1934
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1 January 1934 Mecklenburg is formed by joining Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie is published in Great Britain.
3 January 1934 Gheorghe Tatarescu replaces Constantin Angelescu as Prime Minster of Romania.
As part of celebrations to mark her 75th birthday, an all-Ethel Smyth (75) concert takes place in Queen’s Hall, London.
4 January 1934 Pastorale and Dance for strings and piano by Gian Carlo Menotti (22) is performed for the first time, privately in Vienna conducted by Samuel Barber (23).
6 January 1934 The Running Set for orchestra by Ralph Vaughan Williams (61) is performed for the first time, in the Royal Albert Hall, London the composer conducting.
7 January 1934 After the expiration of the Christmas truce, Paraguayan forces capture Platanillos and push west.
8 January 1934 French financier and con artist Serge Stavisky dies of a gunshot wound in Chamonix. It officially a suicide but rumors persist that he was killed by the government to cover up their complicity in his schemes.
The Paraguayan advance north and west takes Camacho.
9 January 1934 Action Française, a royalist organization, stages its first mass demonstration in Paris. Police prevent them from reaching the Chamber of Deputies, but on the Place de la Concorde they attack the Minister of Marine, Albert Sarraut, dragging him from his car. His life is narrowly saved when police come to his rescue.
The Heimwehr publication Österreichische Abendzeitung publishes serious charges against the soon-to-be produced Ernst Krenek (33) opera Karl V and the publishers Universal Edition.
10 January 1934 Marinus van der Lubbe, admitted arsonist of the Reichstag, is beheaded in Leipzig.
Phantasm for piano and orchestra by Frank Bridge (54) is performed for the first time, in Queen’s Hall, London conducted by the composer.
11 January 1934 Rightist mobs again attack the Chamber of Deputies and the Ministry of Public Works in Paris. They are beaten back by mounted army units and fire hoses. The riots will be repeated 22, 23, and 27 January.
12 January 1934 Fantastic Dance for orchestra by Frederick Delius (71) is performed for the first time, in Queen’s Hall, London. Presently bedridden in his home in France, Delius is able to hear the concert on the radio. Also premiered is Legend for piano and orchestra by John Ireland (54).
Sacred Service (Avodath hakodesh) for baritone, chorus, and orchestra by Ernest Bloch (53), is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of Radio Turin.
Madame Bovary, a film with music by Darius Milhaud (41), is shown for the first time, in the Ciné Opéra, Paris.
13 January 1934 La favola del figlio cambiato, an opera by Gian Francesco Malipiero (51) to words of Pirandello, is performed for the first time, in the Brunswick Landestheater.
14 January 1934 Variations on I Got Rhythm, for piano and orchestra by George Gershwin (35), is performed for the first time, in Symphony Hall, Boston the composer at the keyboard.
15 January 1934 An earthquake centered on the border between Nepal and the Indian state of Bihar kills 10,700 people.
Symphony no.5 by Arnold Bax (50) is performed for the first time, in Queen’s Hall, London.
16 January 1934 Richard Wernick is born in Boston.
17 January 1934 Most Vienna newspapers announce that the production of Ernst Krenek’s (33) opera Karl V has been cancelled.
18 January 1934 Conductor Karl Krauss issues a lukewarm defense of Ernst Krenek’s (33) opera Karl V.
Sonata for violin and piano (1932) by Frank Bridge (54) is performed for the first time, in Aeolian Hall, London.
21 January 1934 Incidental music to Claudel’s play L’annonce faite à Marie by Darius Milhaud (41) is performed for the first time, in the Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels.
Cinq motets op.60 for chorus and organ are performed for the first time, in Paris.
22 January 1934 Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, an opera by Dmitri Shostakovich (27) to words of Preys after Leskov, is performed for the first time, at the Malyi Opera Theatre, Leningrad. It will be performed again in two days in Moscow. The opera is a resounding success with audiences and critics.
23 January 1934 The board of directors of the Vienna Opera announce that Ernst Krenek’s (33) opera Karl V is postponed until Fall.
La fiamma, a melodramma by Ottorino Respighi (54) to words of Guastalla after Wiers-Jenssen, is performed for the first time, in Rome.
Duet for viola and cello by Paul Hindemith (38) is performed for the first time, in London.
24 January 1934 Two vocal works by Ernst Krenek (33) are performed for the first time, in Winterthur, the composer at the keyboard: Das Schweigin for solo voice and piano to words of Eberhard Friedrich Freiherr von Gemminger, and Währed der Trennung for mezzo-soprano, baritone, and piano to words of Fleming.
26 January 1934 Germany and Poland sign a ten-year non-aggression pact in Berlin.
Prime Minister Camille Chautemps, whose government enjoys majorities in both houses, resigns due to his inability to deal with rightist street demonstrations. The demonstrators accuse Chautemps of complicity with the corrupt bond dealer Alexandre Stavisky who recently died in police custody.
Nikola Uzunovic replaces Milan Srskic as Prime Minister of Yugoslavia.
30 January 1934 Édouard Daladier replaces Camille Chautemps as Prime Minister of France.
The British government ends dominion status for Newfoundland and reimposes colonial rule.
31 January 1934 The Wandering Scholar, a chamber opera by Gustav Holst (59) to words of C. Bax, is performed for the first time, in Liverpool.
1 February 1934 Piano Sonata no.4 by Arnold Bax (50) is performed for the first time, in Town Hall, New York.
2 February 1934 The second suite from Albert Roussel’s (64) ballet Bacchus et Ariane is performed for the first time, in the Salle Pleyel, Paris. See 22 May 1931.
3 February 1934 Deutsche Lufthansa begins the first regular transatlantic air mail service, between Berlin and Rio de Janeiro.
5 February 1934 Piano Solo by Marc Blitzstein (28) is performed for the first time, at the Mellon Galleries in Philadelphia the composer at the keyboard.
6 February 1934 Royalists, fascists, and other conservatives attempt to overthrow the French government with a massive demonstration in Paris which almost succeeds in seizing the Chamber of Deputies. They accuse the government of complicity with the corrupt bond dealer Alexandre Stavisky. Since Stavisky was Jewish, the conservatives attempt to fan the flames of anti-Semitism. 17 people are killed and 2,319 wounded in the bloodiest Parisian rioting since the Commune.
