1908 in music

See also: 1907 in music, other events of 1908, 1909 in music and the list of 'years in music'.

Events

• January 26 – Sergei Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2 is premiered
• March 15 – Maurice Ravel's Rapsodie espagnole is premiered in Paris
• September 19 – Premiere of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 7 in Prague
• December 3 – Edward Elgar's Symphony No. 1 is premiered in Manchester
• December 18 – Claude Debussy's Children's Corner is premiered in Paris
• Anthony Maggio publishes a dance band orchestration of early Blues "I Got The Blues" in New Orleans

Published popular music

• "The ABCs of the U.S.A." w.m. George M. Cohan from the musical The Yankee Prince
• "All For Love Of You" w. Dave Reed m. Ernest R. Ball
• "Any Old Port In A Storm" w. Arthur J. Lamb m. Kerry Mills
• "Black And White Rag" w.m. George Botsford
• "Call Round Any Old Time" w.m. Charles Moore & E. W. Rogers
• "Consolation" by Edward Madden
• "Cuddle Up A Little Closer, Lovey Mine" w. Otto Harbach m. Karl Hoschna
• "Daisies Won't Tell" w.m. Anita Owen
• "Down Among The Sugar Cane" w. Avery & Charles Hart m. Cecil Mack & Chris Smith
• "Down In Jungle Town" w. Edward Madden m. Theodore F. Morse
• "Dusty Rag" m. May Aufderhelde
• "The Fairest Of The Fair" w.m. John Philip Sousa
• "Feed The Kitty" w. Ed Moran m. J. Fred Helf
• "Fig Leaf Rag" by Scott Joplin
• "Gee But There's Class To A Girl Like You" w.m. W. R. Williams
• "Golliwog's Cake Walk" m. Claude Debussy
• "Good Evening, Caroline" by Albert Von Tilzer & Jack Norworth
• "Ham And !" by Arthur Marshall
• "Hoo-oo Ain't You Calling Me" w.m. Herbert Ingraham
• "I Hear You Calling Me" w.m. Harold Herford & Charles Marshall
• "I Want To Be Loved Like A Leading Lady" w. Paul West m. Herman Avery Wade
• "If I Had A Thousand Lives To Live" w. Sylvester Maguire m. Alfred Solman
• "If You Cared for" Me by E. Rose
• "I'm A Yiddish Cowboy" w. Edgar Leslie m. Al Piantodosi & Halsey K. Mohr
• "I'm Glad I'm Married" w. Jack Norworth m. Albert Von Tilzer
• "I'm Looking For The Man That Wrote "The Merry Widow Waltz"" w. Edgar Selden m. Seymour Furth
• "In The Garden Of My Heart" w. Caro Roma m. Ernest R. Ball
• "It's Moonlight All The Time On Broadway" Wenrich
• "It's The Pretty Things You Say" w. Alfred Bryan m. Ted Snyder
• "I've Taken Quite A Fancy To You" w. Edward Madden m. Theodore F. Morse
• "Kerry Mills' Barn Dance" w. Thurland Chattaway m. Kerry Mills
• "The Longest Way 'Round Is The Sweetest Way Home" w. Ren Shields m. Kerry Mills
• "Love Is Like A Cigarette" w. Glen MacDonough m. Victor Herbert
• "Love Me Like I Want To Be Loved" w. Earle C. Jones & Alfred Bryan m. George W. Meyer
• "Love's Roundelay" w. Joseph Herbert m. Oscar Straus
• "Make A Noise Like A Hoop And Roll Away" w. Ren Shields m. J. Fred Helf
• "Meet Me In Rose-Time, Rosie" w. William Jerome m. Jean Schwartz
• "Mephisto Rag" by Anthony J. Stasny
• "Mother Hasn't Spoken To Father Since" w. William Jerome m. Jean Schwartz
• "My Brudda Sylvest'" w. Jesse Lasky m. Fred Fisher
• "My Girl's A Yorkshire Girl" w.m. C. W. Murphy & Dan Lipton
• "Now I Have To Call Him Father" w.m. Charles Collins & Fred Godfrey
• "The Old Time Rag" w. Edward Madden m. Theodore Morse
• "Pineapple Rag" by Scott Joplin
• "Roses Bring Dreams Of You" w.m. Herbert Ingraham
• "She Sells Sea-Shells" w. Terry Sullivan m. Harry Gifford
• "Shine On Harvest Moon" w. Jack Norworth m. Nora Bayes & Jack Norworth
• "A Singer Sang A Song" w. Will Heelan m. Seymour Furth
• "Smarty" w. Jack Norworth m. Albert Von Tilzer
• "Somebody Lied" w.m. Jeff T. Branen & Evans Lloyd
• "Sweetest Gal In Town" w.m. Bob Cole & J. Rosamond Johnson
• "Sweetest Maid Of All" w. Joseph Herbert m. Oscar Straus
• "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" w. Jack Norworth m. Albert Von Tilzer
• "Up In A Balloon" w. Ren Shields m. Percy Wenrich
• "A Vision Of Salome" m. J. Bodewalt Lampe
• "When Highland Mary Danced The Highland Fling" w. Jack Mahoney m. Harry Von Tilzer
• "When It's Moonlight On The Prairie" w. Robert F. Roden m. S. R. Henry
• "When We Are M-A-Double-R-I-E-D" w.m. George M. Cohan from the musical Fifty Miles From Boston
• "The Whitewash Man" w. William Jerome m. Jean Schwartz
• "The Yama Yama Man" w. George Collin Davis m. Karl Hoschna
• "Yip-I-Addy-I-Ay!" w. Will D. Cobb m. John H. Flynn
• "You Tell Me Your Dream" w. Seymour A. Rice & Albert H. Brown m. Neil Moret
• "You Will Have To Sing An Irish Song" w. Jack Norworth m. Albert Von Tilzer
• "You're In The Right Church, But The Wrong Pew" w. Cecil Mack m. Chris Smith

Classical music

• Kurt Atterberg – Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra
• Walford Davies – Solemn Melody for organ
• Hamilton Harty – Violin Concerto
• Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov – Symphony No. 1
• Arnold Schoenberg – String Quartet No. 2 – premiered in Vienna
• Alexander Scriabin – The Poem of Ecstasy
• Igor Stravinsky – Fireworks
• Anton Webern – Passacaglia for orchestra

Opera

• Paul Le Flem – Aucassin et Nicolette

Musical theater

• The Dollar Princess Manchester production
• Fifty Miles from Boston Broadway production opened February 3
• Rudolph Friml – Der Tapfere Soldat (The Chocolate Soldier) Vienna production
• A Waltz Dream London and Broadway productions
• The Yankee Prince

Births

• January 7 – Red Allen, jazz musician (d. 1967)
• January 14 – Rus Columbo, singer, bandleader, composer
• January 26 – Stéphane Grappelli, musician, composer (d. 1997)
• January 27 – Oran "Hot Lips" Page, jazz trumpet (d. 1954)
• February 20 – Ruby Elzy, US soprano, first Serena in Porgy and Bess, 1935
• April 2 – Buddy Ebsen, US actor and singer
• April 5 – Herbert von Karajan, Austrian conductor (d. 1989)
• April 7 – Percy Faith, composer, musician (d. 1976)
• April 15 – Eden Ahbez, hermit, musician
• April 20 – Lionel Hampton, jazz musician, bandleader (d. 2002)
• May 8 – Cristian Vasile, Romanian tango singer
• May 27 – Harold Rome, US songwriter
• June 14 – John Scott Trotter, US arranger and conductor
• June 29 – Leroy Anderson, US composer and conductor
• July 1 – Alvino Rey, US bandleader and guitarist
• July 8 – Louis Jordan
• August 4 – Kurt Eichhorn, conductor
• September 7 – Max Kaminsky, US jazz trumpeter
• September 13 – Mae Questel, US singer
• September 16 – Chick Bullock, US singer
• September 30 – David Oistrakh, violinist
• October 14 – Allan Jones, actor, singer (d. 1992)
• October 20 – Stuart Hamblen, US singer, actor and songwriter
• December 10 – Olivier Messiaen, composer
• December 16 – Frances Day, US actress and singer

Deaths

• May 8 – Ludovic Halévy, lyricist
• June 21 – Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, composer (b. 1844)
• August 26 – Tony Pastor, vaudeville founder & theater impresario
• September 20 – Pablo de Sarasate, violinist