diplomatic relations with South Vietnam.
Jan Lyng replaces Einar Gerhardson as Prime Minister of Norway. It is the first non-Socialist government since 1935 (except for the German occupation).
WEB DuBois dies in Accra at the age of 95.
28 August 1963 The South Vietnamese government denies the charges of 26 August and claims it was all the idea of the army.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. leads a March on Washington by 200,000 people, demonstrating demands for human rights for all Americans. They meet at the Washington Monument and march to the Lincoln Memorial to be addressed by Dr. King who makes the most famous speech of his life. Protest leaders also meet with President Kennedy at the White House.
Concerto for orchestra by Michael Tippett (58) is performed for the first time, in Usher Hall, Edinburgh.
29 August 1963 When a black couple, Horace and Sara Baker, attempt to take possession of their home in a housing development outside Philadelphia, they are met by a mob of 500 whites, mostly adolescents. The whites hurl insults, smash windows in the house and car, and refuse to let them in. At night, a bomb starts a fire at the house which is doused by firemen.
Lullaby for string quartet by George Gershwin (†26) is performed publicly for the first time, in Edinburgh, in a setting for harmonica and string quartet by Larry Adler. See 19 October 1967.
30 August 1963 The “Hot Line”, a direct communications link between Moscow and Washington, goes into operation.
When the Bakers return to their new home outside Philadelphia they are once again greeted by a white mob hurling objects and insults but are protected by 50 state policemen. Seven people are arrested.
31 August 1963 Great Britain grants internal autonomy to Sarawak and North Borneo. They were to become part of Malaysia today, but that has been postponed pending the outcome of a UN investigation into the voting in which citizens favored federation with Malaya. Singapore declares its independence.
Georges Braque dies in Paris at the age of 81.
A civil rights march by over 500 blacks on the city hall of Placquemine, Louisiana is attacked by police, some on horseback. They use fire hoses, cattle prods, and tear gas. 69 people are arrested.
Concerto for piano trio and strings by Bohuslav Martinu (†4) is performed for the first time, in Lucerne, 30 years after it was composed.
1 September 1963 The first of the Three Postludes for orchestra by Witold Lutoslawski (50) is performed for the first time, in the Grand Théâtre, Geneva. See 8 October 1965.
Cantata misericordium op.69 for solo voices, chorus, string quartet, string orchestra, piano, harp, and timpani by Benjamin Britten (49) to words of Wilkinson is performed for the first time, in the Grand Théâtre, Geneva.
Hymn and Fuguing Tune no.15-B for violin and cello by Henry Cowell (66) is performed for the first time, in Maverick Concert Hall, Woodstock, New York.
2 September 1963 Addressing 7,000 people in the Kokkinia soccer field in Piraeus, Mikis Theodorakis (38) traces a large letter “Z” in the air. “Let the slogan Zei (he lives) become a symbol...of the life of our movement.” It refers to the murdered peace activist Grigoris Lambrakis. Within hours, the letter Z is painted on walls throughout Athens and Piraeus.
The opening of newly desegregated schools in Huntsville and Tuskegee, Alabama is postponed by Governor George Wallace.
3 September 1963 A UN Security Council resolution condemning Syria for the murder of two Israeli farmers receives eight out of eleven affirmative votes, but is vetoed by the USSR.
Eleven blacks enter all-white public schools in Charleston, South Carolina for the first time. There is no serious incident. 27 black students enter all-white public schools in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. These are the first instances of desegregated schools in the respective states. Desegregation plans go into effect in the schools of Savannah, Georgia, Jacksonville, Florida, and Cambridge, Maryland.
4 September 1963 A riot breaks out in Birmingham, Alabama after the home of a black attorney is fire bombed for the second time. One person is killed, 18 injured. 125 white supremacists battle police outside a desegregated school.
A desegregation plan goes into effect for the schools in Fort Worth, Texas without incident.
De Kooning for horn, percussion, piano, violin, and cello by Morton Feldman (37) is performed for the first time, in Judson Hall, New York.
5 September 1963 On the urging of Governor George Wallace, the Birmingham Board of Education closes the three schools set to accept black students today.
6 September 1963 Under orders from Governor George Wallace, state police prevent the opening of integrated schools in Huntsville.
7 September 1963 An attempt by Saigon High School students to march to an anti-government rally is stopped by special forces units who surround the schools and arrest 800 students.
Fred Vine and Drum Matthews of Cambridge University publish a paper in Nature called “Magnetic Anomalies Over Oceanic Ridges.” It strongly supports the theory of continental drift.
Little Music for strings op.16 by Alexander Goehr (31) is performed for the first time, in Lucerne.
8 September 1963 The military governor of Saigon announces that the students arrested yesterday will be sent to “re-education” camps. Any arrested protesters over 20 years old will be drafted.
A new one-party constitution is approved by a reported 99.8% of Algeria’s voters.
9 September 1963 About 1,500 students at a Saigon high school are arrested after a two-hour anti-government demonstration. The students attempt to barricade themselves inside the school but are dislodged by secret police and troops.
At the request of the Justice Department, all five federal judges in Alabama issue restraining orders on Governor George Wallace, ordering him not to prevent court ordered desegregation. In the face of this, Wallace removes state police from schools and orders them replaced by National Guard units.
Vexations for piano solo by Erik Satie (†38) is performed, possibly for the first time, in New York. The performance begins at 18:00 with a relay of ten pianists including John Cage (51), David Tudor, Christian Wolff (29), James Tenney (29), John Cale, David Del Tredici (26), and Joshua Rifkin.
10 September 1963 President Kennedy nationalizes the Alabama National Guard. Those troops on guard to prevent desegregation of schools are ordered back to their barracks. Black students enter previously all-white schools in Birmingham, Mobile, and Tuskegee. The only incident is at West End High School in Birmingham where white students demonstrate and walk out of school.
12:40 Vexations concludes in New York after 840 repetitions of the piece in a non-stop relay. There are six people left in the audience. One yells “encore.”
11 September 1963 Three black students are enrolled at the University of South Carolina without incident.
13 September 1963 Great Britain uses its veto for only the third time, to defeat a UN Security Council resolution calling on it to not transfer power to a white-dominated government in Southern Rhodesia.
Poème symphonique for 100 metronomes by György Ligeti (40) is performed for the first time, in Hilversum, the composer directing. The end of the performance brings silence followed by loud protestations. Dutch television records the event for broadcast in two days but the Hilversum Senate forbids its broadcast.
14 September 1963 A United Nations team reports that a majority of citizens surveyed in Sarawak and North Borneo (Sabah) prefer federation with Malaya.
The South Vietnamese administration conducts widespread arrests of those suspected of opposing the government.
15 September 1963 A bomb explodes at the 16th Street Baptist Church, Birmingham, Alabama during Sunday services. Four black girls are killed, one blinded. 14 people are injured. Black citizens erupt in violence. State troopers are dispatched led by an admitted Ku Klux Klan sympathizer. Two black children are killed later in the day.
16 September 1963 Malaysia is established by the union of Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak, and North Borneo (Sabah). The British and Malayan embassies in Jakarta are attacked by mobs. Indonesia breaks relations with Malaya. The Philippines downgrades its mission in Kuala Lampur.
South Vietnam ends martial law and the curfew and restores press freedoms.
17 September 1963 Malaysia recalls its ambassadors from Jakarta and Manila. The Indonesian embassy in Kuala Lampur is overrun by Malaysians.
18 September 1963 10,000 Indonesians ransack the British embassy in Jakarta and burn it to the ground. Also attacked are the homes of British diplomats, the British Cricket Club and a residential area for the Shell Oil Co. After the melee, Indonesian authorities seize the embassy. Martial law is declared in the capital.
19 September 1963 Night Piece for piano by Benjamin Britten (49) is performed for the first time, in Great Hall of Leeds University.
20 September 1963 President Sukarno orders the seizure of all British assets in Indonesia for “protective supervision.”
Ahmed Ben Bella is sworn in as the first President of Algeria under the new constitution.
The Storting votes no-confidence in the month-old Norwegian government of Jan Lyng.
A general strike begins against the government of Dominican President Juan Bosch. It is called a “Christian” strike and is organized by conservative businessmen
21 September 1963 President Antonín Novotny of Czechoslovakia sacks Prime Minister Viliam Siroky and six other ministers. Josef Lenart is named to replace Siroky.
Jan Lyng resigns as Prime Minister of Norway following yesterday’s vote.
Don Giovanni, an opera by Gian Francesco Malipiero (81) to his own words after Pushkin, is performed for the first time, in the Auditorium della RAI, Naples.
23 September 1963 British ambassador Andrew Gilchrist and other British officials force their way into the remains of the British embassy in Jakarta to prevent the Indonesian authorities from picking the lock to the security room, which contains secret documents.
George Paques, deputy chief of the press office at NATO headquarters in Paris, is arrested and charged with being a Soviet spy since 1958.
Elegies for Faulkner and cummings for flute, english horn, and strings by David Diamond (48) is performed for the first time, in Philadelphia.
24 September 1963 The US Senate ratifies the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
132 blacks are arrested in Gadsden, Alabama in anti-segregation demonstrations.
25 September 1963 President Sukarno of Indonesia announces that his country is threatened by Malaysia and will have to destroy it.
Einar Gerhardson replaces Jan Lyng as Prime Minister of Norway.
A conservative military coup overthrows the democratically elected Dominican government of Juan Bosch. The new regime declares a state of siege and imposes a nighttime curfew. They dissolve the legislature. Leaders of six conservative parties agree to form a new government. The US suspends relations with the Dominican Republic and stops all economic assistance.
Two bombs explode in a black neighborhood of Birmingham, Alabama damaging eight homes. No one is injured.
26 September 1963 Master of the Rolls of Chancery, Lord Denning, issues his report on the security aspects of the Profumo affair. He says there is no reason to believe security was compromised but concluded that the government had failed in its obligation to “deal with the situation.”
The United States Senate debates the communist infiltration of folk music.
A three-man junta is set up to rule the Dominican Republic.
27 September 1963 Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev admits that the grain harvest will be below expectations this year and that his country is in a “difficult position.”
Stylianos Mavromichalis replaces Panagiotis Pipinelis as Prime Minister of Greece. He heads a caretaker government until elections in November.
Joseph Valachi begins testimony before a US Senate committee outlining in detail the inner workings of the Mafia.
28 September 1963 Indonesian-backed rebels strike 50 km into Malaysia at Long Jawai but they are destroyed by British troops on the return trip.
Former President Juan Bosch of the Dominican Republic is placed aboard a Dominican warship and sent to Guadaloupe. He will eventually reach Puerto Rico.
29 September 1963 The second session of the Second Vatican Council opens in Rome.
30 September 1963 Hurricane Flora strikes the Leeward Islands. Over the next eight days it will hit Haiti, Cuba, and other islands in the Caribbean, causing over 7,000 deaths.
Incidental music to Violett’s adaptation Color of Darkness: An Evening in the World of James Purdy by Ned Rorem (39) is performed for the first time, in Writer’s Stage, New York.
1 October 1963 On the third anniversary of its independence, Nigeria becomes the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Queen Elizabeth is replaced as head of state by Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe.
2 October 1963 Following a visit to South Vietnam by Defense Secretary Robert McNamara and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Maxwell Taylor, the US government issues a statement on Vietnam. It plans to continue military aid to the Ngo Dinh Diem government with the goal of defeating the Viet Cong by 1965. It acknowledges that the domestic unrest against the South Vietnamese government is a cause for concern.
Gasa for violin and piano by Isang Yun (46) is performed for the first time, in Prague.
3 October 1963 Great Britain grants internal self-government to Gambia.
Niponari, a cycle for female voice and piano by Bohuslav Martinu (†4) to Japanese poems, is performed for the first time, in Brno 51 years after it was composed.
Violin Concerto op.30 by Alberto Ginastera (47) is performed for the first time, under the baton of Leonard Bernstein (45) in Philharmonic Hall, New York.
4 October 1963 Archbishop Beran of Prague is released after twelve years imprisonment.
Sogno d’un tramonto d’autunno, an opera by Gian Francesco Malipiero (81) to words of D’Annunzio, is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of RAI, 50 years after it was composed. See 4 October 1988.
5 October 1963 A Buddhist monk burns himself to death in Saigon to protest the government’s anti-Buddhist policies. Plainclothes policemen beat a US reporter who took pictures of the event, and two other US reporters who try to shield him. The policemen then refuse to allow them to take a taxi to seek medical treatment. The three are finally treated at the American Hospital.
7 October 1963 Police in Santo Domingo battle 2,000 students demanding a return to democracy. A state of siege is declared.
8 October 1963 Iraq and Syria announce the union of their armed forces.
9 October 1963 Exactly one year after it achieved independence, Uganda is made a republic. Edward Mutesa becomes the first President.
A rockslide into an artificial lake behind the Vaiont Dam in the Italian Alps sends a wall of water over the dam engulfing Longarone and ten smaller villages. An estimated 1,800 people are killed.
US President Kennedy announces that he has authorized the sale of wheat and wheat flour to the USSR up to a value of $250,000,000.
Eleven anti-apartheid activists are indicted in Pretoria charged with planning a guerilla war against the South African government as prelude to invasion, and planning or carrying out 221 acts of sabotage over the last 20 months. Among those charged are Walter Sisulu and Nelson Mandela.
Symphony no.4 by Hans Werner Henze (37) is performed for the first time, in Berlin, directed by the composer.
10 October 1963 The Nuclear Test Ban Treaty enters into force with exchange of ratification ceremonies in London, Moscow, and Washington.
British Prime Minister Harold MacMillan undergoes successful prostate surgery in London. In a letter to the Conservative Party conference in Blackpool, made public today, he announces that he will resign his office for reasons of health.
Overture on Russian and Kirghiz Folksongs op.115 by Dmitri Shostakovich (57) is performed for the first time, in Moscow Conservatory Bolshoy Hall.
11 October 1963 13:30 Jean Cocteau dies of a heart attack in Milly-la-Forêt at the age of 74. On the same day, Edith Piaf (47) dies in Plascassier. There are those who claim she died in Paris on 10 October.
From Here for 16 solo voices and 20 instrumentalists by Earle Brown (36) is performed for the first time, in New York. Also premiered are several works by Morton Feldman (37): Vertical Thoughts 1 for two pianos, performed by David Tudor and John Cage (37), Vertical Thoughts 2 for violin and piano, Vertical Thoughts 3 for soprano, flute/piccolo, horn, trumpet, trombone, tuba, percussion, piano/celesta, violin, cello, and double bass to words of the Psalms, Vertical Thoughts 4 for piano, Vertical Thoughts 5 for soprano, tuba, percussion, celesta, and violin to words of the Psalms, and Straits of Magellan for flute, horn, trumpet, harp, electric guitar, piano, and double bass.
Two songs by Charles Ives (†9) are performed for the first time, at the Friends School in Germantown, Pennsylvania: Pictures, to words of Turnbull, and Wiegenlied from Des knaben Wunderhorn.
12 October 1963 Arturo Umberto Illía Francesconi replaces José María Guido as President of Argentina.
Scientists at the Atomic Research Center near Geneva announce the discovery of the “weak” particle.
13 October 1963 After several border incidents, Moroccan troops invade Algeria in force near the village of Hassi-Beida and advance 40 km.
15 October 1963 President Habib Bourguiba of Tunisia announces that French forces have completed their evacuation of the naval base at Bizerte.
16 October 1963 The first movement of Sonata for piano (W87) by Peter Sculthorpe (34) is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of the Australian Broadcasting Commission, originating in Hobart. See 3 November 1963.
Ludwig Erhard replaces Konrad Adenauer as Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Fighting between Algeria and Morocco escalates amidst attempts to mediate by the Arab League and Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia.
18 October 1963 As Queen Elizabeth visits him in a London hospital following prostate surgery, Harold Macmillan submits his resignation.
19 October 1963 Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Earl of Home replaces Maurice Harold Macmillan as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
20 October 1963 An anti-government demonstration in Santo Domingo is attacked by police. During the fighting more than 50 people are arrested.
Punkte no.1/2 for orchestra by Karlheinz Stockhausen (35) is performed for the first time, in Donaueschingen, conducted by Pierre Boulez (38).
22 October 1963 The Last Savage, an opera buffa by Gian-Carlo Menotti (52) to his own words, is performed for the first time, at Théâtre Favart, Paris.
Synthesis for orchestra and electronic sound by Otto Luening (63) is performed for the first time, in Erie, Pennsylvania.
