Girish Mahajan (Editor)

1945 in British music

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1945 in British music

This is a summary of 1945 in music in the United Kingdom.

Contents

Events

  • 7 June – First performance of Peter Grimes in Sadler's Wells, London.
  • 29 June - William Walton opposes a proposal that the British Council should support a complete recording of Peter Grimes, suggesting that this should be discussed "at a calmer moment when the wildly hysterical & uncritical eulogies & general 'ballyhoo' have somewhat abated, & the true merits of the work can be properly assessed."
  • July – Benjamin Britten and Yehudi Menuhin tour Germany to perform concerts in liberated concentration camps, including Belsen.
  • 26 July - Composer Ernest John Moeran marries cellist Peers Coetmore.
  • Unknown date - Walter Legge founds the Philharmonia Orchestra.
  • Dorothy Squires - "The Gypsy" (Billy Reid)

    • Classical music: new works

  • Benjamin Britten – The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra
  • Michael Tippett - Symphony No. 1
  • William Walton - Memorial Fanfare for Henry Wood

    • Opera

  • Benjamin Britten – Peter Grimes

    • Film and Incidental music

  • Richard Addinsell - Blithe Spirit
  • Ralph Vaughan Williams - The Story of a Flemish Farm

    • Musical theatre

  • 21 April - Perchance To Dream (Music, Lyrics and Book: Ivor Novello) - London production opens at the London Hippodrome and runs for 1022 performances.
  • 28 August - Noël Coward's revue Sigh No More opens at the Piccadilly Theatre.

    • Musical films

  • Flight from Folly, directed by Herbert Mason, starring Patricia Kirkwood and Hugh Sinclair. The Daily Mirror described the film as a "neatly made and tuneful comedy" with praise for Kirkwood's "vivacious personality and talent".
  • I'll Be Your Sweetheart - directed by Val Guest, starring Margaret Lockwood, Vic Oliver and Michael Rennie.

    • Births

  • 10 January - Rod Stewart, singer and songwriter
  • 19 January - Trevor Williams, English singer-songwriter and bass player (Audience and The Nashville Teens)
  • 25 January - Dave Walker, English singer and guitarist (Savoy Brown and Fleetwood Mac)
  • 26 January - Jacqueline du Pré, cellist (died 1987)
  • 30 March - Eric Clapton, guitarist, singer and songwriter
  • 25 February - Elkie Brooks, singer
  • 14 April - Ritchie Blackmore, guitarist
  • 19 May - Pete Townshend (The Who)
  • 29 May - Gary Brooker (Procol Harum)
  • 24 June - Colin Blunstone, singer
  • 25 June - Labi Siffre, singer-songwriter
  • 28 June - David Knights, bass player and producer (Procol Harum)
  • 19 August - Ian Gillan, singer
  • 5 September - Al Stewart, singer-songwriter
  • 7 September - Max Boyce, singer-songwriter
  • 24 September - John Rutter, composer
  • 26 September - Bryan Ferry, singer and songwriter
  • 5 October - Brian Connolly, vocalist (Sweet) (died 1997)
  • 28 October - Wayne Fontana, singer
  • 3 December - Paul Nicholas, actor and singer
  • 30 December - Davy Jones, singer and actor (died 2012)

    • Deaths

  • 8 February - James Campbell McInnes, baritone singer and teacher, 71
  • 12 April - Maurice Besly, organist, composer and conductor, 57
  • 24 April - Hubert Bath, film composer, 61
  • 21 May - Hugh Enes Blackmore, singer and actor, 81
  • 15 August - Frederic Lord, organist, conductor and composer, 58
  • 19 November - Helen Hopekirk, pianist and composer, 89
  • 15 December - Tobias Matthay, pianist and composer, 87

    • References

    1945 in British music Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA