1944 in British music

none 1944 1944 British music This is a summary of 1944 in music in the United Kingdom. Events 4 January – Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears begin a long association with Decca Records, recording four of Britten's folk song arrangements.Stuart, Philip. Decca Classical 1929–2009, accessed 15 June 2014. Britten spends most of this year at the Old Mill in Snape, Suffolk, working on the opera Peter Grimes. March – Vera Lynn goes to Shamsheernugger airfield in British India to entertain the troops before the Battle of Kohima.Technology Obituaries: Bernard Holden The Daily Telegraph London 2012-10-04 https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/technology-obituaries/9587996/Bernard-Holden.html 2014-06-14 19 March – Michael Tippett's oratorio 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.Mitchell, Donald (ed) (1991). Letters From A Life: Selected Letters of Benjamin Britten, Vol. 2 1939–45. London: Faber and Faber. 0-571-16058-1. p. 1196. 19 June – American bandleader Glenn Miller flies to London to set up his U.S. Army Air Forces orchestra for the European Theater of Operations.Polic Edward F. The Glenn Miller Army Air Force Band Metuchen Scarecrow Press 1989 978-0810822696 28 July – Sir Henry Wood, aged 75, conducts his last Promenade Concert, evacuated to the Corn Exchange, Bedford.Jubilee Prom 1944-07-28 The Yorkshire Post Leeds from the rural B.B.C. studio to which the concerts have been transferred. He dies three weeks later. 20 September – Yehudi Menuhin gives the first British performance of Béla Bartók's Violin Concerto in Bedford, in the opening concert of a tour with the B.B.C. Orchestra conducted by Sir Adrian Boult. 23 September – English-born composer and violist Rebecca Clarke, stranded in the United States by the war, marries James Friskin, composer, concert pianist and founding member of the Juilliard School faculty.Curtis, Liane May 1996 http://www.rebeccaclarke.org/pdf/identity.pdf A Case of Identity Musical Times 20 3 October – Glenn Miller plays his last airfield concert in a hangar for the U.S.A.A.F. at RAF Kings Cliffe in Northamptonshire. 15 December – Glenn Miller takes off from RAF Twinwood Farm in Bedfordshire; his plane is lost over the English Channel. Contralto Kathleen Ferrier makes the first of her recordings of the aria "What is Life?" (Che farò) from Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice which will rival sales by more popular singers over the next few years.Campion Paul Ferrier – A Career Recorded Thames Publishing London 2005 0-903413-71-X 43–44 Popular music "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 William Wordsworth – Symphony No. 1 in F minor Film and Incidental music William Alwyn – The Way AheadJohn C. Dressler William Alwyn: A Research and Information Guide https://books.google.com/books?id=D8-oAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA71 March 2013 Routledge 978-1-136-66003-0 71 Jack Beaver, Roy Douglas & James Turner – Candlelight in AlgeriaKevin Sweeney James Mason: A Bio-bibliography https://books.google.com/books?id=DVtVA4EajSgC&pg=PA106 1999 Greenwood Publishing Group 978-0-313-28496-0 106 Allan Gray – A Canterbury TaleJefferson Hunter English Filming, English Writing https://books.google.com/books?id=JbnHvxuby54C&pg=PA215 5 April 2010 Indiana University Press 978-0-253-00414-7 215 Gordon Jacob – For Those in PerilJan G. Swynnoe The Best Years of British Film Music, 1936-1958 https://books.google.com/books?id=g7QETzPRNNoC&pg=PA232 2002 Boydell & Brewer 978-0-85115-862-4 232 William Walton – Henry V,Kennedy, Michael. "Walton, Sir William Turner (1902–1983)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edition, May 2008, retrieved 27 September 2010 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, conductorGerald Norris A musical gazetteer of Great Britain & Ireland https://books.google.com/books?id=KcMXAQAAIAAJ June 1981 David & Charles 978-0-7153-7845-8 197 5 January – Jo Ann Kelly, singer and guitarist (John Dummer Band) (died 1990)Colin Larkin The Virgin Encyclopedia of the Blues https://books.google.com/books?id=E6U7AQAAIAAJ 1998 Virgin 978-0-7535-0226-6 206 9 January – Jimmy Page, rock musician and producer (Led Zeppelin)Joseph Murrells Million selling records from the 1900s to the 1980s: an illustrated directory https://books.google.com/books?id=5iIKAQAAMAAJ 31 December 1984 Batsford 978-0-7134-3843-7 164 19 January – Laurie London, English singerJoseph Murrells The Book of Golden Discs https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr registration 1978 Barrie and Jenkins 978-0-214-20480-7 104 27 January – Nick Mason, percussionist and composer (Pink Floyd)Vernon Fitch The Pink Floyd Encyclopedia https://books.google.com/books?id=HNkiAQAAIAAJ 2005 Collector's Guide Publishing 978-1-894959-24-7 19 28 January – John Tavener, composer (died 2013)Maggie Humphreys Robert Evans Dictionary of Composers for the Church in Great Britain and Ireland https://books.google.com/books?id=WSLUAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA333 1 January 1997 A&C Black 978-0-7201-2330-2 333 2 February – Andrew Davis, conductorRoderick L. Sharpe Jeanne Koekkoek Stierman Maestros in America: Conductors in the 21st Century https://books.google.com/books?id=OTEROkR8d-AC&pg=PA52 30 May 2008 Scarecrow Press 978-1-4616-6948-7 52 15 February – Mick Avory, drummer 1 March – Roger Daltrey, vocalist (The Who)Ben Marshall The Who: 50 Years: The Official History https://books.google.com/books?id=gAN4BgAAQBAJ 27 October 2015 HarperCollins 978-0-06-239638-9 17 March – John Lill, pianistGerald Norris A musical gazetteer of Great Britain & Ireland https://books.google.com/books?id=KcMXAQAAIAAJ June 1981 David & Charles 978-0-7153-7845-8 86 23 March Tony McPhee, blues rock guitarist and singer (The Groundhogs) (died 2023)Adam Sweeting Tony McPheen The Guardian London 10 June 2023 Michael Nyman, composerColin Larkin The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music https://books.google.com/books?id=crs7AQAAIAAJ 2000 Virgin 978-0-7535-0427-7 289 6 April – Felicity Palmer, operatic mezzo-sopranoLaura Williams Macy The Grove Book of Opera Singers https://books.google.com/books?id=N0zthpCZuAUC&pg=PA363 2008 Oxford University Press 978-0-19-533765-5 363 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) David Roberts 2006 British Hit Singles & Albums 19th Guinness World Records Limited London 1-904994-10-5 92 5 August – Christopher Gunning, composer 16 August – Kevin Ayers, singer-songwriter (died 2013) 10 September – Thomas Allen, operatic baritone 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)The Times obituary, 20 January 1944, p. 7 6 February – Philip Michael Faraday, organist, composer and theatrical producer (born 1875)John Parker Who's who in the Theatre https://books.google.com/books?id=NRi1AAAAIAAJ 1916 Pitman 1867 12 February – Annie Fortescue Harrison, songwriter and composer of piano music (born 1850 or 1851) 29 February – Durward Lely, operatic tenor (born 1852) 9 May – Dame Ethel Smyth, composer (born 1858)Ethel Smyth Impressions That Remained - Memoirs of Ethel Smyth https://books.google.com/books?id=dTF8CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT10 16 April 2013 Read Books Limited 978-1-4465-4542-3 10 24 June – Chick Henderson, dance band singer (born 1912; killed in action) CWGC Casualty Record. 4 July – Alice Burville, singer and actress (born 1856) 11 July – Frank Bury, composer (born 1910; killed in action)CWGC entryEdward Greenfield Robert Layton The Penguin Guide to Yearbook 2000-2001: Best Buys in Classical Music https://books.google.com/books?id=9LrgyQwl5lgC 2000 Penguin Books 978-0-14-051382-0 37 13 July – Eda Kersey, violinist (born 1904; stomach cancer)The Strad https://books.google.com/books?id=RWw9AQAAIAAJ 1984 Orpheus 51 19 August – Sir Henry Wood, conductor (born 1869)Stephen Lloyd William Walton: Muse of Fire https://books.google.com/books?id=wWfNcDTDtCEC&pg=PA203 2001 Boydell & Brewer 978-0-85115-803-7 203 21 September – Louis N. Parker, dramatist, composer and translator (born 1852)Wilson library bulletin https://books.google.com/books?id=ZYVTAAAAIAAJ 1944 155 See also 1944 in British television 1944 in the United Kingdom List of British films of 1944 References nb British Music, 1944 In Category:British music by year Category:1940s in British music