23 October 1963 The new British Prime Minister, the Earl of Home, renounces his peerage and adopts the name Alec Frederick Douglas-Home. He will run for a seat in the House of Commons.
Symphony for Metal Orchestra (Symphony no.17) by Alan Hovhaness (52) is performed for the first time, in Cleveland.
24 October 1963 The British Parliament recesses after postponing its reopening from 29 October to 12 November. This will allow the new prime minister, Alec Douglas-Home, to run for a seat in the House of Commons.
Praises and Prayers, a cycle for voice and piano by Virgil Thomson (66) to words of various authors, is performed for the first time, in the Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York the composer at the piano.
26 October 1963 Lukas Foss (41) makes his first performance as conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic.
27 October 1963 225,000 students boycott classes in Chicago to protest segregated schools.
Dr. Michael Debakey of Baylor University Medical School reports on the first successful attempt to implant a mechanical device into a human to replace the action of the heart. He says the patient lived on the device for four hours.
28 October 1963 Piano Concerto no.2 by Leon Kirchner (44) is performed for the first time, in Seattle, the composer conducting.
30 October 1963 The heads of state of Morocco, Algeria, Mali, and Ethiopia sign a cease-fire agreement in Bamako, Mali in an effort to halt the border war between Algeria and Morocco.
Sept haïkaï for piano, 13 winds, six percussionists and eight violins by Olivier Messiaen (54) is performed for the first time, at the Odéon, Paris by Pierre Boulez (38) and Yvonne Loriod.
1 November 1963 President Ngo Dinh Diem of the Republic of Vietnam and his brother Ngo Dinh Nhu are killed in a military coup directed by General Duong Van Minh, who takes over the government and institutes a dictatorship.
Two black students are arrested in Jackson, Mississippi when they try to attend a concert by the Royal Philharmonic in a segregated hall. The two are held overnight despite the fact that they each hold a valid ticket.
Marc Blitzstein (58) arrives in Martinique and begins searching for a house to spend the winter and work on his unfinished opera projects.
2 November 1963 China shoots down a Nationalist U-2 spy plane.
The new South Vietnamese government frees about 150 political prisoners including all the Buddhist leaders seized in the recent unrest.
3 November 1963 Sonata for piano (W87) by Peter Sculthorpe (34) is performed completely for the first time, in Cell Block Theatre, Sydney, by the composer. See 16 October 1963.
4 November 1963 A joint civilian/military government takes power in South Vietnam under Prime Minister Nguyen Ngoc Tho.
5 November 1963 Giovanni Leone resigns as Prime Minister of Italy. He will remain in a caretaker capacity until a new government can be formed.
7 November 1963 Georgios Andreou Papandreou replaces Stylianos Mavromichalis as Prime Minister of Greece.
French Defense Minister Pierre Messmer confirms that France possesses six Mirage-IV jet bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons. It is the first step in France’s stated course of an independent French nuclear deterrent.
Alec Frederick Douglas-Home wins a parliamentary seat in West Perthshire, Scotland.
The United States recognizes the new provisional government of South Vietnam.
Six Absences for harpsichord by Hans Werner Henze (37) is performed for the first time, in Mainz.
8 November 1963 France and Egypt resume diplomatic relations severed during the 1956 Suez Crisis.
10 November 1963 Two sections of Arc for piano, orchestra, and electronic sounds by Toru Takemitsu (33) are performed for the first time, over the airwaves of NHK. They are “Pile” and “Solitude”.
11 November 1963 Echoi for clarinet, cello, piano, and percussion by Lukas Foss (41) is performed for the first time, in McMillin Theatre, Columbia University Charles Wuorinen (25) at the piano.
12 November 1963 Mass for chorus by Paul Hindemith (67) is performed for the first time, in Vienna, the composer conducting in his last public appearance.
14 November 1963 Bjarni Benediktsson replaces Olafur Thors as Prime Minister of Iceland.
15 November 1963 President Arturo Illía of Argentina cancels contracts with 14 private oil companies. He plans to nationalize the industry.
Paul Hindemith is taken ill at his home in Blonay, Switzerland and transferred to a hospital in Frankfurt, one day before his 68th birthday.
Fritz Reiner dies in New York at the age of 74.
Valium is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.
