This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1920.
Specific locations
Specific genres
Events
Publications
Published popular music
- "After You Get What You Want, You Don't Want It" w.m. Irving Berlin
- "All She'd Say Was "Umh Hum"" w.m. King Zany, Mac Emery, Gus Van & Joe Schenck
- "All The Boys Love Mary" Gus Van & Joe Schenck
- "Aunt Hagar's Blues" w.m. W. C. Handy
- "Avalon" w.m. B. G. DeSylva, Al Jolson & Vincent Rose
- "Blue Jeans" w. Harry D. Kerr, m. Lou Traveller
- "Bright Eyes" w. Harry B. Smith m. Otto Motzan & M. K. Jerome
- "Broadway Blues w. Arthur Swanstrom m. Carey Morgan
- "Chanson" m. Rudolf Friml
- "Chili Bean" w. Lew Brown m. Albert Von Tilzer
- "Crazy Blues" w.m. Percy Bradford
- "The Cuckoo Waltz" w. Arthur Kingsley m. J. E. Jonasson
- "Daddy, You've Been A Mother To Me" w.m. Fred Fisher
- "Down By The O-HI-O (I've Got The Sweetest Little O, My ! O ! )" w. Jack Yellen m. Abe Olman
- "Feather Your Nest" w.m. James Kendis, James Brockman & Howard Johnson
- "The Gipsy Warned Me" w.m. R. P. Weston & Bert Lee
- "He Went In Like A Lion (And Came Out Like A Lamb)" w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Harry von Tilzer
- "Home Again Blues" w.m. Harry Akst & Irving Berlin
- "I Belong to Glasgow" w.m. Will Fyffe
- "I Used To Love You, But It's All Over Now" w. Lew Brown m. Albert Von Tilzer
- "I'd Love To Fall Asleep And Wake Up In My Mammy's Arms" w. Sam M. Lewis & Joe Young m. Fred E. Ahlert
- "I'll Be With You In Apple Blossom Time" w. Neville Fleason m. Albert Von Tilzer
- "I'll See You In C-U-B-A" w.m. Irving Berlin
- "In a Persian Market" m. Albert William Ketèlbey
- "The Japanese Sandman" w. Raymond B. Egan m. Richard A. Whiting
- "Jellybean" by Jimmie Dupre, Sam Rosen, and Joe Verges
Top Popular Recordings 1920
The following songs achieved the highest positions in Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954 and record sales reported on the "Discography of American Historical Recordings" website during 1920: Numerical rankings are approximate, they are only used as a frame of reference.
Classical music
- Granville Bantock â Arabian Nights
- Béla Bartók â Eight Improvisations on Peasant Songs
- Arnold Bax â Phantasy for viola and orchestra
- Arthur Bliss â The Tempest, overture and interludes;
- Concerto for piano, tenor voice, strings and percussion
- Rout (for soprano and chamber orchestra)
- Ernest Bloch â Violin Sonata No. 1
- Max Bruch - String Octet
- Ferruccio Busoni â Piano Sonatina No. 6 (Fantasia da camera super Carmen),
- Divertimento for flute and orchestra
- Frederick Delius â Hassan
- George Enescu â String Quartet No. 1 in E-flat major, Op. 22, No. 1
- Gabriel Fauré â Masques et Bergamasques
- Johan Halvorsen â Norwegian Rhapsody No. 2
- Arthur Honegger â Pastorale d'été
- Viola Sonata
- Cello Sonata
- LeoÃ
¡ JanáÃÂek â Ballad of Blanik (symphonic poem)
- Darius Milhaud â Ballade (for piano and orchestra)
- Le Boeuf sur le toit (ballet),
- Francis Poulenc â Five Impromptus for Piano, Suite in C Major for Piano
- Sergei Prokofiev â Five Songs without Words (for voice and piano)
- Maurice Ravel â La Valse
- Sonata for violin and cello
- Camille Saint-Saëns - Odelette in D major Op. 162
- Erik Satie â La Belle excentrique
- Dmitri Shostakovich â Five Preludes for piano
- Igor Stravinsky â Concertino for string quartet,
- Pulcinella
- Symphonies of Wind Instruments
- Ralph Vaughan Williams â The Lark Ascending
- Mass in G minor
- Heitor Villa-Lobos â Symphony No. 5, "A paz" (Peace)
Opera
Births
- January 1
- José Antonio Bottiroli, Argentine composer and poet (d. 1990)
- Virgilio Savona, Italian singer and songwriter (Quartetto Cetra) (d. 2009)
- Mahmoud Zoufonoun, Iranian-American violinist (d. 2013)
- January 3 â Renato Carosone, Italian musician and singer (d. 2001)
- January 5 â Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, pianist (d. 1995)
- January 8 – Josef Josephi, Polish-born singer and actor (b. 1852)
- January 14
- Cris Alexander, American actor, singer, dancer, designer, and photographer (d. 2012)
- Salvador Flores Rivera, Mexican composer and singer (d. 1987)
- January 16 â Claude Abadie, French jazz clarinetist (died 2020)
- January 18 â Jan Van Halen, musician, father of Eddie and Alex Van Halen (d. 1986)
- January 24 â Hilario González, Cuban composer, pianist, musicologist, music educator, and music critic (d. 1999)
- February 2
- Heikki Suolahti, Finnish composer (d. 1936)
- Yuriko Amemiya, American dancer and choreographer (d. 2022)
- February 7 â Oscar Brand, Canadian-born American folk singer, songwriter and author (d. 2016)
- February 12 â Yoshiko Yamaguchi, Chinese-Japanese actress and singer (d. 2014)
- February 13
- Boudleaux Bryant, American songwriter (d. 1987)
- Eileen Farrell, American soprano (d. 2002)
- February 14 â Albert J. McNeil, American choral conductor, ethnomusicologist and author (d. 2022)
- February 18 â Rolande Falcinelli, organist, pianist and composer (d. 2006)
- February 23 â Hall Overton, composer, jazz pianist and music teacher (d. 1972)
- February 26 â Henri Crolla, jazz guitarist and film composer (d. 1960)
- February 28 â Albert Elms, light music composer (d. 2009)
- March 10 â Boris Vian, French writer, poet, singer and musician (d. 1959)
- March 16 â John Addison, British film composer (d. 1998)
- March 17 â John La Montaine, American composer (d. 2013)
- March 22 â Fanny Waterman, pianist and music educator (d. 2020)
- March 23 â Geoffrey Bush, British composer, writer and broadcaster (d. 1998)
- April 7 â Ravi Shankar, Indian sitarist (d. 2012)
- April 12
- The Cox Twins, music hall entertainers (Frank, d. 2007; Fred, d. 2013)
- Anita Ellis, Canadian-American singer and actress (d. 2015)
- April 21 â Bruno Maderna, conductor and composer (d. 1973)
- April 23 â Louis Barron, film composer (d. 1989)
- April 27 – Guido Cantelli, Italian conductor (d. 1956)
- April 29 â Harold Shapero, composer (d. 2013)
- May 2
- Jean-Marie Auberson, violinist and conductor (d. 2004)
- Joe "Mr Piano" Henderson, Scottish pianist and composer (d. 1980)
- May 4 â Ronald Chesney, harmonica player and comedy scriptwriter (d. 2018)
- May 13 â Gareth Morris, flautist (d. 2007)
- May 18 â Lucia Mannucci, Italian singer (Quartetto Cetra) (d. 2012)
- May 20 â Betty Driver, British singer and actress (d. 2011)
- May 21 â Bill Barber, jazz musician (d. 2007)
- May 23 â Helen O'Connell, American big band singer (d. 1993)
- May 26 â Peggy Lee, singer and songwriter (d. 2002)
- June 6
- Dino Asciolla, violinist (d. 1994)
- Jan RubeÃ
¡, Czech-Canadian bass opera singer, actor (d. 2009)
- Robert Turner, composer (d. 2012)
- June 10 â Bonnie Davis, R&B singer (d. 1976)
- June 11 â Hazel Scott, jazz/classical pianist and singer (d. 1981)
- June 19 â Johnny Douglas, film composer and conductor (d. 2003)
- June 20 â Danny Cedrone, American guitarist and bandleader (d. 1954)
- June 25 â Ozan Marsh, American concert pianist (d. 1992)
- June 26 â Leonid Hambro, pianist (d. 2006)
- July 1 â Amália Rodrigues, Portuguese singer and actress (d. 1999)
- July 13
- Anna Halprin, American dancer (d. 2021)
- Don Ralke, American music arranger (d. 2000)
- July 14 â Marijohn Wilkin, American country and gospel songwriter (d. 2006)
- July 19 â Robert Mann, American violinist (d. 2018)
- July 20
- Carmen Carrozza, Italian-born American accordionist (d. 2013)
- Thanga Darlong, Indian folk musician (d. 2023)
- July 21
- Isaac Stern, Ukrainian-born violinist (d. 2001)
- Manuel Valls, Spanish composer (d. 1984)
- July 23 â Amália Rodrigues, Portuguese fado singer and actress (d. 1999)
- July 31 â Walter Arlen, Austrian-born American composer (d. 2023)
