This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1903.
Specific locations 1903 in Norwegian music
Events January 1 – The French government awards the Cross of Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur to Claude Debussy. January 3 – Alexander Glazunov's Symphony No. 7 "Pastorale" in F major, Op.70, and the orchestral suite "From the Middle Ages", suite in E major for orchestra Op.79 are premiered. The composer conducts the works at the annual Russian Symphony Concerts at Saint Petersburg. January 16 – Reinhold Gliere's Symphony No 1 in E-flat major, Op. 8, premiers in Moscow. January 28 – Ernani, an opera by Giuseppe Verdi, receives its first New York performance at the Metropolitan Opera. January – The New York Philharmonic Society dispenses with having a regular music director due to declining sales. Walter Damrosch leaves, and the next three seasons are handled by guests conductors. February 11 – Anton Bruckner's unfinished 9th Symphony is posthumously premiered in Vienna. Te Deum substitutes unfinished last movement of the symphony. February 23–March 8 – George Enescu conducts the world premieres of three of his works, the Suite No. 1 for orchestra, op. 9, in C major, and the two Romanian Rhapsodies, op. 11, in A major and D major, as part of a concert at the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest. March 21 – Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari's oratorio La Vita Nuova premieres in Munich. April 30 – Victor cuts its first Red Seal recordings. Soprano Ada Crossley records music at the Cornegie Hall studio, New York City. May 5 – Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's trilogy The Song of Hiawatha receives its first American performance as Charles E. Knauss conducts the Orpheus Oratorio Society in Easton, Pennsylvania. September 9 – Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's sacred cantata The Atonement, Op. 53 receives its first performance at the Hereford Festival in Hereford, England. September – Frederick Delius marries Jelka Rosen. October 8 – Carl Nielsen's overture Helios premieres in Copenhagen, the composer conducting. October 13 – Victor Herbert's Babes in Toyland premieres. October 14 – The Apostles by Edward Elgar receives its world premiere at the Birmhingham Festival in England. November 22 (St Cecilia's Day) – The newly-enthroned Pope Pius X issues his motu proprio, Tra le sollecitudini, promoting the use of traditional music, such as Gregorian chant, in Roman Catholic church services. It prohibits the regular use of orchestral instruments and the use of female singers and restricts contralto and soprano parts to boys, thus finally ending the role of the castrato. November 23 – Enrico Caruso makes his debut with the Metropolitan Opera, New York, singing the role of the Duke of Manrua in Rigoletto. November 25 – Soprano Olive Fremstad debuts at the Metropolitan Opera, New York, as Sieglinde in Die Walküre. unknown dates Enrico Caruso makes first records for the Victor Talking Machine Company. Mississippi John Hurt begins performing. Nicholas Laucella joins the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Charles W. Clark is the first American to give a concert at the Paris National Conservatoire of Music, an honor that had not been given to an American in seventy years of those concerts.
Published popular music
"Always In The Way" w.m. Charles K. Harris "Always Leave Them Laughing When You Say Goodbye" w.m. George M. Cohan "Are We To Part Like This?" w.m. Harry Castling & Charles Collins "Anona" w.m. Vivian Grey "Bedelia" w. William Jerome m. Jean Schwartz "The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous" w.m. Dan McAvoy "The Burning of Rome" by E. T. Paull "By The Sycamore Tree" w. George V. Hobart m. Max Hoffmann "Congo Love Song" w.m. Bob Cole & J. Rosamond Johnson "Daisy Donahue" w. James O'Dea m. Robert J. Adams "Dear Old Girl" w. Richard Henry Buck m. Theodore F. Morse "Dear Sing Sing" Schwartz "Down At The Old Bull And Bush" w.m. Florrie Forde "Flowers Of