This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1906.

Events

• February – Abyssinia receives its première at the Majestic Theatre (Broadway), with a score co-written by Bert Williams, including premiere of Nobody.
• May 27 – Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 6 receives its première in Essen, Germany.
• December 11 – The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra plays its first concert, the oldest continuously active professional orchestra in Australia.
• Amelita Galli-Curci makes her operatic debut at Trani, as Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto.
• Approximate start of Shaoxing opera.
• Last full-scale court performance of gambuh dance-drama with gamelan ensemble in Bali.^[1]

Published popular music

• "Abraham Jefferson Washington Lee" Harry Von Tilzer
• "Ain't You Coming Back To Old New Hampshire, Molly?" w. Robert F. Roden m. J. Fred Helf
• "Alice, Where Art Thou Going?" Heelan, Gumble
• "All In Down And Out" w. Cecil Mack m. Chris Smith, Billy B. Smith & Elmer Bowman
• "Anchors Aweigh" w. Alfred Hart Miles & R. Lovell m. Charles A. Zimmerman
• "Andulko Safárova" Kmoch
• "Anxious" William Jerome, Jean Kendis, Paley
• "Are You Coming Out Tonight, Mary Ann?" w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Harry Von Tilzer
• "Arrah Wanna" w. Jack Drislane m. Theodore F. Morse
• "At Dawning" w. Nelle Richmond Eberhart m. Charles Wakefield Cadman
• "Because You're You" w. Henry Blossom m. Victor Herbert
• "The Bee That Gets The Honey Doesn't Hang Around The Hive" w. Ed Rose m. J. Fred Helf
• "The Bird On Nellie's Hat" w. Arthur J. Lamb m. Alfred Solman
• "The Buffalo Rag" Tom Turpin
• "By The Side Of The Zuyder Zee" w. A. J. Mills m. Bennett Scott
• "Captain Baby Bunting Of The Rocking Horse Brigade" w. Ed Gardinier & Will D. Cobb m. J. Fred Helf
• "Cheyenne" w. Harry H. Williams m. Egbert Van Alstyne
• "Colleen Bawn" w. Edward Madden m. J. Fred Helf
• "College Life" w. Porter Emerson Browne m. Henry Frantzen
• "Come, Take A Skate With Me" w.m. Raymond Brown & Gus Edwards
• "Crocodile Isle" Morse
• "Dill Pickles Rag" m. Charles L. Johnson
• "Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do" w. William Cahill m. Benjamin Hapgood Burt
• "Don't You Think It's Time To Marry?" Edwards
• "Dreaming" w. L. W. Heiser m. J. Anton Dailey
• "Every Day Is Ladies' Day To Me" w. Henry Blossom m. Victor Herbert
• "The Free Lance March" m. John Philip Sousa
• "Frog Legs Rag" m. James Scott
• "The Galloping Major" w. Fred W. Leigh m. George Bastow
• "The Game Of Peek-a-Boo" Edwards
• "Girlie, I Love You" Morse
• "The Good Old USA" w. Jack Drislane m. Theodore F. Morse
• "The Grand Old Rag" (aka "You're a Grand Old Flag") w.m. George M. Cohan
• "He Walked Right In Turned Around And Walked Right Out Again" w. Edward Rose m. Maxwell Silver
• "Here's To Our Absent Brothers" w.m. J. Fred Helf
• "He's A Cousin Of Mine" w. Cecil Mack m. Chris Smith & Silvio Hein
• "Highland Birthday Party" w.m. Hector Grant
• "Holding Hands (You Don't Say Nothing At All)" w. Jack Norworth m. Albert Von Tilzer
• "Honora H. Doolin" Mills
• "I Don't Like Your Family" Howard
• "I Just Can't Make My Eyes Behave" w.m. Will D. Cobb & Gus Edwards
• "I Miss You In A Thousand Different Ways" w. Will D. Cobb m. Gus Edwards
• "I Never Saw Such Jealousy In My Life" w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Harry Von Tilzer
• "I Was Born In Virginia" w.m. George M. Cohan
• "Ida-Ho!" Von Tilzer
• "If Anybody Wants To Meet A Jonah Shake Hands With Me" w.m. Harry Hoyt
• "I'm Sorry" Von Tilzer
• "I'm Wise" w. Harry Williams m. Egbert van Alstyne
• "In Old New York" w. Henry Blossom m. Victor Herbert
• "Is It Warm Enough For You?" Paley
• "I've Said My Last Farewell" Sischer
• "Just One Word Of Consolation" w. Frank B. Williams m. Tom Lemonier
• "Keep on the Sunny Side" w. Jack Drislane m. Theodore F. Morse
• "Kiss, Kiss, Kiss (If You Want To Learn To Kiss)" w. Harry B. Smith m. Gertrude Hoffmann
• "Lassie, Dinna Sigh For Me" w.m. Hector Grant
• "A Lemon In The Garden Of Love" w. M. E. Rourke m. Richard Carle
• "Let Bygones Be Bygones And Let Us Be Sweethearts Again" w. Alex Rogers m. Bert Williams
• "Let It Alone" w. Alex Rogers m. Bert Williams
• "Let Me See You Smile" Fischer
• "The Little Chauffeur" Bowers
• "The Load That Father Carried" w. Frank Fogerty m. J. B. Mullen
• "Love Me And The World Is Mine" w. Dave Reed Jr m. Ernest R. Ball
• "Mississippi Sunflower" (characteristic march & two-step) m. Otto and John Heinzman
• "Moonbeams" w. Henry Blossom m. Victor Herbert
• "Moonlight Dance" m. Herman Finck
• "Mr Monkey" Edwards
• "My Mariuccia Take A Steamboat" w. George Ronklyn m. Al Piantadosi
• "National Emblem March" w. E. E. Bagley
• "The Next Horse I Ride On" w.m. Fred Murray & George Everard
• "Not Because Your Hair Is Curly" w.m. Bob Adams
• "Nothing Like That In Our Family" Heelan, Furth
• "Poor John" w. Fred W. Leigh m. Henry E. Pether
• "The Poor Old Man" w.m. Vincent Bryan
• "School Days" w. Will D. Cobb m. Gus Edwards
• "Since Father Went To Work" w.m. William Cahill
• "Some One Looks Good To Some One" Weaver
• "The Streets Of New York" w. Henry Blossom m. Victor Herbert from the musical The Red Mill
• "Sunbonnet Sue" w. Will D. Cobb m. Gus Edwards
• "Sweet Anastasia Brady" Schwartz
• "That's The Reason Noo I Wear A Kilt" w.m. A. B. Kendal & Harry Lauder
• "Waltz Me Around Again Willie" w. Will D. Cobb m. Ren Shields
• "We Parted On The Shore" w.m. Harry Lauder
• "We've Been Chums For Fifty Years" w.m. Thurland Chattaway
• "What A Mouth" w.m. R. P. Weston
• "What's The Use Of Dreaming?" w.m. Joseph E. Howard
• "What's The Use Of Loving If You Can't Love All The Time" w. Joseph Mittenthal m. Harry Armstrong
• "When Love Is Young In Springtime" w.m. Rida Johnson Young & Melville Ellis
• "When The Whip-poor-will Sings, Marguerite" w. C. M. Denison m. J. Fred Helf
• "When Tommy Atkins Marries Dolly Gray" w. Will D. Cobb m. Gus Edwards
• "When You Know You're Not Forgotten By The Girl You Can't Forget" w. Ed Gardinier m. J. Fred Helf
• "While The Old Mill Wheel Is Turning" w. Will D. Cobb m. Kerry Mills
• "Whistle It!" Blossom, Herbert
• "Wonderland" w.m. Thomas S. Allen
• "Won't You Come Over To My House" w. Harry H. Williams m. Egbert Van Alstyne
• "Wouldn't You Like To Flirt with Me?" Rogers
• "You Can Have Broadway" w.m. George M. Cohan from the musical George Washington, Junior
• "You Can't Give Your Heart To Somebody Else And Still Hold Hands With Me" Edwards