7 February 1934 The government of French Prime Minister Daladier resigns due to its inability to control rightist street demonstrations.
8 February 1934 Mina for small orchestra by Edward Elgar (76) is performed for the first time, in the EMI recording studios.
Four Saints in Three Acts, an opera by Virgil Thomson (37) to words of Stein, is performed for the first time, at the Avery Memorial Hall, Hartford, Connecticut. The opera is directed by John Houseman and choreographed by Frederick Ashton. Artists and the elite society of New York, Boston, and Hartford are there, including Buckminster Fuller, Isamu Noguchi, Clare Booth Luce, Philip Johnson, Carl Van Vechten, and Mrs. Averell Harriman. It is a glittering, smashing success and assures an upcoming production on Broadway. See 20 February 1934.
9 February 1934 Pierre Paul Henri Gaston Doumergue replaces Édouard Daladier as Prime Minister of France.
10 February 1934 Merry Mount, an opera by Howard Hanson (37) to words of Stokes after Hawthorne is staged for the first time, at the Metropolitan Opera, New York. Amy Beach (66) is in the audience and finds the music “very rich and interesting.” See 20 May 1933.
12 February 1934 An uprising of Social Democrats begins in Vienna and other Austrian cities against the dictatorship of Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss. Government soldiers, along with fascist militia units, respond by shelling the homes and installations of the workers with artillery. By 15 February, a thousand men, women, and children will be killed, and three to four thousand will be injured.
13 February 1934 Richard Strauss (69) presides over the first meeting of the Reichsmusikkammer. At the conclusion, three Sieg Heils are proclaimed and Hitler is called the “champion and creator of the work of national culture.”
Nadia Boulanger (46) makes her official Paris conducting debut, directing the orchestra of the École Normale.
14 February 1934 El castillo de Almodovar for orchestra by Joaquín Turina (51) is performed for the first time, in Madrid.
15 February 1934 The Social Democratic Party of Austria is abolished by the government. It administered the Kunststelle, which was in charge of the Workmen’s Symphony Concerts and the Singverein, directed by Anton Webern (50).
Premonitions, a song by Charles Ives (59) to words of Johnson, is performed for the first time, in San Francisco.
16 February 1934 An appointed Commission of Government takes power in Newfoundland to run the territory. It consists of the Governor, three British civil servants, and three Newfoundlanders.
17 February 1934 King Albert of Belgium, the hero of the Great War, dies while mountain climbing in Marche-les-Dames near Namur and is succeeded by his son, Leopold III.
18 February 1934 Nicaraguan President Juan Sacasa and leftist leader Augusto Sandino agree at the presidential palace in Managua to reform the National Guard. It is being used for political purposes by Sacasa’s nephew, Anastasio Somoza.
19 February 1934 George Gershwin (35) begins a twice weekly radio program, “Music by Gershwin” over the airwaves of New York radio station WJZ. It airs for 15 minutes on Monday and Friday.
20 February 1934 Sonata for two violins and piano by Bohuslav Martinu (43) is performed for the first time, in London.
Four Saints in Three Acts, an opera by Virgil Thomson (37) to words of Stein, opens in the 44th Street Theatre in New York. Two days before the opening the New York fire marshal condemns the set. Producers respond by coating the entire set with a flame retardant chemical. Reluctantly, the fire marshal allows the production to proceed. It is the hit of the Broadway season. The press runs from confusion to euphoria. George Gershwin (35) is in the audience. He finds the music “entertaining” but is not impressed by the libretto. See 8 February 1934.
21 February 1934 As Nicaraguan leftist leader Augusto Sandino is leaving a dinner with President Juan Sacasa in Managua, he, his brother, and two of his aides are abducted by a conservative death squad ordered by General Anastasio Somoza. They are taken to the edge of Managua’s airport and machine-gunned to death. The murderers will never be brought to justice. The United States will not condemn the killing.
23 February 1934 Between 07:30 and 08:00 Edward William Elgar dies in his sleep at his home in Worcester, aged 76 years, eight months, and 21 days.
A Boy Was Born op.3 for boys’ chorus, female chorus, and male chorus by Benjamin Britten (20) to anonymous 15th and 16th century words, is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of the BBC Regional.
25 February 1934 Four Minutes-20 Seconds for flute and string quartet by Roy Harris (36) is performed for the first time, in Town Hall, New York.
Henry Cowell’s (36) dance music Six Casual Developments to a scenario by Graham is performed for the first time, in New York. See 30 September 1933.
26 February 1934 After a Low Requiem Mass in St. George’s Church, Worcester where he used to play the organ, the earthly remains of Edward William Elgar are laid to rest beside those of his wife at St. Wulstan’s Church, Little Malvern.
1 March 1934 Two years after he was named regent, the last emperor of China, Pu-I (Puyi), is installed by the Japanese as Emperor of Manchukuo, under the name Kang Teh. The government is further centralized under Japanese domination.
2 March 1934 Unfaithful Marijka, a film with music by Bohuslav Martinu (43), is shown for the first time, in Prague.
3 March 1934 Ethel Smyth’s (75) Mass in D is performed in Albert Hall, London conducted by Thomas Beecham as part of celebrations marking her 75th birthday. The composer sits beside Queen Mary in the royal box.
4 March 1934 Mario Davidovsky is born in Buenos Aires, son of Natalio Davidovsky and Perla Bulanska.
5 March 1934 Marc Blitzstein (29) and his wife sail for England aboard the SS Champlain. He has been hired as a composer for the choreographer Kurt Jooss at the Dartington Hall School.
A Cello Concerto by Arnold Bax (50) is performed for the first time, in Queen’s Hall, London.
6 March 1934 When Arnold Schoenberg (59) gives a “Twelve-Tone Lecture” at Princeton University he meets Albert Einstein. It is the first time the great Jewish emigres have met.
Simple Symphony op.4 by Benjamin Britten (20) is performed for the first time, in Stuart Hall, Norwich conducted by the composer.
Concerto for Orchestra by Walter Piston (40) is performed for the first time, in Cambridge, Massachusetts under the baton of the composer.
7 March 1934 Lieutenant Kijé, a film with music by Sergey Prokofiev (42), opens at six theatres in Moscow.
String Quartet no.1 by Walter Piston (40) is performed for the first time.
8 March 1934 Christian Wolff is born in Nice.
Sonatina in D for cello and piano by Arnold Bax (50) is performed for the first time, in Wigmore Hall, London.
9 March 1934 Piano Quintet no.1 by Bohuslav Martinu (43) is performed for the first time, in Paris.
12 March 1934 Mathis der Maler, a symphony based on the unperformed opera of the same name by Paul Hindemith (38), is performed for the first time, in Berlin. The work is enthusiastically received, despite criticism of Hindemith by top Nazis. See 28 May 1938.
13 March 1934 Ernst Krenek (33) rejoins the Roman Catholic Church.
Excerpts from Fate, an opera by Leos Janácek (†5) to words of Bartosová and the composer, are heard for the first time, broadcast over Brno Radio
15 March 1934 Three of the Vingt chansons bretonnes op.115 for cello and piano by Charles Koechlin (66) are performed for the first time, in the Salle de l’École Normale, Paris.
16 March 1934 Arnold Schoenberg (59) makes his US conducting debut in a program of his works in Boston.
An all-Aaron Copland (33) concert takes place at the Degeyter Club in New York associated with the American Communist Party. Before the performance, Copland informs his audience that today’s composer needs to identify “with the great masses of the proletariat.” He also informs them, however, that none of his music is revolutionary in that sense.
17 March 1934 Karlis Ulmanis replaces Adolfs Blodnieks as Prime Minister of Latvia.
Four Saints in Three Acts closes a four-week run at the 44th Street Theatre, twice as long a run as planned. Producers announce plans to reopen the opera in another theatre.
18 March 1934 Lyric Movement, for viola and chamber orchestra by Gustav Holst (59), is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of the BBC. The composer is too ill to attend at the studio and listens on a radio provided by Adrian Boult.
Hungarian Peasant Songs for orchestra by Béla Bartók (52) are performed for the first time, in Szombathely.
21 March 1934 Over 2,000 people are killed when fire destroys Hakodate, Japan. One-third of the city is destroyed.
Early morning. Franz August Julius Schreker dies of a heart attack in Berlin, two days before his 56th birthday. He has been bedridden since suffering a stroke last December.
23 March 1934 The mortal remains of Franz Schreker are laid to rest in Dahlem Cemetery, Berlin, on what would have been his 56th birthday. Not many people attend.
24 March 1934 After a failed attempt at a breakout, 1,200 Bolivian defenders of Cañada Tarija surrender to the Paraguayans.
Suite for Jazz Orchestra no.1 by Dmitri Shostakovich (27) is performed for the first time, in Leningrad.
United States president Franklin Roosevelt signs the Philippine Independence Act, providing for a ten-year transition period to independence.
26 March 1934 The Road Traffic Act is enacted in Great Britain. It includes many measures designed to increase traffic safety, including driving tests to receive a license and pedestrian cross walks.
28 March 1934 Fanfare sobre el nombre de E.F. Arbós for trumpet, trombone, and percussion by Manuel de Falla (57) is performed for the first time, in Teatro Calderón, Madrid.
1 April 1934 Incidental music to Sukhotin’s (after Balzac) play The Human Comedy op.37 by Dmitri Shostakovich (27) is performed for the first time, in the Vakhtangov Theatre, Moscow.
2 April 1934 Four Saints in Three Acts opens for a second run, this time in the Empire Theatre, New York. It goes two weeks.
4 April 1934 Amidst rumors that he is Jewish, and attacks by the Nazis, Béla Bartók’s (52) Vienna publisher, Universal Edition, writes to the composer requesting he send a copy of his baptismal certificate and documents establishing his ethnic origin. See 28 April 1934.
Czech Nursery Rhymes for female chorus by Bohuslav Martinu (43) is performed for the first time, in Prague.
5 April 1934 Feeling that the civilian government is interfering with the military, cadets of the Colegio Militar in La Paz, Bolivia revolt. They fire on troops sent to subdue them. Loyal generals persuade them to surrender with amnesty.
9 April 1934 La bella dormente nel bosco, a fiaba musicale by Ottorino Respighi (54) to words of Bistolfi after Perrault, is performed for the first time in the version for child mimes, in Turin. See 13 April 1922.
10 April 1934 Hommage à Satie for chamber orchestra by David Diamond (18) is performed for the first time, in New York.
12 April 1934 13:21 Mt. Washington Observatory in New Hampshire records the highest winds ever measured, two gusts at 372 km per hour.
Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald is published in the US by Charles Scribner’s Sons. It already has been serialized in Scribner’s Magazine.
Thaddeus Cahill, inventor of the Telharmonium, dies of a heart attack in his New York apartment at the age of 66.
The Tale the Pine-Trees Knew, a symphonic poem by Arnold Bax (50), is performed for the first time, in Queen’s Hall, London.
14 April 1934 Three Pieces for piano op.49 by Albert Roussel (65) are performed for the first time, in the École Normale, Paris.
Symphonic Song op.57 by Sergey Prokofiev (42) is performed for the first time, in Moscow. It is a disaster. According to Nikolay Myaskovsky “There were literally three claps in the hall.”
15 April 1934 Ecuatorial, a prayer from Popol Yuh of Maya Quiché (tr. Jimines) for bass, eight brass instruments, piano, organ, two theremins, and six percussionists by Edgard Varèse (50), is performed for the first time, in Town Hall, New York. The theremins, much too loud, drown out everything else. Varèse will later replace them with ondes martenots. On the same program are premieres of two works by Charles Ives (59): The New River, for unison chorus and orchestra to words of the composer, and December for unison chorus, brass, and winds to words of DG Rossetti after Folgore da San Geminiano. It has been over 20 years since Ives composed the two pieces.
18 April 1934 The first laundromat is opened, in Ft. Worth, Texas. The proprietor calls it a “Washateria.”
19 April 1934 Two songs by Charles Ives (59) are performed for the first time, in Skinner Recital Hall of Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York: Thoreau, to his own words after Thoreau, and Whitman to words of Whitman. Whitman has been performed already, in June of last year.
