1940 in music explained

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1940.

Specific locations

Specific genres

Events

Albums released

Top popular recordings

The following songs appeared in The Billboard's 'Best Selling Retail Records' chart during 1940. Each week fifteen points were awarded to the number one record, then nine points for number two, eight points for number three, and so on. The total points a record earned determined its year-end rank. Regional charts determined the 11-25 rankings each week, and records that failed to score on the main chart were ranked by highest position. Additional information was obtained from the "Discography of American Historical Recordings" website, Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954[3] and other sources as specified.

RankArtistTitleLabelRecordedReleasedChart positions
1 "Frenesi"[4] Victor 26542 US BB 1940 #1, US #1 for 13 weeks, 29 total weeks, Grammy Hall of Fame 2000, 1,000,000 sold[5]
2 "I'll Never Smile Again"[6] Victor 26628 US BB 1940 #2, US #1 for 12 weeks, 20 total weeks, 1,000,000 sold
3 "Only Forever"[7] Decca 3300 US BB 1940 #3, US #1 for 9 weeks, 22 total weeks
4 "Tuxedo Junction"[8] Bluebird 10612 US BB 1940 #4, US #1 for 9 weeks, 19 total weeks, 1,000,000 sold
5 Glenn Miller and his Orchestra "The Woodpecker Song"[9] Bluebird 10598 US BB 1940 #5, US #1 for 7 weeks, 16 total weeks
6 Glenn Miller and his Orchestra "When You Wish Upon a Star"[10] Bluebird 10570 US BB 1940 #6, US #1 for 5 weeks, 16 total weeks
7 Glenn Miller and his Orchestra "Careless" Bluebird 10520 US BB 1940 #7, US #1 for 5 weeks, 13 total weeks
8 Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra (Vocal Jack Leonard) "All the Things You Are"[11] Victor 26401 US BB 1940 #8, US #1 for 2 weeks, 13 total weeks
9 Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra (Vocal Jack Leonard) "Indian Summer"[12] Victor 26390 US BB 1940 #9, US #1 for 1 week, 16 total weeks
10 Glenn Miller and His Orchestra (Vocal Ray Eberle) "Fools Rush In (Where Angels Fear to Tread)"[13] Bluebird 10728 US BB 1940 #10, US #1 for 3 weeks, 15 total weeks
11 Benny Goodman and His Orchestra (Vocal Mildred Bailey) "Darn That Dream" Columbia 35331 US BB 1940 #11, US #1 for 1 week, 11 total weeks
12 Ink Spots "Maybe"[14] Decca 3258 US BB 1940 #12, US #2 for 6 weeks, 17 total weeks
13 Glenn Miller and His Orchestra (Vocal Ray Eberle) "Blueberry Hill"[15] Bluebird 10768 US BB 1940 #13, US #2 for 4 weeks, 19 total weeks
14 Columbia 35530 US BB 1940 #14, US #2 for 1 week, 21 total weeks
15 Bing Crosby "Trade Winds" Decca 3299 US BB 1940 #15, US #2 for 2 weeks, 18 total weeks
16 The Breeze and I[16] Decca 3150 US BB 1940 #16, US #2 for 6 weeks, 11 total weeks, 1,000,000 sold
17 Ink Spots "We Three (My Echo, My Shadow and Me)"[17] Decca 3379 US BB 1940 #17, US #3 for 1 week, 15 total weeks
18 Bing Crosby "Sierra Sue" Decca 3133 US BB 1940 #18, US #3 for 1 week, 14 total weeks
19 "With the Wind and the Rain in Your Hair"[18] Decca 3018 US BB 1940 #19, US #2 for 3 weeks, 14 total weeks
20 "It's a Blue World"[19] Decca 2932 US BB 1940 #20, US #2 for 2 weeks, 13 total weeks
21 Glenn Miller and His Orchestra (Vocal Ray Eberle) "Say It"[20] Bluebird 10631 US BB 1940 #21, US #2 for 2 weeks, 11 total weeks

