1916 in music

Events

* February 1 - Carl Nielsen conducts the premiere of his "Symphony No. 4", the "Inextinguishable", in Copenhagen
* February 11 - Baltimore Symphony Orchestra presents its first concert
* June 5 - Stein's Dixie Jass Band plays its first gig under its new name, the Original Dixieland Jass Band.
* The Original Dixieland Jass Band make a hit in Chicago, Illinois
* Wilber Sweatman records his hot ragtime in New York City
* Sydney conservatorium of music in Australia accepted first students

Published popular music

* "Allah's Holiday" w. Otto Harbach m. Rudolf Friml
* "And They Called It Dixieland" w. Raymond Egan m. Richard A. Whiting
* "Arrah Go On, I'm Gonna Go Back To Oregon" w. Sam M. Lewis & Joe Young m. Bert Grant
* "At Finnigan's Ball" w.m. Bert Lee
* "Baby Shoes" by Joe Goodwin
* "Beale Street Blues" w.m. W. C. Handy
* "A Broken Doll" w.m. James W. Tate & Frank Clifford Harris
* "Bugle Call Rag" w.m. Eubie Blake & Carey Morgan
* "Bull Frog Blues" Tom Brown, Guy Shrigley
* "The Cobbler's Song" w. Oscar Asche m. Frederic Norton
* "La Cumparsita" w. Carol Raven m. G. H. Matos Rodriguez (words written 1932)
* "Don't Leave Me, Daddy" Joe Verges
* "Down In Honky Tonky Town" w. Charles McCarron m. Chris Smith
* "Down Where The Swanee River Flows" w. Charles McCarron m. Charles S. Alberte
* "For Dixie And Uncle Sam" w. J. Keirn Brennan m. Ernest R. Ball
* ""Forever" Is A Long, Long Time" w. Darl MacBoyle m. Albert Von Tilzer
* "From Here To Shanghai" w.m. Irving Berlin
* "Give Me All Of You" Schwartzwald
* "Goodbye, Good Luck, God Bless You" w. J. Keirn Brennan m. Ernest R. Ball
* "Green Hills Of Somerset" w. Fred E. Weatherly m. Eric Coates
* "Have A Heart" w. Gene Buck m. Jerome Kern
* "Homesickness Blues" w.m. Cliff Hess
* "The Honolulu Blues" w. Grant Clarke & Eddie Cox m. James V. Monaco
* "How's Every Little Thing In Dixie?" w. Jack Yellen m. Albert Gumble
* "Hula Lou" w. Edward Grossmith m. Ted D. Ward
* "I Ain't Got Nobody" w. Roger Graham & Dave Peyton m. Spencer Williams
* "I Can Dance With Everybody But My Wife" w. Joseph Cawthorn & John Golden m. John Golden
* "I Sent My Wife To The Thousand Isles" w. Andrew B. Sterling & Ed Moran m. Harry von Tilzer
* "I Want To Marry A Male Quartette" w. Otto Harbach m. Rudolf Friml
* "If I Knock The "L" Out Of Kelly" w. Sam M. Lewis & Joe Young m. Bert Grant
* "If You Were the Only Girl (in the World)" w. Clifford Grey m. Nat D. Ayer
* "I'm Sorry I Made You Cry" w.m. N. J. Clesi
* "Ireland Must Be Heaven, for My Mother Came from There" w. Joseph McCarthy & Howard Johnson m. Fred Fisher
* "I've A Shooting Box In Scotland" w.m. Thomas Lawrason Riggs & Cole Porter
* "Joe Turner Blues" w. Walter Hirsch m. W. C. Handy
* "Katinka" w. Otto Harbach m. Rudolf Friml
* "Keep Your Eye On The Girlie You Love" w. Howard Johnson & Alex Gerber m. Ira Schuster
* "The Laddies Who Fought And Won" w.m. Harry Lauder
* "Li'l Liza Jane" w.m. Countess Ada De Lachau
* "Love Me At Twilight" w. William Jerome & Joe Young m. Bert Grant
* "Mammy's Little Coal Black Rose" w. Richard Egan m. Richard Whiting
* "M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I" w, Bert Hanlon & Benny Ryan m. Harry Tierney
* "Movie Trot" m. Harry H. Raymond
* "My Hawaiian Sunrise" w.m. L. Wolfe Gilbert & Carey Morgan
* "My Syncopated Melody Man" w.m. Blanche Merrill & Eddie Cox
* "Nat'an, For What Are You Waitin', Nat'an" w.m. James Kendris
* "Naughty! Naughty! Naughty!" w. Joe Goodwin & William Tracey m. Nat Vincent
* "Never Let The Same Bee Sting You Twice" w.m. Cecil Mack & Chris Smith
* "O'Brien Is Tryin' To Learn To Talk Hawaiian" w. Al Dubin m. Rennie Cormack
* "Oh! How She Could Yacki, Hacki, Wicki, Wacki, Woo" w. Stanley Murphy & Charles McCarron m. Albert Von Tilzer
* "Operatic Rag" J. Lensberg
* "Poor Butterfly" w. John Golden m. Raymond Hubbell
* "Pretty Baby" w. Gus Kahn m. Tony Jackson & Egbert Van Alstyne
* "Rackety Coo!" w. Otto Harbach m. Rudolf Friml
* "Rolling Stones - All Come Rolling Home Again" w. Edgar Leslie m. Archie Gottler
* "Roses Of Picardy" w. Frederick Weatherly m. Haydn Wood
* "Shamrock Rag" m. Euday L. Bowman
* "She Is The Sunshine Of Virginia" w. Ballard MacDonald m. Harry Carroll
* "Sierra Sue" w.m. Joseph Buell Carey
* "Someone Else May Be There While I'm Gone" w.m. Irving Berlin
* "Sweet Cider Time When You Were Mine" w. Joe McCarthy m. Percy Wenrich
* "Take Me Back To Dear Old Blighty" w.m. A. J. Mills, Fred Godfrey & Bennett Scott
* "That Funny Jas Band From Dixieland" w.m. Henry I. Marshal
* "There's A Little Bit Of Bad In Every Good Little Girl" w. Grant Clarke m. Fred Fisher
* "There's A Quaker Down In Quaker Town" w. David Berg m. Alfred Solman
* "They're Wearing 'Em Higher In Hawaii" w. Joe Goodwin m. Halsey K. Mohr
* "Throw Me A Rose" w. P. G. Wodehouse & Herbert Reynolds m. Emmerich Kallman
* "Turn Back The Universe And Give Me Yesterday" w. J. Keirn Brennan m. Ernest R. Ball
* "Walkin' The Dog" Shelton Brooks
* "What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For?" w. Joseph McCarthy & Howard Johnson m. James V. Monaco
* "When John McCormack Sings A Song" w. William Jerome & E. Ray Goetz m. Jean Schwartz
* "When You're Down In Louisville" w.m. Irving Berlin
* "Where Did Robinson Crusoe Go With Friday On Saturday Night?" w. Sam M. Lewis & Joe Young m. George W. Meyer
* "Where The Black-Eyed Susans Grow" w. Dave Radford m. Richard Whiting
* "Yaacka Hula Hickey Dula" w.m. E. Ray Goetz, Joe Young & Pete Wendling
* "You Belong To Me" w. Harry B. Smith m. Victor Herbert
* "You Can't Get Along With 'Em Or Without 'Em" w. Grant Clarke m. Fred Fisher
* "You're In Love" w. Otto Harbach & Edward Clark m. Rudolf Friml