22 April 1934 By government decree, all German singing societies are merged into the Sängerbund.
Three works by Charles Ives (59) are performed for the first time, in the Alvin Theatre, New York: The Gong on the Hook and Ladder/Firemen’s Parade on Main Street for small orchestra, Hallowe’en for string quartet and piano, and The Pond for orchestra, and piano.
Meanwhile, in Boston, Ives’ song for voice and piano Vita to words of Manilius is performed for the first time.
23 April 1934 Amy Beach (66) and Ruth Shaffner appear in a command performance in the East Room of the White House for Eleanor Roosevelt and 400 invited guests. In spite of her continual life-long insistence on voting the Republican ticket, Mrs. Beach will always cherish the day and the kindness of Mrs. Roosevelt.
24 April 1934 Clockmaker Laurens Hammond of Detroit receives a US patent for an electronic organ.
Quintet for piano and strings no.1 op.80 by Charles Koechlin (66) is performed for the first time, in Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels.
25 April 1934 Prière, a song for voice and piano by Charles Martin Loeffler (73) to words of Dévigne, is performed for the first time, in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston.
26 April 1934 Hollywood on Parade, a film with music by Duke Ellington (35), is released in the United States.
28 April 1934 Ricardo Samper Ibañez replaces Alejandro Lerroux y García as Prime Minister of Spain.
Béla Bartók (53) writes to his Vienna publisher Universal Edition refusing to comply with their request of 4 April.
29 April 1934 Into the Streets May First for unison chorus and piano by Aaron Copland (33) to words of Hayes is performed for the first time, in New York. It is the winner of a contest to set these words to music, sponsored by the New Masses.
30 April 1934 Perséphone, a melodrama by Igor Stravinsky (51) to words of Gide, is performed for the first time, at the Paris Opéra conducted by the composer. The poet, upset at the setting of his words, does not attend.
4 May 1934 Deux poèmes chinois op.47, for voice and piano by Albert Roussel (65) to words of Roché after Giles are performed for the first time, in Paris.
11 May 1934 Arthur Honegger’s (42) ballet pantomime Sémiramis, to a scenario by Valery is performed for the first time, at the Paris Opéra. It is not a success.
13 May 1934 Leon Tadeusz Kozlowski replaces Janusz Jedrzejewicz as Prime Minister of Poland.
Poet Osip Emiliyevich Mandelstam is arrested in Moscow for writing openly anti-Stalin verse.
14 May 1934 William Grant Still (39) begins a year-long Guggenheim Fellowship.
Leonard Bernstein (15) plays the first movement of the Piano Concerto of Edvard Grieg (†26) with the Boston Public School Symphony Orchestra at Roxbury High School.
15 May 1934 Prime Minister Karlis Ulmanis of Latvia dissolves the Parliament and institutes dictatorial rule. President Alberts Kviesis is allowed to serve the remaining two years of his term.
Nicolas Obouhow (42) gives the first demonstration of his Croix Sonore, an electronic instrument shaped like a cross, in Paris. It has properties similar to the Theremin and Ondes Martenot.
16 May 1934 While nursing her bedridden husband Frederick (72), Jelka Delius is taken to a hospital in Fontainebleau for a colostomy operation. Before leaving, she writes Eric Fenby to come and take care of him.
18 May 1934 Three settings for chorus of Slavonic prayers by Igor Stravinsky (51) are performed for the first time, in Paris: Our Father, Blessed Slavonic Virgin, and Symbol of Faith.
19 May 1934 A coalition of conservative, military, and anti-democratic elements overthrows the government of Bulgaria and installs Kimon Georgiev Stoyanov as Prime Minister replacing Nikolay Stoykov Mushanov.
Eric Fenby arrives at the Delius residence at Grez-sur-Loing to take over the care of Frederick (72) during the hospitalization of Jelka.
After his success on Broadway with Four Saints in Three Acts, Virgil Thomson (37) boards ship in New York to return to Paris.
Bolivians counterattack against advancing Paraguayans near Cañada Cochabamba.
21 May 1934 Suite for small orchestra by Henry Cowell (37) is performed for the first time, in New York.
22 May 1934 Having driven across the United States, William Grant Still (39) arrives in Los Angeles to begin a new career.
23 May 1934 Gustav Holst (59) undergoes an operation to remove a duodenal ulcer, at Beaufort House. The hospital announces the operation a success but that recovery will be slow.
Murder at the Vanities, a film with music by Duke Ellington (35), is released in the United States. It is the first film featuring the Ellington band that was made in Hollywood.
Notorious outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow die in a hail of police bullets near Sailes, Louisiana.
24 May 1934 Peru and Colombia settle their conflict over Leticia.
25 May 1934 Gustav Theodore Holst dies of heart failure in a London nursing home, two days after an operation for ulcers, aged 59 years, eight months, and four days. The ashes of his earthly remains will be buried in the north transept of Chichester Cathedral.
Remaining Paraguayans at Cañada Cochabamba surrender to the Bolivians as the rest of the army makes an orderly retreat east (Battle of Strongest).
Cantata profana (the nine enchanted stags) for tenor, baritone, double chorus, and orchestra by Béla Bartók (53) to an anonymous Romanian text (tr. Bartók), is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of the BBC originating in London.
28 May 1934 Five girls are born to Oliva and Elzire Dionne, near Corbeil, Ontario.
29 May 1934 Representatives of the United States and Cuba sign a treaty affirming US sovereignty over Guantanamo Bay in perpetuity. The United States no longer claims a right to interfere in the internal affairs of Cuba.
31 May 1934 A three-day synod of German Protestant leaders concludes in Barmen. They announce opposition to the attempt to massage Christianity into a pro-Nazi stance.
The first run of George Gershwin’s (35) twice weekly radio program, “Music by Gershwin” over the airwaves of New York radio station WJZ, concludes.
3 June 1934 The American Musicological Society is organized and incorporated in New York.
4 June 1934 Igor Stravinsky (51) is officially granted French citizenship. The decree will be dated 10 June.
5 June 1934 Béla Bartók (53), in Budapest, receives a telegram from the Library of Congress in Washington, commissioning a string quartet. He immediately accepts.
Harry Partch (32) receives a grant of $1,500 from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
6 June 1934 The Securities Exchange Law is enacted in the US. It regulates financial institutions and markets and creates the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Many Happy Returns, a film with music by Duke Ellington (35), is released in the United States.
8 June 1934 Oswald Mosley addresses a mass meeting of the British Union of Fascists at Olympia.
Jelka Delius is allowed out of the hospital in Fontainebleau to see her husband Frederick (72) in the last stages of life at home. Her surgery is still not completely healed.
9 June 1934 Czechoslovakia formally recognizes the USSR.
Walt Disney releases a short animated film called The Wise Little Hen. It is the first appearance of Donald Duck.
10 June 1934 04:00 Frederick Delius dies at his home in Grez-sur-Loing, near Fontainebleau, France, aged 72 years, four months, and 13 days. In less than four months, Great Britain has lost three of its most important composers: Edward Elgar (23 February), Gustav Holst (25 May) and Frederick Delius (10 June).
Italy defeats Czechoslovakia 2-1 in Rome to win the second FIFA World Cup™.
The USSR and Romania establish diplomatic relations.
11 June 1934 The Geneva Disarmament Conference adjourns in failure.
On the occasion of his 70th birthday, Richard Strauss receives presents from Chancellor Adolf Hitler and Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels. The gifts that they bestow on the composer of Salome and Der Rosenkavalier are autographed photographs of themselves.
The Symphony no.1 of Aram Khachaturian (31) is performed for the first time, in a two-piano version before examiners at the Moscow Conservatory. It is his final examination before graduation and he receives the grade of “excellent.” See 23 April 1935.
12 June 1934 Political parties are banned by the new conservative government of Bulgaria.
13 June 1934 Keep that schoolgirl complexion op.139/1 for voice, flute and piano by Charles Koechlin (66) to his own words is performed for the first time, Darius Milhaud (41) at the keyboard. See 17 January 1986.
14 June 1934 Hitler lands in Venice for his first meeting with Benito Mussolini. Although officially friendly and cordial, the two most powerful fascist dictators do not hit it off.
16 June 1934 George Gershwin (35) sails from New York for Charleston, South Carolina. He will work with DuBose Heyward on Porgy and Bess.
17 June 1934 Vice-Chancellor Franz von Papen addresses an audience at the University of Marburg. He urges Hitler to break with the excesses of Ernst Röhm and his SA, and criticizes Goebbels and the one-party state.
19 June 1934 After six weeks of war, peace is concluded between Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
The US Congress passes the Silver Purchase Act requiring the government’s holdings of silver to be at least one-third that of its gold holdings.
The Communications Law of 1934 is enacted in the US. It creates the Federal Communications Commission.
A Cool Million by Nathaniel West is published in New York.
20 June 1934 Oxford University confers an honorary DMus on Arnold Bax (50).
Three works by Heitor Villa-Lobos (47) are performed for the first time, in the Teatro João Caetano, Rio de Janeiro, under the baton of the composer: Concerto brasileiro for two pianos and chorus, Ena-Môkôcê for solo voice, chorus, and percussion, and Papi curumiassú for solo voice and chorus.
22 June 1934 A concert in memory of Gustav Holst takes place over the airwaves of the BBC.
23 June 1934 The Corporation of Entertainment is established by order of Mussolini to oversee the performing arts.
24 June 1934 The ashes of the earthly remains of Gustav Holst are interred in the north transept of Chichester Cathedral. Music of Weelkes (†310), Vaughan Williams, and Holst is conducted by his longtime friend, Ralph Vaughan Williams (61).
Concerto in One Movement for piano and orchestra by Florence Price (47) is performed for the first time, at the 67th commencement exercises of the Chicago Musical College, the composer at the keyboard.
30 June 1934 Believing that a putsch is in progress against him, Hitler institutes a widespread purge, including executions and arrests. Vice-Chancellor Franz von Papen is placed under house arrest. Former Chancellor Kurt von Schleicher and his wife are killed. SA leader Ernst Röhm is arrested. (The Night of the Long Knives)
1 July 1934 SA leader Ernst Röhm is shot in his cell at Stadelheim Prison, Berlin, on orders of Adolf Hitler.
The Communications Act becomes effective in the United States setting up the seven-person Federal Communications Commission to replace the Federal Radio Commission.
2 July 1934 The last of the purge executions in Germany takes place by 04:00. An unknown number of people have been killed or imprisoned.
8 July 1934 Keisuke Okada replaces Count Makato Saito as Prime Minister of Japan.
12 July 1934 Belgium prohibits uniformed political parties.
13 July 1934 Meeting in the Kroll Opera House, the Reichstag unanimously approves measures taken by Hitler in the purge of 30 June-2 July.
15 July 1934 Harrison Birtwistle is born in Accrington, Lancashire, an only child.
16 July 1934 A new constitution for Brazil, containing some fascist elements, is approved.
17 July 1934 El Sol, a corrido mexicano for chorus and orchestra by Carlos Chávez (35) to traditional words reworked by Gutiérrez Cruz, is performed for the first time, in San Angel near Mexico City the composer conducting. Also on the program is the premiere of Caminos for orchestra by Silvestre Revueltas (34).
18 July 1934 Roger Lee Reynolds is born in Detroit, son of George Arthur Reynolds and Katherine Adelaide Butler.
22 July 1934 Notorious criminal John Dillinger is shot to death in a hail of bullets from FBI agents as he exits the Biograph Theatre, Chicago.
25 July 1934 Austrian Nazis begin a putsch against the government of Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss. 150 men storm the chancellery and shoot Dollfuss in the neck, leaving him to slowly bleed to death. Mussolini is particularly distressed by the move as at that moment, by coincidence, Frau Dollfuss and her children are his houseguests. It falls to Il Duce to break the news to them. The Austrian chancellor finally dies at 18:00, but the putsch fails.
26 July 1934 Ernst Rüdiger Starhemberg replaces Engelbert Dollfuss as Chancellor of Austria.
Per la flor del Lliri Blau for orchestra by Joaquín Rodrigo (32) is performed for the first time, in Valencia.
