1942 in British music

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This is a summary of 1942 in music in the United Kingdom.

Events

January/February – Serge Koussevitzky commissions Benjamin Britten to compose an opera, Peter Grimes, one of the first commissions given by the Koussevitzky Music Foundation.^[1]
16 March – Britten sails back to England with Peter Pears on board MS Axel Johnson.^[2]
20 March – Vera Lynn records The White Cliffs of Dover with Mantovani at Decca Records's West Hampstead studio.^[3]
29 June – Shostakovich’s Leningrad Symphony No. 7, the score of which has been smuggled out of the Soviet Union on microfilm, receives its first performance in Western Europe at the Proms in London, as an act of defiance following Germany's invasion of Russia.
26 August – In an act of wartime cultural diplomacy, John Ireland, Granville Bantock, Arnold Bax and Benjamin Britten deliver a letter to the wife of the Soviet Ambassador sending greetings from British composers to their Soviet counterparts.^[4]
November/December – E.J. Moeran's Symphony is the first British work to be recorded under the auspices of the British Council. The recording is made in Manchester by the Hallé Orchestra conducted by Leslie Heward.^[5]

Popular music

Vera Lynn with Mantovani – The White Cliffs of Dover (Walter Kent)

Classical music: new works

Kenneth J. Alford – Eagle Squadron
Benjamin Britten –
- A Ceremony of Carols
- Hymn to St Cecilia
Gerald Finzi – Let Us Garlands Bring Op. 18, song cycle (words by Shakespeare)

Film and Incidental music

Noël Coward – In Which We Serve
Ralph Vaughan Williams –
- Coastal Command (film)
- The Pilgrim’s Progress (music for radio production)
William Walton – The First of the Few directed by and starring Leslie Howard, with co-star David Niven.

Musical theatre

22 October – Du Barry Was A Lady, London production opens at His Majesty's Theatre and runs for 178 performances
19 November – Let's Face It!, London production opens at the Hippodrome and runs for 348 performances

Musical films

Rose of Tralee, starring John Longden, Lesley Brook and Angela Glynne.^[6]
We'll Smile Again, starring Bud Flanagan, Chesney Allen and Meinhart Maur.^[7]

Births

2 February – Graham Nash, English-born rock singer-songwriter and photographer
12 February – Lionel Grigson, English pianist, composer and educator (died 1994)
15 February – Glyn Johns, recording engineer
19 February – Phil Coulter, musician and music producer
24 February – Tim Staffell, singer and guitarist
28 February – Brian Jones, rock musician (The Rolling Stones) (died 1969)^[8]
9 March – John Cale, composer and musician^[9]
13 March – Meic Stevens, singer-songwriter
24 March – Arthur Brown, singer (Kingdom Come and The Crazy World of Arthur Brown)
19 April – David Fanshawe, composer (died 2010)
12 May – Ian Dury, singer-songwriter (died 2000)^[10]
18 June – Paul McCartney, singer, songwriter & composer^[11]
17 July – Spencer Davis, musician
13 August – Sheila Armstrong, soprano
21 September – Jill Gomez, soprano^[12]
27 September – Alvin Stardust (born Bernard Jewry, also called Shane Fenton), pop singer (died 2014)
31 December – Andy Summers, rock musician (Police)

Deaths

14 January – Harry Champion, music hall composer, 76^[13]
10 February – Felix Powell, musician, 63^[14]
17 May – Alfred Hollins, organist and composer, 76
12 June – Walter Leigh, composer, 36 (killed in action)^[15]
16 June – Haldane Stewart, organist, composer and choirmaster, 74
17 June – Jessie Bond, singer and actress in Gilbert & Sullivan, 89
30 July – Dorothy Silk, soprano, 59
15 October – Dame Marie Tempest, opera and musical comedy singer, 78^[16]
23 November – Peadar Kearney, Irish Republican and songwriter, writer of the lyrics to The Soldier's Song, 58^[17]