Hit recordings

*"O Sole Mio" by Enrico Caruso
*"Santa Lucia" by Enrico Caruso
*"Somewhere a Voice is Calling" by John McCormack
*"Where Did Robinson Crusoe Go With Friday On Saturday Night?" by Al Jolson
*"I Love A Piano" by Billy Murray
*"Pretty Baby" by Billy Murray
*"I'm Gonna Make Hay While the Sun Shines in Virginia" by Marion Harris
*"Keep the Home Fires Burning ('Till the Boys Comes Home)" by James F. Harrison
*"There's A Long Long Trail A-Winding" by James F. Harrison
*"Ireland Must Be Heaven, For My Mother Came From There" by Charles Harrison

Classical music

* Kurt Atterberg - "Symphony no. 3, "West Coast Pictures"
* Béla Bartók - "Suite for Piano"
* Ernest Bloch - "Israel Symphony", "String Quartet No. 1"
* Claude Debussy - "Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp"
* Frederick Delius - "Cello Sonata"
* George Enescu - "Piano Trio"
* Alexander Glazunov - "Karelian Legend"
* Jesus Guridi - "Una aventura de Don Quijote"
* Paul Hindemith - "Cello Concerto in E-flat", Op. 3
* Ludvig Holm - "Concerto for violin and orchestra in G major"
* Charles Ives - "Fourth Symphony"
* Erkki Melartin - "Symphony no 5 in A minor", Op. 90, "Sinfonia brevis"
* Hubert Parry - "Jerusalem"
* Siegfried Salomon - "Concerto for violin and orchestra in G minor"
* Igor Stravinsky - "Burleske for 4 Pantomimes and Chamber Orchestra"
* Heitor Villa-Lobos - "Second Cello Sonata"

Opera

*Rutland Boughton - "The Round Table"
*Enrique Granados - "Goyescas"
*Manuel Penella - "El Gato Montés"
*Felix Weingartner - "Dame Kobold"

Musical theater

* "Betty" Broadway production opened at the Globe Theatre on October 2 and ran for 63 performances
* "Broadway And Buttermilk" Broadway production opened at Maxine Elliott's Theatre on August 15 and ran for 23 performances
* "Chu Chin Chow" London production opened at His Majesty's Theatre on August 31 and ran for a record 2238 performances.
* "Follow Me" Broadway production opened at the Casino Theatre on November 29 and ran for 78 performances
* "Pell Mell" London production opened at the Ambassadors Theatre on June 5 and ran for 298 performances
* "Robinson Crusoe Jr" Broadway production opened on February 17 at the Winter Garden Theatre and ran for 139 performances
* "So Long Letty" Broadway production opened at the Shubert Theatre on October 23 and ran for 96 performances
* "Sybil" Broadway production opened on January 10 at the Liberty Theatre and ran for 168 performances. Starring Julia Sanderson, Donald Brian and Joseph Cawthorn.
* "We're All in It" London revue opened at the Empire Theatre on July 13
*"Ziegfeld Follies Of 1916" Broadway revue opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre on June 12 and ran for 112 performances

