1941 in British music explained

This is a summary of 1941 in music in the United Kingdom.

Events

• 29 March – Benjamin Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem is premiered in Carnegie Hall by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by John Barbirolli.^[1]
• 3 April – William Walton's Scapino overture has its premiere in Chicago, conducted by Frederick Stock.^[2]
• May – Arthur Bliss joins the BBC's overseas music service.^[3]
• 10 May – London's Queen's Hall, venue for the Promenade Concerts, is bombed by the Luftwaffe. The Proms re-locate to the Royal Albert Hall.
• 30 October – On the occasion of Britten's String Quartet No. 1 being performed in Washington, he is awarded the Library of Congress Medal for services to chamber music.^[4]

Popular music

• "Could You Please Oblige Us with a Bren Gun?" w.m. Noël Coward
• "Down Forget-Me-Not Lane" w.m. Horatio Nicholls, Charlie Chester & Reg Morgan
• "He Wears A Pair Of Silver Wings" w. Eric Maschwitz m. Michael Carr
• "Hey Little Hen" w.m. Ralph Butler & Noel Gay
• "London Pride" w.m. Noël Coward
• "When They Sound The Last All Clear" w.m. Hughie Charles, Louis Elton

Classical music: new works

• Kenneth J. Alford
  • By Land and Sea
  • Army of the Nile
• Richard Addinsell – Warsaw Concerto
• Arthur Bliss – String Quartet No. 1
• Benjamin Britten – String Quartet No. 1
• Ralph Vaughan Williams – England, my England

Opera

• Benjamin Britten – Paul Bunyan

Film and Incidental music

• Richard Addinsell – Dangerous Moonlight
• William Walton – Major Barbara, starring Wendy Hiller and Rex Harrison.

Musical films

• He Found a Star, starring Vic Oliver
• Turned Out Nice Again, starring George Formby
• You Will Remember, starring Robert Morley and Emlyn Williams

Musical theatre

• 5 March – Apple Sauce revue opens at the Palladium.
• 24 July – Lady Behave London production opens at His Majesty's Theatre and runs for 401 performances.
• 19 November – Get a Load of This London production opens at the Hippodrome Theatre and runs for 698 performances.

Births

• 12 January – Long John Baldry, R&B singer (died 2005)^[5]
• 4 February – John Steel, drummer (The Animals and Eggs over Easy)
• 14 February – Big Jim Sullivan, English guitarist (died 2012)^[6]
• 5 April – Dave Swarbrick, folk musician (died 2016)^[7]
• 11 April – Arthur Davies, operatic tenor (died 2018)^[8]
• 13 April – Margaret Price, soprano
• 23 April – Ed Stewart, disc jockey (died 2016)
• 3 May – Paul Ferris, film composer and actor (died 1995)
• 9 May – Pete Birrell, bass player (Freddie and the Dreamers)
• 11 May – Eric Burdon, R&B singer (The Animals)
• 21 May – Martin Carthy, folk musician
• 9 June – Jon Lord, keyboard player and composer (died 2012)
• 12 June – Reg Presley, singer and songwriter (died 2013)
• 30 June
  • Mike Leander, arranger, songwriter and record producer (died 1996)
  • Nigel Walley, tea-chest bass player and golfer
• 7 July – Jim Rodford, bass player (The Kinks, The Swinging Blue Jeans, The Zombies, The Kast Off Kinks and Argent)
• 17 July – Spencer Davis, instrumentalist (The Spencer Davis Group)
• 20 August – Anne Evans, operatic soprano
• 10 September – Christopher Hogwood, conductor and harpsichordist
• 27 October – Don Partridge, singer-songwriter (died 2010)
• 2 November – Brian Poole, singer (The Tremeloes)
• 15 November – Rick Kemp, singer-songwriter, bass player and producer (Steeleye Span)
• 24 November – Pete Best, rock drummer (The Beatles original lineup)
• 27 December
  • Les Maguire, pop pianist (Gerry & the Pacemakers)
  • Mike Pinder, rock keyboard player (The Moody Blues)
• 29 December – Ray Thomas, rock flautist and singer-songwriter (The Moody Blues) (died 2018)

Deaths

• 10 January – Frank Bridge, composer, 61
• 19 February – Sir Hamilton Harty, conductor and composer, 61
• 11 March – Sir Henry Walford Davies, composer, 71
• 27 March – Stewart Macpherson, music teacher and writer, 75^[9]
• 16 August – John Coates, operatic tenor, 76
• date unknown – William Hargreaves, music hall composer

See also

• 1941 in British television
• 1941 in the United Kingdom
• List of British films of 1941

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. . p. 629
2. Lloyd, Stephen (2001). William Walton: Muse of Fire. Woodbridge: Boydell Press. . p. 173
3. "New BBC Director of Music", The Times, 1 April 1942, p. 7
4. Mitchell, Donald (ed) (1991). p. 961
5. Web site: Long John Baldry. 23 July 2005. Dave Laing. The Guardian. 15 April 2020.
6. Web site: Big Jim Sullivan. 3 October 2012. Dave Laing. The Guardian. 15 April 2020.
7. Book: Brock Helander. The Rockin' 60s: The People Who Made the Music. 1 January 2001. Schirmer Trade Books. 978-0-85712-811-9. 239.
8. https://www.eno.org/news/arthur-davies-1941-2018/ "Arthur Davies (1941–2018)"
9. Shaw, Watkins. "Macpherson, (Charles) Stewart". Grove Music Online (subscription access)