August 18, 1893:
Ernest Alexander Campbell MacMillan is born in Ebticoke (now Mimico), Ontario, Dominion of Canada, the first of four children born to Alexander MacMillan, a Presbyterian minister and musician, and Wilhelmina Catherine Ross, the daughter of a Presbyterian minister.
June 25, 1913:
As he is departing Toronto for a summer church organist job in Murray Bay, Quebec, Ernest MacMillan (19) tells Elsie Keith of his long standing love for her. She reciprocates and they consider themselves engaged.
July 3, 1914:
Ernest MacMillan (20) begins lessons with Thérèse Chaigneau in Paris.
August 1, 1914:
The 1914 season of the Bayreuth Festspielhaus closes early with a production of Parsifal. At the performance, Ernest MacMillan (20) overhears the conductor Karl Muck tell someone that Germany has declared war on Russia.
August 3, 1914:
A visitor to Bayreuth, Ernest MacMillan (20), asks the US consul in Nuremberg, Charles Winans, what he should do in the current political situation. (the British consul has already left the country) Winans tells him to return to Bayreuth to see what happens.
March 19, 1915:
After serving two months solitary confinement in Nuremberg for being an unregistered enemy alien, Ernest MacMillan (21) is taken to an internment camp at Ruhleben.
April 15, 1915:
While at an internment camp at Ruhleben, Germany, Ernest MacMillan (24) completes the oratorio England: an Ode and sends it to his examiners for the DMus at Oxford. See 13 June 1918.
June 13, 1918:
At the internment camp of Ruhleben, Germany, Ernest MacMillan (24) receives word that his Oxford examiners have accepted his oratorio England: an Ode. See 15 April 1918.
November 24, 1918:
Ernest MacMillan (25) departs Ruhleben, Germany after almost four years of internment.
January 27, 1919:
After four years internment in Germany, Ernest MacMillan (25) arrives in St. John, New Brunswick from Europe.
December 31, 1919:
Six-and-a-half years after becoming engaged, Ernest MacMillan (26) marries Elsie Keith, the daughter of an engineer and inventor, in St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Toronto.
March 23, 1921:
Ernest MacMillan (27) receives his first important notices as a conductor when he directs his Eaton Memorial Choir in Brahms’ (†23) German Requiem in Toronto.
March 19, 1922:
Ernest MacMillan (28) gives the first of 18 organ recitals he will give over the next four years at Eaton Memorial Church, Toronto.
May 7, 1924:
Overture by Ernest MacMillan (30) is performed for the first time, in Massey Hall, Toronto conducted by the composer. It is well received.
February 8, 1925:
String Quartet in c minor by Ernest MacMillan (31) is performed for the first time, in Toronto.
June 12, 1925:
Ernest MacMillan (31) resigns his position as organist and choir director at Timothy Eaton Memorial Church in Toronto. He has musical differences with the church fathers.
February 29, 1928:
The Toronto Conservatory of Music choir gives its first performance, under its founder, Ernest MacMillan (34). With the conservatory orchestra they perform the Requiem of Mozart (†136). It is the first time that the work is heard in Toronto.
October 23, 1931:
Ernest MacMillan (38) accepts the post of permanent conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. He will hold it for 25 years.
May 5, 1935:
The King Shall Rejoice, an anthem for chorus by Ernest MacMillan (41) to words of the Psalms, is performed for the first time, in Toronto. The work was commissioned by the Governor-General of Canada, the Earl of Bessborough to celebrate the silver jubilee of King George V.
May 18, 1935:
Prime Minister RB Bennett of Canada writes to Ernest MacMillan (41) asking permission to put his name forward for a knighthood.
May 23, 1935:
In Halifax, Nova Scotia, Ernest MacMillan (41) wires Prime Minister RB Bennett of Canada, accepting the knighthood that he was offered.
June 3, 1935:
Among the birthday honors handed down by King George V is an Order of Merit for Ralph Vaughan Williams (62) and a knighthood for Ernest MacMillan (41).
September 26, 1935:
Ernest MacMillan (42) is invested with a knighthood in a ceremony in Ottawa.
December 17, 1940:
A patriotic song for chorus and orchestra, It’s a Grand Life If We Don’t Weaken, by Ernest MacMillan (47) to words of his sister Dorothy, is performed for the first time, in Toronto.
April 27, 1942:
Ernest MacMillan (48) resigns as Principal of the Toronto Conservatory.
August 18, 1943:
On his 50th birthday, the BBC broadcasts a 30-minute special program on Ernest MacMillan, whom they call “one of the ten outstanding musicians of the Empire.”
September 24, 1949:
Ernest MacMillan (56) gives his last organ recital, at Grace Church on-the-Hill, Toronto.
November 5, 1951:
Ernest MacMillan (58) begins a weekly radio program of recorded music on CKEY, Toronto.
May 21, 1952:
Toronto newspapers report that the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Ernest MacMillan (58), has not renewed the contracts of six of its musicians because the US government has refused them entry into the country. They therefore could not take part in orchestra engagements in the US.
June 30, 1952:
Ernest MacMillan’s (58) resignation from the Royal Conservatory of Music of Toronto becomes effective.
October 16, 1953:
Ernest MacMillan (60) is awarded an honorary LLD from the University of Toronto.
October 18, 1953:
Cortège académique for organ by Ernest MacMillan (60) is performed for the first time, at Convocation Hall, Toronto by the composer. The work was commissioned to celebrate the centenary of the University of Toronto.
January 12, 1955:
Ernest MacMillan (61) resigns as conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, effective at the conclusion of the 1955-56 season.
June 10, 1956:
The Eastman School of Music confers an honorary DMus on Ernest MacMillan (62).
March 28, 1957:
Royal Assent is granted to the formation of the Canada Council, a national arts council. One of its members is to be Ernest MacMillan (61).
January 26, 1962:
President Claude Bissell of the University of Toronto informs Ernest MacMillan (68) that the new theatre at the university will be named after him.
May 6, 1973:
Ernest Alexander Campbell MacMillan dies in Toronto, Canada, aged 79 years, eight months, and 18 days. He has been unconscious following a brain hemorrhage ten days ago. His mortal remains will be laid to rest in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto.
May 15, 1973:
A public memorial service takes place in memory of Ernest MacMillan at Convocation Hall, Toronto.