January 30, 1861:
Martin Karl Löffler (Charles Martin Loeffler) is born in Mulhouse, Alsace, French Empire, or Schöneberg, near Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, the second of seven children born to Karl Löffler, a writer and teacher and Julie Charlotte Helena Schwerdtmann, daughter of a carpet retailer. (Loeffler always claimed to be a native Alsatian, but there is no evidence to support that)
April 10, 1881:
Henry Lee Higginson signs a contract with Charles Martin Loeffler (20) for Loeffler to play in his newly founded Boston Symphony Orchestra. Loeffler will move to Boston in September from New York. “It was the only member of the orchestra whom he personally and independently hired, ‘and it was the best.’”
July 16, 1881:
Charles Martin Loeffler (20) sails from Le Havre aboard Le Canada emigrating to the United States.
July 27, 1881:
Le Canada docks in New York, eleven days out of Le Havre. Aboard is the latest immigrant to America, Charles Martin Loeffler (20).
November 16, 1883:
Charles Martin Loeffler (22) performs as violin soloist for the first time with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He plays Benjamin Godard’s Concerto romantique.
November 26, 1883:
Charles Martin Loeffler (22) becomes a citizen of the United States in a Boston district court.
January 9, 1884:
Amy Marcy Cheney (16) gives her first public recital, in Chickering Hall, Boston. The critics are generally positive. Among the assisting musicians is Charles Martin Loeffler (22).
March 26, 1884:
Charles Martin Loeffler (23) sails from Boston for Europe. He will continue his studies in violin with Hubert Léonard in Paris.
September 6, 1885:
After one-and-a-half years in Europe, Charles Martin Loeffler (24) sails from Europe for Boston.
April 6, 1886:
Charles Martin Loeffler (25) becomes engaged to Elise Fay, member of a wealthy family who are important patrons of music in Boston. She is an excellent amateur pianist and met Loeffler by playing chamber music with him.
May 23, 1887:
Charles Martin Loeffler (26) is made an American citizen.
November 20, 1891:
Les veillées d l’Ukraine, a suite for orchestra, violin, and harp by Charles Martin Loeffler (30), is performed for the first time, in the Music Hall, Boston, the composer as soloist. It is extremely successful.
April 12, 1892:
The second and third movements of Charles Martin Loeffler’s (31) String Quartet are performed for the first time, in Union Hall, Boston.
February 27, 1893:
String Sextet by Charles Martin Loeffler (32) is performed for the first time, in Chickering Hall, Boston.
February 2, 1894:
Morceau fantastique for cello and orchestra by Charles Martin Loeffler (33) is performed for the first time, in the Music Hall, Boston. Audience and critics love it.
January 4, 1895:
Divertissement for violin and orchestra op.1 by Charles Martin Loeffler (33) is performed for the first time, in the Music Hall, Boston conducted by the composer.
February 18, 1895:
String Quintet by Charles Martin Loeffler (34) is performed for the first time, in Union Hall, Boston. Critics are generally, though not universally, pleased.
February 15, 1897:
Octet for two clarinets, two violins, viola, cello, bass, and harp by Charles Martin Loeffler (36) is performed for the first time, in Association Hall, Boston.
November 30, 1897:
Four songs for voice, viola, and piano by Charles Martin Loeffler (36) are performed for the first time, in Steinert Hall, Boston: La cloche félée and Harmonie du soir to words of Beaudelaire, and Dansons la gigue! and Sérénade to words of Verlaine.
January 7, 1898:
La mort de Tintagiles op.6 for two violas d’amore and orchestra by Charles Martin Loeffler (36) is performed for the first time, in the Music Hall, Boston. The composer plays one solo part.
May 10, 1900:
Four songs for voice and piano by Charles Martin Loeffler (39) to words of Kahn are performed for the first time, at Green Hill, the summer home of Isabella Stewart Gardner, in Brookline, Massachusetts: Adieu pour jamais, Les soirs d’automne, Timbres oubliés and Les Paons.
January 29, 1901:
The Divertissement espagnol for saxophone and orchestra, by Charles Martin Loeffler is performed for the first time, in Chickering Hall, Boston on the eve of the composer’s 40th birthday.
March 5, 1901:
L’archet op.26 for soprano, viola d’amore, women’s chorus, and piano by Charles Martin Loeffler (40) to words of Cros, is performed for the first time, in a private performance in the home of JM Sears, Boston. The composer performs on viola d’amore. See 4 February 1902.
December 16, 1901:
Deux Rhapsodies for oboe, viola, and piano by Charles Martin Loeffler (40) is performed for the first time, in Chickering Hall, Boston, the composer playing the viola part.
February 4, 1902:
Three new works are performed for the first time, in Symphony Hall, Boston: L’archet op.26 for soprano, viola d’amore, women’s chorus, and piano by Charles Martin Loeffler (41) to words of Cros (first public), Vita Nostra Plena Bellis op.47 for chorus by Arthur Foote (49), and an aria from John Knowles Paine’s (63) unperformed opera Azara. See 5 March 1901.
February 28, 1902:
Psalm 137 for women’s chorus, organ, harp, two flutes, and cello by Charles Martin Loeffler (41) is performed for the first time, in the Church of the Messiah, Boston.
April 5, 1902:
Le flambeau vivant, a song for voice and piano by Charles Martin Loeffler (41) to words of Beaudelaire, is performed for the first time.
April 11, 1902:
Two works by Charles Martin Loeffler (41) are performed for the first time, in Symphony Hall, Boston: Poem for orchestra and La villanelle du Diable for orchestra and organ.
December 25, 1902:
Charles Martin Loeffler (41) is allowed to see Fenway Court, the home of Isabella Stewart Gardner in Boston, before its official opening on New Year’s Day. “That revelation...I shall not forget as long as I can think. I seemed to have dropped out of the clouds when I reached Huntington Avenue.”
April 13, 1903:
Poème paien, for two pianos and three trumpets by Charles Martin Loeffler (42) is performed for the first time, at Fenway Court, the home of Isabella Stuart Gardner in Boston, as part of a concert devoted entirely to the music of Loeffler.
April 14, 1903:
On her first birthday in Fenway Court, Isabella Stewart Gardner is presented with a viola d’amore by Charles Martin Loeffler (42). The instrument is from the 18th century Neapolitan Tomaso Eberle and was used in the premiere of Loeffler’s La Mort de Tintagiles on 7 January 1898. Mrs. Gardner places it in her Yellow Room which will include Loeffler memorabilia including a cast of his hand and a portrait painted by John Singer Sargent.
January 25, 1904:
Ballade carnavalesque for flute, oboe, E-flat saxophone, bassoon, and piano by Charles Martin Loeffler (42) is performed for the first time, in Potter Hall, Boston.
December 10, 1905:
On his first visit to America, Vincent d’Indy (54) takes part in a performance of the Rhapsodies by Charles Martin Loeffler (44) in Arthur Whiting’s studio in New York. Whiting plays piano, Georges Longy, oboe, and Loeffler, viola. The French poems upon which the music is based are read aloud by d’Indy. All this before a small audience of some of the most important musicians in the United States.
April 10, 1906:
Four songs for voice and piano by Charles Martin Loeffler (45) are performed for the first time, in Boston: A Dream within a Dream and To Helen, to words of Poe, Sudden Light to words of DG Rossetti, and Sonnet to words of Lodge.
December 13, 1906:
For One Who Fell in Battle for chorus by Charles Martin Loeffler (45) to words of Parsons is performed for the first time, in Jordan Hall, Boston.
October 29, 1907:
A Pagan Poem for orchestra with piano, english horn, and three trumpets obbligato op.14 by Charles Martin Loeffler (46) is performed for the first time, privately at Fenway Court, Boston. See 22 November 1907.
November 22, 1907:
A Pagan Poem, for orchestra with piano, english horn, and three trumpets obbligato by Charles Martin Loeffler (46) is performed publicly for the first time, in Symphony Hall, Boston. See 29 October 1907.
November 30, 1908:
In an official ceremony, the cornerstone is laid for the new Boston Opera House. Inside the stone is a compartment containing compositions by John Knowles Paine (†2), Edward MacDowell (†0), George Whitefield Chadwick (54), Charles Martin Loeffler (47), Horatio Parker (45), Amy Beach (41), and Frederick S. Converse (37).
April 7, 1909:
Erich Loeffler, 46-year-old cellist with the Boston Symphony and brother of Charles Martin Loeffler (48), kills himself with gas in a West Springfield Street apartment in Boston.
December 10, 1909:
Le passeur d’eau for string sextet by Charles Martin Loeffler (48) is performed for the first time, in Fenway Court, Boston.
December 10, 1910:
Charles Martin Loeffler (49) marries Elise Fay, member of a wealthy family and eight years his senior, at the home of Frank Webster on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston. The couple became engaged on 6 April 1886. They will move into his recently purchased home in Medfield, Massachusetts.
June 7, 1911:
Hommage, a song for voice and piano by Charles Martin Loeffler (50) to words of Kahn, is performed for the first time, in St. Edward’s Church, Medfield, Massachusetts.