Births

*January 4 - Slim Gaillard, jazz musician (d. 1991)
*January 9 - Vic Mizzy, TV theme composer
*January 14 - Maxwell Davis, R&B musician (d. 1970)
*January 15 - Artie Shapiro, jazz bassist (d. 2003)
*January 16 - Rudolf Benesh, developer of the Benesh Movement Notation for dancing (d. 1975)
*January 22 - Henri Dutilleux, French composer
*February 5 - Daniel Santos, singer (d. 1992)
*February 8 - Jimmy Skidmore, jazz musician (d. 1998)
*February 22 - Pedro Junco, composer (d. 1939)
*February 29 - Dinah Shore, singer (d. 1994)
*March 6 - Red Callender, jazz musician (d. 1992)
*March 15 - Harry James, bandleader (d. 1983)
* March 17 - Ray Ellington, singer and bandleader (d. 1985)
* April 11 - Alberto Ginastera, Argentinian composer (d. 1983)
*April 12 - Russell Garcia, film score composer
*April 14 - Denis ApIvor, composer (d. 2004)
*April 15 - Lee Vincent, DJ and orchestra leader (d. 2007)
* April 22 - Yehudi Menuhin, violinist (d. 1999)
* April 30 - Robert Shaw, conductor (d. 1999)
* May 6 - Adriana Caselotti, voice (and model) for Snow White (d. 1997)
*May 9 - Bernard Rose, organist and composer (d. 1996)
* May 10 - Milton Babbitt, composer
*May 17 - Paul Quinichette, jazz musician (d. 1983)
*May 21 - Lydia Mendoza, guitarist and singer (d. 2007)
*May 26 - Moondog, singer, percussionist, composer and inventor of musical instruments (d. 1999)
*June 15 - Horacio Salgán, pianist, composer and orchestra leader
*June 17 - Einar Englund, Finnish composer (died 1999)
*June 26 - Giuseppe Taddei, operatic baritone
*July 9
** Dean Goffin, Salvation Army composer (d. 1984)
** Edward Heath, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, organist and conductor (d. 2005)
*July 16 - Miles Copeland, Jr., musician and CIA agent (d. 1991)
* July 24 - Bob Eberly, US singer with Jimmy Dorsey's Orchestra (d. 1981)
*July 28 - Rosina Raisbeck, operatic mezzo-soprano (d. 2006)
* July 29 - Charlie Christian, swing and jazz guitarist (d. 1942)
* August 3 - Claude Demetrius, songwriter (d. 1988)
*August 18 - Moura Lympany, pianist (d. 2005)
*August 21 - Bill Lee, singer (d. 1980)
* August 24 – Léo Ferré, singer, songwriter and composer (d. 1993)
*August 25 - Ethel Stark, violinist and composer
*August 27 - Martha Raye, US singer and actress (d. 1994)
*September 8 - René Touzet, pianist, composer and bandleader (d. 2003)
*September 13 - Dick Haymes, Argentinian-born US singer and actor (d. 1980)
*September 16 - M.S. Subbulakshmi, Carnatic vocalist (d. 2004)
*October 3 - David Mann, songwriter (d. 2002)
*October 19
** Karl-Birger Blomdahl, composer and conductor (d. 1968)
** Emil Gilels, Ukrainian classical pianist (d. 1985)
* October 28 - Bill Harris, jazz trombonist (d. 1973)
* October 29 - Hadda Brooks, pianist, singer and composer (d. 2002)
* November 6 - Ray Conniff, trombonist and bandleader (d. 2002)
* November 10 - Billy May, composer and arranger (d. 2004)
* December 11 - Perez Prado, Cuban bandleader and composer (d. 1989)
* December 15
** Buddy Cole, jazz musician (d. 1964)
** Greta Gynt, singer, dancer and actress (d. 2000)
* December 18 - Betty Grable, star of many Hollywood musicals (d. 1973)
*December 25 - Oscar Moore, jazz guitarist (d. 1981)
*"date unknown"
**Jan Håkan Åberg, organist and composer
**Sam Taylor, jazz musician
**Freddie Webster, jazz musician (d. 1947)

Deaths

*January 21 - George Musgrove, theatre and opera producer (b. 1854)
*February 4 - Adolphe Biarent, cellist and composer (b. 1871)
*March 7 - José Ferrer, guitarist (b. 1835)
*March 24 - Enrique Granados, composer (b. 1867)
*May 11 - Max Reger, composer (b. 1873)
*May 13
** Clara Louise Kellogg, singer (b. 1842)
** Jessie MacLachlan, Gaelic singer (b. 1866)
*May 28 - Albert Lavignac, musicologist and composer (b. 1846)
*June 5 - Mildred J. Hill, songwriter (b. 1859)
*August 2 - Hamish MacCunn, composer (b. 1868)
*August 5 - George Butterworth, composer (b. 1885) (killed in action)
*August 8 - Franz Eckert, composer (b. 1852)
*September 10 - Friedrich Gernsheim, pianist, conductor and composer (b. 1839)
*September 15 - Julius Fučík, composer (b. 1872)
*November 23 - Eduard Nápravník, conductor and composer (b. 1839)
*December 2 - Francesco Paolo Tosti, composer and music teacher (b. 1846)
*December 5 - Hans Richter, conductor (b. 1843)
*December 20 - William Gilchrist, composer (b. 1846)
*December 28 - Eduard Strauss, composer (b. 1835)
*December 31 - Ernst Rudorff, composer and music teacher (b. 1840)
*"date unknown"
**Charlie Case, vaudeville entertainer
**Max Vogrich, pianist and composer (b. 1852)