1900 in music

Specific locations

• 1900 in Norwegian music

  Events

• February 22 – Jacques Thibaud, violin, with the composer himself at the piano, gives the world premièee of George Enescu's Second Violin Sonata in Paris, on a concert that was part of the Concerts Colonne series.
• April – Mary Garden makes her public debut in the title role of Gustave Charpentier's opera Louise.
• July 2 – Jean Sibelius's tone poem Finlandia receives its première with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Robert Kajanus.
• October 3 – Edward Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius receives its première in Birmingham.
• The Philadelphia Orchestra is founded.
• The Honolulu Symphony Orchestra is founded.

  Published popular music

• "Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder " w. Arthur Gillespie m. Herbert Dillea
• "A Bird in a Gilded Cage" w. Arthur J. Lamb m. Harry Von Tilzer
• "The Blue and the Gray " w.m. Paul Dresser
• "Bridge Of Sighs" w.m. James Thornton
• "Calligan – Call Again!" w.m. Herbert Rutter & Harry Lauder
• "Calling To Her Boy Just Once Again" w.m. Paul Dresser
• "Creole Belles" w. George Sidney m. J. Bodewalt Lampe
• "The Duchess Of Central Park" w. J. Cheaver Goodwin m. Maurice Levi
• "Every Race Has a Flag but the Coon" w.m. Will A. Heelan & J. Fred Helf
• "Eyes Of Blue" m. Andrew Mack
• "The Fatal Rose of Red" – J. Fred Helf
• "The Flight Of The Bumble Bee" m. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
• "A Flower From The Garden Of Life" w.m. Thurland Chattaway
• "For Old Time's Sake" w.m. Charles K. Harris
• "The Gladiators' Entry" m. Julius Fučík
• "Hail To The Spirit Of Liberty" w.m. John Philip Sousa
• "Hunky Dory" m. Abe Holzmann
• "I Can't Tell Why I Love You But I Do" w. Will D. Cobb m. Gus Edwards
• "I Love You, Ma Cherie" w.m. Paul Rubens
• "I Must Have Been A-Dreamin' " w.m. Bob Cole
• "I Need The Money" w.m. Raymond A. Browne
• "I Won't Be an Actor No More" w.m. George M. Cohan
• "I'll Overcome Some Day" w.m. Charles Albert Tindley
• "In The House Of Too Much Trouble" w.m. Will A. Heelan & J. Fred Helf
• "I've A Longing In My Heart For You Louise" w.m. Charles K. Harris
• "Just Because She Made Dem Goo-Goo Eyes" w.m. John Queen & Hughie Cannon
• "Lift Ev'ry Voice And Sing" w. James Weldon Johnson m. J. Rosamond Johnson
• "Little Tommy Murphy" w. Matthew Woodward m. Andrew Mack
• "A Love-Lorn Lily" w. Louis Harrison & George V. Hobart m. A. Baldwin Sloane
• "Ma Blushin' Rosie" w. Edgar Smith m. John Stromberg
• "Midnight Fire-Alarm" – H.J. Lincoln
• "My Charcoal Charmer" w. Will D. Cobb m. Gus Edwards
• "My Drowsy Babe" w. George Totten Smith m. George A. Nichols
• "My Sunflower Sue" w. Walter H. Ford m. John Walter Bratton
• "Nothing Doing" w. Edgar Smith m. John Stromberg
• "Off To Philadelphia" w. Gordon Temple m. Walter B. Haynes
• "Oh! Wouldn't That Jar You?" w.m. Will D. Cobb
• "The Old Flag Never Touched The Ground" w.m. James Weldon Johnson & J. Rosamond Johnson
• "Song Of The Flea" – w. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe; m. Modest Moussorgsky
• "Strike Up the Band – Here Comes a Sailor" w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Charles B. Ward
• "Swipesy" m. Scott Joplin and Arthur Marshall
• "The Tale Of The Kangaroo" w. Frank Pixley m. Gustave Luders
• "Tell Me Pretty Maiden" w. Owen Hall m. Leslie Stuart
• "That Old Sunny Window" w.m. Shelley
• "There Are Two Sides To A Story" w.m. Will A. Heelan & J. Fred Helf
• "Violets" w. Julian Fane m. Ellen Wright
• "Wait" w. Charles Horwitz m. Frederick W. Bowers
• "When Reuben Comes To Town" w. J. Cheever Goodwin m. Maurice Levi
• "When The Birds Go North Again" w. Robert F. Roden m. Max S. Witt
• "When The Harvest Days Are Over, Jessie Dear" w. Howard Graham m. Harry Von Tilzer
• "Who Threw The Overalls In Mrs Murphy's Chowder?" w.m. George L. Giefer
• "You Never Miss The Water Till The Well Runs Dry" w.m. Rowland Howard

  Recorded popular music

• "American Patrol"

• "A Bird in a Gilded Cage"

• "Doan Ye Cry, Mah Honey"

• "The Duchess Of Central Park"

• "For Old Time's Sake"

• "Just Because She Made Dem Goo-Goo Eyes"

• "Lead, Kindly Light"

• "A Love-Lorn Lily"

• "Ma Blushin' Rosie"

• "My Sunflower Sue"

• "O! That We Two Were Maying"

• "Strike Up the Band"

• "Tell Me Pretty Maiden"

• "When Reuben Comes To Town"

• "When You Were Sweet Sixteen"

• "Where The Sweet Magnolias Grow"

Classical music

• Edward Elgar – The Dream of Gerontius
• George Enescu –
• *Impromptu, for piano
• *Die nächtliche Herschau, for baritone, choir, and orchestra
• *Octet for Strings in C major, Op. 7
• *Plugar, for mixed choir
• Reinhold Glière – Symphony No 1 in E-flat major, Op. 8
• Alexander Goedicke – Piano Concerto
• Joseph Holbrooke – The Raven
• Josef Rheinberger – Requiem in D minor
• Richard Strauss – Five Songs for voice and piano, Op. 48
• Josef Suk – Pieces for violin and piano

  [Opera]

• Gustave Charpentier – Louise, première in Paris, February 2
• César Cui – Feast in Time of Plague
• August Enna – The Shepherdess and the Chimney-Sweep
• Gabriel Fauré – Prométhée
• Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov – Asya
• Ruggiero Leoncavallo – Zaza
• Giacomo Puccini – Tosca, premièred in Rome, January 14
• Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov – The Tale of Tsar Saltan
• George Stephanescu – Cometa
• Alexander Zemlinsky – Es war einmal

  [Musical theater]

• The Cadet Girl: Broadway production opened at the Herald Square Theatre on July 25 and ran for 48 performances
• The Casino Girl: London production opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre on April 25
• Chris And The Wonderful Lamp: Broadway production opened at the Victoria Theater on January 1 and ran for 58 performances
• Fiddle-Dee-Dee: Broadway production opened at Weber and Fields' Broadway Music Hall on September 6 and ran for 262 performances
• Florodora: Broadway production opened at the Casino Theatre on November 10 and ran for 505 performances, while its run at London's Lyric Theatre continued throughout the year
• Giddy Throng: Broadway revue opened at the New York Theatre on December 24 and ran for 164 performances
• The Messenger Boy: London production opened at the Gaiety Theatre on February 3 and ran for 429 performances
• Miss Prinnt: Broadway production opened at the Victoria Theater on December 25 and ran for 211 performances
• The Rogers Brothers In Central Park: Broadway production opened at the Victoria Theater on September 17 and transferred to the Grand Opera House on April 1, 1901, for a total run of 80 performances
• San Toy: Broadway production opened at Daly's Theatre on October 1 and ran for 65 performances
• Véronique : Vienna production opened at the Theater an der Wien on March 10

  Births

• January 1 – Xavier Cugat, bandleader
• January 6 – Pierre-Octave Ferroud, French composer
• January 13 – Yasuji Kiyose, Japanese composer
• February 3 – Mabel Mercer, English-American singer and actress
• February 13 – Wingy Manone, U.S. jazz musician
• March 2 – Kurt Weill, German composer.
• March 10 – Peter De Rose, US composer
• April 2 – Anis Fuleihan, Cypriot-born US composer
• April 8 – Gavriel Mullokandov, Bukharian Jewish singer and musician
• April 11 – Kai Normann Andersen, Danish composer
• April 23 – Henry Barraud, French composer
• May 17 – Nicolai Berezowsky, Russian composer
• May 27 – Leopold Godowsky, Jr., American violinist and chemist
• May 28 – Tommy Ladnier, jazz musician
• June 15 – Paul Mares, jazz musician
• June 24 – Gene Austin, US singer and composer
• July 8 – George Antheil, composer
• July 10
• *Evelyn Laye, English actress and singer
• *Mitchell Parish, US lyricist
• July 13 – George Lewis, jazz musician
• July 29 – Don Redman, US arranger, bandleader and saxophonist
• August 2 – Helen Morgan, US singer and actress
• August 8 – Lucky Millinder, US bandleader
• August 22 – Váša Příhoda, Czech violinist
• August 23 – Ernst Krenek, composer
• September 3 – Eduard van Beinum, Dutch conductor
• September 7 – Joan Cross, operatic soprano
• September 20 – Uuno Klami, Finnish composer
• September 28 – Joe Falcon, Cajun accordionist
• October 9 – Elmer Snowden, banjo player
• October 19 – Erna Berger, coloratura soprano
• November 14 – Aaron Copland, composer
• November 25 – Arthur Schwartz, US composer
• November 27 – Robert Blum, Swiss composer
• December 12 – Sammy Davis, Sr., vaudeville entertainer
• December 14 – Juan d'Arienzo, tango musician
• December 17 – Lucijan Marija Škerjanc, Slovene composer, pedagogue and conductor
• December 22 – Alan Bush, British pianist, composer and conductor
• December 29 – B. H. Haggin, music critic

  Deaths

• January 22 – David E. Hughes, musician and inventor, 68
• January 26 – Carl Leopold Sjöberg, composer, 38
• February 3 – Ottokar Novacek, violinist and composer, 33
• March 10 – Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann, composer, 94
• March 13 – Alicia Ann Spottiswoode, songwriter, 89
• March 19 – Charles-Louis Hanon, composer and piano teacher, 80
• April 21 – Charles Beecher, hymn-writer, 84
• May 28 – George Grove, compiler of the well-known dictionary of music, 79
• June 15 – Barnolt, French operatic tenor, 61
• July 19 – Jovan Sundečić, lyricist of the Montenegro national anthem, 75
• August 11 – Franz Betz, operatic bass-baritone, 65
• October 9 – Heinrich von Herzogenberg, conductor and composer, 57
• October 14 – Sándor Erkel, Hungarian composer, son of Ferenc Erkel
• October 15 – Zdeněk Fibich, composer, 49
• November 7 – Joseph Schalk, pianist, conductor and musicologist, 43
• November 14 – Adolf Pollitzer, violinist, 68
• November 17 – Heinrich Porges, choirmaster and music critic, 62
• November 22 – Sir Arthur Sullivan, composer, 58
• December 8 – Henry Russell, pianist, baritone singer and composer
• date unknown – Louis Liebe, conductor and composer