Puneet Varma (Editor)

1944 in British music

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1944 in British music

This is a summary of 1944 in music in the United Kingdom.

Contents

Events

  • 4 January – Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears begin a long association with Decca Records, recording four of Britten's folk song arrangements.
  • March – Vera Lynn goes to Shamsheernugger airfield to entertain the troops before the Battle of Kohima.
  • 19 March – Michael Tippett's A Child of Our Time receives its first performances at London's Adelphi Theatre.
  • 25 May – Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears record Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings for Decca, with Dennis Brain and the Boyd Neel Orchestra.
  • 28 July – Sir Henry Wood, aged 75, conducts his last Promenade Concert.
  • 23 September – Rebecca Clarke marries James Friskin (a composer, concert pianist and founding member of the Juilliard School faculty).
  • "One Love", music and words Jack Popplewell.

    • Classical music: new works

  • Arnold Bax - To Russia for baritone solo and chorus (Masefield)
  • Gerald Finzi - Farewell to Arms
  • Ernest John Moeran – Sinfonietta (dedicated to Arthur Bliss)
  • Grace Williams - Sea Sketches

    • Film and Incidental music

  • William Alwyn - The Way Ahead
  • Gordon Jacob - For Those in Peril
  • William Walton - Henry V, directed by and starring Laurence Olivier

    • Musical theatre

  • 25 May - A Night In Venice (Johann Strauss II) London production opens at the Cambridge Theatre

    • Musical films

  • Champagne Charlie starring Tommy Trinder
  • One Exciting Night directed by Walter Forde and starring Vera Lynn, Donald Stewart and Mary Clare.

    • Births

  • 3 January - David Atherton, conductor
  • 5 January -Jo Ann Kelly, singer and guitarist (John Dummer Band) (died 1990)
  • 9 January - Jimmy Page, rock musician and producer (Led Zeppelin)
  • 19 January - Laurie London, English singer
  • 27 January - Nick Mason, percussionist and composer (Pink Floyd)
  • 28 January - John Tavener, composer (died 2013)
  • 2 February - Andrew Davis, conductor
  • 1 March - Roger Daltrey, vocalist (The Who)
  • 17 March - John Lill, pianist
  • 23 March - Michael Nyman, composer
  • 6 April - Felicity Palmer, operatic mezzo-soprano
  • 26 April - Richard Bradshaw, opera conductor (died 2007)
  • 8 May
  • Gary Glitter, singer-songwriter
  • Bill Legend, drummer (T. Rex and Bill Legend's T. Rex)
  • 10 May - Jackie Lomax, singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Undertakers) (died 2013)
  • 12 May - Brian Kay, singer, conductor, and radio host (The King's Singers)
  • 20 May - Joe Cocker, singer (died 2014)
  • 17 June - Chris Spedding, singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 21 June - Ray Davies, singer-songwriter (The Kinks)
  • 22 June - Peter Asher, singer and record producer (Peter & Gordon)
  • 24 June
  • Jeff Beck, singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • John "Charlie" Whitney, English guitarist (Family, Axis Point, and Streetwalkers)
  • Chris Wood, English saxophonist (Traffic and Ginger Baker's Air Force) (d. 1983)
  • 22 July - Rick Davies, keyboardist (Supertramp)
  • 2 August - Jim Capaldi, musician and songwriter (died 2005)
  • 5 August - Christopher Gunning, composer
  • 16 August - Kevin Ayers, singer-songwriter (died 2013)
  • 9 October – John Entwistle, bassist (The Who) (died 2002)
  • 2 November - Keith Emerson, keyboardist and composer (died 2016)
  • 10 November – Tim Rice, lyricist

    • Deaths

  • 19 January - Harold Fraser-Simson, songwriter and composer of light music (born 1872)
  • 6 February - Philip Michael Faraday, organist, composer and theatrical producer (born 1875)
  • 12 February - Annie Fortescue Harrison, songwriter and composer of piano music (born 1850 or 1851)
  • 29 February - Durward Lely, operatic tenor (born 1852)
  • 24 June - Chick Henderson, dance band singer (born 1912; killed in action)
  • 4 July - Alice Burville, singer and actress (born 1856)
  • 13 July - Eda Kersey, violinist (born 1904; stomach cancer)
  • 9 May - Dame Ethel Smyth, composer (born 1858)
  • 19 August - Sir Henry Wood, conductor (born 1869)
  • 21 September - Louis N. Parker, dramatist, composer and translator (born 1852)
  • date unknown - Frank Bury, composer (born 1910; killed in action)

    • References

    1944 in British music Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA