Girish Mahajan (Editor)

1954 in British music

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1954 in British music

This is a summary of 1954 in music of all genres in the United Kingdom.

Contents

Events

  • 5 August - Salad Days opens in the West End after a short run in Bristol. It becomes the longest-running musical in British theatre history until overtaken by Oliver! in 1960.
  • 14 September - Benjamin Britten conducts the premiere of his opera The Turn of the Screw at Teatro La Fenice, Venice.
  • 1 October - The UK Singles Chart is expanded into a Top 20.
  • 3 December - William Walton's opera Troilus and Cressida opens at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. It is not a success.

    • Charts

  • See UK No.1 Hits of 1954

    • Classical music: new works

  • Gerald Finzi - Cello Concerto in A minor
  • Alun Hoddinott - Clarinet Concerto
  • Daniel Jones - Symphony No. 4
  • Ralph Vaughan Williams - Tuba Concerto in F minor

    • Opera

  • Benjamin Britten - The Turn of the Screw
  • Arwel Hughes - Menna
  • William Walton - Troilus and Cressida

    • Film and Incidental music

  • Malcolm Arnold -
  • The Belles of St Trinian's, starring Alistair Sim.
  • Hobson's Choice directed by David Lean, starring Charles Laughton, Brenda De Banzie, John Mills and Prunella Scales.
  • The Sea Shall Not Have Them, starring Michael Redgrave, Dirk Bogarde and Anthony Steel.
  • Francis Chagrin - An Inspector Calls directed by Guy Hamilton, starring Alastair Sim.
  • Eric Coates - The Dam Busters March
  • Mátyás Seiber - Animal Farm

    • Musical theatre

  • Salad Days, with music by Julian Slade and lyrics by Dorothy Reynolds and Julian Slade

    • Musical films

  • Lilacs in the Spring, starring Anna Neagle

    • Births

  • 23 January - Edward Ka-Spel, singer-songwriter
  • 8 March - Cheryl Baker, singer with Bucks Fizz
  • 15 March - Isobel Buchanan, operatic soprano
  • 8 May
  • John Michael Talbot, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Mason Proffit)
  • Gary Wilmot, entertainer
  • 11 May - Judith Weir, composer
  • 10 July - Neil Tennant, singer-songwriter and record producer (Pet Shop Boys)
  • 11 August - Joe Jackson, singer, songwriter and composer
  • 25 August - Elvis Costello, singer-songwriter
  • 21 October - Eric Faulkner, guitarist, songwriter, and singer (Bay City Rollers)
  • 3 November - Adam Ant, singer
  • 4 November - Chris Difford, singer, songwriter and record producer (Squeeze)
  • 18 November - John Parr, singer
  • 7 December - Mike Nolan, singer with Bucks Fizz
  • 10 December - Jack Hues, singer-songwriter and guitarist (Wang Chung)
  • 25 December - Annie Lennox, singer

    • Deaths

  • 18 January - Herbert Heyner, operatic baritone, 71
  • 3 March - Noel Gay, songwriter, 55
  • 4 April - Frederick Lonsdale, dramatist of musicals, 73
  • 24 July - Anne Gilchrist, folk song collector, 90
  • 9 August - Frederick Keel, baritone singer and composer, 83
  • 14 December - Philip Ritte, operatic tenor, 83
  • 29 November - Sir George Robey, music hall star, 85
  • date unknown - George Alex Stevens, songwriter and musical show director

    • References

    1954 in British music Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA