1942 in British music
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]
- 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
Classical music: new works
- Kenneth J. Alford – Eagle Squadron
- Benjamin Britten –
- 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
- 12 February – Lionel Grigson, English pianist, composer, and educator (died 1994)
- 19 February – Phil Coulter, musician and music producer
- 28 February – Brian Jones, 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.
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