1932 in British music explained

This is a summary of 1932 in music in the United Kingdom.

Events

• 7 October – The London Philharmonic Orchestra, recently founded by Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent, gives its first public concert.^[1]
• date unknown – Henry Hall becomes Director of the BBC Dance Orchestra.

Popular music

• "Ain't it grand to be blooming well dead?" w. Leslie Sarony
• "The Flies Crawled Up The Window" w.m. Douglas Furber & Vivian Ellis
• "Love Is The Sweetest Thing" w.m. Ray Noble
• "Mad About the Boy" w.m. Noël Coward
• "What More Can I Ask?" w. A. E. Wilkins m. Ray Noble

Classical music: new works

• • • Arnold Bax Concerto for Cello and Orchestra
  • Sinfonietta
  • Sonata No. 4, for piano
  • Summer Music, for orchestra (revised version)
  • Symphony No. 5
  • "Watching the Needleboats", for voice and piano (text by James Joyce)
• Arthur Benjamin – Violin Concerto
• Arthur Bliss – A Colour Symphony (revised)^[2]
• Arnold Cooke – Harp Quintet^[3]
• Gustav Holst
  • "If 'twer the Time of Lilies", for two-part choir and piano, H187 (words by Helen Waddell)^[4]
  • Jazz-Band Piece
  • Jig, for piano, H179
• John Ireland – A Downland Suite
• Cyril Rootham – Symphony No 1 in C minor^[5]
• Michael Tippett – String Trio in B Flat
• Ralph Vaughan Williams – Magnificat for contralto, women's chorus, and orchestra
• William Walton – 3 Songs to Poems by Edith Sitwell
  • • Grace Williams Suite for orchestra
  • Two Psalms for contralto, harp and strings^[6]

Opera

• Alfred Reynolds – Derby Day (with libretto by A. P. Herbert)^[7]

Film and Incidental music

• John D. H. Greenwood – After Office Hours^[8]
• Louis Levy – White Face^[9]

Musical theatre

• 16 September – Words and Music, a London revue by Noël Coward, opens at the Adelphi Theatre.

Musical films

• Carmen, directed by Cecil Lewis, starring Marguerite Namara and Thomas F. Burke^[10]
• For the Love of Mike, directed by Monty Banks, starring Bobby Howes, Constance Shotter and Arthur Riscoe^[11]
• Goodnight, Vienna, directed by Herbert Wilcox, starring Jack Buchanan, Anna Neagle and Gina Malo^[12]
• Little Waitress, directed by Widgey R. Newman, starring Claude Bailey and Moore Marriott^[13]
• The Maid of the Mountains, directed by Lupino Lane, starring Nancy Brown and Harry Welchman

Births

• 3 January – Johanna Peters, operatic mezzo-soprano (died 2000)
• 12 January – Des O'Connor, comedian, singer and television host (died 2020)^[14]
• 19 January – Russ Hamilton, English singer-songwriter (died 2008)
• 23 January – Cyril Davies, blues musician (died 1964)
• 29 January – Myer Fredman, British-Australian conductor (died 2014)
• 26 February – Jean Allister, opera singer (died 2012)
• 31 March – John Mitchinson, operatic tenor
• 19 May
  • John Barnes, saxophonist and clarinet player
  • Alma Cogan, singer (died 1966)
• 21 May – Robert Sherlaw Johnson, pianist and composer (died 2000)^[15]
• 27 June – Hugh Wood, composer^[16]
• 16 July – John Chilton, jazz trumpeter (died 2016)
• 31 August – Roy Castle, actor, musician and singer (died 1994)
• 11 September – Ian Hamer, jazz trumpeter (died 2006)^[17]
• 18 September – Maureen Lehane, operatic mezzo-soprano (died 2010)
• 19 September – Lol Coxhill, jazz saxophonist (died 2012)^[18]
• 15 November – Petula Clark, singer, actress, and songwriter
• 26 December – Clive Westlake, songwriter (died 2000)

Deaths

• 28 January – Poldowski, Belgian-born British pianist and composer, 52
• 3 March – Eugen d'Albert, Scottish-born German pianist and composer, 67
• 14 May – John Hughes, composer of Cwm Rhondda^[19]
• 22 July – Hugh Blair, organist and composer, 67^[20]
• 21 August – Frederick Corder, composer and music teacher, 80^[21]
• 21 September – William Herbert Scott, church composer and hymn-writer, 70^[22]
• 23 November – Percy Pitt, organist and conductor, 62
• 4 December – Mona McBurney, pianist, teacher and composer, 70
• 10 December – Percy Fletcher, composer, 52

See also

• 1932 in British television
• 1932 in the United Kingdom
• List of British films of 1932

Notes and References

1. Reid, Charles (1961). Thomas Beecham – An Independent Biography. London: Victor Gollancz. OCLC 500565141
2. Book: Randel, Don Michael. The Harvard dictionary of music. 2003. Harvard University Press. 978-0-674-01163-2. 191.
3. Book: British Music Information Centre. Chamber music by living British composers. 1969. British Music Information Centre. 10.
4. Book: Catalog of Copyright Entries: Musical compositions. 1934. Library of Congress, Copyright Office.. 21.
5. Web site: Cyril Rootham (1875-1938) - Composer. Rootham.org. 15 March 2019.
6. John Evans, Journeying Boy: The Diaries of the Young Benjamin Britten 1928–1938 (Faber & Faber, 2009), p 174
7. Dunhill, Thomas F., "The Music of Derby Day" (1 May 1932). The Musical Times, 73 (1071): pp. 415–416.
8. https://web.archive.org/web/20090115033905/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/25340 BFI.org
9. Web site: White Face. https://web.archive.org/web/20090114015457/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/57908. dead. 2009-01-14. BFI.
10. Book: Ann Davies. Phil Powrie. Carmen on Screen: An Annotated Filmography and Bibliography. 2006. Tamesis Books. 978-1-85566-129-5. 18.
11. Wood, Linda. British Films, 1927–1939. British Film Institute, 1986, page 74
12. Book: Ian Conrich. Film's Musical Moments. 14 July 2006. Edinburgh University Press. 978-0-7486-2727-1. 75.
13. Wood, Linda. British Films, 1927–1939. British Film Institute, 1986, page 256
14. Book: Colin Larkin. The Virgin Encyclopedia of 70s Music. 2002. Virgin. 978-1-85227-947-9. 311.
15. http://reporter.leeds.ac.uk/459/obit_full.htm
16. Book: Gerald Norris. A musical gazetteer of Great Britain & Ireland. June 1981. David & Charles. 978-0-7153-7845-8. 198.
17. News: Ian Hamer. Fordham. John. 2006-09-11. The Guardian. 2017-03-25. en-GB. 0261-3077.
18. http://www.jazzwisemagazine.com/news-mainmenu-139/69-2012/12425-jazz-breaking-news-saxophonist-lol-coxhill-dies-age-79 "Jazz breaking news: Saxophonist Lol Coxhill Dies Age 79"
19. http://www.cvmg.co.uk/cvm_eng/cwm_rhondda_site/writing_of.htm Rhondda Cynon Taf: History of Pontypridd
20. https://books.google.com/books?id=WPPcP39XDDIC&dq=hugh+blair+composer+died+1932&pg=PA286 Alumnae Cantabrigienses
21. Corder, Frederick. Who's Who. 1907. 59. 385.
22. Book: Maggie Humphreys. Robert Evans. Dictionary of Composers for the Church in Great Britain and Ireland. 1 January 1997. A&C Black. 978-0-7201-2330-2. 301.