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 premiers in Munich
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.
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.
"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) – 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. ) – 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) – on Victor
"Congo Love Song" (w.m. & 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. m. Harry Von Tilzer) – 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. 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. ) – 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
Emile Pessard – L'Épave premiered on 17 February at the Bouffes-Parisiens, Salle Choiseul, Paris
Sergei Vassilenko – Skazaniye o grade velikom Kitezhe i tikhom ozere Svetoyare ("Tale of the Great City of Kitezh and the Quiet Lake Svetoyar") first staged version is produced in Moscow (originally a cantata, Op. 5)
Dance[]
January 12 - The Devil's Forge is produced by the Alhambra Ballet, London. Choreography by Lucia Cormani, the new prima ballerina, and music by George Byng.
The Duchess of Dantzig London production opened at the Lyric Theatre on October 17 and ran for 236 performances
The Earl and the Girl London production opened at the Adelphi Theatre on December 10 and transferred to the Lyric Theatre on September 12, 1904, for a total run of 371 performances
(Music: Harry von Tilzer) Broadway production opened at the Victoria Theater on October 5 and ran for 32 performances. Starring Al Shean, , , , Dorothy Jardon and .
In Dahomey Broadway production opened at the New York Theatre on February 18 and ran for 53 performances
