1917 in British music explained

This is a summary of 1917 in music in the United Kingdom.

Events

• January – Morfydd Llwyn Owen makes her professional debut at London's Aeolian Hall.^[1]
• Summer – Composer Arnold Bax and his lover, pianist Harriet Cohen, holiday together in Cornwall.^[2]
• 26 November – After several cancellations, Granville Bantock's Tone Poem No. 3, also known as Orchestral Drama: Fifine at the Fair is finally performed by the Royal Philharmonic Society, conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham.
• date unknown – Under the direction of Rupert D'Oyly Carte, the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company makes the first complete recording of a Gilbert and Sullivan opera, The Mikado, for the Gramophone Company (later His Master's Voice).

Popular music

• Edward Elgar and Rudyard Kipling – "The Lowestoft Boat"
• Bert Lee and R. P. Weston – "Paddy McGinty's Goat"

Classical music: new works

• Kenneth J. Alford
  • On the Quarter Deck, march
  • The Middy, march
  • The Voice of the Guns^[3]
• Arnold Bax – November Woods^[4]
• Frank Bridge – Cello Sonata in D minor
• Rebecca Clarke – Morpheus
• Frederick Delius – Eventyr (Once Upon a Time)
• Edward Elgar
  • The Sanguine Fan (ballet)
  • The Spirit of England
• Gustav Holst – The Hymn of Jesus
• Charles Villiers Stanford
  • Aviator's Hymn, for tenor, bass, choir, and organ
  • Irish Rhapsody No. 5, in G Minor, for orchestra
  • Night Thoughts, Op. 148, for piano
  • "On Windy Way When Morning Breaks", partsong
  • Sailing Song, partsong, two soprano voices
  • "St George of England", song
  • Scènes de ballet, Op. 150, for piano
  • Sonata No. 1, in F major, Op. 149, for organ
  • Sonata No. 2 ("Eroica"), in G minor, Op. 151, for organ
  • Sonata No. 3 ("Britannica"), in D minor, Op. 152, for organ

Musical theatre

• 10 February – The Maid of the Mountains by Seymour Hicks, with music by Sidney Jones and Paul Rubens, and lyrics by Adrian Ross, starring José Collins, by Harold Fraser-Simson, with additional music by James W. Tate, lyrics by Harry Graham and additional lyrics by Frank Clifford Harris and Valentine, opens at Daly's Theatre, where it runs for 1,352 performances.^[5]
• 14 September – The Boy, by Fred Thompson and Percy Greenbank, with music by Lionel Monckton and Howard Talbot and lyrics by Greenbank and Adrian Ross, opens at the Adelphi Theatre for a run of 801 performances, starring Maisie Gay and Donald Calthrop.

Births

• 25 February – Anthony Burgess, composer and writer (died 1993)
• 27 February – George Mitchell, founder of the Black and White Minstrels (died 2002)
• 2 March – John Gardner, composer (died 2011)
• 20 March – Vera Lynn, singer (died 2020)
• 23 March – Josef Locke, tenor (died 1999)
• 29 June – Mary Berry, canoness, choral conductor and musicologist (died 2008)
• 6 July – Hugo Cole, composer and critic (died 1995)
• 15 September – Richard Arnell, composer (died 2009)

Deaths

• 25 February – Paul Rubens, composer and songwriter, 41 (tuberculosis)^[6]
• 7 August – Basil Hood, librettist and lyricist, 53^[7]
• 11 September – Evie Greene, actress and singer, 42 (Bright's disease)^[8]

See also

• 1917 in the United Kingdom

Notes and References

1. Maddox, B. Freud’s Wizard: The Enigma of Ernest Jones. London: John Murray 2006. p 134
2. Web site: Music & Men: The Life & Loves of Harriet Cohen. https://web.archive.org/web/20120618060623/http://www.helen-fry.com/books/musicandmen/. dead. June 18, 2012. Helen Fry. 16 August 2018.
3. Book: Jeffrey Richards. Imperialism And Music: Britain 1876-1953. 2001. Manchester University Press. 978-0-7190-4506-6. 431.
4. "An Arnold-Bax Tone Poem", The Times, 17 December 1920, p. 10
5. Cooke, Mervyn. The Cambridge Companion to Twentieth-century Opera, p. 296 (2005) Cambridge University Press
6. The Times obituary, 6 February 1917, p. 10
7. "Captain Basil Hood's Death: Excessive Concentration on Cryptograms", The Times, 11 August 1917; p. 3
8. Book: Gordon Williams. British Theatre in the Great War: A Revaluation. 1 October 2003. A&C Black. 978-1-84714-128-6. 19–.