1916 in British music explained

This is a summary of 1916 in music in the United Kingdom.

Events

• 28 March – Sir Hubert Parry's choral setting of William Blake's poem "And did those feet in ancient time" (which becomes known as "Jerusalem"), is premièred at the Queen's Hall, London, having been written on 10 March.
• Gustav Holst completes composition of his orchestral suite The Planets, Op. 32.

Popular music

• Harry Castling & Harry Carlton – "The Tanks That Broke the Ranks Out in Picardy"^[1]
• A. J. Mills, Fred Godfrey & Bennett Scott – "Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty"^[2]
• Ivor Novello and Lena Guilbert Ford – "Keep the Home Fires Burning"
• Frederic Weatherly & Eric Coates – "Green Hills Of Somerset"^[3]
• Frederic Weatherly & Haydn Wood – "Roses of Picardy"^[4]
• P. G. Wodehouse, Herbert Reynolds & Emmerich Kallman – "Throw Me A Rose"^[5]

Classical music: new works

• Kenneth J. Alford – The Great Little Army, march^[6]
• Frederick Delius – Cello Sonata^[7]
• Gustav Holst – The Planets^[8]
• John Ireland – Two Songs, 1916

Opera

• Rutland Boughton – The Round Table

Musical theatre

• 13 May – The Happy Day by Seymour Hicks, with music by Sidney Jones and Paul Rubens, and lyrics by Adrian Ross, opens at Daly's Theatre, starring Winifred Barnes, José Collins and Arthur Wontner, where it runs for 241 performances.
• 3 August – The musical comedy Chu Chin Chow, written, produced, directed and starring Oscar Asche, with music by Frederic Norton, premières at His Majesty's Theatre in London's West End, starring Asche himself, Frank Cochrane and Courtice Pounds. It will run for five years and a total of 2,238 performances (twice as many as any previous musical), a record that will stand for nearly forty years.^[9]

Births

• 8 February – Jimmy Skidmore, jazz musician (died 1998)^[10]
• 13 February – John Reed, actor and opera singer (died 2010)
• 3 March – Bernard Stevens, composer (died 1983)
• 17 March – Ray Ellington (born Harry Brown), singer (died 1985)^[11]
• 14 April – Denis ApIvor, composer (died 2004)
• 9 May – Bernard Rose, organist and composer (died 1996)
• 9 July – Edward Heath, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, organist and conductor (died 2005)
• 11 July – Reg Varney, actor and pianist (died 2008)^[12]
• 11 August – Benny Lee, comedy actor and singer (died 1995)
• 18 August – Moura Lympany (born Mary Johnstone), pianist (died 2005)^[13]
• 29 November – Helen Clare (born Nellie Harrison), singer (died 2018)^[14]
• date unknown – Malcolm MacDonald, composer (died 1992)

Deaths

• 21 January – George Musgrove, theatre and opera producer, 62
• 13 May – Jessie MacLachlan, Gaelic singer, 50^[15]
• 2 August – Hamish MacCunn, composer, 48 (throat cancer)^[16]
• 5 August – George Butterworth, composer, 31 (killed in action)^[17]
• 13 November – Frederick Septimus Kelly, composer and Olympic rower, 35 (killed in action)^[18]
• 24 November – John Francis Barnett, composer and music teacher, 79^[19]

See also

• 1916 in the United Kingdom

Notes and References

1. Book: Dave Russell. Popular Music in England 1840–1914: A Social History. 1997. Manchester University Press. 978-0-7190-5261-3. 157.
2. Book: Martin Pegler. Soldiers' Songs and Slang of the Great War. 20 August 2014. Bloomsbury Publishing. 978-1-4728-0929-2. 163.
3. Book: William H. Rehrig. The Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music: Composers and Their Music.. Integrity Press. 1991. 151.
4. The Stage. 19 March 1959. 6. Haydn Wood Dies.
5. Book: Bill Raoul. Sound Designer's Companion. Broadway Press. 9780911747423. 268.
6. Book: Jeffrey Richards. Imperialism And Music: Britain 1876-1953. 2001. Manchester University Press. 978-0-7190-4506-6. 431.
7. Book: Martin Lee-Browne. Paul Guinery. Delius and His Music. 2014. Boydell & Brewer Ltd. 978-1-84383-959-0. 360.
8. Book: Richard Greene. Kenneth Hamilton. Greene Richard. Holst: The Planets. 16 March 1995. Cambridge University Press. 978-0-521-45633-3. 15.
9. http://www.world-theatres.com/longruns.html#longruns.london.html Compilation of longest-running plays in history
10. Book: Jazz Journal International. 1998. Billboard Limited.
11. Book: Ian Carr . Digby Fairweather . Brian Priestley . Charles Alexander . The Rough Guide to Jazz . registration . 2004 . Rough Guides . 978-1-84353-256-9 . 75.
12. Book: Roy Hudd. Philip Hindin. Roy Hudd's Cavalcade of Variety Acts: A who was who of Light Entertainment, 1945–60. 1997. Robson Books. 978-1-86105-115-8.
13. Book: Lawrence Goldman. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 2005–2008. 7 March 2013. OUP Oxford. 978-0-19-967154-0. 705.
14. News: 2018-09-25 . Helen Clare, singer – obituary . en-GB . The Telegraph . 2023-09-08 . 0307-1235.
15. Book: Ewan . Elizabeth L. . Innes . Sue . Reynolds . Sian . Pipes . Rose . Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women . 27 June 2007 . Edinburgh University Press . 978-0-7486-2660-1 . 233.
16. Book: Alasdair Jamieson. The Music of Hamish Maccunn. 2013. AuthorHouse. 978-1-4772-3504-1. 46.
17. Book: Michael Barlow. Whom the Gods Love: The Life and Music of George Butterworth. 1 January 1997. Toccata Press. 978-0-907689-42-3.
18. Book: Frederick Septimus Kelly. Race Against Time: The Diaries of F.S. Kelly. 2004. National Library Australia. 978-0-642-10740-4.
19. Web site: John Francis Barnett . 9 September 2017 . 12 November 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141112131126/http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095448474 . bot: unknown .