1859 in music

Events
January 14 – Hans von Bülow interrupts a performance of Franz Liszt's Die Ideale at the Berlin Singakademie to ask for hostile elements in the audience to be silent.[1] January 22 - The First Piano Concerto of Johannes Brahms is given its first public performance in Hanover. February 8 – Count Michael Wielhorsky invites musical associates to his home in an attempt to revive the Symphonic Society; this indirectly results in the formation of the Russian Musical Society, under the patronage of Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna and her protégé, Anton Rubinstein.[1] March 4 – Charter of the French Opera House, New Orleans, which opens on December 1 of the same year with a gala performance of Rossini's William Tell. March 11 – Giuseppe Verdi announces his retirement to friends at a dinner party.[1] March 12 - The Prelude to Act 1 of Tristan und Isolde receives its first public performance at the Sophieninselsaal in Prague, in a charity concert in aid of poor medical students, conducted by Hans von Bülow, who provided his own concert ending for the occasion. April 3 – Richard Wagner takes up residence in Lucerne, Switzerland.[1] April 4 – Bryants Minstrels give the first performance of "Dixie" at Mechanics' Hall, New York City. April 4 - Tannhäuser is performed at the Stadt Theater in New York City under the musical direction of Carl Bergmann. It is the first performance of a Wagner opera in the United States. May 6 – At the first concert of the Victoria Philharmonic Society, its future conductor John Bayley is a soloist on both clarinet and violin.[2] July 1 – A monument to George Frideric Handel (by Hermann Heidel) is unveiled in his birthplace, Halle; Franz Liszt is among those present. October 23 – Richard Wagner and an ailing Hector Berlioz meet in Paris and make up their differences.[1] December 19 – César Franck inaugurates the new organ at the basilia of Sainte-Clotilde, Paris, an instrument built by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll.[1] Alexander Borodin begins a period of chemical research at Heidelberg, working on benzene derivatives. Alberto Mazzucato becomes musical director of La Scala opera house. Richard Wagner finishes his opera Tristan und Isolde. The Prelude to Act 1 receives its first public performance on March 2.

Published popular music[edit] "Darling little blue eyed Nell" w. B. E. Woolf m. Frederick Buckley In 1859, John Freeman Young published the English translation of Silent Night that is most frequently sung today.

Singles

 * 1) Diapason at 435 Hz Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville

Classical music
Charles-Valentin Alkan -Concerto for Solo Piano Mily Balakirev – Overture to King Lear[3] Johannes Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 Serenade No. 2 in A

Felix Draeseke – Helges Treue Edvard Grieg 23 Little Piano Pieces, EG 104 Siehst du das Meer, for voice and piano

Fromental Halévy – Italie (cantata) Franz Liszt Totentanz first version of Psalm 23 Prelude after a theme from Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen for piano Deux Épisodes d'apres le Faust de Lenau (orchestral arrangement) Te Deum for chorus, organ, brass and percussion

Opera
César Cui – The Mandarin's Son Léo Delibes – L'Omelette à la Follembuche Charles Gounod – Faust first performed in Paris. Libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on a work by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Giacomo Meyerbeer – Le pardon de Ploërmel Giuseppe Verdi – Un ballo in maschera

Musical theater
Going It Blind – Broadway production Jacques Offenbach – Les vivandières de la grande armée