1944 in British music

1940s in music in the UK
Best-selling singles
Best-selling albums
Summaries and charts 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949
←1939	1950→

This is a summary of 1944 in music in the United Kingdom.

Events

• 4 January – Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears begin a long association with Decca Records, recording four of Britten's folk song arrangements.^[1]
• March – Vera Lynn goes to Shamsheernugger airfield to entertain the troops before the Battle of Kohima.^[2]
• 19 March – Michael Tippett's A Child of Our Time receives its first performances at London's Adelphi Theatre.
• 25 May – Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears record Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings for Decca, with Dennis Brain and the Boyd Neel Orchestra.^[3]
• 28 July – Sir Henry Wood, aged 75, conducts his last Promenade Concert.
• 23 September – Rebecca Clarke marries James Friskin (a composer, concert pianist and founding member of the Juilliard School faculty).^[4]

Popular music

• "One Love", music and words Jack Popplewell.

Classical music: new works

• Arnold Bax - To Russia for baritone solo and chorus (Masefield)
• Gerald Finzi - Farewell to Arms
• Ernest John Moeran – Sinfonietta (dedicated to Arthur Bliss)
• Grace Williams - Sea Sketches

Film and Incidental music

• William Alwyn - The Way Ahead
• Gordon Jacob - For Those in Peril
• William Walton - Henry V, directed by and starring Laurence Olivier

Musical theatre

• 25 May - A Night In Venice (Johann Strauss II) London production opens at the Cambridge Theatre

Musical films

• Champagne Charlie starring Tommy Trinder
• One Exciting Night directed by Walter Forde and starring Vera Lynn, Donald Stewart and Mary Clare.

Births

• 3 January - David Atherton, conductor
• 5 January -Jo Ann Kelly, singer and guitarist (John Dummer Band) (died 1990)
• 9 January - Jimmy Page, rock musician and producer (Led Zeppelin)
• 19 January - Laurie London, English singer
• 27 January - Nick Mason, percussionist and composer (Pink Floyd)
• 28 January - John Tavener, composer (died 2013)
• 2 February - Andrew Davis, conductor
• 1 March - Roger Daltrey, vocalist (The Who)
• 17 March - John Lill, pianist
• 23 March - Michael Nyman, composer
• 6 April - Felicity Palmer, operatic mezzo-soprano
• 26 April - Richard Bradshaw, opera conductor (died 2007)
• 8 May
  • Gary Glitter, singer-songwriter
  • Bill Legend, drummer (T. Rex and Bill Legend's T. Rex)
• 10 May - Jackie Lomax, singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Undertakers) (died 2013)
• 12 May - Brian Kay, singer, conductor, and radio host (The King's Singers)
• 20 May - Joe Cocker, singer (died 2014)
• 17 June - Chris Spedding, singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 21 June - Ray Davies, singer-songwriter (The Kinks)
• 22 June - Peter Asher, singer and record producer (Peter & Gordon)
• 24 June
  • Jeff Beck, singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • John "Charlie" Whitney, English guitarist (Family, Axis Point, and Streetwalkers)
  • Chris Wood, English saxophonist (Traffic and Ginger Baker's Air Force) (d. 1983)
• 22 July - Rick Davies, keyboardist (Supertramp)
• 2 August - Jim Capaldi, musician and songwriter (died 2005)^[5]
• 5 August - Christopher Gunning, composer
• 16 August - Kevin Ayers, singer-songwriter (died 2013)
• 9 October – John Entwistle, bassist (The Who) (died 2002)
• 2 November - Keith Emerson, keyboardist and composer (died 2016)
• 10 November – Tim Rice, lyricist

Deaths

• 19 January - Harold Fraser-Simson, songwriter and composer of light music (born 1872)^[6]
• 6 February - Philip Michael Faraday, organist, composer and theatrical producer (born 1875)
• 12 February - Annie Fortescue Harrison, songwriter and composer of piano music (born 1850 or 1851)
• 29 February - Durward Lely, operatic tenor (born 1852)
• 24 June - Chick Henderson, dance band singer (born 1912; killed in action)^[7]
• 4 July - Alice Burville, singer and actress (born 1856)
• 13 July - Eda Kersey, violinist (born 1904; stomach cancer)
• 9 May - Dame Ethel Smyth, composer (born 1858)
• 19 August - Sir Henry Wood, conductor (born 1869)
• 21 September - Louis N. Parker, dramatist, composer and translator (born 1852)
• date unknown - Frank Bury, composer (born 1910; killed in action)^[8]

References

1. Stuart, Philip. Decca Classical 1929–2009, accessed 15 June 2014.
2. "Technology Obituaries: Bernard Holden". The Telegraph. London. 4 October 2012. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
3. Mitchell, Donald (ed) (1991). Letters From A Life: Selected Letters of Benjamin Britten, Vol. 2 1939-45. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-16058-1. p. 1196
4. Curtis, Liane (May 1996). "A Case of Identity" (PDF). Musical Times: 20.
5. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 92. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
6. The Times obituary, 20 January 1944, p. 7
7. CWGC Casualty Record.
8. CWGC entry