This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1923.

Specific locations

  • 1923 in British music
  • 1923 in Norwegian music

Specific genres

  • 1923 in country music
  • 1923 in jazz

Events

  • 15 January – Rued Langgaard conducts the premiere of his Symphony No. 6 (later subtitled "The Heaven-rending") in Karlsruhe, performed by the Badisches Landestheater-Orchester.
  • February – Joseph Samuels' Tampa Blue Jazz Band records the George Washington Thomas number "The Fives" for Okeh Records, considered the first example of jazz band boogie-woogie.
  • February 19 – Jean Sibelius conducts the world première of his Symphony No. 6 in Helsinki.
  • May 30 – The British Broadcasting Company's Cardiff station (5WA) broadcasts the first full performance of a new orchestral opera on UK radio.
  • October 18 – Igor Stravinsky conducts the premiere of his Octet at the Paris Opera. In the same concert, Serge Prokofiev's First Violin Concerto (1917) is also premiered, with Marcel Darrieux, violin, and the Paris Opera Orchestra conducted by Serge Koussevitzky.
  • November 11 – Première of John Foulds's A World Requiem (composed 1919–21) at the Royal Albert Hall in London. It is repeated on that date each year until 1926.
  • November 19 – At a concert celebrating the 50th anniversary of the union of Buda and Pest (thus creating Budapest), Béla Bartók's Dance Suite and Zoltán Kodály's Psalmus Hungaricus both receive their world premieres
  • Explosion of recordings by African American musicians — Sidney Bechet, Ida Cox, Fletcher Henderson, Jelly Roll Morton, Joe "King" Oliver with Louis Armstrong, Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, and many others make their first recordings.
  • George Enescu makes his debut as a conductor with the Philadelphia Orchestra in New York City.
  • Henri Pawl-Pleyel, Roger Désormière, Maxime Jacob and Henri Sauguet form the Ecole d'Arcueil.
  • Augustus John completes his portrait of cellist Guilhermina Suggia.
  • Japanese composer Michio Miyagi introduces an 80-string koto or "or hachijugen". It proves less popular than the 17-string koto he had invented two years earlier.

Publications

  • Stewart Macpherson – Melody and Harmony, Books 2 and 3. London: Stainer & Bell. (Book 1 published 1920.)

right|thumb|[[Zez Confrey's "Dizzy Fingers"]]

  • "Annabelle" w. Lew Brown m. Ray Henderson
  • "Bambalina" w. Otto Harbach & Oscar Hammerstein II m. Herbert Stothart & Vincent Youmans. Introduced by Edith Day in the musical Wildflower
  • "Barney Google" w.m. Billy Rose & Con Conrad
  • "Beside A Babbling Brook" w. Gus Kahn m. Walter Donaldson
  • "Charleston" w.m. Cecil Mack & James P. Johnson. Inspiration for a dance craze.
  • "Chimes Blues" m. Joe "King" Oliver
  • "Come On, Spark Plug!" w.m. Billy Rose & Con Conrad
  • "Dippermouth Blues" m. Joe "King" Oliver
  • "Dizzy Fingers" m. Zez Confrey
  • "Frasquita Serenade" m. Franz Lehár
  • "Gulf Coast Blues" w.m. Clarence Williams
  • "Horsey, Keep Your Tail Up" w.m. Walter Hirsch & Bert Kaplan
  • "I Cried For You" w. Arthur Freed m. Gus Arnheim & Abe Lyman
  • "I Love Life" w. Irwin M. Cassel m. Mana-Zucca
  • "I Love You" w. Harlan Thompson m. Harry Archer. Introduced by John Boles and Margaret Wilson in the musical Little Jessie James
  • "I Won't Say I Will But I Won't Say I Won't" w. B. G. De Sylva & Ira Gershwin m. George Gershwin. Introduced by Irene Bordoni in the play Little Miss Bluebeard
  • "Indiana Moon" w. Benny Davis m. Isham Jones
  • "It Ain't Gonna Rain No Mo'" w.m. Wendell Hall
  • "I've Got The Yes! We Have No Bananas Blues" w. Lew Brown m. James F. Hanley & Robert King
  • "Just A Girl That Men Forget" w. Al Dubin & Fred Rath m. Joe Garron
  • "King Porter Stomp" m. Ferdinand "Jelly Roll" Morton
  • "Last Night On The Back Porch" w. Lew Brown m. Carl Schraubstader
  • "Louisville Lou" w. Jack Yellen m. Milton Ager
  • "Mama Goes Where Papa Goes" w. Jack Yellen m. Milton Ager
  • "Mama Loves Papa" w.m. Cliff Friend & Abel Baer
  • "March Of The Cameron Men" w.m. Campbell
  • "Mexicali Rose" w. Helen Stone m. Jack B. Tenney
  • "Milenberg Joys" m. Leon Rappolo, Paul Mares & Jelly Roll Morton
  • "Mon Paradis (Sérénade d'Aujourd'hui)" m. Cuthbert Clarke
  • "Moon Love" w. George Grossmith Jr. & P. G. Wodehouse m. Jerome Kern
  • "Nashville Nightingale" w. Irving Caesar m. George Gershwin
  • "No, No, Nora" w. Gus Kahn m. Ted Fio Rito & Ernie Erdman
  • "Nobles of the Mystic Shrine" John Philip Sousa
  • "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" w.m. Jimmy Cox
  • "Oh Gee Oh Gosh Oh Golly I'm In Love" w. Ole Olsen & Chic Johnson m. Ernest Breuer
  • "Oklahoma Indian Jazz" (w. & m.) Ray Hibbler, T.J. Johnsen, J.W. Barna, J.W. Murrin, and T. Guarini
  • "Old Fashioned Love" w. Cecil Mack m. James P. Johnson
  • "Old King Tut" w. William Jerome m. Harry Von Tilzer
  • "On The Mall" m. Edwin Franko Goldman
  • "Once In A Blue Moon" w. Anne Caldwell m. Jerome Kern
  • "An Orange Grove In California" w.m. Irving Berlin
  • "Raggedy Ann" w. Anne Caldwell m. Jerome Kern
  • "Rememb'ring" w.m. Vivian Duncan & Rosetta Duncan
  • "La Rosita" w. Allan Stuart m. Paul Dupont (Pseud. of Walter Haenschen)
  • "Seven Or Eleven" w. Lew Brown m. Walter Donaldson
  • "Sittin' In A Corner" w. Gus Kahn m. George W. Meyer
  • "Sleep" w.m. Earl Lebieg
  • "A Smile Will Go A Long Long Way" w. Benny Davis m. Harry Akst
  • "Snake Rag" m. King Oliver
  • "Some Sweet Day" w. Gene Buck m. Dave Stamper & Louis A. Hirsch
  • "Stella" w.m. Al Jolson, Benny Davis & Harry Akst
  • "Swingin' Down the Lane" w. Gus Kahn m. Isham Jones
  • "Tell Me With A Melody" w.m. Irving Berlin
  • "That Old Gang of Mine" w. Billy Rose & Mort Dixon m. Ray Henderson
  • "Tin Roof Blues" m. Paul Mares, Walter Melrose, Ben Pollack, Mel Stitzel, George Brunies & Leon Roppolo
  • "When It's Night-Time In Italy, It's Wednesday Over Here" w.m. James Kendis & Lew Brown
  • "When June Comes Along With A Song" w.m. George M. Cohan from the musical The Rise Of Rosie O'Reilly
  • "When You Walked Out Someone Else Walked Right In" w.m. Irving Berlin
  • "Who's Sorry Now?" w. Bert Kalmar & Harry Ruby m. Ted Snyder
  • "Wild Flower" w. Otto Harbach & Oscar Hammerstein II m. Vincent Youmans & Herbert Stothart
  • "Wolverine Blues" w.m. Ferdinand "Jelly Roll" Morton, Benjamin Spikes & John C. Spikes
  • "Yes! We Have No Bananas" w.m. Frank Silver & Irving Cohn
  • "You've Got To See Mama Ev'ry Night" w.m. Con Conrad & Billy Rose

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 1923.

Numerical rankings are approximate; they are only used as a frame of reference.

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

! <big>Rank</big>

! <big>Artist</big>

! <big>Title</big>

! <big>Label</big>

! <big>Recorded</big>

! <big>Released</big>

! <big>Chart Positions</big>

|-

| 1 || Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra || "Parade of the Wooden Soldiers" || Victor 19007 || || || US Billboard 1923 No. 1, US No. 1 for 7 weeks, 13 total weeks, 722,895 sold (Victor 1920s memo)

|-

| 2 || Isham Jones Orchestra || "Swingin' Down the Lane" || Brunswick 2438 || || || US Billboard 1923 No. 2, US No. 1 for 6 weeks, 15 total weeks

|-

| 3 || Billy Murray & Ed Smalle || "That Old Gang of Mine" || Victor 19095 || || || US Billboard 1922 No. 3, US No. 1 for 6 weeks, 14 total weeks

|-

| 4 || Billy Jones || "Yes! We Have No Bananas" || Edison 51183 || || || US Billboard 1923 No. 4, US No. 1 for 5 weeks, 13 total weeks

|-

| 5 || Bessie Smith || "Down Hearted Blues" || Columbia 3844 || || || US Billboard 1923 No. 5, US No. 1 for 4 weeks, 12 total weeks, 1,000,000 sold

|-

| 6 || Al Jolson || "Toot, Toot, Tootsie (Goo' Bye!)" || Columbia 3705 || || || US Billboard 1922 No. 6, US No. 1 for 4 weeks, 10 total weeks

|-

| 7 || Van and Schenck || "Carolina in the Morning" || Columbia 3712 || || || US Billboard 1922 No. 7, US No. 1 for 3 weeks, 14 total weeks

|-

| 8 || Carl Fenton and His Orchestra || "Love Sends a Little Gift of Roses" || Gennett 5255 || || || US Billboard 1923 No. 9, US No. 1 for 3 weeks, 10 total weeks, 1,500,000 sales

|-

| 10 || Ben Selvin's Dance Orchestra || "Yes! We Have No Bananas" || Vocalion 14590 || || || US Billboard 1923 No. 10, US No. 1 for 2 weeks, 12 total weeks

|-

| 11 || Eddie Cantor || "No, No, Nora" || Columbia 3964 || || || US Billboard 1923 No. 11, US No. 1 for 2 weeks, 9 total weeks

|-

| 12 || Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra || "I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise" || Victor 18949 || || || US Billboard 1923 No. 12, US No. 1 for 1 weeks, 9 total weeks

|-

| 13 || Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra || "Bambalina" || Victor 19035 || || || US Billboard 1923 No. 13, US No. 1 for 1 weeks, 8 total weeks

|-

| 14 || Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra || "Crinoline Days" || Victor 18983 || || || US Billboard 1923 No. 14, US No. 2 for 3 weeks, 9 total weeks

|-

| 15 || Eddie Cantor || "I've Got the Yes! We Have No Bananas Blues" || Columbia 3964 || || || US Billboard 1923 No. 15, US No. 2 for 3 weeks, 6 total weeks

|-

| 22 || Isham Jones Orchestra || "Who's Sorry Now" || Brunswick 2438 || || || US Billboard 1923 No. 22, US No. 3 for 1 weeks, 8 total weeks

|-

| 25 || Great White Way Orchestra (vocal Billy Murray) || "Yes! We have No Bananas" || Victor 19068 || || || US Billboard 1923 No. 25, US No. 3 for 1 weeks, 6 total weeks, 610,101 sales (Victor 1920s memo)

  • February 27 – Léon Roques, translator (b. 1839)
  • March 5 – Dora Pejačević, composer (b. 1885)
  • March 8 – Krišjānis Barons, collector of Latvian folk songs (b. 1835)
  • March 16 – August Göllerich, Austrian conductor (born 1859)
  • March 20 – Henry Edward Krehbiel, musicologist (b. 1854)
  • April 17 – Anthony J. Stastny, composer (b. 1885)
  • May 7 – Sadie Martinot, actress and soprano singer (b. 1861)
  • May 30 – Camille Chevillard, composer
  • June 11 – Julia Ettie Crane, music educator (b. 1855)
  • June 20
  • Joseph Leopold Röckel, composer (born 1838)
  • Charitie Lees Smith, hymn-writer (b. 1841)
  • June 30 – Claude Terrasse, composer of operettas (b. 1867)
  • July 10 – Albert Chevalier, English actor, singer, songwriter and music hall performer (b. 1861)
  • July 13 – Asger Hamerik, composer (b. 1843)
  • August 15 – Vali von der Osten, operatic soprano (b. 1882)
  • August 31 – Ernest van Dyck, operatic tenor (b. 1861)
  • October 11 – Wilhelm Karczag, theater director (born 1857)
  • October 12 – John Cadvan Davies, poet and hymn-writer (b. 1846)
  • October 14 – George Elbridge Whiting, composer (born 1840)
  • October 22 – Victor Maurel, operatic baritone (b. 1848)
  • October 28 – Theodor Reuss, music hall singer and polymath (b. 1855)
  • December 2 – Tomás Bretón, composer (b. 1850)
  • December 7 – Vess Ossman, banjoist (b. 1868)
  • December 19 – Gustav Dannreuther, violinist and conductor (b. 1853)
  • date unknown
  • Charles Jean Baptiste Collin-Mezin, violin-maker (b. 1841)
  • Joseph Pothier, musicologist, reviver of the Gregorian chant (b. 1835)

References

Citations

Bibliography