Published popular music

Classical music

Premieres

Composer Composition Date Location Performers
Les Illuminations 1940-01-30 London Wyss / Neel String Orchestra – Neel
1940-03-29 New York City Brosa / New York Philharmonic – Barbirolli
Symphony No. 1 (2nd version) 1940-10-24 Chicago Chicago Symphony – Stock[22]
Xochipilli-Macuilxóchitl 1940-05-16 Museum of Modern Art, New York City Ensemble – Chávez
1940-02-22 New York City NYA Symphony – Mahler[23]
1940-09-11 Montevideo, Uruguay Balzo
1940-10-16 Montevideo, Uruguay Balzo
Concerto funebre 1940-02-29 St. Gallen, Switzerland Neracher / St. Gallen Chamber Orchestra – Klug[24]
Hindemith, PaulViolin Concerto (1939)1940-03-14AmsterdamConcertgebouw Orchestra
1940-11-16 Moscow Oistrakh / USSR State Symphony – Gauk[25]
1940-05-23 Poughkeepsie, New York Williams, Geer / Vassar Orchestra – Krenek
Symphonisches Stück 1940-06-11 Basel Basel Chamber Orchestra – Sacher
God in Disguise 1940-04-01 Stockholm Torlind, Hasslo, Molander / Swedish Radio Symphony – Larsson [26]
Aotearoa, overture 1940-04-15 London Sadler's Welles Orchestra – Braithwaite[27]
1940-10-17 Chicago Chicago Symphony – Milhaud [28]
1940-11-28 Moscow USSR Radio Symphony – Golovanov[29]
1940-03-18 New York City Posselt / National Orchestral Association – Barzin[30]
1940-11-06 Little Rock, US Detroit Civic Orchestra – Valter Poole[31]
1940-04-08 Moscow Prokofiev[32]
Concierto de Aranjuez 1940-11-09 Barcelona Saenz de la Maza / Barcelona Philharmonic – Mendoza-Lasalle[33]
1940-12-15 New York City Friends of New Music Orchestra – Stiedry
Violin Concerto (finished 1936) 1940-12-06 Philadelphia Krasner / Philadelphia Orchestra – Stokowski
1940-11-23 Moscow Shostakovich, Beethoven Quartet
1940-12-08 Moscow Baturin, Shostakovich
Japanese Festival Music 1940-12-14 Tokyo Tokyo Broadcast Orchestra – Fellmer[34]
1940-11-07 Chicago Chicago Symphony – Stravinsky [35]
1940-04-21 London South London Orchestra – Tippett
Fünf Lieder, Op. 4 (1909) 1940-02-10 Basel, Switzerland Gradmann-Lüscher, Schmid

Compositions

Opera

Film

Jazz

See main article: 1940 in jazz.