16 November 1963 Two bombs explode on the campus of the University of Alabama.
17 November 1963 This Sacred Ground for male voice, chorus, and orchestra by David Diamond (48) to words of Lincoln, is performed for the first time, in Buffalo.
18 November 1963 Pro-Nasser President Abdel Salam Arif of Iraq leads a military coup removing the Baathist government.
The first push-button telephones are marketed by American Telephone and Telegraph.
Seven for piano-four hands by Ralph Shapey (42) is performed for the first time, in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco.
19 November 1963 Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia severs economic and military relations with the United States. He is tired of US attempts to undermine his government.
A bomb explodes on the campus of the University of Alabama. Five National Guardsmen will be charged.
Fantasy Variations for orchestra by Ulysses Kay (46) is performed for the first time, in Portland, Maine.
Music for a Celebration for orchestra by Robert Ward (46) is performed for the first time, in Erie, Pennsylvania.
20 November 1963 The Nationaltheater of Munich housing the Staatsoper opens to an invited audience who see Richard Strauss’ (†14) Die Frau ohne Schatten. It was reconstructed to its exact appearance before destruction by Allied bombs on 18 October 1943.
Fanfare for four trumpets and four trombones by Gunther Schuller (37) is performed for the first time, in Madison, Wisconsin.
21 November 1963 General elections in Japan result in renewed victory for the Liberal Democratic Party.
The Congo expels all 100 members of the Soviet embassy after two of them are arrested for trying to undermine the government.
22 November 1963 A memorial window to John Ireland (†1) is unveiled in the Musicians’ Chapel of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, London.
CS Lewis dies in Oxford at the age of 64.
United States President John Fitzgerald Kennedy is shot twice in Dallas by Lee Harvey Oswald (firing from a sixth floor window) as he rides through the city in an open car. He is pronounced dead at Parkland Hospital and succeeded by Lyndon Baines Johnson. Also wounded in the attack is Texas Governor John Connally. Oswald is arrested.
Driving a Volkswagen bus carrying Merce Cunningham and his dance company on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, John Cage (51) pulls into a gas station and asks about all the flags at half-staff. He is informed of the day’s events.
Aldous Huxley dies of cancer in Los Angeles at the age of 69.
23 November 1963 The newly reconstructed Nationaltheater of Munich opens to the public with Richard Wagner’s (†80) Die Meistersinger.
24 November 1963 Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused murderer of President John Kennedy, is shot to death by Jack Ruby, a restaurant owner, in Dallas. Oswald is being transferred from the city jail to county jail when Ruby bursts from a group of reporters and fires point blank into Oswald’s side. He dies later in surgery at Parkland Hospital.
Leonard Bernstein (45) conducts a memorial concert for President Kennedy with the New York Philharmonic over the airwaves of CBS television. The music is the Symphony no.2 “Resurrection” of Gustav Mahler (†52).
25 November 1963 As the nation watches on television, the earthly remains of John Kennedy are laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery. The ceremonies are attended by dignitaries from 92 countries, including heads of state and government.
27 November 1963 Die Verlobung in San Domingo, an opera by Werner Egk (62) to his own words after von Kleist, is performed for the first time, in the Nationaltheater, Munich.
28 November 1963 Cape Canaveral is renamed Cape Kennedy.
29 November 1963 The space exploration facilities on Cape Kennedy are named the John F. Kennedy Space Center.
US President Johnson creates a special commission to investigate the murders of President Kennedy and Lee Harvey Oswald. It is to be headed by Chief Justice Earl Warren.
Concerto for violin and orchestra no.1 by Alfred Schnittke (29) is performed for the first time, in Moscow.
Threnos for oboe and orchestra by Gunther Schuller (38) is performed for the first time, in Cologne.
30 November 1963 In parliamentary elections in Australia, the ruling Liberal/Country coalition of Prime Minister Robert Menzies increases its slim majority in the House of Representatives and is returned to power.
On its own initiative, the USSR hands over all of its consular documents on Lee Harvey Oswald to US Secretary of State Dean Rusk.
Capriccio for piano and orchestra by Shulamit Ran (14) is performed for the first time, in a nationally televised Young Peoples Concert in Philharmonic Hall, New York conducted by Leonard Bernstein (45) with the composer at the piano.
