1902 in British music

This is a summary of 1902 in music in the United Kingdom.

Events

• 1 March – Baron Frederic Allred d’Erlanger‘s Piano Quintet is performed in London at St James’s Hall, Piccadilly by the Kruse Quartet with d’Erlanger himself as pianist.
• 10 March – The Bucolic Suite for orchestra by Ralph Vaughan Williams is performed for the first time in Bournemouth. ^[1]
• 2 April – The light operetta Merrie England by Edward German is first produced at the Savoy Theatre in London. ^[1]
• 4 April – The Piano Trio in D minor by Frank Bridge is performed in public for the first time at the Steinway Hall in London.
• 14 May – The tenor Enrico Caruso makes his highly successful debut at Covent Garden as the Duke in Verdi’s Rigoletto. Also singing is the Australian soprano Nellie Melba as Gilda. Caruso releases his first recordings in Britain during May.
• 2 June – Land of Hope and Glory , with music by Edward Elgar and lyrics by A. C. Benson, is publicly performed in London for the first time, by Clara Butt. ^[2]
• 26 June – Composer Hubert Parry is made a baronet in the 1902 Coronation Honours, ^[3] while another British composer, Charles Villiers Stanford, is knighted.
• 9 August – Frederick Bridge is director of music at the Coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. Music performed during the ceremony includes works by Thomas Tallis, Orlando Gibbons, Henry Purcell, Arthur Sullivan, Charles Villiers Stanford and John Stainer. ^[4]
• date unknown – In his book, The Operatic Problem, MP William Johnson Galloway expresses concern at the lack of home-grown musical talent: "Things have come to such a pass that one may well wonder whether there is any room for an Englishman, and whether the time has not arrived for a voice to be raised on behalf of native artists and native art." ^[5]

Popular music

• "I Live in Trafalgar Square", words & music by C. W. Murphy, performed by Morny Cash ^[6]
• "Land of Hope and Glory", lyrics by A. C. Benson to music by Sir Edward Elgar ^[7]
• "Speak, my Heart!", poem by A. C. Benson set to music by Sir Edward Elgar ^[8]

Classical music: new works

• Edward Elgar – Dream Children , Op. 43
• Sir Henry Walford Davies – Three Jovial Huntsmen ^[9]
• Ralph Vaughan Williams – "Whither Must I Wander" ^[10]

Opera

• Edward German – Merrie England , with libretto by Basil Hood ^[11]

Musical theatre

• 18 January – A Country Girl , by James T. Tanner, with lyrics by Adrian Ross, additional lyrics by Percy Greenbank, music by Lionel Monckton and additional songs by Paul Rubens, opens at Daly's Theatre, and runs for 729 performances. ^[12]
• 10 May – Three Little Maids , by Paul Rubens, with additional songs by Percy Greenbank and Howard Talbot, opens at the Apollo Theatre (later moving to the Prince of Wales Theatre, and runs for 348 performances. ^[13]
• 15 November – The Girl from Kays , with book by Owen Hall, music by Ivan Caryll, and lyrics by Hall, opens at the Apollo Theatre (later moving to the Comedy Theatre, and runs for 432 performances. ^[14]

Births

• January – Billy Pigg, Northumbrian piper (d. 1968) ^[15]
• 11 January – Evelyn Dove, first black singer to be played on BBC Radio (d. 1987) ^[16]
• 21 January – Webster Booth, tenor (d. 1984) ^[17]
• 29 March – William Walton, composer (d. 1983) ^[18]
• 30 March – Ted Heath, bandleader (died 1969)
• 1 May – Sonnie Hale, actor and singer (d. 1959)
• 31 May – Billy Mayerl, pianist, composer and conductor (d. 1959)
• 20 July – Jimmy Kennedy, songwriter (d. 1984) ^[19]
• 9 August – Solomon Cutner, pianist, known professionally as Solomon (d. 1988)
• 28 October – Elsa Lanchester, dancer, singer and actress (d. 1986) ^[20]
• 15 December – Mary Skeaping, choreographer (d. 1984)