30 July 1934 Kurt Schuschnigg replaces Ernst Rüdiger Starhemberg as Chancellor of Austria.
A bomb goes off in Salzburg during a performance of Tristan und Isolde conducted by Bruno Walter. It causes minor damage.
1 August 1934 Merlino, mastro d’organi, a dramma musicale by Gian Francesco Malipiero (52) to his own words, is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of Rome Radio. See 28 March 1972.
2 August 1934 As President von Hindenburg lays dying, the German cabinet resolves to combine the offices of President and Chancellor, to take effect on the death of the President. Minutes later, President Paul Anton Hans Ludwig von Beneckendorf und Hindenburg dies at Neudeck. Immediately, all members of the German armed forces are required to swear allegiance to Hitler personally, rather than to the German state or people. This is the beginning of the Third Reich.
7 August 1934 At Hitler’s insistence, the earthly remains of President Hindenburg are laid to rest at the scene of his greatest victory, Tannenberg (Stebark, Poland).
In the case of United States vs. One Book Called Ulysses, a federal court of appeals in Washington holds that James Joyce’s novel Ulysses may not be banned as obscene.
10 August 1934 James Carl Tenney is born in Silver City, New Mexico.
A Song for Occupations for chorus by Roy Harris (36) to words of Whitman is performed for the first time, in Middlebury, Vermont.
15 August 1934 Paraguayans defeat Bolivians at Picuiba opening the road west.
The last United States troops depart Haiti after an occupation of 19 years.
17 August 1934 The first Congress of Soviet Writers opens in Moscow.
Francis Poulenc (35) accompanies Pierre Bernac in some songs by Claude Debussy (†16) in Salzburg. Although they shared a stage once before, this is the real beginning of their collaboration. See 2 May 1926.
Advancing Paraguayans capture Irendague and El Cruce.
19 August 1934 The German electorate approves the move to unify the offices of President and Chancellor under the title “Führer.” (90% vote yes reported)
22 August 1934 John Chowning is born in Salem, New Jersey.
25 August 1934 Philo T. Farnsworth begins ten days of public demonstrations of his electronic television system at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.
3 September 1934 Bachianas brasileiras no.2 for orchestra by Heitor Villa-Lobos (47) is performed for the first time, in Venice.
5 September 1934 Bolivian forces counterattack behind the advancing Paraguayans on the road between Picuiba and Carandaiti but the Paraguayans are able to escape.
8 September 1934 Peter Maxwell Davies is born in Salford, Lancashire, the son of Thomas Davies, a foreman at a firm producing optical instruments, and Hilda Howard, an amateur painter.
Rapsodia for solo voice and chamber orchestra by Luigi Dallapiccola (30) is performed for the first time, in Venice.
10 September 1934 After days of heavy fighting, surrounded Paraguayans manage to escape the Bolivians at Irendague. They withdraw in good order towards Picuiba.
11 September 1934 Igor Stravinsky (52) and Alban Berg (49) meet for the first time, at a concert in Venice.
13 September 1934 Stefan Wolpe (32) marries his second wife, pianist Irma Schoenberg, in Jerusalem.
15 September 1934 The Australian national elections sees modest losses for the United Australia/Country coalition, but they retain power.
Cefalo e Procri, an opera by Ernst Krenek (34) to words of Küfferle (tr. Krenek), is performed for the first time, in the Goldoni-Theatre, Venice.
La chute des étoiles op.40 for female chorus and piano by Charles Koechlin (66) to words of Leconte de Lisle is performed for the first time, privately at the home of Mme J. Baignères in Paris. See 17 May 1955.
18 September 1934 The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics gains entry into the League of Nations.
Fate, an opera by Leos Janácek (†6) to words of Bartosová and the composer, is performed completely for the first time, over the airwaves of Brno Radio. See 13 March 1934, 25 October 1958 and 8 September 1984.
19 September 1934 Bruno Hauptmann is arrested in New York in connection with the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby.
Quintet for piano and strings by John Alden Carpenter (58) is performed for the first time, in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
20 September 1934 Trio for piano, violin, and cello by Roy Harris (36) is performed for the first time, in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, the composer at the keyboard.
21 September 1934 A typhoon hits Japan killing 4,000 people on Honshu.
Belle of the Nineties, a film with music by Duke Ellington (35), is released in the United States. The film stars Mae West.
22 September 1934 While on a driving tour of Spain northeast of Madrid, with his wife and Roland-Manuel, Arthur Honegger (42) blows a tire on his Bugatti and drives into a tree. The two men are thrown into a nearby field and suffer minor injuries. Vaura Honegger, a professional pianist, breaks both knees and suffers many other fractures. She will not walk for eleven months.
Harry Partch (33) sails from the United States for England aboard the SS Gourko.
26 September 1934 Concerto for string quartet and orchestra by Arnold Schoenberg (60), is performed for the first time, in Prague.
27 September 1934 Afghanistan is admitted to the League of Nations.
Fantasia on Greensleeves for small orchestra by Ralph Vaughan Williams (61) is performed for the first time, in Queen’s Hall, London under the baton of the composer.
28 September 1934 Ecuador is admitted to the League of Nations.
29 September 1934 The Reichsmusikkammer forbids performing artists from using foreign sounding names.
Comedy Overture for brass by John Ireland (55) is performed for the first time, in Crystal Palace, London.
Llamadas for chorus and small orchestra by Carlos Chávez (35) is performed for the first time, under the baton of the composer, at a concert dedicating the new Palace of Fine Arts, Mexico City. In attendance are President Abelardo L. Rodríguez and his cabinet.
30 September 1934 Three lieder, composed in 1880 by Gustav Mahler (†23) to his own words for voice and piano, are performed for the first time, over the airwaves of Brno Radio. The three are: Im Lenz, Winterlied and Maitanz im Grünen.
George Gershwin (36) begins a half-hour-long weekly radio program, “Music by Gershwin”, on Sunday nights over the airwaves of the Columbia Broadcasting System. It will run until 23 December.
1 October 1934 A new law requires that all music publishers in Germany be members of the Reichsmusikkammer.
Arnold Schoenberg (60) takes up residence in Hollywood.
The Mutual Broadcasting System is inaugurated in New York.
Henry Cowell (37) begins teaching a course entitled “Primitive and Folk Origins of Music” at the New School for Social Research in New York. Among his students is John Cage (22).
3 October 1934 Benjamin Aaron Boretz is born in New York, son of Abraham Jacob Boretz and Leah Yullis.
4 October 1934 Alejandro Lerroux y García replaces Ricardo Samper Ibañez as Prime Minister of Spain.
6 October 1934 Federal troops in Barcelona attack the leftist government of Catalonia who have declared an autonomous Catalan State within the Spanish Federal Republic.
7 October 1934 The Catalan government surrenders to Spanish federal troops.
9 October 1934 King Aleksandar II of Yugoslavia and Louis Barthou, French Minister of Foreign Affairs are shot to death in Marseille, along with their driver. The deed is carried out by the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization along with Ustasa, a group of Croatian terrorists, as well as the connivance of Hungary and Italy. King Aleksandar is succeeded by his eleven-year-old son Petar II. (Later investigation has shown that Barthou was probably hit accidentally by a French policeman firing at the assassin.)
11 October 1934 Symphony no.2 by Kurt Weill (34) is performed for the first time, in Amsterdam. Critics are not impressed. It is presented as his First Symphony since he withdrew the symphony of 1919.
16 October 1934 The “Long March” begins as 80,000 communists escape from Kiangsi (Jiangxi).
22 October 1934 Divertimento in quattro Esercizi for soprano and five instruments by Luigi Dallapiccola (30) to anonymous 13th century words is performed for the first time, in Geneva.
23 October 1934 Three Songs for voice and piano by Samuel Barber (24) are performed for the first time, in Philadelphia: With Rue My Heart is Laden, to words of Houseman, Bessie Bobtail, and The Daisies, both to words of Stephens.
30 October 1934 Clara (Reisenberg) Rockmore makes her debut as the first Theremin virtuoso in Town Hall, New York. It is a great critical success.
Alfredo Casella (51) is awarded the Coolidge Medal by the Library of Congress, Washington.
4 November 1934 Divertimento for orchestra by Igor Stravinsky (52), arranged from Le baiser de la fée, is performed for the first time, in Paris conducted by the composer.
5 November 1934 Danza Geométrica for orchestra by Silvestre Revueltas (34) is performed for the first time, in the Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City.
6 November 1934 Voting in the United States returns members of the Congress. The ruling Democratic Party adds to its already large majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate.
7 November 1934 Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini for piano and orchestra by Sergey Rakhmaninov (61) is performed for the first time, in Baltimore the composer at the keyboard. It is an immediate success.
8 November 1934 The Swiss Banking Law is enacted, codifying the practice of secret bank accounts in Switzerland.
9 November 1934 Pierre Étienne Flandin replaces Pierre Paul Henri Gaston Doumergue as Prime Minister of France.
12 November 1934 Suite for viola and small orchestra by Ralph Vaughan Williams (62) is performed for the first time, in Queen’s Hall, London.
13 November 1934 Paraguayan troops capture Cañada El Carmen, well to the Bolivian rear, encircling large numbers of Bolivians.
14 November 1934 The first three of the Vier Bauernstücke aus Georgica for orchestra by Werner Egk (33) is performed for the first time, in Carnegie Hall, New York.
Harry Partch (33) meets William Butler Yeats at the poet’s home in Rathfarnham near Dublin. Partch sings his setting of Yeats’ By the Rivers of Babylon. Yates is unimpressed by Partch’s voice but enthralled with his music. Partch will spend seven days in Dublin, four of them with Yeats.
16 November 1934 The Reichsmusikkammer equates Paul Hindemith (38) with Richard Strauss (70) and Hans Pfitzner (65) as “the only true composers and articles of export.” Hindemith has threatened to emigrate if attacks on him are not stopped.
17 November 1934 Bolivian troops abandon Ballivián to come to the aid of their comrades at Cañada El Carmen. Before they arrive, the surrounded Bolivians surrender. Paraguayan troops walk into Ballivián unmolested.
Just after leaving a meeting of the Jeunesses Communistes Belges in Brussels, Marc Blitzstein (29) and his wife are arrested by Belgian police.
18 November 1934 After spending a night in a Brussels jail, Marc Blitzstein (29) and his wife are deported from Belgium to France. They are never told the reason for their detention.
19 November 1934 Georges Theunis replaces Charles, Comte de Broqueville as Prime Minister of Belgium.
Sinfonietta for strings by Albert Roussel (65) is performed for the first time, in the Salle Gaveau, Paris.
21 November 1934 Anything Goes, with a book by Bolton, Wodehouse, Lindsay, and Crouse, and with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, opens in New York.
22 November 1934 An armed group of Ethiopians arrives at Ual Ual, a fort set up by Italy in 1930 in the Ogaden within Ethiopian territory. They tell the Italian colonial troops within to withdraw and return to Somaliland.
23 November 1934 Piano Concerto no.1 by Darius Milhaud (42) is performed for the first time, in Paris.
Aaron Copland’s (34) Short Symphony is performed for the first time, in Mexico City conducted by Carlos Chávez (35).
24 November 1934 Violent clashes between Czech and German students take place at the University of Prague over the next three days.
Alfred Garryevich Schnittke is born in Engels (Boronsk) in the Autonomous Republic of the Volga Germans, USSR, the son of Harry (Garry) Viktorovich Schnittke, a journalist and translator, and Maria Iosifovna Vogel, a German teacher.
25 November 1934 In the Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, Wilhelm Fürtwängler, vice-president of the Reichsmusikkammer, publishes an article strongly defending Paul Hindemith (39) who was the subject of a Nazi boycott. He also condemns politics invading art. In the evening, at the Berlin Staatsoper, Furtwängler is unable to begin the performance he is to conduct until he receives an ovation lasting 20 minutes. See 6 December 1934.
Saxophone Concerto by Alyeksandr Glazunov (69) is performed for the first time, in Nyköping, Sweden.
26 November 1934 President Mustafa Kemal of Turkey changes his name to Kemal Atatürk as the Turkish government abolishes titles of nobility.
Hungarian Sketches for orchestra by Béla Bartók (53) is performed completely for the first time, in Budapest. See 24 January 1932.