1 December 1963 Nagaland officially becomes a state of India.
2 December 1963 The South Vietnamese government discloses that it is discontinuing the practice of creating strategic hamlets and forcing citizens to move there.
The Norwich Insurance Societies disclose that they forced Lord Mancroft to resign from an advisory board because he is Jewish. They did so because Arab business interests threatened to cut off all business with Norwich if Mancroft were not removed.
Murder of a Great Chief of State, In memory of John F. Kennedy for orchestra by Darius Milhaud (71) is performed for the first time, in Oakland, California. Milhaud composed the work on 23 November 1963.
3 December 1963 Dance Panels in Seven Movements by Aaron Copland (63) is performed for the first time, in the National Opera Theatre, Munich.
A hearing takes place before the planning commission of Petaluma, California on whether or not Harry Partch (62) may continue to occupy the firetrap wherein he and his instruments presently reside. Trying to be understanding, the commission grants Partch a temporary use permit which will allow him to connect to the gas line, but only if he rewires the building to current codes.
4 December 1963 The Second Vatican Council in Rome authorizes the use of the vernacular in the Mass and sacraments.
A report by the American Cancer Society presented at a meeting of the American Medical Association in Portland, Oregon shows that smokers die younger.
5 December 1963 Aldo Moro replaces Giovanni Leone as Prime Minister of Italy at the head of a four-party coalition which includes the Socialist Party for the first time in 16 years.
Karl Amadeus Hartmann dies of pancreatic cancer in Munich, aged 58 years, four months, and three days.
String Quartet no.1 by Richard Wernick (29) is performed for the first time, in Rochester, New York.
String Quartet no.6 by David Diamond (48) is performed for the first time, in Buffalo.
6 December 1963 Christine Keeler, of the Profumo Affair, and three others plead guilty to perjury for testifying that Miss Keeler was beaten by Aloysius (Lucky) Gordon. She is sentenced to nine months in prison.
Piano Concerto for piano, three horns, percussion, and strings by John Tavener (19) is performed for the first time, at the Royal Academy of Music, London.
8 December 1963 Prime Minister Sarit Thanarat of Thailand dies in Bangkok.
Computer Cantata by Lejaren Hiller (39) and Robert Baker is performed for the first time, in Urbana, Illinois. Three computers were involved. The text was made by the Illiac I, the score with the IBM-7090, and sounds were generated with the CSX-1 computer.
9 December 1963 Thanom Kittikachorn replaces Sarit Thanarat as Prime Minister of Thailand.
10 December 1963 The Sultanate of Zanzibar is declared independent of Great Britain under Sultan Sayyid Jamshid ibn Abd Allah and Prime Minister Sheikh Muhammad Shamte Hamadi.
Symphony no.3 “Kaddish” for speaker, boys’ chorus, chorus, and orchestra by Leonard Bernstein (45) to words of the Hebrew liturgy and the composer, is performed for the first time, in Tel Aviv the composer conducting.
Song of Human Rights for chorus and orchestra by Howard Hanson (67) is performed for the first time, in Washington.
11 December 1963 The government of Jordan blacklists 49 British companies as part of the Arab boycott of Israel.
The South Vietnamese government closes three Saigon newspapers for “slandering” the military.
12 December 1963 Kenya, under Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Jomo Kenyatta, is declared independent of Great Britain.
The Syrian government blacklists 50 British companies as part of the Arab boycott of Israel.
13 December 1963 Perpetuum mobile by Arvo Pärt (28) is performed for the first time, in Tallinn.
14 December 1963 Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev proposes a cut in the country’s military budget.
A Sea Dirge for mezzo-soprano, flute, violin, and oboe by Ben Johnston (37) to words of Shakespeare is performed for the first time, in Urbana, Illinois. Also premiered is Johnston’s Knocking Piece for two percussionists and grand piano.
15 December 1963 Mikis Theodorakis (38), running for the Greek Parliament, receives a letter threatening his life and his family.
President Charles de Gaulle of France pardons about 100 conservatives who were convicted on charges connected with attempts to prevent the end of the Algerian war. He grants amnesty to 99 others for subversive activities during the war.
16 December 1963 Kenya and Zanzibar are admitted to the United Nations.
The United States withdraws from its last two bases in Morocco.
