1937 in British music explained

This is a summary of 1937 in music in the United Kingdom.

Events

• 24 January – Ernest John Moeran completes the revised version of his Symphony in G minor, dedicated to conductor Hamilton Harty.^[1]
• 6 March – Composer Benjamin Britten and his partner, the tenor Peter Pears, meet for the first time, in London.^[2]
• 12 May – William Walton's ceremonial march, "Crown Imperial", originally written for his predecessor, King Edward VIII, is performed for the first time at the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.
• 27 August – Britten's Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge is performed at the Salzburg Festival, conducted by Boyd Neel.^[2]
• 20 December – The Gaumont State Cinema opens in London with Sidney Torch as organist.
• date unknown
  • Kathleen Ferrier wins the piano and vocal competitions at the Carlisle Festival, and is awarded a special rose bowl as champion of the festival.^[3]
  • George Lloyd marries Nancy Juvet. Lloyd suffers from PTSD and later acknowledges that he could not have recovered without Nancy's care.^[4]
  • Ukrainian-born pianist Benno Moiseiwitsch takes up British citizenship.

Popular music

• "A Nice Cup of Tea" Gracie Fields w.m. AP Herbert, Henry Sullivan^[5]
• "Did Your Mother Come From Ireland?" w.m. Jimmy Kennedy & Michael Carr^[6]
• "Harbour Lights" w. Jimmy Kennedy m. Hugh Williams
• "Home Town" w.m. Jimmy Kennedy & Michael Carr
• "The Lambeth Walk" w. Douglas Furber, L. Arthur Rose m. Noel Gay^[7]
• "Leaning on a Lamp-post" w.m. Noel Gay^[8]
• "Me And My Girl" w.m. Noel Gay & Douglas Furber

Classical music: new works

• Arthur Bliss – Checkmate (ballet)
• Rutland Boughton – Symphony No. 3 in B minor
• Frank Bridge  String Quartet No. 4
• Benjamin Britten – Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge
• George Dyson – Symphony in G major
• John Ireland – These Things Shall Be
• Edmund Rubbra – Symphony No. 1
• Ralph Vaughan Williams – (ballet)
• Percy Whitlock – Wessex Suite

Film and Incidental music

• Richard Addinsell – Fire Over England, starring Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh.
• Ernest Irving – Feather Your Nest, starring George Formby, Polly Ward and Enid Stamp-Taylor.

Musical theatre

• 5 February – On Your Toes London production opened at the Palace Theatre and ran for 123 performances
• 29 March – Swing is in the Air London revue opened at the Palladium
• 16 December – Me and My Girl (Noel Gay) – London production opened at the Victoria Palace Theatre and ran for 1646 performances.

Musical films

• Big Fella, directed by J. Elder Wills, starring Paul Robeson and Elisabeth Welch^[9]
• Calling All Stars, directed by Herbert Smith, starring Carroll Gibbons and Evelyn Dall^[10]
• Gangway, starring Jessie Matthews and Alastair Sim^[11]
• Head Over Heels, starring Jessie Matthews^[11]
• Mayfair Melody, directed by Arthur B. Woods, starring Keith Falkner and Chili Bouchier^[12]
• The Show Goes On, starring Gracie Fields, Owen Nares and John Stuart.
• Song of the Forge, starring Stanley Holloway.^[13]
• The Street Singer, starring Arthur Tracy, Margaret Lockwood and Arthur Riscoe^[14]
• Take My Tip, directed by Herbert Mason, starring Jack Hulbert and Cicely Courtneidge

Births

• 8 January – Shirley Bassey, singer
• 22 January – Ryan Davies, comedian, singer and songwriter (died 1977)
• 27 January – John Ogdon, pianist (died 1989)
• 28 April – Jean Redpath, folk singer (died 2014)
• 5 May – Delia Derbyshire, musician and composer of electronic music^[15] (died 2001)
• 12 July – Guy Woolfenden, conductor and theatre composer (died 2016)^[16]
• 27 July – Anna Dawson, actress and singer
• 19 November – Geoff Goddard, songwriter, singer and instrumentalist (died 2000)
• 30 November – Frank Ifield, British-born Australian singer
  • • 1 December Gordon Crosse, composer^[17]
  • David Measham, violinist and conductor (died 2005)
• 12 December – Philip Ledger, composer and teacher (died 2012)
• 31 December – Anthony Hopkins, actor and composer

Deaths

• 22 January – Walter Willson Cobbett, businessman and amateur violinist, editor/author of Cobbett's Cyclopedic Survey of Chamber Music, 89
• 10 April – Algernon Ashton, pianist and composer, 77
• 1 May – Herbert Hughes, composer, music critic and collector of folk songs, 54^[18]
• 2 May – Sir Arthur Somervell, composer, 73
• 23 July – Charles Henry Mills, composer and music teacher (b. 1873)
• 25 November – Lilian Baylis, founder of Sadler's Wells ballet company, 63 (heart attack)^[19]
• 23 December – Muriel Foster, contralto, 60^[20]
• 26 December
  • Dan Beddoe, tenor, 74
  • Ivor Gurney, composer and poet, 47 (tuberculosis)^[21]

See also

• 1937 in British television
• 1937 in the United Kingdom
• List of British films of 1937

Notes and References

1. http://frombeyondthestave.blogspot.com/2009/07/most-glorious-of-english-symphonies.html From Beyond the Stave: The most glorious of English symphonies
2. Book: Mitchell, Donald. Donald Mitchell (writer). 1991. Letters From A Life: Selected Letters of Benjamin Britten, Vol. 1, 1923–39. London: Faber and Faber. 0-571-15221X.
3. Leonard, Maurice (1988). Kathleen: The Life of Kathleen Ferrier, 1912–1953. London: Hutchinson. . pp. 28–30.
4. News: Allan. Kozinn. George Lloyd, 85, British Symphonic Composer. The New York Times. 1998-07-10. 2009-10-22.
5. https://www.discogs.com/release/18387427-Gracie-Fields-Theres-A-Small-Hotel-A-Nice-Cup-Of-Tea
6. Book: Rust, Brian . The complete entertainment discography, from the mid-1890s to 1942 . Arlington House . New Rochelle, N.Y . 1973 . 9780870001505 . 279.
7. Book: Macpherson, Ben . Cultural identity in British musical theatre, 1890-1939 : knowing one's place . Palgrave Macmillan . London . 2018 . 9781137598073 . 194.
8. Book: Ratcliffe, Susan . Concise Oxford dictionary of quotations . Oxford University Press . Oxford New York . 2006 . 9780198614173 . 370.
9. Book: Bob McCann. Encyclopedia of African American Actresses in Film and Television. 21 December 2009. McFarland. 978-0-7864-5804-2. 357.
10. Book: Robert James. Popular Culture and Working-class Taste in Britain, 1930-39: A Round of Cheap Diversions?. 15 December 2010. Oxford University Press. 978-0-7190-8025-8. 139.
11. Book: James Monaco. The Encyclopedia of Film. registration. 1991. Perigee Books. 978-0-399-51604-7. 287.
12. Book: Angus McLaren. Playboys and Mayfair Men: Crime, Class, Masculinity, and Fascism in 1930s London. 16 October 2017. JHU Press. 978-1-4214-2347-0. 166.
13. Book: Stephen Shafer. British Popular Films 1929-1939: The Cinema of Reassurance. 2 September 2003. Routledge. 978-1-134-98837-2. 134.
14. Web site: BFI | Film & TV Database | the STREET SINGER (1937) . 2017-08-23 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121021151441/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/52071 . 2012-10-21 . dead .
15. Web site: Wrench. Nigel. Lost tapes of the Dr. Who composer. BBC News. 18 July 2008. 22 July 2008.
16. Web site: Guy Woolfenden obituary. 24 April 2016. Michael Billington. Michael Billington (critic). The Guardian. 26 June 2018.
17. Book: Humphreys, Maggie . Dictionary of composers for the Church in Great Britain and Ireland . Mansell . London Herndon, VA . 1997 . 9780720123302 . 79.
18. Web site: MusicSack. 27 August 2010.
19. Tanitch, Robert, "Olivier". Abbeville Press
20. [Eric Blom]
21. P. J. Kavanagh (ed.) (2004). Ivor Gurney, Collected poems (reprint ed.). Fyfield Books. .