1920 in British music

none 1921 1920 1920 British music This is a summary of 1920 in music in the United Kingdom. Events February – The Philharmonic Choir,Daniel Snowman, Hallelujah! An Informal History of the London Philharmonic Choir (London: London Philharmonic Choir, London 2007), pp. 127–33 – Appendix II: "The History of the Philharmonic Choir". under its founder Charles Kennedy Scott, appears at a Philharmonic Society concert giving the first performance of Frederick Delius's A Song of the High Hills. March – Adrian Boult conducts Edward Elgar's second Symphony at the Queen's Hall to "great applause" and "frantic enthusiasm", Moore Jerrold Northrop Music and Friends: Letters to Adrian Boult London Hamish Hamilton 1979 0-241-10178-6 Lady Elgar's diary 42 April – Irish composer Hamilton Harty is appointed resident conductor of the Hallé Orchestra."Hamilton Harty", The Musical Times, Vol. 61, No. 926 (April 1920), pp. 227–230 May – Noël Coward's comedy I'll Leave It to You becomes his first full-length play to be staged in London's West End.Thaxter, John. I'll Leave It To You https://web.archive.org/web/20110610013510/http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/illleave-rev.htm 2011-06-10 , British Theatre Guide, 2009 4 September – City of Birmingham Orchestra holds its first rehearsals (in a police bandroom). Later in the month, it holds first concert, conducted by Appleby Matthews, including Granville Bantock's overture Saul. November – City of Birmingham Orchestra gives its "First Symphony Concert", with Edward Elgar conducting a programme of his own music in Birmingham Town Hall.King-Smith, Beresford (1995), Crescendo! 75 years of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, London: Methuen, 0413697401. page 9. 15 November – The first complete public performance of Gustav Holst's suite The Planets (including "Neptune") is given in London by the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Albert Coates."London Concerts"' The Musical Times, December 1920, p. 821 15 December – Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending is premiered in its original version for violin and piano with Marie Hall as violinist at Shirehampton near Bristol. December – Sir Thomas Beecham is forced to disband the Beecham Opera Company because of financial difficulties.Lucas, John Thomas Beecham: An Obsession With Music https://books.google.com/books?id=U1hbfbg6zUMC&pg=PA131 29 May 2012 2008 London Boydell & Brewer Ltd 978-1-84383-402-1 156 Popular music "Black Stitchel", w. Wilfrid Wilson Gibson, m. Ivor GurneyBarbara Doscher (ed. John Nix) From Studio to Stage: Repertoire for the Voice, Scarecrow Press, 2002, p 32. Accessed 11 Sept 2014 "I Belong to Glasgow", w.m. Will Fyffe Classical music: new works Granville Bantock – Arabian Nights Arnold Bax – Phantasy for viola and orchestra Arthur Bliss The Tempest, overture and interludes; Concerto for piano, tenor voice, strings and percussion Rout (for soprano and chamber orchestra) Frederick Delius – Hassan Ivor Gurney – War Elegy Basil Harwood – Christmastide Dorothy Howell – Two DancesMike, Celia, "Howell, Dorothy", in The Norton/Grove Dictionary of Women Composers (Julie Anne Sadie and Rhian Samuel, eds.). The MacMillan Press (London & Basingstoke), p. 231 (1994, 0-333-51598-6). John Ireland – Piano SonataLisa Hardy. The British Piano Sonata: 1875-1945 (2001), pp. 84-91 John Blackwood McEwen – String Quartet No. 9 in B minor Charles Villiers Stanford – Sonata "Celtica" No. 4, Op. 153 Ralph Vaughan Williams The Lark Ascending Mass in G minor A London Symphony Musical theatre 18 September – A Night Out, with a book by George Grossmith, Jr. and Arthur Miller, music by Willie Redstone and Cole Porter and lyrics by Clifford Grey, opens at the Winter Garden Theatre in London, where it runs for 309 performances. The original cast includes Leslie Henson and Stanley Holloway. Births 9 January – Clive Dunn, comedy actor and chart-topping singer (died 2012) 23 March – Geoffrey Bush, composer, writer and broadcaster (d. 1998) https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/obituary-geoffrey-bush-1147950.html Foreman Lewis Obituary: Geoffrey Bush The Independent 2 March 1998 23 May 2019 12 April – The Cox Twins, music hall entertainers (Frank, died 2007, and Fred, died 2013) 14 April – Ivor Forbes Guest, historian of dance (died 2018)Macaulay Alastair Alastair Macaulay April 9, 2018 Ivor Guest, 97, Dies; Transformed Study of Dance History https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/09/obituaries/ivor-guest-97-dies-transformed-study-of-dance-history.html live The New York Times London November 11, 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20200521104532/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/09/obituaries/ivor-guest-97-dies-transformed-study-of-dance-history.html May 21, 2020 2 May – Joe "Mr. Piano" Henderson, Scottish pianist and composer (died 1980)Joe "Mr. Piano" Henderson Songs, Albums, Revie... https://www.allmusic.com/artist/joe-mr-piano-henderson-mn0000900270 2025-05-28 AllMusic en 13 May – Gareth Morris, flautist (died 2007)https://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/feb/28/guardianobituaries.obituaries1 Gareth Morris 28 February 2007 Sebastian Bell The Guardian 24 February 2019 20 May – Betty Driver, singer and actress (died 2011)https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2011/oct/15/betty-driver Betty Driver obituary 15 October 2011 Dennis Barker The Guardian 24 February 2019 19 June – Johnny Douglas, film composer and conductor (died 2003)https://www.theguardian.com/news/2003/apr/23/guardianobituaries.filmnews Johnny Douglas 23 April 2003 Tim McDonald The Guardian 24 February 2019 21 August – John Hanson, singer and actor (died 1998)General Register Office; United Kingdom 5 September – Peter Racine Fricker, composer (died 1990)McMullen William Wallace https://books.google.com/books?id=AJj_ijFLjv4C Soloistic English Horn Literature from 1736-1984 1994 Pendragon Press 978-0-918728-78-4 86 27 September – Alan A. Freeman, record producer (died 1985)General Register Office; United Kingdom; Volume: 15; Page: 284. England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007 [database on-line].1985-03-20 Obituary for ALAN ALBERT FREEMAN.-On https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-telegraph-obituary-for-alan-al/173750190/ 2025-06-03 The Daily Telegraph 36 12 October – Steve Conway, singer (died 1952)London Metropolitan Archives; London, England, UK; London Church of England Parish Registers; Reference Number: P72/BAT 12 December – Dick James, singer and record producer (died 1986) Deaths 21 January – John Henry Maunder, composer, 61Robert Evans Maggie Humphreys Dictionary of Composers for the Church in Great Britain and Ireland https://books.google.com/books?id=xZCvAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA229 1 January 1997 Bloomsbury Publishing 978-1-4411-3796-8 229 24 January – Percy French, Irish-born songwriter, 65 (pneumonia)The Songs of Percy French James N. Healy Mercier Press 1983 7 April – Alice Elgar, wife of composer Edward Elgar, 72 (lung cancer)Moore Jerrold N. Edward Elgar: a Creative Life Oxford Oxford University Press 1984 0-19-315447-1 750–51 5 May – Robert Bryan, poet and composer, 61 28 May - Hardwicke Rawnsley, hymn-writer, 68Charles W. Spurgeon The Poetry of Westminster Abbey https://books.google.com/books?id=tlcjUSzyWGsC&pg=PA179 17 March 2008 Xlibris Corporation 978-1-4535-0144-3 179 28 June - Pauline Rita, singer and actress, about 78 14 December – George J. Gaskin, Irish singer, 57The Encyclopedia of Popular American Recording Pioneers, 1895-1925 Tim Gracyk 1997 32 See also 1920 in the United Kingdom References nb British Music, 1920 in Music Category:British music by year Category:1920s in British music