- August 7 â Françoise Adret, French ballet dancer, choreographer (d. 2018)
- August 8
- Leo Chiosso, Italian lyricist (d. 2006)
- Jimmy Witherspoon, blues singer (d. 1997)
- August 21 â John Hanson, singer and actor (d. 1998)
- August 26 â Emil Cadkin, film composer (d. 2020)
- August 29 â Charlie Parker, jazz musician (d. 1955)
- September 3 â Chabuca Granda, Peruvian singer and composer (d. 1983)
- September 7 â Al Caiola, American guitarist, composer, arranger (d. 2016)
- September 14 â Cascarita [a.k.a. Orlando Guerra], Cuban music singer (d. 1975)
- September 17 â Jean Perrin, composer (d. 1989)
- September 23
- Alexander Arutiunian, Armenian composer (d. 2012)
- Mickey Rooney, actor and entertainer (d. 2014)
- September 25 – Anne Triola, American actress, singer and musician (d. 2012)
- September 27 â Alan A. Freeman, English record producer (d. 1985)
- September 28 â Irma Baltuttis, singer and entertainer (d. 1958)
- October 5 â Vincent DeRosa, American musician (d. 2022)
- October 9 â Yusef Lateef, American jazz musician and composer (d. 2013)
- October 12 â Steve Conway, British singer (d. 1952)
- October 13 â Albert Hague, songwriter (d. 2001)
- October 27 â Nanette Fabray, actress and singer (d. 2018)
- October 31 â Joseph Gelineau, French composer (d. 2008)
- November 23 â Enrico De Angelis, Italian singer and entrepreneur (d. 2018)
- December 6 â Dave Brubeck, jazz pianist (d. 2012)
- December 13 â Teo Usuelli, Italian film composer (d. 2009)
- December 14 â Clark Terry, American jazz musician and composer (d. 2015)
- December 19 â Little Jimmy Dickens, American country music singer-songwriter (d. 2015)
- December 31 – Rex Allen, American actor, singer and songwriter (d. 1999)
Deaths
- January 8 â Maud Powell, violinist (b. 1867; heart attack)
- January 16 â Reginald De Koven, US music critic and composer (b. 1859)
- January 18 â Giovanni Capurro, poet, co-writer of "O Sole Mio" (b. 1859)
- January 21 â John Henry Maunder, composer (b. 1858)
- January 24 â William Percy French, songwriter (b. 1854; pneumonia)
- February 2 â Theo Marzials, singer and composer (b. 1850)
- February 11 â Gaby Deslys, dancer and actress (b. 1881; Spanish flu)
- February 12 â ÃÂmile Sauret, violinist and composer (b. 1852)
- February 14 â Louis C. Elson, American music critic, writer on music, editor, journalist, composer, and professor of music theory (b. 1848)
- February 23 â Alexander Ilyinsky, music teacher and composer (b. 1859)
- March 20 â Eva Mylott, operatic contralto (b. 1875; domestic accident)
- April 4 â Carl Bohm, pianist and composer (b. 1844)
- April 8 â Charles Griffes, composer (b. 1884; Spanish flu)
- April 19 â Mathilde Mallinger, lyric soprano (b. 1847)
- May 6 â Hortense Schneider, operatic soprano (b. 1833)
- May 25 â Georg Jarno, composer of operettas (b. 1868)
- May 28 â Hardwicke Rawnsley, hymn-writer (b. 1851; heart attack)
- June 27 â Adolphe-Basile Routhier, lyricist (b. 1839)
- June 28 â Pauline Rita, singer and actress (b. c.1842; long illness)
- July 17 â Dorothy Goetz, first wife of Irving Berlin (b. 1892; typhoid)
- July 26 â Carlos Troyer, composer (b. 1837)
- August 10 â Clara Lachmann, Danish-Swedish patron of the arts (born 1864)
- August 13 â Carlos Hartling, German-born composer of the Honduras national anthem (b. 1869)
- August 29 â Gustav Jenner, composer and conductor (b. 1865)
- October 1 â Vladimir Rebikov, Russian pianist and composer (b. 1866)
- October 2 â Max Bruch, composer (b. 1838)
- October 16 â Alberto Nepomuceno, composer and conductor (b. 1864)
- October 31 â Joachim Neergaard, Danish composer (born 1858)
- November 6 â Maria Waldmann, operatic mezzo-soprano associated with Verdi (b. 1844)
- December 14 â George J. Gaskin, singer (b. 1863)
- December 31 â Paloke Kurti, Albanian composer (b. 1860)
References