Dixieland" w. Edgar Smith m. J. Rosamond Johnson "General Hardtack On Guard" w.m. Dave Reed Jr "Good-bye, Eliza Jane" w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Harry Von Tilzer "Hamlet Was A Melancholy Dane" w. William Jerome m. Jean Schwartz "Hannah!" by Joseph Farrell "He Was A Sailor" w. William Jerome m. Jean Schwartz "Hurrah For Baffin's Bay" w. Vincent Bryan m. Theodore F. Morse "I Can't Do The Sum" w. Glen MacDonough m. Victor Herbert "I Could Love You In A Steam Heat Flat" w. Vincent Bryan m. J. B. Mullen "I Never Could Love Like That" Bowman, Johns "Ida, Sweet As Apple Cider" w. Eddie Leonard m. Eddie Munson "I'm A Jonah Man" w.m. Alex Rogers "I'm On The Water Wagon Now" w. Paul West m. John Walter Bratton "I'm Thinking Of You All The While" Reed Jnr "I'm Wearing My Heart Away For You" w.m. Charles K. Harris "In The Village By The Sea" w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Stanley Crawford "Indolence" Jason Mathews "Is Your Mother In, Molly Malone?" w.m. A. J. Mills & George Everard "It Takes the Irish to Beat the Dutch" w. Edward Madden m. Theodore F. Morse "It Was The Dutch" w. Vincent Bryan m. J. B. Mullen "It's The Man In The Sailor Suit" w. Fred C. Farrell m. Theodore F. Morse "Jack Tar March" by John Philip Sousa "Julie" w. William Jerome m. Jean Schwartz "Lazy Moon" w. Bob Cole m. J. Rosamond Johnson "Like A Star That Falls From Heaven" w. Arthur Lamb m. Kerry Mills "Little Yellow Bird" w.m. C. W. Murphy & William Hargreaves "The Maid Of Timbucktoo" w. James Weldon Johnson m. Bob Cole "The March Of The Toys" m. Victor Herbert "Main Gazebo" Chris Praetorius "Mary Ellen" Bryan, Lemonier "Melody Of Love" w. Tom Glazer m. H. Engelmann "The Military Band" m. Victor Herbert "Moriaty" w. Charles Horwitz m. Fred V. Bowers "Mother O' Mine" w. Rudyard Kipling m. Frank E. Tours "My Cosy Corner Girl" w. Charles Noel Douglas m. John Walter Bratton "My Hula Lula Girl" by Jean Schwartz & William Jerome "My Little Coney Isle" w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Harry Von Tilzer "My Little Creole Babe" w.m. Maude Nugent "My Little 'Rang Outang" w. Edward Madden m. Theodore F. Morse "Navajo" w. Harry H. Williams m. Egbert Van Alstyne "An Old Man's Darling" w.m. Fred Murray & George Everard "Only a Dream of the Golden Past" w. Alfred Bryan m. Stanley Crawford "Out Where the Breakers Roar" w. Harlow Hyde m. H. W. Petrie "Over the Pilsner Foam" w. Vincent Bryan m. J. B. Mullen "Palm Leaf Rag" by Scott Joplin "Please Mother, Buy Me a Baby" w.m. Will D. Cobb & Gus Edwards "The Saftest of the Family" w. Harry Lauder & Bobry Beaton m. Harry Lauder "Save It for Me" w. James Weldon Johnson m. Bob Cole "Spring Beautiful Spring" m. Paul Lincke "Summer Breeze March & Two-Step" by James Scott "There's a Little Street in Heaven That They Call Broadway" w. Jack T. Waldron & A. Baldwin Sloane m. A. Baldwin Sloane "Toyland" w. Glen MacDonough m. Victor Herbert "The Toymaker's Shop" m. Victor Herbert "Two Eyes Of Blue" w. George H. Taylor m. Leslie Stuart "Two Eyes Of Brown" w. Edward Madden m. Stephen Howard "Under A Panama" w. Vincent Bryan m. J. B. Mullen "Under the Anheuser Bush" w.m. Andrew B. Sterling & Harry Von Tilzer "Up In A Coconut Tree" w. Edward Madden m. Theodore F. Morse "Upper Broadway After Dark" w. Edward Gardinier m. Maurice Levi "When I'm Away From You Dear" w.m. Paul Dresser "The Woodchuck Song" w. Robert Hobart Davis m. Theodore F. Morse "The Wreck Of The Old '97" w.m. Henry C. Work "Your Dad Gave His Life For His Country" w. Harry J. Breen m. T. Mayo Geary "You're The Flower Of My Heart, Sweet Adeline" w. Richard H. Gerard m. Henry W. Armstrong
Recorded popular music
