istoryworld
Events relating to music
Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt has its premiere in Oslo, with incidental music by Edvard Grieg
Georges Bizet's opera Carmen has its premiere in Paris and meets at first with a lukewarm response
Russian composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky begins an intense correspondence with a wealthy patron, Nadezhda von Meck
Richard Wagner's sequence of four operas, The Ring of the Nibelungen, has its first complete performance at Bayreuth
Johannes Brahms' first symphony has its premiere in Karlsruhe
The ballet Swan Lake, with choreography by Julius Wenzel Reisinger to music by Tchaikovsky, has its premiere at the Bolshoi in Moscow
Czech composer Anton Dvorák writes his first set of Slavonic Dances, originally as piano duets
Tchaikovsky's opera Eugene Onegin, based on Pushkin's poem, has its premiere in Moscow
Russian composer Alexander Borodin writes In the Steppes of Central Asia as part of the silver jubilee celebrations for Alexander II
Johannes Brahms' Academic Festival Overture is performed first at Breslau university, which has conferred on him an honorary Ph.D.
Alexander Borodin dies without finishing his opera Prince Igor (completed later by Rimsky-Korsakov and Glazunov)
Giuseppe Verdi's opera Otello has its premeiere at La Scala in Milan
The Australian soprano Nellie Melba makes her operatic debut as Gilda in Rigoletto in Brussels
The tone poem Don Juan, by the 25-year-old Richard Strauss, has a passionately mixed response at its premiere in Weimar
English musicologist George Grove completes publication of his four-volume Dictionary of Music and Musicians
Austrian composer Gustav Mahler conducts the premiere in Budapest of his first symphony, described as a 'symphonic poem'
Sleeping Beauty, with choreography by Petipa to music by Tchaikovsky, has its premiere in St Petersburg
A Gaelic pressure group, the Highland Association, is founded to preserve the indigenous poetry and music of Scotland
Dvorák takes a job in New York as director of the National Conservatory, returning to Prague in 1895
The Nutcracker, with choreography by Lev Ivanov to music by Tchaikovsky, has its premiere in St Petersburg
The French chef Auguste Escoffier creates and names a dessert in honour of the Australian soprano Nellie Melba
Giacomo Puccini has his first success when his opera Manon Lescaut opens in Turin
In Falstaff Giuseppe Verdi writes his last opera, and his only comedy since the early days of his career.
Anton Dvorák's Ninth Symphony, subtitled 'From the New World', has its first performance in New York
Tchaikovsky's symphony no. 6, known as the 'Pathetic' or Pathétique, has its premiere in St Petersburg
