1920 in British music

This is a summary of 1920 in music in the United Kingdom.

Events

February – The Philharmonic Choir,^[1] 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",^[2]
April – Irish composer Hamilton Harty is appointed resident conductor of the Hallé Orchestra.^[3]
May – Noël Coward's comedy I'll Leave It to Youbecomes his first full-length play to be staged in London's West End.^[4] [
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.^[5]
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.^[6]
December – Sir Thomas Beecham is forced to disband the Beecham Opera Company because of financial difficulties.^[7]

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 Dances^[9]
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

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.

12 April – The Cox Twins, music hall entertainers (Frank, died 2007, and Fred, died 2013)
13 May – Gareth Morris, flautist (died 2007)
20 May – Betty Driver, singer and actress (died 2011)
19 June – Johnny Douglas, film composer and conductor (died 2003)

^ 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".
^ Moore, Jerrold Northrop (1979). Music and Friends: Letters to Adrian Boult. London: Hamish Hamilton. p. 42. ISBN 0-241-10178-6. Lady Elgar's diary
^ "Hamilton Harty", The Musical Times, Vol. 61, No. 926 (April 1920), pp. 227–230 (subscription required)
^ Thaxter, John. I'll Leave It To You Archived 2011-06-10 at the Wayback Machine, British Theatre Guide, 2009
^ King-Smith, Beresford (1995), Crescendo! 75 years of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, London: Methuen, ISBN 0413697401. page 9.
^ "London Concerts"' The Musical Times, December 1920, p. 821 (subscription required)
^ Lucas, John (2008). Thomas Beecham: An Obsession With Music. London: Boydell & Brewer Ltd. p. 156. ISBN 978-1-84383-402-1. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
^ Barbara Doscher (ed. John Nix) From Studio to Stage: Repertoire for the Voice, Scarecrow Press, 2002, p 32. Accessed 11 Sept 2014
^ Mike, 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, ISBN 0-333-51598-6).
^ The Songs of Percy French, by James N. Healy (Dublin & Cork: Mercier Press, 1983)
^ Moore, Jerrold N. (1984). Edward Elgar: a Creative Life. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 750–51. ISBN 0-19-315447-1.