# 1921 in music

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

## Musical theater

* "I'm Just Wild About Harry"
* Instrumental version of "I'm Just Wild About Harry" from the musical Shuffle Along by Noble Sissle & Eubie Blake. Recorded May 17, 1922.
* Problems playing this file? See media help.
* 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)