1915 in music

Events

• Tom Brown's band from New Orleans goes to Chicago, Illinois and start advertising themselves as a "Jass Band"
• Herbert Howells is given six months to live, and becomes the first person in the UK to receive radium treatment (he will live on until 1983).

Published popular music

• "Alabama Jubilee" w.m. Jack Yellen & George L. Cobb
• "All For You" w. Henry Blossom m. Victor Herbert
• "Along The Rocky Road To Dublin" w. Joe Young m. Bert Grant
• "America, I Love You" w. Edgar Leslie m. Archie Gottler
• "Araby" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "Are You From Dixie?" w.m. Jack Yellen & George L. Cobb
• "Are You The O'Reilly? (Blime Me, O' Reilly, You Are Lookin' Well)" Rooney, Emmett
• "The Army Of Today's All Right" w.m. Kenneth Lyle & Fred W. Leigh
• "Auf Wiedersehen" w. Herbert Reynolds m. Sigmund Romberg, from the musical The Blue Paradise
• "Babes In The Wood" w. Schuyler Greene & Jerome Kern m. Jerome Kern
• "Baby Shoes" w. Joe Goodwin & Ed Rose m. Al Piantadosi
• "Beatrice Fairfax, Tell Me What To Do" w.m. Grant Clarke, Joseph McCarthy, & James V. Monaco
• "Blame It On The Blues" Cooke
• "Canadian Capers" w. Earl Burnett m. Gus Chandler, Bert White & Henry Cohan
• "Close To My Heart" by A.B. Sterling
• "Dear Old-Fashioned Irish Songs, My Mother Sang To Me" Bryan, Von Tilzer
• "Don't Bite The Hand That Feeds You" w. Thomas Hoier m. James Morgan
• "Down In Bom-Bombay" w. Ballard MacDonald m. Harry Carroll
• "Everything In America Is Ragtime" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "Fascination" w.m. Harold Atteridge & Sigmund Romberg
• "Gasoline Gus And His Jitney Bus" Gay, Brown
• "Georgia Grind" w.m. Spencer Williams
• "The Girl On The Magazine Cover" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "Hello Frisco!" w. Gene Buck m. Louis A. Hirsch
• "Hello Hawaii, How Are You?" w. Bert Kalmar & Edgar Leslie m. Jean Schwartz
• "The Hesitating Blues" w.m. W. C. Handy
• "I Can Beat You Doing What You're Doing Me" w.m. Clarence Williams & Armand J. Piron
• "I Didn't Raise My Boy To Be A Soldier" w. Alfred Bryan m. Al Piantadosi
• "I Love A Piano" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "I Wish I Was An Island In An Ocean Of Girls" w. Henry Blossom m. Victor Herbert
• "I'd Rather Be A Lamp-Post On Old Broadway" Benjamin Hapgood Burt
• "If I Can't Sing The Words, You Must Whistle The Tune" Hermann Darewski
• "If We Can't Be The Same Old Sweethearts" w. Joe McCarthy m. James V. Monaco
• "I'm Simply Crazy Over You" w. William Jerome & E. Ray Goetz m. Jean Schwartz
• "In A Monastery Garden" m. Albert William Ketèlbey
• "Ireland Is Ireland To Me" w. Fiske O'Hara & J. Keirn Brennan m. Ernest R. Ball
• "It's Tulip Time In Holland" w. Dave Radford m. Richard A. Whiting
• "I've Been Floating Down The Old Green River" w. Bert Kalmar m. Joe Cooper
• "I've Gotta Go Back To Texas" Irving Berlin
• "Just Try To Picture Me (Back Home In Tennessee)" w. William Jerome m. Walter Donaldson
• "The Ladder Of Roses" w. R. H. Burnside m. Raymond Hubbell
• "The Little House Upon The Hill" w. Ballard MacDonald & Joe Goodwin m. Harry Puck
• "Love Is The Best Of All" w. Henry Blossom m. Victor Herbert
• "Love, Here Is My Heart" w. Adrian Ross m. Lãu Silésu
• "The Magic Melody" w. Schuyler Greene m. Jerome Kern
• "Memories" w. Gustave Kahn m. Egbert Van Alstyne
• "Molly Dear It's You I'm After" w. Frank Wood m. Henry E. Pether
• "M-O-T-H-E-R" w. Howard Johnson m. Theodore F. Morse
• "My Little Girl" w. Sam M. Lewis & William Dillon m. Albert Von Tilzer
• "My Mother's Rosary" w. Sam M. Lewis m. George W. Meyer
• "My Sweet Adair" w.m. L. Wolfe Gilbert & Anatole Friedland
• "Neapolitan Love Song" w. Henry Blossom Jr m. Victor Herbert
• "Nola" m.Felix Arndt
• "Norway" by Joe McCarthy
• "On The Beach At Waikiki" w. G. H. Stover m. Henry Kailimai
• "Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag" w. George Asaf m. Felix Powell
• "Paper Doll" w.m. Johnny S. Black
• "The Perfect Song" w. Clarence Lucas m. Joseph Carl Breil
• "Please Keep Out Of My Dreams" w.m. Elsa Maxwell
• "Ragging The Scale" w. Dave Ringle m. Edward B. Claypole
• "Ragtime Pipe of Pan" w. Harold J. Atteridge m. Sigmund Romberg from the revue A World of Pleasure
• "Railroad Jim" by Nat H. Vincent
• "She's The Daughter Of Mother Machree" w. Jeff T. Branen m. Ernest R. Ball
• "Siam" w. Howard Johnson m. Fred Fisher
• "So Long Letty" by Earl Carroll
• "Some Little Bug Is Going To Find You" w. Benjamin Hapgood Burt & Roy Atwell m. Silvio Hein. Introduced by Roy Atwell in the musical Alone at Last.
• "Some Sort Of Somebody" w. Elsie Janis m. Jerome Kern
• "Song Of The Islands" w.m. Charles E. King
• "That Hula Hula" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "There Must Be Little Cupids In The Briny" Jack Foley
• "There's A Broken Heart For Every Light On Broadway" w. Howard Johnson m. Fred Fisher
• "There's A Little Lane Without A Turning On The Way To Home Sweet Home" w. Sam M. Lewis m. George W. Meyer
• "Underneath The Stars" w. Fleta Jan Brown m. Herbert Spencer
• "We'll Have A Jubilee In My Old Kentucky Home" w. Coleman Goetz m. Walter Donaldson
• "When I Get Back To The USA" w.m Irving Berlin
• "When I Leave The World Behind" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "When Old Bill Bailey Plays The Ukulele" w.m. Charles McCarron & Nat Vincent
• "When You're In Love With Someone" w.m. Grant Clarke & Al Piantadosi
• "Which Switch Is The Switch, Miss, For Ipswich?" David, Barnett & Darewski
• "You Can't Mend A Broken Heart" by Shelton Brooks
• "You Know And I Know" w. Schuyler Greene m. Jerome Kern
• "You'll Always Be The Same Sweet Girl" w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Harry Von Tilzer

