Trisha Shetty (Editor)

1948 in British music

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1948 in British music

This is a summary of 1948 in music in the United Kingdom.

Contents

Events

  • 16 January - The day after her New York concert debut, Kathleen Ferrier writes to her sister: "Some of the critics are enthusiastic, others unimpressed".
  • April - The death of Alice, Viscountess Wimborne, lover of William Walton, ends their 14-year affair.
  • 5 June - Opening of the first Aldeburgh Festival, founded by Benjamin Britten, Eric Crozier and Peter Pears.
  • 13 October - Kathleen Ferrier joins Sir John Barbirolli and the HallĂ© Orchestra in a broadcast performance of Mahler's song cycle Kindertotenlieder.
  • October - The Duke of Edinburgh is introduced to musical comedy star Pat Kirkwood in her dressing room after a show. They are seen together at a restaurant, creating a scandal in the newspapers.
  • date unknown
  • Steuart Wilson becomes head of music at the BBC; the appointment results in the retirement of Sir Adrian Boult as chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
  • Harman Grisewood replaces George Barnes as controller of the BBC Third Programme.
  • The National School of Opera is founded by Joan Cross.
  • Anne Shelton - "If You Ever Fall in Love Again" (Dick Farrelly)
  • Dorothy Squires - "A Tree in the Meadow" (Billy Reid)

    • Classical music: new works

  • Malcolm Arnold - The Smoke (Overture), Op. 21
  • Arnold Bax - Magnificat
  • Benjamin Britten - Saint Nicolas, for tenor soloist, children's chorus, chorus, and orchestra
  • Ralph Vaughan Williams - Partita for Double String Orchestra

    • Opera

  • Arthur Bliss - The Olympians
  • Norman Demuth - Le Flambeau

    • Film and Incidental music

  • William Alwyn - The Fallen Idol directed by Carol Reed, starring Ralph Richardson.
  • Arnold Bax - Oliver Twist directed by David Lean, starring Alec Guinness.
  • Brian Easdale - The Red Shoes directed and produced by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.
  • Constant Lambert - Anna Karenina, starring Vivien Leigh and Ralph Richardson.
  • Elisabeth Lutyens - Penny and the Pownall Case (the first feature film to be scored by a female British composer).
  • Ralph Vaughan Williams - Scott of the Antarctic, starring John Mills.
  • William Walton - Hamlet, directed by and starring Laurence Olivier.
  • John Wooldridge - The Guinea Pig, starring Richard Attenborough.

    • Musical theatre

  • 10 March - Carissima, starring Ginger Rogers and David Hughes, opens at the Palace Theatre and runs for 488 performances.
  • 22 December - High Button Shoes (Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn) opens at the Hippodrome and runs for 291 performances.

    • Musical films

  • A Date with a Dream, starring Terry-Thomas, Jeannie Carson and Wally Patch.
  • One Night with You, directed by Terence Young and starring Nino Martini, Patricia Roc and Bonar Colleano.

    • Births

  • 17 January - Mick Taylor, guitarist
  • 19 January - Amanda Holden, English playwright, lyricist and composer
  • 29 January - Mel Pritchard, drummer (died 2004)
  • 3 February - Gavin Henderson, English trumpet player and conductor
  • 4 March - Chris Squire, guitarist, singer and songwriter
  • 22 March - Andrew Lloyd Webber, composer
  • 16 April - Robert Kirby, arranger (died 2009)
  • 28 April - Scott Fitzgerald (William McPhail), singer
  • 12 May - Steve Winwood, R&B singer
  • 15 May - Brian Eno, synthesizer virtuoso and composer
  • 21 May - Leo Sayer, singer-songwriter
  • 29 May - Michael Berkeley, composer
  • 6 June - Richard Sinclair, bass player (Caravan, The Wilde Flowers, Camel, and Hatfield and the North)
  • 1 July - John Ford, English-American singer, songwriter and guitarist (Strawbs, The Monks, and Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera)
  • 4 July - Jeremy Spencer, English guitarist (Fleetwood Mac)
  • 5 July - Alan Hazeldine, pianist and conductor (died 2008)
  • 21 July - Cat Stevens (Steven Demetre Georgiou), singer-songwriter
  • 2 August - Andy Fairweather Low, guitarist, songwriter, producer and vocalist
  • 26 September - Olivia Newton-John, singer and actress
  • 3 October - Ian MacDonald (Ian MacCormick), music critic (died 2003)
  • 11 October - David Rendall, operatic tenor
  • 3 November - Lulu (Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie), singer and actress
  • 1 December - Colin Sell, pianist
  • 20 December - Alan Parsons, engineer and record producer

    • Deaths

  • 9 January - Violet Gordon-Woodhouse, harpsichordist and clavichordist, 75
  • 21 February - Frederic Lamond, pianist, 80
  • 17 May - David Evans, composer, 74
  • 14 June - John Blackwood McEwen, composer, 80
  • 8 July - Reginald Somerville, composer and actor, 81
  • 20 August - David John de Lloyd, composer, 65
  • 12 September - Rupert D'Oyly Carte, impresario, 70
  • 20 November - Robert Carr, baritone, 67
  • 24 November - Nellie Wallace, music hall star, actress, comedian, dancer and songwriter, 78
  • 14 December - R. O. Morris, British composer and teacher, 62
  • 31 December - Ethel Barns, violinist, pianist and composer, 74

    • References

    1948 in British music Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA