1896 in music

See also: 1895 in music, other events of 1896, 1897 in music and the list of 'years in music'.

Events

• February 1 – Giacomo Puccini's La Bohème debuts in Turin
• Engelbert Humperdinck is created a professor of music by the Kaiser.

Published popular music

• "All Coons Look Alike To Me"     w.m. Ernest Hogan
• "The Amorous Goldfish"     w. Harry Greenbank m. Sidney Jones
• "Chin, Chin, Chinaman"     w. Harry Greenbank m. Sidney Jones
• "El Capitan March"     m. John Philip Sousa
• "Eli Green's Cakewalk"     w.m. David Reed & Sadie Koninsky
• "Elsie From Chelsea"     w.m. Harry Dacre
• "Going For A Pardon"     w. James Thornton & Clara Havenschild m. James Thornton
• "Happy Days In Dixie"     m. Kerry Mills
• "Hot Tamale Alley" by George M. Cohan
• "A Hot Time In The Old Town"     w. Joseph Hayden m. Theodore A. Metz
• "I Love You In The Same Old Way – Darling Sue"     w. Walter H. Ford m. John W. Bratton
• "In The Baggage Coach Ahead"     w.m. Gussie L. Davis
• "A Jovial Monk Am I"     w. (Eng) Arthur Sturgess m. Edmond Audran
• "Kentucky Babe"     w. Richard Henry Buck m. Adam Geibel
• "Laugh And The World Laughs With You"     w. Ella Wheeler Wilcox m. Louis Gottschalk
• "Love Makes The World Go 'Round"     w. Clyde Fitch m. arr. William Furst
• "Mister Johnson, Turn Me Loose"     w.m. Ben Harney
• "Mother Was A Lady"     w. Edward B. Marks m. Joseph W. Stern
• "Musetta's Waltz Song"     m. Giacomo Puccini
• "My Gal Is A High Born Lady"     w.m. Barney Fagan arr. Gustave Luders
• "Remus Takes the Cake" by J. H. Ellis
• "The Saint Louis Cyclone" by Ren Shields & George Evans
• "Sambo at the Cakewalk" by Alfred E. Marks
• "Stars & Stripes Forever" by John Philip Sousa
• "Sweet Rosie O'Grady" w.m. Maude Nugent
• "To A Wild Rose"     m. Edward MacDowell
• "Warmest Baby in the Bunch" by George M. Cohan
• "When The Saints Go Marching In"     w. Katherine E. Purvis m. James M. Black

Recorded popular music

• "All Coons Look Alike To Me" (w.m. Ernest Hogan)
   – Dan W. Quinn on Edison Records
  
• "The Amorous Goldfish" (w. Harry Greenbank m. Sidney Jones)
   – Dan W. Quinn on Edison
  
• "And Her Golden Hair Was Hanging Down Her Back" (w. Monroe H. Rosenfeld m. Felix McGlennon)
   – Maud Foster on Berliner Records
  
• "Annie Laurie" (w. William Douglas m. Lady John Douglas Scott)
   – George J. Gaskin on Edison
   – Edison Male Quartette on Edison
  
• "Auld Lang Syne" (w. adapted Robert Burns)
   – Edison Male Quartette on Edison
  
• "The Band Played On" (w. John Palmer m. Charles B. Ward)
   – Dan W. Quinn on Columbia records and Berliner
  
• "The Belle Of Avenoo A" (w.m. Safford Waters)
   – Dan W. Quinn on Berliner
  
• "Ben Bolt" (w. Thomas Dunn English m. Nelson Kneass)
   – George J. Gaskin on Berliner
  
• "The Blue Danube" (m. Johann Strauss)
   – Edison Grand Concert Band on Edison
  
• "Chin, Chin, Chinaman" (w. Harry Greenbank m. Sidney Jones)
   – Dan W. Quinn on Edison
  
• "La Donna È Mobile" (w. Francesco Piave m. Giuseppe Verdi)
   – Ferruccio Giannini on Berliner
  
• "Don't You Hear Dem Bells?" (w.m. D. S. McCosh)
   – Brilliant Quartet on Berliner
  
• "Down In Poverty Row" (w. Gussie L. Davis m. Arthur Trevelyan)
   – Dan W. Quinn on Berliner
   – George J. Gaskin on Edison
  
• "Elsie From Chelsea" (w.m. Harry Dacre)
   – Dan W. Quinn on Edison
  
• "Funiculi-Funicula" (w. G. Turco m. Luigi Denza)
   – Ferruccio Giannini on Berliner
  
• "The Future Mrs 'Awkins" (w.m. Albert Chevalier)
   – George J. Gaskin on Berliner
  
• "The Gladiators" (m. John Philip Sousa)
   – Edison Grand Concert Band on Edison
  
• "Hallelujah Chorus" (w. Charles Jennes m. George Frederic Handel)
   – Edison Grand Concert Band on Edison
  
• "The Holy City" (w. Frederick Edward Weatherly m. Stephen Adams)
   – Ferruccio Giannini on Berliner
  
• "Home Sweet Home" (w. John Howard Payne m. Sir Henry Rowley Bishop)
   – George J. Gaskin on Edison
  
• "The Honeymoon" (m. George Rosey)
   – Edison Grand Concert Band on Edison
  
• "I Don't Want To Play In Your Yard" (w. Philip Wingate m. Henry W. Petrie)
   – George J. Gaskin on Berliner
   – Maud Foster on Berliner
  
• "In The Baggage Coach Ahead" (w.m. Gussie L. Davis)
   – George J. Gaskin on Edison
  
• "I'se Gwine Back To Dixie" (w.m. C. A. White)
   – Brilliant Quartet on Berliner
  
• "Just Tell Them That You Saw Me" (w.m. Paul Dresser)
   – George J. Gaskin on Berliner
   – Dan W. Quinn on Berliner
  
• "Kathleen" (w.m. Helene Mora)
   – George J. Gaskin on Edison
  
• "Kathleen Mavourneen" (w. Annie Crawford (Barry) m. Frederick William Nichols Crouch)
   – George J. Gaskin on Berliner
  
• "King Cotton March" (m. John Philip Sousa)
   – Edison Grand Concert Band on Edison
  
• "Listen To The Mocking Bird" (w. Alice Hawthorne m. Richard Milburn)
   – whistling Billy Golden on Edison
  
• "The Lost Chord" (w. Adelaide A. Proctor m. Sir Arthur Sullivan)
   – Edison Grand Concert Band on Edison
  
• "Marching Through Georgia" (w.m. Henry Clay Work)
   – George J. Gaskin on Berliner
  
• "La Marseillaise" (w.m. Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle)
   – Ferruccio Giannini on Berliner
  
• "My Angeline" (w. Harry B. Smith m. Victor Herbert)
   – Frank Daniels on Berliner
  
• "My Best Girl's A New Yorker" (w.m. John Stromberg)
   – Dan W. Quinn on Berliner
  
• "My Gal Is A High Born Lady" (w.m. Barney Fagan arr. Gustave Luders)
   – George J. Gaskin on Edison
   – Dan W. Quinn on Berliner
  
• "My Pearl Is A Bowery Girl" (w. William Jerome m. Andrew Mack)
   – George J. Gaskin on Berliner
  
• "Nearer, My God, To Thee" (w. Sarah F. Adams m. Lowell Mason)
   – J. W. Myers on Berliner
   – Len Spencer & Roger Harding on Columbia
  
• "Onward, Christian Soldiers" (w. Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould m. Sir Arthur Sullivan)
   – J. W. Myers on Berliner
  
• "The Palms" (Gabriel Fauré)
   – Ferruccio Giannini on Berliner
  
• "La Paloma" (w. anon m. Sebastian Yradier)
   – Ferruccio Giannini on Berliner
  
• "Private Tommy Atkins" (w. Henry Hamilton m. S. Potter)
   – George J. Gaskin on Berliner
  
• "Put Me Off At Buffalo" (w. Harry Dillon m. John Dillon)
   – Dan W. Quinn on Berliner
  
• "Rock Of Ages" (w. Augustus Montague Toplady m. Thomas Hasting)
   – J. W. Myers on Berliner
  
• "'Round His Bed I'm Goin' To Creep" ()
   – Len Spencer on Columbia
  
• "Sally In Our Alley" (w. Henry Carey m. trad)
   – Edison Male Quartette on Edison
   – George J. Gaskin on Berliner
  
• "She Is More To Be Pitied Than Censured" (w.m. William B. Gray)
   – Steve Porter on Columbia
  
• "She May Have Seen Better Days" (w.m. James Thornton)
   – Dan W. Quinn on Berliner
  
• "The Sidewalks Of New York" (w.m. Charles B. Lawlor & James W. Blake)
   – George J. Gaskin on Edison and on Berliner
  
• "The Streets Of Cairo" (w.m. James Thornton)
   – Dan W. Quinn on Berliner
  
• "The Sunshine Of Paradise Alley" (w. Walter H. Ford m. John W. Bratton)
   – George J. Gaskin on Berliner
  
• "Tenting On The Old Camp Ground" (w.m. Walter Kittredge)
   – George J. Gaskin on Berliner
  
• "Then You'll Remember Me" (w. Alfred Bunn m. Michael William Balfe)
   – Ferruccio Giannini on Berliner
  
• "There's Only One Girl In the World For Me" (w.m. Dave Marion)
   – J. W. Myers on Berliner
  
• "They Are The Best Friends Of All"
   – Helene Mora on US Phonograph Records
  
• "Toreador Song" (w. Henri Meilhac, Ludovic Halévy m. Georges Bizet)
   – J. W. Myers on Berliner
  
• "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp" (w.m. George Frederick Root)
   – George J. Gaskin on Berliner
  
• "Trilby Song"
   – Maurice Farkoa with piano Frank Lambert on Berliner
  
• "Watchman Tell Us Of The Night" (Bowring, Mason)
   – J. W. Myers on Berliner
  
• "'Way Down Yonder In The Cornfield"
   – Columbia Quartette on Columbia
  
• "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" (w.m. Louis Lambert)
   – George J. Gaskin on Berliner
  
• "Where Is My Wandering Boy, Tonight?" (w.m. Rev. R. Lowry)
   – J. W. Myers on Berliner
  
• "Wot Cher!" (w. Albert Chevalier m. Charles Ingle)
   – George J. Gaskin on Berliner
  

Classical music

• Vincent d'Indy – Istar
• Edward MacDowell – Woodland Sketches

Opera

• Andrea Chenier by Umberto Giordano
• La Bohème by Giacomo Puccini
• Sadko by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

Musical theater

• The Art Of Maryland     Broadway production
• El Capitan     Broadway production
• The Circus Girl     London production
• The Gay Parisienne     London production
• The Geisha     London production
• The Geisha     Broadway production
• The Girl From Paris     London production
• The Grand Duke     London production

Births

• January 28 – Elsie Carlisle, English singer
• February 3 – Kid Thomas Valentine, jazz trumpeter
• February 22 – Nacio Herb Brown, US songwriter
• April 10 – Edith Day, US actress, singer and dancer
• April 30 – Reverend Gary Davis
• September 10 – Adele Astaire, US dancer and singer
• September 15 – Bert Ambrose, English bandleader and violinist
• October 7 – Phil Ohman, US bandleader
• October 28 – Howard Hanson, composer
• October 31 – Ethel Waters, singer (d. 1977)
• November 23 – Ruth Etting, US singer
• December 6 – Ira Gershwin, lyricist

Deaths

• February 12 – Ambroise Thomas, composer
• May 20 – Clara Schumann, Austrian composer
• October 11 – Anton Bruckner, Austrian composer