Hit recordings

• "Carry Me Back To Old Virginny" by Alma Gluck
• "It's A Long Way To Tipperary" by John McCormack
• "I Didn't Raise My Boy to be a Soldier" by Morton Harvey

Classical music

• Claude Debussy - En blanc et noir
• Jesus Guridi - Así cantan los chicos
• Federico Mompou - L'Hora Gris (Grey Hour)
• Heitor Villa-Lobos - String Quartets 1 & 2

Opera

• Umberto Giordano - Madame Sans-Gene
• Scott Joplin - Treemonisha (the only performance during his lifetime)

Musical theater

• Alone at Last Broadway production opened at the Shubert Theatre on October 14 and ran for 180 performances
• Betty London production opened at Daly's Theatre on April 24 and ran for 391 performances
• Bric-A-Brac London production opened at the Palace Theatre on September 18.
• 5064 Gerrard London revue opened at the Alhambra Theatre on March 19.
• Hip-Hip-Hooray Broadway revue opened at the Hippodrome Theatre on September 30 and ran for 425 performances.
• Maid in America Broadway production opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on February 18 and ran for 108 performances.
• The Blue Paradise Broadway production opened at the Casino Theatre on August 5 and ran for 356 performances.
• The Only Girl London production opened at the Apollo Theatre on September 25 and ran for 107 performances.
• The Passing Show Of 1915 Broadway revue opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on May 29 and ran for 145 performances.
• Shell Out London production opened at the Comedy Theatre on August 24 and ran for 315 performances.
• Stop! Look! Listen! Broadway production opened at the Globe Theatre on December 25 and ran for 105 performances.
• Tonight's The Night London production opened at the Gaiety Theatre on April 18 and ran for 460 performances.
• Very Good Eddie Broadway production opened at the Princess Theatre on December 23 and ran for 341 performances
• A World of Pleasure Broadway revue opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on October 14 and ran for 116 performances.
• Ziegfeld Follies Of 1915 Broadway revue opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre on June 21 and ran for 104 performances

Births

• January 6 - Bob Copper, folk singer (d. 2004)
• January 25 - Ewan MacColl, folk singer and songwriter (d. 1989)
• January 27 - Jack Brymer, clarinettist (d. 2003)
• January 29 - John Serry, Sr., concert accordionist, composer & arranger (d. 2003)
• January 30 - Dorothy Dell, actress and singer (d. 1934)
• February 4 - Ray Evans, songwriter (d. 2007)
• March 10 - Sir Charles Groves, conductor (d. 1992)
• March 20 - Sister Rosetta Tharpe, gospel singer (d. 1973)
• March 20 - Sviatoslav Richter, pianist (d. 1997)
• March 28 - Jay Livingston, songwriter (d. 2001)
• March 29 - George Chisholm, jazz trombonist and comedian (d. 1997)
• April 4 - Muddy Waters (d. 1983)
• April 7 - Billie Holiday, blues singer (d. 1959)
• April 12 - Hound Dog Taylor, blues musician (d. 1975)
• April 29 - Donald Mills, US singer of the Mills Brothers (d. 1999)
• May 5 - Alice Faye, US actress and singer (d. 1998)
• May 8 - Nan Wynn, US singer (d. 1971)
• May 25 - Ginny Simms, US singer (d. 1994)
• May 27 - Midge Williams, jazz singer (d. 1952)
• June 1 - Bart Howard, composer and pianist (d. 2004)
• June 9 - Les Paul, musician, inventor of the solid body electric guitar
• June 12 - Priscilla Lane, US singer and actress (d. 1995)
• June 17 - David "Stringbean" Akeman, US country musician (d. 1973)
• June 28 - David Honeyboy Edwards, blues musician
• July 9 - David Diamond, classical composer (d. 2005)
• July 15 - Frankie Yankovic, polka musician (d. 1998)
• July 23 - Emmett Berry, jazz trumpeter (d. 1993)
• July 31 - George Forrest, musical theatre writer (d. 1999)
• August 6 - Jacques Abram, pianist (d. 1998)
• August 24 - Wynonie Harris, US singer (d. 1969)
• August 26 - Humphrey Searle, composer (d. 1982)
• September 3 - Memphis Slim, blues musician (d. 1988)
• September 5 - Florencio Morales Ramos, singer, trovador and composer (d. 1989)
• September 12 - Billy Daniels, US singer (d. 1988)
• September 23 - Julius Baker, flautist (d. 2003)
• September 24 - Ettore Gracis, conductor (d. 1992)
• October 10 - Sweets Edison, jazz trumpeter (d. 1999)
• October 15 - Nellie Lutcher, jazz singer and pianist (d. 2007)
• November - Jane Jarvis, jazz pianist and composer
• November 9 - Hanka Bielicka, Polish singer and actress (d. 2006)
• November 14 - Billy Bauer, jazz guitarist (d. 2005)
• December 12 - Frank Sinatra, US singer and actor (d. 1998)
• December 19 - Édith Piaf, French singer (d. 1963)
• December 25 - Pete Rugolo, Italian-born US pianist and bandleader
• December 30 - Brownie McGhee, folk-blues singer and guitarist (d. 1996)
• date unknown - Fulgencio Aquino, Venezuelan harpist and composer (d. 1994)

Deaths

• January 2 - Karl Goldmark, composer (b. 1830)
• January 21 - Louis Gregh, composer and publisher (b. 1843)
• January 22 - Anna Bartlett Warner, songwriter (b. 1827)
• February 12
• Emile Waldteufel, composer (b. 1837)
• Fanny Crosby, hymn-writer (b. 1820)
• March 12 - Heinrich Schülz-Beuthen, composer (b. 1838)
• April 27 - Alexander Scriabin, composer (b. 1872)
• May 7 - Charles Frohman, Broadway producer (b. 1856) (drowned in sinking of Lusitania)
• June 9 - Enrico Rocca, violin maker (b. 1847)
• June 19 - Sergei Taneyev, pianist and composer (b. 1856)
• June 25 - Rafael Joseffy, pianist and composer (b. 1852)
• September 15 - Isidor Bajić, composer (b. 1878)
• September 29 - Rudi Stephan, composer (b. 1887) (killed in action)
• October 2 - Russell Alexander, entertainer and composer (b. 1877)
• October 5
• Otto Malling, organist and composer (b. 1848)
• Jose Maria Usandizaga, composer (b. 1887)
• October 26 - August Bungert, composer and poet (b. 1845)
• November 14 - Teodor Leszetycki, pianist and composer (b. 1830)
• December 10 - David Jenkins, composer (b. 1848)
• date unknown
• Henry Hart, entertainer and composer (b. 1839)
• Billy Kersands, dancer (b. c. 1842)
• Sigismund Zaremba, composer (b. 1861)