1921 in music

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This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1921.

Specific locations

• 1921 in British music
• 1921 in Norwegian music

Specific genres

• 1921 in country music
• 1921 in jazz

Events

• January – Amelita Galli-Curci marries her accompanist, Homer Samuels, who had been named in her divorce from the Marchese Luigi Curci.
• June–July – The Harvard Glee Club takes its first trip to Europe, garnering international press attention.
• November – A month before his death, Camille Saint-Saëns, 86, gives a final recital.
• Clarence Williams makes his first recordings
• Mary Stafford becomes the first black woman to record for Columbia Records
• The 17-string koto, or "Jūshichi-gen", is invented by Michio Miyagi.
• Cyril Rootham dedicates his "Suite in Three Movements" for flute and piano to French flautist Louis Fleury.

Published popular music

w. — words, m. — music

• "Ain't We Got Fun?" w.m. Richard A. Whiting, Raymond Egan and Gus Kahn
• "All by Myself" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "And Her Mother Came Too" w. Dion Titheradge m. Ivor Novello
• "Any Time" w.m. Herbert Happy Lawson
• "April Showers" w. B. G. De Sylva m. Louis Silvers
• "Baltimore Buzz" w.m. Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake
• "Bandana Days" w.m. Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake
• "Bimini Bay" w. Gus Kahn and Raymond Egan m. Richard Whiting
• "Boy Wanted" w. Ira Gershwin m. George Gershwin
• "Dancing Time" w.(Eng) George Grossmith, Jr. (US) Howard Dietz m. Jerome Kern US words written 1924.
• "Dapper Dan" w. Lew Brown m. Albert Von Tilzer
• "Dear Old Southland" w. Henry Creamer m. Turner Layton
• "Dirty Hands, Dirty Face" w. Al Jolson, Grant Clarke, Edgar Leslie m. James V. Monaco
• "Down South" w. B. G. DeSylva m. Walter Donaldson. Introduced by Al Jolson in the musical Bombo
• "Down Yonder" w.m. L. Wolfe Gilbert
• "Everybody Step" w.m. Irving Berlin

  

• "Hawaiian Chimes" w. Irving Bibo m. Eva Applefield
• "I Ain't Nobody's Darling" w. Elmer Hughes m. Robert A. King
• "I Found A Rose In The Devil's Garden" w.m. Fred Fisher and Willie Raskin
• "I Wonder If You Still Care For Me" w.m. Harry B. Smith and Francis Wheeler
• "I'll Forget You" w. Annelu Burns m. Ernest R. Ball
• "I'm Just Wild About Harry" w.m. Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake
• "I'm Missin' Mammy's Kissin'" w. Sidney Clare m. Lew Pollack
• "I'm Nobody's Baby" w.m. Benny Davis, Milton Ager and Lester Santly
• "Jazz Me Blues" m. Tom Delaney
• "Keep Movin'" Helen Trix
• "Kitten On The Keys" m. Zez Confrey
• "Laughin' Rag" S. Moore, H. Skinner
• "Learn To Smile" w. Otto Harbach m. Louis A. Hirsch
• "Leave Me With A Smile" w.m. Charles Koehler and Earl Burtnett
• "Love Will Find A Way" w.m. Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake

  

• "Ma! He's Making Eyes at Me" w. Sidney Clare m. Con Conrad
• "Make Believe" w. Benny Davis m. Jack Shilkret
• "Mandy 'N' Me" w. Bert Kalmar m. Con Conrad
• "My Sunny Tennessee" w.m. Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby and Herman Ruby
• "Peggy O'Neill" w.m. Harry Pease, Ed G. Nelson and Gilbert Dodge
• "Sally" w. Clifford Grey m. Jerome Kern
• "Say It With Music" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "Second Hand Rose" w. Grant Clarke m. James F. Hanley
• "The Sheik of Araby" w. Harry B. Smith and Francis Wheeler m. Ted Snyder
• "She's Mine, All Mine" w.m. Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby
• "Shuffle Along w.m. Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake
• "Shimmy With Me" w. P. G. Wodehouse m. Jerome Kern from the musical The Cabaret Girl
• "Song Of Love" w. Dorothy Donnelly m. Sigmund Romberg
• "Strut Miss Lizzie" w. Henry Creamer m. Turner Layton
• "Swanee River Moon" w.m. H. Pitman Clarke
• "Sweet Lady" w. Howard Johnson m. Frank Crumit and Dave Zoob
• "Ten Little Fingers And Ten Little Toes" w. Harry Pease and Johnny White m. Ira Schuster and Ed G. Nelson
• "There'll Be Some Changes Made" w. Billy Higgins m. Benton Overstreet
• "Tuck Me To Sleep In My Old 'Tucky Home" w. Sam H. Lewis and Joe Young m. George W. Meyer
• "Wabash Blues" w. Dave Ringle m. Fred Meinken
• "When Big Profundo Sang Low C" w. Marion T. Bohannon m. George Botsford
• "When Buddha Smiles" w. Arthur Freed m. Nacio Herb Brown
• "When Francis Dances With Me" w. Ben Ryan m. Sol Violinsky
• "When Shall We Meet Again" w. Raymond B. Egan m. Richard A. Whiting
• "Whip-poor-will" w. B. G. De Sylva m. Jerome Kern
• "Yoo-Hoo" w. B. G. De Sylva m. Al Jolson

Top Popular Recordings 1921

The following songs achieved the highest positions in Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954 and record sales reported on the "Discography of American Historical Recordings" website during 1921: Numerical rankings are approximate, they are only used as a frame of reference.

Rank	Artist	Title	Label	Recorded	Released	Chart Positions
1	Paul Whiteman and His Ambassador Orchestra	"Wang Wang Blues"	Victor 18694	August 19, 1920 (1920-08-19)	December 1920 (1920-12)	US Billboard 1921 #1, US #1 for 6 weeks, 17 total weeks, 457,000 sold 1921, later RCA Victor announced 1,000,000
2	Isham Jones Orchestra	"Wabash Blues"	Brunswick 5065	August 1, 1921 (1921-08-01)	October 1921 (1921-10)	US Billboard 1921 #2, US #1 for 6 weeks, 12 total weeks, 1,750,000 sold 1921-1922
3	Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra	"Cherie"	Victor 18758	August 9, 1920 (1920-08-09)	July 1921 (1921-07)	US Billboard 1921 #3, US #1 for 6 weeks, 12 total weeks, 405,647 sales
4	Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra	"Song of India"	Victor 18777	August 23, 1921 (1921-08-23)	September 1921 (1921-09)	US Billboard 1921 #5, US #1 for 5 weeks, 14 total weeks, 1,000,000 sold
5	Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra	"Say It with Music"	Victor 18803	April 21, 1921 (1921-04-21)	November 12, 1921 (1921-11-12)	US Billboard 1921 #4, US #1 for 5 weeks, 14 total weeks
6	Eddie Cantor	"Margie"	Emerson 10301	December 15, 1920 (1920-12-15)	January 1921 (1921-01)	US Billboard 1921 #6, US #1 for 5 weeks, 12 total weeks, 1,000,000 sold
7	Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra	"My Mammy-Beautiful Faces Medley"	Victor 18737	March 1, 1921 (1921-03-01)	May 1921 (1921-05)	US Billboard 1921 #7, US #1 for 5 weeks, 12 total weeks, 1,000,000 sales
8	Ted Lewis and His Band	"All by Myself"	Columbia 3434	June 11, 1921 (1921-06-11)	September 1921 (1921-09)	US Billboard 1921 #8, US #1 for 4 weeks, 12 total weeks
9	Al Jolson	"O-H-I-O (O My! O!)"	Columbia 3361	December 13, 1920 (1920-12-13)	April 1921 (1921-04)	US Billboard 1921 #9, US #1 for 4 weeks, 7 total weeks
10	Nora Bayes (Charles Prince Orchestra)	"Make Believe"	Columbia 3392	March 1, 1921 (1921-03-01)	September 1921 (1921-09)	US Billboard 1921 #10, US #1 for 3 weeks, 10 total weeks
11	Marion Harris	"Look for the Silver Lining"	Columbia 3367	December 29, 1920 (1920-12-29)	April 1921 (1921-04)	US Billboard 1921 #11, US #1 for 3 weeks, 10 total weeks
22	Mamie Smith & Her Jazz Hounds	"Crazy Blues"	Okeh 4169	August 10, 1920 (1920-08-10)	November 1920 (1920-11)	US Billboard 1920 #11, US #3 for 1 week, 11 total weeks, National Recording Registry 2005
24	Marion Harris	"I Ain't Got Nobody"	Columbia 3371	April 21, 1920 (1920-04-21)	May 1921 (1921-05)	US Billboard 1921 #24, US #3 for 1 weeks, 7 total weeks
28	The Original Dixieland Jazz Band	"Palesteena (Lena from Palesteena)"	Victor 18717	December 4, 1920 (1920-12-04)	February 1921 (1921-02)	US Billboard 1921 #28, US #3 for 1 weeks, 5 total weeks

Classical music

• Agustín Barrios – La Catedral
• George Enescu – Symphony No. 3 in C major, Op. 21 (revised version)
• Gabriel Fauré
  • Cello Sonata No. 2
  • Piano Quintet No. 2 in C minor, Op. 115
• John Foulds – A World Requiem (1919–21; premiered 1923)
• Howard Hanson – Before the Night
• Albert Ketèlbey
  • Bells Across the Meadows
  • In a Persian Market
• Rued Langgaard – Music of the Spheres
• Carl Nielsen – Moderen (stage music)
• Henrique Oswald – String Quartet No. 4 in C minor, Op. 46
• Willem Pijper
  • Symphony No. 2
  • Trio No. 2 for violin, violoncello & piano
• Sergei Prokofiev – Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Major
• Camille Saint-Saëns
  • Oboe Sonata, Op. 166
  • Clarinet Sonata, Op. 167
  • Bassoon Sonata, Op. 168
• Edgard Varèse
  • Offrandes
  • Amériques (1918–21)
• Ralph Vaughan Williams
  • The Lark Ascending, version for violin & orchestra
  • A Pastoral Symphony
• Heitor Villa-Lobos – Fantasia de Movimentos Mistos, for violin & orchestra
• Arnold Schoenberg – Suite for Piano Op. 25
• John Ireland – Two Pieces for Piano

Opera

• Franco Alfano – La leggenda di Sakùntala
• Nicolae Bretan – Luceafarul
• Paul Hindemith – Mörder, Hoffnung der Frauen and Das Nusch-Nuschi (premiered together June 4 at Württembergisches Landestheater, Stuttgart)
• Leoš Janáček – Káťa Kabanová
• Hans Jelmoli – Die Badener Fahrt
• Emmerich Kálmán – Die Bajadere
• Pietro Mascagni – Il piccolo Marat

Film

• Paul Hindemith - Im Kampf mit dem Berge

Jazz

Main article: 1921 in jazz

Musical theater

• Bombo, Broadway production opened at Jolson's 59th Street Theatre on October 6 and ran for 213 performances
• The Broadway Whirl, Broadway revue opened at the Times Square Theatre on June 8 and ran for 85 performances
• The Golden Moth (Music: Ivor Novello) London production opened at the Adelphi Theatre on October 5. Starring Bobbie Comber and Thorpe Bates.
• Good Morning, Dearie, Broadway production opened at the Globe Theatre on November 1 and ran for 347 performances
• Pot Luck London production opened at the Vaudeville Theatre on December 24.
• The League of Notions London revue opened at the Oxford Theatre on January 17
• The Rebel Maid London production opened at the Empire Theatre on March 12 and ran for 114 performances.
• The Rose Girl (Music: Anselm Goetzl Book & Lyrics: William Carey Duncan) Broadway production opened at the Ambassador Theatre on February 11 and ran for 99 performances. Starring Mabel Withee, Charles Purcell and May Boley.
• Sally, London production opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on September 10 and ran for 387 performances
• Shuffle Along, Broadway production opened at the Daly's 63rd Street Theatre on May 23 and ran for 504 performances
• Sybil, London production opened at Daly's Theatre on February 19 and ran for 346 performances

Births

• January 10 – Helen Bonchek Schneyer, folk musician (died 2005)
• January 17 – Lorna Cooke deVaron, choral conductor (died 2018)
• January 22 – Arno Babajanian, composer (died 1983)
• January 26 – Eddie Barclay, music producer (died 2005)
• January 31
  • Carol Channing, musical comedy star (died 2019)
  • Mario Lanza, operatic tenor and film star (died 1959)
• February 5 – Sir John Pritchard, British conductor (died 1989)
• February 13 – Jeanne Demessieux, French organist and composer (died 1968)
• February 16 – Vera-Ellen, dancer and actress (died 1981)
• February 20 - Ruth Gipps, composer (died 1999)
• February 26 – Betty Hutton, actress and singer (died 2007)
• March 2 – Robert Simpson, musicologist and composer (died 1997)
• March 6 – Julius Rudel, conductor (died 2014)
• March 8 – Cyd Charisse, dancer (died 2008)
• March 11 – Ástor Piazzolla, tango composer (died 1992)
• March 12 – Gordon MacRae, singer and actor (died 1986)
• March 21
  • Arthur Grumiaux, violinist (died 1986)
  • Antony Hopkins, composer and music writer (died 2014)
• March 22 – Nino Manfredi, actor and film score composer (died 2004)
• March 27 – Phil Chess, born Fiszel Czyż, record producer (died 2016)
• March 28 - Rostislav Berberov, music theorist and musicologist (died 1984)
• April 1
  • Douglas Allanbrook, composer (died 2003)
  • William Bergsma, composer (died 1994)
  • Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith, musician and composer (died 2014)
• April 3 – Darío Moreno, Turkish singer and composer (died 1968)
• April 8
  • Alfie Bass, actor (Tevye in West End production of Fiddler on the Roof) (died 1987)
  • Franco Corelli, operatic tenor (died 2003)
• April 22 – Cándido Camero, percussionist (died 2020)
• April 26 – Jimmy Giuffre, jazz musician (died 2008)
• May 17
  • Dennis Brain, horn virtuoso (died 1957)
  • Bob Merrill, US songwriter (died 1998)
• May 23 – Humphrey Lyttelton, English jazz musician (died 2008)
• May 25 – Hal David – US lyricist (died 2012)
• May 26 – Inge Borkh, German soprano (died 2018)
• June 1 – Nelson Riddle, US conductor, composer and arranger (died 1985)
• June 3 – Betty Freeman, patron of classical music (died 2009)
• June 21
  • Judy Holliday, US actress and singer (died 1965)
  • Jane Russell, US actress and singer (died 2011)
• June 24 – Peggy DeCastro, US singer born in the Dominican Republic, eldest of the DeCastro Sisters (died 2004)
• June 25 – Celia Franca, dancer and choreographer (died 2007)
• July 12 – Hilary Corke, writer and composer (died 2001)
• July 15 – Jack Beeson, American pianist and composer (died 2010)
• July 17
  • George Barnes, American swing jazz guitarist (died 1977)
  • Mary Osborne, American jazz guitarist (died 1992)
• July 20 – Carmen Carrozza, accordionist (died 2013)
• July 24 – Giuseppe Di Stefano, opera singer (died 2008)
• July 30 – Grant Johannesen, American pianist (died 2005)
• August 3 – Richard Adler, American composer and lyricist (died 2012)
• August 4 – Herb Ellis, American guitarist (died 2010)
• August 7
  • Manitas de Plata, French Gitano flamenco guitarist (died 2014)
  • Karel Husa, Czech-born classical composer (died 2016)
• August 9 – Lola Bobesco, Belgian violinist (died 2003)
• August 13 – Mary Lee, Scottish singer (died 2022)
• September 3 – Thurston Dart, English musicologist, conductor and keyboard player (died 1971)
• September 4 – Ariel Ramírez, Argentine composer (died 2010)
• September 8 – Sir Harry Secombe, Welsh singer and comedian (died 2001)
• September 19 – Billy Ward, R&B singer (The Dominoes) (died 2002)
• September 21 – Chico Hamilton, jazz drummer (died 2013)
• September 30 – Pedro Knight, Cuban musician, manager (died 2007)
• October 1 – James Whitmore, American actor in film musicals (died 2009)
• October 21
  • Sir Malcolm Arnold, English composer (died 2006)
  • Jarmil Burghauser, Czech conductor, composer and musicologist (died 1997)
• October 23
  • Denise Duval, French soprano (died 2016)
  • İlhan Usmanbaş, Turkish composer (died 2025)
• October 25 – Little Hatch, American blues musician (died 2003)
• November 5 – Georges Cziffra, pianist (died 1994)
• November 9 – Pierrette Alarie, soprano (died 2011)
• November 21 – Vivian Blaine, actress and singer (died 1995)
• November 23 – Fred Buscaglione, Italian singer, musician and songwriter (died 1960)
• December 3 – Phyllis Curtin, soprano (died 2016)
• December 4 – Deanna Durbin, singer and actress (died 2013)
• December 8 – Johnny Otis, blues musician (died 2012)
• December 15 – Alan Freed, disc jockey (died 1965)
• December 26 – Steve Allen, musician and comedian (died 2000)

Deaths

• January 23 – Władysław Żeleński, pianist, organist and composer (born 1837)
• February 8
  • George Formby Sr, singer (born 1875; pulmonary tuberculosis)
  • Francisco D'Andrade, opera singer (born 1856)
• March 14 – Gustave Barnes, artist and musician (born 1877)
• March 24 – Déodat de Séverac, composer (born 1872)
• April 3 – Annie Louise Cary, operatic contralto (born 1842)
• April 5 – Alphons Diepenbrock, composer and writer (born 1862)
• April 7 – Víctor Mirecki Larramat, cellist (born 1847)
• April 20 – Tony Jackson, pianist, singer and composer (born 1876; cirrhosis of the liver)
• May 4 – Max Kalbeck, music writer and critic (born 1850)
• June 8 – Natalie Bauer-Lechner, viola player (born 1858)
• July 9 – Marianne Brandt, operatic contralto (born 1842)
• August 2 – Enrico Caruso, operatic tenor (born 1873; peritonitis)
• August 8 – Arthur Pougin, music critic (born 1834)
• September 27
  • Engelbert Humperdinck, composer (born 1854; heart attack)
  • Zdzisław Birnbaum, violinist and conductor (born 1878)
• September 28 – Princess Pauline von Metternich, patron of composers including Wagner and Smetana (born 1836)
• October 4 – Sophie Stehle, operatic soprano (born 1838)
• November 20 – Christina Nilsson, operatic soprano (born 1843)
• November 25 – Théodore Lack, pianist (born 1846)
• November 29 – Ivan Caryll, composer of operettas (born 1861; haemorrhage)
• December 10 – Victor Jacobi, composer of operettas (born 1883; illness)
• December 16 – Camille Saint-Saëns, composer (born 1835; tuberculosis)
• December 25 – Hans Huber, composer (born 1852)