Deaths

• 11 January – James James, harpist and composer of the Welsh national anthem, "Hen Wlad fy Nhadau", 69 ^[21]
• 28 March – Walter Laburnum, music hall singer, 54 ^[22]
• 21 April – Ethna Carbery, songwriter, 37 (gastritis) ^[23]
• 21 August – Bessie Bonehill, music hall entertainer, 47 (stomach cancer) ^[24]
• date unknown – Jones Hewson, D'Oyly Carte soloist, 27 ^[25]

See also

• 1902 in the United Kingdom

References

1. Slonimsky, Nicolas (1994). Music Since 1900, 5th ed. Schirmer.
2. "Arthur Christopher Benson (1862–1925): Land of Hope and Glory". Representative Poetry Online. University of Toronto Libraries. Archived from the original on 2011-05-18. Retrieved 2010-08-18.
3. "No. 27448". The London Gazette (Supplement). 26 July 1902. p. 4189.
4. Richards, Jeffrey (2001), Imperialism and Music: Britain, 1876–1953, Manchester University Press, ISBN   0-7190-6143-1 (p. 104)
5. Irene Morra (2007). Twentieth-century British Authors and the Rise of Opera in Britain. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. pp. 2–. ISBN   978-0-7546-6063-7.
6. C. A. Mathew; David Webb; Alison Carpenter (January 1974). The eastern fringe of the City: a photographic tour of the Bishopsgate area in 1912. Bishopsgate Institute.
7. Banfield, Stephen (1985). Sensibility and English song : critical studies of the early 20th century. Cambridge Cambridgeshire New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 441. ISBN   9780521230858.
8. Kennedy, Michael (1987). Portrait of Elgar (Third ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 347. ISBN   0-19-284017-7.
9. Edward Wulstan Atkins; Edward Elgar; Sir Ivor Atkins (26 April 1984). The Elgar-Atkins friendship. David & Charles. ISBN   978-0-7153-8583-8.
10. Stephen Banfield (27 January 1989). Sensibility and English Song: Critical Studies of the Early Twentieth Century. Cambridge University Press. pp. 521–. ISBN   978-0-521-37944-1.
11. "Merrie England". The Edward German Discography. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
12. Traubner, Richard (2003). Operetta : a theatrical history. New York: Routledge. p. 198. ISBN   9781135887834.
13. "Chronology of London shows 1902". Guide to Musical Theatre. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
14. Ganzl, Kurt. The British Musical Theatre Vol. 1, 1865–1914 (1987), Macmillan Press, pp. 802–19
15. Billy Pigg, the Border Minstrel. Leader Sound, 1971: LEA 4006
16. Chelsea Ritschel (11 January 2019). "Evelyn Dove: Who was the groundbreaking singer and why is her legacy so important?" . The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
17. Mr Webster Booth, Obituary, The Times, 22 June 1984
18. Patrick Kavanaugh (1996). Music of the Great Composers: A Listener's Guide to the Best of Classical Music. Zondervan. p. 255. ISBN   978-0-310-20807-5.
19. "Jimmy Kennedy". New York Times. 7 April 1984. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
20. "Lanchester [married name Laughton], Elsa Sullivan (1902–1986)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/57311.(Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
21. Thomas, Daniel Lleufer (1912). "James, James"  . Dictionary of National Biography (2nd supplement). Vol. 2. p. 361.
22. "Music Hall Artistes In Abney Park Cemetery". Spitalfields Life. 10 June 2019. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
23. "General Registrar's Office". IrishGenealogy.ie. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
24. Bessie Bonehill Is Dead. The Well Known Vaudeville Actress Had Been Ill for Three Months in England," The New York Times, 22 August 1902 (retrieved 5 December 2014)
25. "Jones Hewson". The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company - archive. Retrieved 21 January 2019.