1920 in music

1 Events
2 Published popular music
3 Top hits on record
4 Classical music
5 Opera
6 Musical theater
7 Births
8 Deaths

Events

Mamie Smith's first blues recordings become a hit, alerting record companies to the African American market.
Hamilton Harty is appointed resident conductor of the Hallé Orchestra.

Published popular music

The Japanese Sandman

"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
"Bright Eyes" w. Harry B. Smith m. Otto Motzan & M. K. Jerome
"Broadway Rose" w. Eugene West m. Martin Fried & Otis Spencer
"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
"Do You Ever Think Of Me?" w. John Cooper & Harry D. Kerr m. Earl Burtnett
"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 Never Knew I Could Love Anybody Like I'm Loving You" w.m. Tom Pitts, Raymond B. Egan & Roy Marsh
"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

Jellybean

"Kalua" w. Anne Caldwell m. Jerome Kern
"Left All Alone Again Blues" w. Anne Caldwell m. Jerome Kern
"Little Town In The Ould County Down" w. Richard Pascoe m. Monte Carlo & Alma Saunders
"Look For The Silver Lining" w. B. G. DeSylva m. Jerome Kern
"The Love Boat" by Gene Buck
"Love Nest" w. Otto Harbach m. Louis A. Hirsch
"Margie" w. Benny Davis m. Con Conrad & J. Russel Robinson
"Mary" w. Otto Harbach m. Louis A. Hirsch
"My Little Bimbo Down On A Bamboo Isle" w. Grant Clarke w. Walter Donaldson
"My Mammy" w. Sam M. Lewis & Joe Young m. Walter Donaldson
"My Man" w. (Eng) Channing Pollock (Fr) Albert Willemetz & Jacques Charles m. Maurice Yvain
"O'er The Hills To Ardentinny" w.m. Harry Lauder
"Old Pal Why Don't You Answer Me" w. Sam M. Lewis & Joe Young m. M. K. Jerome
"Pale Moon" w. Jesse Glick m. Frederick Knight Logan
"Palesteena" w.m. Con Conrad & J. Russell Robinson
"Polly" w. Leo Wood m. Jack Richmond
"Pretty Kitty Kelly" w. Harry Pease m. Ed G. Nelson
"Ritual Fire Dance" m. Manuel de Falla
"Rose Of Washington Square" w. Ballard MacDonald m. James F. Hanley
"San" w.m. Lindsay McPhail & Walter Michels
"So Long, Oo Long" w. Bert Kalmar m. Harry Ruby
"Tell Me Little Gypsy" w.m. Irving Berlin
"That Old Irish Mother Of Mine" w. William Jerome m. Harry Von Tilzer
"La Veeda" w. Nat Vincent m. John Alden
"Wang Wang Blues" w. Leo Wood m. Gus Mueller, Buster Johnson & Henry Busse
"When My Baby Smiles At Me" w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Billy Munro
"Where Do They Go When They Row, Row, Row?" w. Bert Kalmar & George Jessel, m. Harry Ruby
"Whispering" w.m. Richard Coburn, Vincent Rose & John Schonberger
"Whose Baby Are You?" w. Anne Caldwell m. Jerome Kern
"Wild Rose" w. Clifford Grey m. Jerome Kern
"A Young Man's Fancy" w. John Murray Anderson & Jack Yellen m. Milton Ager

Top hits on record

"Crazy Blues" by Mamie Smith
"Dardanella" by Ben Selvin's Novelty Orchestra
"I've Got My Captain Working For Me Now" by Al Jolson
"Love Nest" by John Steel
"Whispering" by Paul Whiteman's Orchestra

Classical music

Béla Bartók – Eight Improvisations on Peasant Songs
Arthur Bliss – The Tempest, overture and interludes; Concerto for Piano, tenor voice, strings and percussion; Rout (for soprano and chamber orchestra)
Ernest Bloch – Violin Sonata No. 1
Ferruccio Busoni – Piano Sonatina No. 6 (Fantasia da camera super Carmen), Divertimento for flute and orchestra
Carlos Chávez – Symphony, Piano Sonata No. 1
Frederick Delius – Hassan
Gabriel Fauré – Masques et Bergamasques
Johan Halvorsen – Norwegian Rhapsody No. 2
Gustav Holst – The Planets
Arthur Honegger – Pastoral d'été, Viola Sonata, Cello Sonata
Leos Janacek – symphonic poem Ballad of Blanik
Darius Milhaud – Le Boeuf sur le toit (ballet), Ballade (for piano and orchestra)
Francis Poulenc – Five Impromptus for Piano, Suite in C Major for Piano
Sergei Prokofiev – Five Songs without Words (for voice and piano)
Maurice Ravel – La Valse, Sonata for violin and cello
Erik Satie – La Belle excentrique
Dmitri Shostakovich – Five Preludes for Piano
Igor Stravinsky – Pulcinella, Concertino for string quartet, Symphonies of Wind Instruments
Ralph Vaughan Williams – The Lark Ascending, Mass in G minor, London Symphony

Opera

Vincent D'Indy – The Legend of St. Christoper
Henry Hadley – Cleopatra's Night
Erich Korngold – Die tote Stadt

Musical theater

Afgar Broadway production opened at the Central Theatre on November 8 and ran for 168 performances
Die Blaue Mazur (The Blue Mazurka) (Music by Franz Lehar), Vienna
George White's Scandals Of 1920 Broadway revue opened at the Globe Theatre on June 7 and ran for 134 performances
Irene London production opened at the Empire Theatre on April 7 and ran for 399 performances
Kissing Time Broadway production opened at the Lyric Theatre on October 11 and ran for 65 performances
Der Letzte Walzer (The Last Waltz) (Music by Oscar Straus), Berlin
The Night Boat Broadway production opened at the Liberty Theatre on February 2 and ran for 318 performances. Jeanette MacDonald made her first Broadway appearance as a member of the chorus.
Sally Broadway production opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre on December 21 and ran for 570 performances
The Shop Girl London revival opened at the Gaiety Theatre on March 25 and ran for 327 performances
Tip Top Broadway production opened at the Globe Theatre on October 5 and ran for 241 performances
What's In A Name Broadway production opened at Maxine Elliott's Theatre on March 19 and ran for 87 performances