17 December 1963 The third republic of South Korea goes into effect with the inauguration of President Park Chung Hee and the opening of the National Assembly.
Prime Minister Ahti Karjalainen of Finland resigns over a proposed budget dispute.
John Cooke for chorus by Thea Musgrave (35) is performed for the first time, in Royal Festival Hall, London.
18 December 1963 The Berlin Wall is opened for holiday visits by West Berliners to the East.
Reino Ragnar Lehto replaces Ahti Kalle Samuli Karjalainen as Prime Minister of Finland.
Flute Variations I for flute solo by Charles Wuorinen (25) is performed for the first time, in Donnell Library, New York.
19 December 1963 The first of over 1,000,000 West Berliners cross into East Berlin for the first time since the erection of the wall in 1961. They are allowed in to visit relatives during the Christmas season as part of an agreement worked out between East Germany and Mayor Willy Brandt of West Berlin.
Blake Edwards’ film The Pink Panther is released in West Germany.
Meditations for voice and piano by Gunther Schuller (38) to words of Stein is performed for the first time, in New York.
20 December 1963 Pacem in terris, a choral symphony for baritone, chorus and orchestra by Darius Milhaud (71) to words of Pope John XXIII, is performed for the first time, at the inauguration of the new hall of Paris Radio.
Tone Roads no.3 for orchestra by Charles Ives (†9) is performed for the first time, in New York, about 50 years after it was composed. Also premiered is Ives’ Scherzo: Over the Pavements for piccolo, clarinet, bassoon/baritone saxophone, trumpet, three trombones, cymbal, bass drum, and piano.
21 December 1963 Violence between Greeks and Turks erupts on Cyprus.
Dynamite Tonite, a cabaret opera by William Bolcom (25) to words of Weinstein, is performed for the first time, at the Actor’s Studio Theatre conducted by the composer.
23 December 1963 William Bolcom (25) marries Fay Levine.
Shulamit Ran (14) performs the world premiere of her Capriccio for piano and orchestra, directed by Leonard Bernstein (45) on one of Bernstein’s televised Young People’s Concerts.
24 December 1963 Prime Minister Georgios Papandreou of Greece resigns after needing Communist support to win a confidence motion. King Pavlos asks Panayotis Kanellopoulos to form a new government.
25 December 1963 Both Greek and Turkish troops stationed on Cyprus leave their barracks and engage in the communal fighting between Greek and Turkish Cypriots.
27 December 1963 Through the efforts of the US, UK, Greece, and Turkey, a cease-fire goes into effect on Cyprus with only sporadic shooting over the next few days.
28 December 1963 Paul Hindemith dies of acute pancreatitis in a Frankfurt hospital, aged 68 years, one month, and twelve days. His earthly remains will be laid to rest in the churchyard of Saint-Légier in Waadt.
After Panayotis Kanellopoulos fails to form a new Greek government, King Pavlos turns to Ioannis Paraskevopoulos, not a politician.
29 December 1963 Indonesian-backed guerillas attack Kalabakan, 50 km inside Sabah. They are destroyed by British and Malaysian troops.
Incidental music to the television program No Star on the Way Back by Thea Musgrave (35) is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of Border Television. The music will later be known as Two Christmas Carols in Traditional Style for soprano, chorus, and orchestra to words of Nicholson.
30 December 1963 Ioannis Paraskevopoulos replaces Georgios Andreou Papandreou as Prime Minister of Greece.
Through the efforts of the British, a neutral zone is set up separating Greek and Turkish Cypriots in Nicosia. British troops immediately move into the zone.
Antoine Argoud, leader of the National Council of Resistance, is found guilty of treason in a Paris court. He was a leader in the 1961 insurrection.
31 December 1963 Viet Cong forces annihilate a Saigon battalion near Binh Già.
The government of South Africa bans the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific because it advocates harmony and equality between races.
The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved into its three constituent parts: Northern Rhodesia, Southern Rhodesia, and Nyasaland.
Ivan-Assen Khristov Georgiev, former official of the Bulgarian mission to the UN, is convicted in Sofiya of espionage for the US and sentenced to death.
©2004-2012 Paul Scharfenberger
22 July 2012
Last Updated (Sunday, 22 July 2012 18:39)