"Always In The Way" (w.m. Charles K. Harris) – Byron G. Harlan on Edison Records "Any Rags?" (w.m. Thomas S. Allen) – Arthur Collins on Edison "The Arrow And The Song" (w. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow m. Michael William Balfe) – Herbert Goddard on Victor Records "Badinage" (m. Victor Herbert) – Edison Grand Concert Band on Edison "Bedelia" (w. William Jerome m. Jean Schwartz) – George J. Gaskin on Columbia Records – Edward M. Favor on Columbia – Billy Murray on Edison "The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous" (w.m. Dan McAvoy) – Edward M. Favor on Edison – Dan W. Quinn on Victor "Blaze Away" (m. Abe Holzmann) – banjos Vess L. Ossman & Bill Farmer on Victor "Blaze Away" (m. Abe Holzmann) – Kendle's Band on Victor "By The Sycamore Tree" (w. George V. Hobart m. Max Hoffmann) – Harry Macdonough on Edison – Bob Roberts on Columbia – Billy Murray on Victor "Come Down Ma' Evenin' Star" (w. Robert B. Smith m. John Stromberg) – Mina Hickman on Victor "Congo Love Song" (w.m. Bob Cole & J. Rosamond Johnson) – Harry Macdonough on Edison – Mina Hickman on Victor "Could You Be True To Eyes Of Blue If You Looked Into Eyes Of Brown?" (w.m. Will D. Cobb & Gus Edwards) – Harry Macdonough on Victor "The Country Girl" (w. Stanislaus Stange m. Julian Edwards) – Vesta Victoria on Gramophone Records "Didn't Know Exactly What To Do" (w. Frank Pixley m. Gustav Luders) – Edward M. Favor on Edison "Down On The Farm" (w. Raymond A. Browne m. Harry Von Tilzer) – Franklyn Wallace on Edison "Flowers Of Dixieland" (w. Edgar Smith m. J. Rosamond Johnson) – Franklyn Wallace on Edison "The Gambling Man(1)" (w. William Jerome m. Jean Schwartz) – Silas Leachman on Victor "Good-bye, Eliza Jane" (w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Harry Von Tilzer) – Arthur Collins on Edison "Hamlet Was A Melancholy Dane" (w. William Jerome m. Jean Schwartz) – Edward M. Favor on Edison "He Ought To Have A Tablet In The Hall of Fame" (w. Arthur L. Robb m. John Walter Bratton) – Edward M. Favor on Edison "He Was A Sailor" (w. William Jerome m. Jean Schwartz) – Collins & Harlan on Edison "Heidelberg Stein Song" (w. Frank Pixley m. Gustav Luders) – Harry Macdonough on Edison & Victor "Hiawatha" (w. James O'Dea m. Neil Moret) – Edison Grand Concert Band on Edison – Harry Macdonough on Edison – Metropolitan Orchestra on Victor – Sousa's Band on Victor "Hurrah For Baffin's Bay" (w. Vincent Bryan m. Theodore F. Morse) – Collins & Harlan on Edison – Dan W. Quinn on Victor "I Could Love You In A Steam Heat Flat" (w. Vincent Bryan m. J. B. Mullen) – Harry West on Edison "I Like You, Lil, For Fair" (Ade, Loraine) – Billy Murray on Victor "I Never Could Love Like That" (Bowman, Johns) – Billy Murray on Victor "I Want To Be A Lidy" (w. George Dance m. George Dee) – Clarke's Band Of Providence on Victor "I Wonder Why Bill Bailey Don't Come Home" (w.m. Frank Fogerty, Matt C. Woodward & William Jerome) – Arthur Collins on Victor & Edison "I'll Wed You In The Golden Summertime" (w. Alfred Bryan m. Stanley Crawford) – John H. Bieling & Harry Macdonough on Victor "I'm A Jonah Man" (w.m. Alex Rogers) – Dan W. Quinn on Victor – Arthur Collins on Edison & Victor "I'm Thinking Of You All The While" (Reed Jnr) – Billy Murray on Victor "I'm Wearing My Heart Away For You" (w.m. Charles K. Harris) – Harry Macdonough & John H. Bieling on Victor "In Silence" (w. Sydney Rosenfeld m. A. Baldwin Sloane) – Arthur Clifford on Edison "In The City Of Sighs And Tears" (w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Kerry Mills) – J. W. Myers on Victor "In the Good Old Summer Time" (w. Ren Shields m. George "Honey Boy" Evans) – Haydn Quartet on Victor – S. H. Dudley & Harry Macdonough with Sousa's Band on Victor – Harry Macdonough on Victor "In The Sweet Bye And Bye" (w. Vincent P. Bryan m. Harry Von Tilzer) – J. Aldrich Libbey on Edison "In The Village By The Sea" (w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Stanley Crawford) – Byron G. Harlan on Edison "It Takes The Irish To Beat The Dutch" (w. Edward Madden m. Theodore F. Morse) – Billy Murray on Victor Monarch "It Was The Dutch" (w. Vincent Bryan m. J. B. Mullen) – Collins & Harlan on Edison "Juanita" (w. Caroline Norton m. trad Sp.) – Haydn Quartette on Victor "Julie" (w. Wiliam Jerome m. Jean Schwartz) – Edward M. Favor on Edison "Just For Tonight(1)" (w.m. Frank O. French) – Albert C. Campbell on Edison