1937 in British music

1930s in music in the UK
Best-selling singles
Best-selling albums
Summaries and charts 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939
←1929	1940→

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]
• May - The composer Benjamin Britten begins friendship with the tenor Peter Pears.^[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]
• 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]
  • Ukrainian-born pianist Benno Moiseiwitsch takes up British citizenship.

Popular music

• "Did Your Mother Come From Ireland?" w.m. Jimmy Kennedy & Michael Carr
• "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
• "Leaning On A Lamp Post" w.m. Noel Gay
• "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
• 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
• Calling All Stars, directed by Herbert Smith, starring Carroll Gibbons and Evelyn Dall
• Gangway, starring Jessie Matthews and Alastair Sim
• Head Over Heels, starring Jessie Matthews
• Mayfair Melody, directed by Arthur B. Woods, starring Keith Falkner and Chili Bouchier
• The Show Goes On, starring Gracie Fields, Owen Nares and John Stuart.
• Song of the Forge, starring Stanley Holloway.
• 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^[4] (died 2001)
• 12 July - Guy Woolfenden, conductor and composer
• 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
  • 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^[5]
• 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)^[6]
• 26 December
  • Dan Beddoe, tenor, 74
  • Ivor Gurney, composer and poet, 47 (tuberculosis)^[7]

References

1. From Beyond the Stave: The most glorious of English symphonies
2. Mitchell, Donald (ed) (1991). Letters From A Life: Selected Letters of Benjamin Britten, Vol. 1 1923-39. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-15221X. p. 317
3. Leonard, Maurice (1988). Kathleen: The Life of Kathleen Ferrier, 1912–1953. London: Hutchinson. ISBN 0-09-173464-9. pp. 28–30
4. Wrench, Nigel (18 July 2008). "Lost tapes of the Dr. Who composer". BBC News. Retrieved 22 July 2008.
5. "MusicSack". Retrieved 27 August 2010.
6. Tanitch, Robert, "Olivier". Abbeville Press
7. P. J. Kavanagh (ed.) (2004). Ivor Gurney, Collected poems (reprint ed.). Fyfield Books. ISBN 1-85754-709-8.