March 21, 1912:
Ode for One Who Fell in Battle for chorus by Charles Martin Loeffler (51) to words of Parsons is performed for the first time, in Symphony Hall, Boston. This is a reworking of his 1906 work For One Who Fell in Battle.
June 6, 1916:
Hora mystica, a symphony by Charles Martin Loeffler (55), is performed for the first time, in Norfolk, Connecticut, the composer conducting.
January 27, 1917:
Poème for cello and piano by Charles Martin Loeffler (55) is performed for the first time, in Aeolian Hall, New York.
March 21, 1917:
Three songs for voice and piano by Charles Martin Loeffler (56) are performed for the first time, in Jordan Hall, Boston: A une femme, to words of Verlaine, Ton souvenir est comme un livre bien-aimé to words of Samain, and Boléro triste to words of Kahn.
February 15, 1919:
Music for Four Stringed Instruments by Charles Martin Loeffler (58) is performed for the first time, in Aeolian Hall, New York. The composer, Isabella Stewart Gardner, and Charles T. Griffes (38) are present.
June 4, 1919:
Hymne for voice, string quintet, organ, and piano by Charles Martin Loeffler (58) is performed for the first time, in the Unitarian Church, Medfield, Massachusetts, conducted by the composer.
July 12, 1919:
The director general of the French Services in the United States informs Charles Martin Loeffler (58) that he has been named a Chevalier of the Légion d’Honneur.
March 10, 1922:
Three of the Five Irish Fantasies for voice and orchestra, The Host of the Air, The Fiddler of Dooney, and The Song of Caitilin ni Uallachain, by Charles Martin Loeffler (61) to words of Yeats and Heffernan, are performed for the first time, in Boston. See 7 November 1929.
May 8, 1924:
Incidental music to Yeats’ play The Countess Cathleen by Charles Martin Loeffler (63) is performed for the first time, in Concord, Massachusetts.
May 30, 1924:
Memories of My Childhood for orchestra by Charles Martin Loeffler (63) is performed for the first time, in Evanston, Illinois.
October 28, 1925:
Canticum fratris solis for voice and orchestra by Charles Martin Loeffler (64) to words of St. Francis in a modern version by Gino Perera, is performed for the first time, at the Library of Congress, Washington as part of the first Festival of Chamber Music under the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation. This is the inaugural concert in the new Coolidge Auditorium.
December 22, 1925:
Incidental music to Sargent’s play The Reveller by Charles Martin Loeffler (64) is performed for the first time, in Boston.
February 19, 1928:
Intermezzo (Clowns) for jazz band by Charles Martin Loeffler (67) is performed for the first time, in Symphony Hall, Boston.
November 7, 1929:
Two of the Five Irish Fantasies for voice and orchestra, The Hosting of the Sidhe and Ballad of the Foxhunter, by Charles Martin Loeffler (68) to words of Yeats, are performed for the first time, in Severance Hall, Cleveland. See 10 March 1922.
October 16, 1930:
Partita for violin and piano by Charles Martin Loeffler (69) is performed for the first time, in Chicago.
February 5, 1931:
Evocation for speaker, female chorus, and orchestra by Charles Martin Loeffler (70) to anonymous ancient Greek words (tr. Mackail), is performed for the first time, celebrating the dedication of Severance Hall, Cleveland.
April 7, 1931:
A funeral in memory of George Whitefield Chadwick takes place in Trinity Church, Boston. Among the honorary pallbearers are Frederick S. Converse (60) and Charles Martin Loeffler (70). His mortal remains are laid to rest in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge.
August 1, 1932:
Todavia estas a tiempo for jazz band by Charles Martin Loeffler (71) is performed for the first time.
December 17, 1932:
Beat! Beat! Drums! for men’s chorus and orchestra by Charles Martin Loeffler (71) to words of Whitman is performed for the first time, in Cleveland.
April 1, 1933:
A cable is sent from the United States to German Chancellor Adolf Hitler protesting the treatment of Jewish musicians in Germany. It is signed by Arturo Toscanini, Walter Damrosch, Frank Damrosch, Serge Koussevitzky, Artur Bodanzky, Harold Bauer, Ossip Gabrilowitsch, Alfred Hertz, Charles Martin Loeffler (72), Fritz Reiner, and Rubin Goldmark.
April 25, 1934:
Prière, a song for voice and piano by Charles Martin Loeffler (73) to words of Dévigne, is performed for the first time, in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston.
May 19, 1935:
06:15 Charles Martin Loeffler dies in his home at 45 South Street in Medfield, Massachusetts, USA, aged 74 years, three months, and 19 days. His mortal remains will be buried in the family plot of his wife in Southborough.