27 November 1934 At Casa Staudt, the Bolivian military induce President Daniel Domingo Salamanca Urey to resign. He is replaced by Vice President José Luis Tejada Sorzano.
28 November 1934 Parts of the original version of Gustav Mahler’s (†23) cantata Das klagende Lied to his own words is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of Radio Brno 64 years after it was composed. See 17 February 1901 and 8 April 1935.
30 November 1934 King Fuad of Egypt suspends the constitution after nationalist riots.
Overture on Hebrew Themes op.34b arranged for orchestra by Sergey Prokofiev (43) is performed for the first time, in Moscow. See 26 January 1920.
After overcoming great political difficulties, Five Symphonic Pieces from Lulu, the unperformed opera by Alban Berg (49), are performed for the first time, in Berlin. Press and public are strongly divided, some voicing loud opinions at the close of the performance. One patron shouts “Heil, Mozart!” The conductor, Erich Kleiber, responds, “You are mistaken, the piece was by Alban Berg.” In a few days, Kleiber, will resign his post as conductor of the Berlin Staatsoper due to the artistic restraints of the Nazi regime.
Holiday Diary op.5, a suite for piano by Benjamin Britten (21), is performed for the first time, in Wigmore Hall, London.
Hear Ye! Hear Ye!, a ballet by Aaron Copland (34) to a scenario by Page, is performed for the first time, at the Chicago Opera House.
1 December 1934 Sergey Kirov, politburo member and heir presumptive to Stalin, is shot to death in Leningrad, probably on orders of Stalin. This will lead to a widespread purge of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
Don Quichotte à Dulcinée, three songs for voice and orchestra by Maurice Ravel (59) to words of Morand, is performed for the first time, in the Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris.
Lázaro Cárdenas del Río replaces Abelardo Luján Rodríguez as President of Mexico.
3 December 1934 The first three movements of William Walton’s (32) Symphony no.1 are performed for the first time, in Queen’s Hall, London. See 6 November 1935.
4 December 1934 Wilhelm Furtwängler resigns his posts as Deputy President of the Reichsmusikkammer, Director of the Berlin Staatsoper, and conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, mostly because the government insists on labeling Paul Hindemith (39) a “cultural Bolshevik.”
Italian-Somalis and Ethiopians battle at Ual Ual in the Ogaden. 157 people are killed.
5 December 1934 Women gain full political rights and legal equality in Turkey.
6 December 1934 Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia protests the Italian incursion into his country and the fighting at Ual Ual.
Speaking in the Berlin Sportpalast, Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels denounces Paul Hindemith (39) (although not by name): “Purely German his blood may be, but this only provides dramatic confirmation of how deeply the Jewish intellectual infection has eaten into the body of our own people.” He also denounces the “moral decay” of atonal composers. Following the speech, a telegram to Goebbels is read congratulating him on “weeding out undesirable elements,” signed by Reichsmusikkammer President Richard Strauss (70). Strauss will deny that he sent the telegram, but there was a telegram sent to Goebbels, drafted by Strauss’ son Franz and approved by Strauss, congratulating Goebbels for going after atonality.
8 December 1934 A Paraguayan force probes deep into Bolivian territory and captures the wells at Irendague intact.
9 December 1934 Bolivian troops abandon El Cruce and retreat north to 27 de Noviembre, many dying of thirst along the way.
11 December 1934 Paraguayan forces capture 27 de Noviembre as the Bolivians straggle west towards Santa Fe.
Coeur en péril op.50/2 for voice and piano by Albert Roussel (65) to words of Chalupt is performed for the first time, in Paris.
13 December 1934 Blue Glass for flute and piano by Lou Harrison (17) is performed for the first time, at his graduation ceremony from Burlingame High School, California, the composer at the keyboard.
15 December 1934 The choir of the AEAR (Association des Écrivains et Artistes Révolutionnaires), France’s most important leftist cultural organization, gives its first performance in a concert hall, at the Salle Pleyel, Paris. They present a program of Soviet music.
Henry Cowell (37) drives from New York to Los Angeles with his student, John Cage (22).
The first public performance of String Quartet no.2 by Virgil Thomson (38) takes place in Avery Auditorium, Hartford, Connecticut. See 14 April 1933.
17 December 1934 Andante and Scherzo for flute and piano op.51 by Albert Roussel (65) is performed for the first time, in Milan.
Movements 1, 3, and 4 of the Suite for violin and piano op.6 by Benjamin Britten (21) are performed for the first time, in Wigmore Hall, London. See 13 March 1936.
18 December 1934 John Alden Carpenter (58) writes to Florence Price (46) agreeing to propose her for membership in ASCAP.
21 December 1934 Bogoljub Jevtic replaces Nikola Uzunovic as Prime Minister of Yugoslavia.
22 December 1934 Incidental music to Déval’s play Marie Galante by Kurt Weill (34) is performed for the first time, in the Théâtre de Paris. It is a failure.
23 December 1934 Karl Amadeus Hartmann (29) marries Elisabeth Reussmann, daughter of the wealthy manager of a ball bearing factory. Her father does not approve of the marriage.
George Gershwin (36) concludes his 30-minute radio program on Sunday nights, “Music by Gershwin.” It has aired since 30 September.
25 December 1934 Cello Sonata op.40 by Dmitri Shostakovich (28) is performed for the first time, in Leningrad Conservatory Malyi Hall, the composer at the piano.
27 December 1934 Igor Stravinsky (52) embarks from France for his second tour of the United States, ten years to the day after leaving on his first American tour.
28 December 1934 Paraguayans attack Bolivians at Ibibobo achieving full surprise.
29 December 1934 The Japanese government formally renounces its participation in the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 and the London Naval Treaty of 1930 which put limits on the size of its navy.
George Gershwin (36) performs at the White House for President Roosevelt.
30 December 1934 Henry Cowell (37) writes to his stepmother from Los Angeles, “...am organizing [new music] society here thru John Cage (22).”
31 December 1934 1,200 surrounded Bolivians surrender to the Paraguayans at Ibibobo.
A suite from Sergey Prokofiev’s (43) score to the film Lieutenant Kijé op.60 is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of Moscow Radio.
©2004-2011 Paul Scharfenberger
19 September 2011
Last Updated (Monday, 19 September 2011 08:50)