Musical theatre

Musical films

Births

Deaths

Notes and References

  1. Mitchell, Donald (ed) (1991). Letters From A Life: Selected Letters of Benjamin Britten, Vol. 2 1939–45. London: Faber and Faber. . pp. 628, 657
  2. Mitchell (1991): p. 629
  3. Book: Whitburn, Joel . Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954 . Record Research . 1986.
  4. Web site: Victor matrix PBS-042546. Frenesi / Artie Shaw Orchestra – Discography of American Historical Recordings . 2022-06-11 . adp.library.ucsb.edu.
  5. Book: Murrells, Joseph . The book of golden discs . 1978 . London : Barrie & Jenkins . Internet Archive . 978-0-214-20512-5.
  6. Web site: Victor matrix BS-048942. I'll never smile again / The Pied Pipers; Frank Sinatra; Tommy Dorsey Orchestra – Discography of American Historical Recordings . 2022-06-11 . adp.library.ucsb.edu.
  7. Web site: Decca matrix DLA 2033. Only forever / Bing Crosby – Discography of American Historical Recordings . 2022-06-11 . adp.library.ucsb.edu.
  8. Web site: Victor matrix BS-046786. Tuxedo junction / Glenn Miller Orchestra – Discography of American Historical Recordings . 2022-06-11 . adp.library.ucsb.edu.
  9. Web site: Victor matrix BS-046739. The woodpecker's song / Glenn Miller Orchestra; Marion Hutton – Discography of American Historical Recordings . 2022-06-11 . adp.library.ucsb.edu.
  10. Web site: Victor matrix BS-046084. When you wish upon a star / Ray Eberle; Glenn Miller Orchestra – Discography of American Historical Recordings . 2022-06-11 . adp.library.ucsb.edu.
  11. Web site: Victor matrix BS-040983. All the things you are / Jack Leonard; Tommy Dorsey Orchestra – Discography of American Historical Recordings . 2022-06-11 . adp.library.ucsb.edu.
  12. Web site: Victor matrix BS-042738. Indian summer / Jack Leonard; Tommy Dorsey Orchestra – Discography of American Historical Recordings . 2022-06-11 . adp.library.ucsb.edu.
  13. Web site: Victor matrix BS-048489. Fools rush in (where angels fear to tread) / Ray Eberle; Glenn Miller Orchestra – Discography of American Historical Recordings . 2022-06-11 . adp.library.ucsb.edu.
  14. Web site: Decca matrix 67863. Maybe / Ink Spots – Discography of American Historical Recordings . 2022-06-11 . adp.library.ucsb.edu.
  15. Web site: Victor matrix BS-053132. Blueberry Hill / Ray Eberle; Glenn Miller Orchestra – Discography of American Historical Recordings . 2022-06-11 . adp.library.ucsb.edu.
  16. Web site: Decca matrix 67584. The breeze and I / Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra – Discography of American Historical Recordings . 2022-06-11 . adp.library.ucsb.edu.
  17. Web site: Decca matrix 67928. We three (My echo, my shadow and me) / Ink Spots – Discography of American Historical Recordings . 2022-06-11 . adp.library.ucsb.edu.
  18. Web site: Decca matrix 67189. With the wind and the rain in your hair / Bob Crosby Orchestra – Discography of American Historical Recordings . 2022-06-11 . adp.library.ucsb.edu.
  19. Web site: Decca matrix 66989. It's a blue world / Tony Martin – Discography of American Historical Recordings . 2022-06-11 . adp.library.ucsb.edu.
  20. Web site: Victor matrix BS-047095. Say it / Ray Eberle; Glenn Miller Orchestra – Discography of American Historical Recordings . 2022-06-11 . adp.library.ucsb.edu.
  21. https://secondhandsongs.com/work/183852/all
  22. Web site: Carpenter: Adventures in a Perambulator / Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2. www.naxos.com.
  23. Book: Paul Creston: A Bio-bibliography. February 9, 1994. Greenwood Publishing Group. 9780313253362. Google Books.
  24. Web site: Hartmann: Concerto funebre. Hyperion Records.
  25. Web site: Los Angeles Philharmonic. July 19, 2015. July 22, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150722213721/http://www.laphil.com/philpedia/music/violin-concerto-d-minor-aram-khachaturian. dead.
  26. Web site: Norlands Operan. July 24, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150724212035/http://www.norrlandsoperan.se/eng/events/0528-foerklaedd-gud/7446. July 24, 2015. dead. mdy-all.
  27. http://sounz.org.nz/works/show/12102 SouNZ
  28. Web site: Chicago Symphony Orchestra. July 24, 2015. July 17, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150717065206/http://cso.org/uploadedFiles/8_about/History_-_Rosenthal_archives/world_premieres.pdf. dead.
  29. Web site: N. Myaskovsky » Works. www.myaskovsky.ru.
  30. Web site: PISTON, W.: Violin Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 / Fantasia for Violin and Orchestra (Buswell, Ukraine National Symphony, T. Kuchar). www.naxos.com.
  31. Book: Price, Florence . Florence Price . January 1, 2008 . 1932 . Brown . Rae Linda . Shirley . Wayne D. . Symphonies nos. 1 and 3 . A-R Editions . xlvi–lii . 978-0895796387.
  32. Web site: An Evening with Yefim Bronfman – La Jolla Music Society. https://web.archive.org/web/20150725130641/http://ljms.org/ai1ec_event/an-evening-with-yefim-bronfman/?instance_id=. dead. July 25, 2015. Olivia. Espinosa.
  33. http://www.joaquin-rodrigo.com/index.php/en/concierto-de-aranjuez-2/estrenos Joaquín Rodrigo official website
  34. Book: Jones, Barrie. The Hutchinson Concise Dictionary of Music. June 3, 2014. Routledge. 9781135950187. Google Books.
  35. Web site: Chicago Symphony Orchestra. July 24, 2015. December 12, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141212030048/http://cso.org/uploadedfiles/1_tickets_and_events/program_notes/programnotes_stravinsky_symphony_in_c.pdf. dead.
  36. Web site: London performances – White Horse Inn (1st Revival). 1940. overthefootlights.co.uk. June 19, 2014 . February 11, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150211233927/http://www.overthefootlights.co.uk/London%20Musicals%201940-1944.pub.pdf . dead .
  37. Book: Várkonyi Vilmos. Jávor Pál: és a magyar film aranykora. Zima Szabolcs. 2013. 52.
  38. Book: Medved . Harry . The Fifty Worst Movies of All Time (and how They Got that Way) . 1978 . Angus & Robertson . 9780207958915 . 288 . First . 16 May 2021.
  39. Web site: Crowther . Bosley . A-Night-at-Earl-Carroll-s - Trailer - Cast - Showtimes . https://web.archive.org/web/20150402193833/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/127766/A-Night-at-Earl-Carroll-s/overview . dead . 2015-04-02 . Movies & TV Dept. . . Bosley Crowther . 2015 . August 1, 2024.
  40. News: Martin . Douglas . January 17, 2012 . Jimmy Castor, Musician Who Mastered Many Genres, Dies at 71 . The New York Times.

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