Recorded popular music

• "Stop Your Tickling Jock" – Harry Lauder

Classical music

• Frank Bridge –
  • Three Idylls for String Quartet
  • String Quartet No. 1 in E minor "Bologna"
• Grigoraş Dinicu – Hora staccato
• Edward Elgar – The Kingdom (oratorio)
• George Enescu –
  • Au soir, for four trumpets
  • Concertstück, for viola and piano
  • Decet for winds in D major, Op. 14
  • Légende, for trumpet and piano
• Charles Ives – Central Park in the Dark
• Gustav Mahler – Symphony No. 6 (3rd version)
• Carl Nielsen – String Quartet No. 4 in F major, Op. 44
• Sergei Rachmaninoff – Symphony No. 2 in E Minor
• Max Reger – Serenade in G for orchestra Op. 95
• Arnold Schoenberg – Chamber Symphony No. 1
• Josef Suk – Symphony No. 2 "Asrael"
• Sergei Taneyev – Piano Quartet in E major Op. 20
• Edgard Varèse – Un grand sommeil noir
• Anton Webern – Rondo for string quartet

Opera

• Walter Braunfels – Falada
• Jules Massenet – Ariane
• Carl Nielsen – Maskarade
• Sergei Rachmaninoff – Francesca Da Rimini
• Dame Ethel Smyth – The Wreckers
• Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari – I quattro rusteghi

Musical theater

• About Town Broadway production
• Forty-Five Minutes From Broadway Broadway production
• The Free Lance Broadway production
• George Washington, Junior Broadway production opened at the Herald Square Theatre on February 12 and ran for 81 performances.
• The Glass-Blowers Broadway production
• A Parisian Model Broadway production
• The Little Cherub London production
• The Red Mill Broadway production
• Seeing New York Broadway production opened at the New York Roof Theatre on June 5 and ran for 75 performances
• The Spring Chicken Broadway production opened at Daly's Theatre on October 8 and transferred to the New Amsterdam Theatre on December 10 and ran for a total of 91 performances.
• The Vicar of Wakefield London production

Births

• January 1 – Giovanni D'Anzi, Italian songwriter (died 1974)
• January 4 – Frankie Newton, American trumpeter (died 1954)
• January 27 – Radamés Gnattali, Brazilian composer (died 1988)
• January 15 – Alessandro Cicognini, film composer (died 1995)
• January 31
  • Benjamin Frankel, composer (died 1973)
  • Roosevelt Sykes, blues musician (died 1983)
• February 1 – Hildegarde, actress and cabaret singer (died 2005)
• February 5 – Zara Levina, pianist and composer (died 1976)
• February 19 – Grace Williams, Welsh composer (died 1977)
• February 21 – Jeanne Aubert, singer and actress (died 1988)
• March 3 – Barney Bigard, jazz musician (died 1980)
• March 13 – Frank Teschemacher, jazz musician (died 1932)
• March 20 – Ozzie Nelson, actor, band leader (died 1975)
• March 25 – Jean Sablon, French singer (died 1994)
• March 27 – Pee Wee Russell, jazz musician (died 1969)
• April 9 – Antal Doráti, conductor (died 1988)
• April 18 – Little Brother Montgomery, jazz musician (died 1985)
• May 23 – Lucha Reyes, singer
• June 1 – Walter Legge, record producer (died 1979)
• June 3 – Josephine Baker, US singer, dancer and toast of Paris (died 1975)
• June 26 – Alberto Rabagliati, Italian singer and actor (died 1974)
• June 28 – Safford Cape, American conductor and musicologist (died 1973)
• July 7 – Anton Karas, Austrian zither player and composer (died 1985)
• July 30 – Ľudovít Rajter, Slovak composer (died 2000)
• September 4 – Alexander Moyzes, Slovak composer and conductor (died 1984)
• September 25
  • Jaroslav Ježek, composer (died 1942)
  • Dmitri Shostakovich, composer (died 1975)
• September 30 – Mireille Hartuch, French singer (died 1996)
• October 9 – Janis Ivanovs, Latvian composer (died 1983)
• October 10 – Paul Creston, composer (died 1985)
• October 15 – Victoria Spivey, US singer, pianist and composer (died 1976)
• October 22 – Charles Lynch, Irish concert pianist (died 1984)
• October 31 – Louise Talma, composer (died 1996)
• November 3 – Alma Rosé, violinist (died 1944)
• November 9 – Pete Brown, jazz musician (died 1963)
• December 10 – Harold Adamson, US lyricist (died 1980)
• December 26 – Morgan Lewis, songwriter (died 1968)
• December 27 – Oscar Levant, pianist and actor (died 1972)
• Billie Maxwell, country guitarist/vocalist (died 1954)

Deaths

• January 23 – Charles Hunter, ragtime composer (born 1876)
• January 30 – Paul Dresser, US composer (born 1857)
• February 25 – Anton Arensky, composer (born 1861)
• March 22 – Martin Wegelius, composer (born 1846)
• April 25 – John Knowles Paine, organist and composer (born 1839)
• May 9 – Helen Lemmens-Sherrington, operatic soprano (born 1834)
• May 11 - Gottardo Aldighieri, operatic baritone (born 1824)
• May 24 – Heinrich Reimann, organist and composer (born 1850)
• May 30 – Enrique el Mellizo, flamenco singer (born 1848)
• June 7 – Signor Brocolini, opera singer (born 1841)
• July 1 – Manuel Patricio Rodríguez García, singer and music teacher (born 1805)
• July 8 – Ivan Melnikov, operatic baritone (born 1832)
• July 9 – Alfred Stelzner, designer of musical instruments (born 1852)
• July 29 – Alexandre Luigini, composer (born 1850)
• August 26 – Eugen Gura, opera singer (born 1842)
• September 1 – Giuseppe Giacosa, librettist for Giacomo Puccini
• October 18 – Léon Gastinel, composer (born 1823)
• December 14 – Federico Consolo, violinist and composer (born 1841)
• December 30 – Eugène Goossens, père, conductor (born 1845)
• date unknown
  • Léontine de Maësen, operatic soprano (born 1835)
  • Nissan Spivak, cantor and composer (born 1824)

References