References

^ Mitchell, Donald (ed) (1991). Letters From A Life: Selected Letters of Benjamin Britten, Vol. 2 1939–45. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-160581. pp. 1017, 1019
^ Mitchell (1991): p. 630
^ MacKenzie, Colin (2005). Mantovani: A Lifetime in Music. Melrose Press. p. 87. ISBN 9781905226191.
^ Foreman, Lewis. The John Ireland Companion. The Boydell Press, 2011: p. xxxiii
^ "About this recording". Naxos. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
^ "BFI | Film & TV Database | The ROSE OF TRALEE (1942)". BFI: Film & TV Database. Archived from the original on 19 October 2012. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
^ "BFI | Film & TV Database | WE'LL SMILE AGAIN (1942)". BFI: Film & TV Database. Archived from the original on 16 January 2009. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
^ Jackson, Laura (1992). Golden Stone: The Untold Life and Tragic Death of Brian Jones. Smith Gryphon Limited. p. 3. ISBN 0-312-09820-0.
^ Mitchell, Tim Sedition and Alchemy: A Biography of John Cale, 2003, p. 24
^ Balls, Richard (2000). Sex & Drugs & Rock'N'Roll: The Life of Ian Dury (1st ed.). London: Omnibus Press. pp. 14–16. ISBN 0-7119-8644-4.
^ Spitz, Bob (2005). The Beatles: The Biography. Little, Brown and Company. p. 75. ISBN 978-0-316-80352-6.
^ Blyth, A. Jill Gomez. In: The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Macmillan, London and New York, 1997.
^ Obituary, The Times, 15 January 1942, p. 46
^ Richard Anthony Baker (31 May 2014). British Music Hall: An Illustrated History. Pen and Sword. p. 156. ISBN 978-1-4738-3718-8.
^ CWGC entry
^ Deaths: The Times, 23 October 1942, p. 7, col. B
^ de Burca, Séamus (1957). The Soldier's Song: The Story of Peadar Ó Cearnaigh. Dublin: P. J. Bourke. OCLC 559798527.

[1] Mitchell, Donald (ed) (1991). Letters From A Life: Selected Letters of Benjamin Britten, Vol. 2 1939–45. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-160581. pp. 1017, 1019

[2] Mitchell (1991): p. 630

[3] MacKenzie, Colin (2005). Mantovani: A Lifetime in Music. Melrose Press. p. 87. ISBN 9781905226191.

[4] Foreman, Lewis. The John Ireland Companion. The Boydell Press, 2011: p. xxxiii

[5] "About this recording". Naxos. Retrieved 23 January 2019.

[6] "BFI | Film & TV Database | The ROSE OF TRALEE (1942)". BFI: Film & TV Database. Archived from the original on 19 October 2012. Retrieved 15 June 2014.

[7] "BFI | Film & TV Database | WE'LL SMILE AGAIN (1942)". BFI: Film & TV Database. Archived from the original on 16 January 2009. Retrieved 15 June 2014.

[8] Jackson, Laura (1992). Golden Stone: The Untold Life and Tragic Death of Brian Jones. Smith Gryphon Limited. p. 3. ISBN 0-312-09820-0.

[9] Mitchell, Tim Sedition and Alchemy: A Biography of John Cale, 2003, p. 24

[10] Balls, Richard (2000). Sex & Drugs & Rock'N'Roll: The Life of Ian Dury (1st ed.). London: Omnibus Press. pp. 14–16. ISBN 0-7119-8644-4.

[11] Spitz, Bob (2005). The Beatles: The Biography. Little, Brown and Company. p. 75. ISBN 978-0-316-80352-6.

[12] Blyth, A. Jill Gomez. In: The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Macmillan, London and New York, 1997.

[13] Obituary, The Times, 15 January 1942, p. 46

[14] Richard Anthony Baker (31 May 2014). British Music Hall: An Illustrated History. Pen and Sword. p. 156. ISBN 978-1-4738-3718-8.

[15] CWGC entry

[16] Deaths: The Times, 23 October 1942, p. 7, col. B

[17] Burca, Séamus (1957). The Soldier's Song: The Story of Peadar Ó Cearnaigh. Dublin: P. J. Bourke. OCLC 559798527.

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Events

Popular music

Classical music: new works

Film and Incidental music

Musical theatre

Musical films

Births

Deaths

See also

References