1950 in British music

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Last updated July 30, 2023

This is a summary of 1950 in music in the United Kingdom.

Events

9 March – UK premiere of Britten's Spring Symphony at the Royal Albert Hall, London, conducted by Eduard van Beinum.^[1]
September – Herbert Howells' Hymnus Paradisi receives its première at the Three Choirs Festival; the work had been written in 1938, shortly after the death of the composer's young son.^[2]
24 September – US musicologist Alan Lomax leaves for a tour of Europe, in the course of which he collects folk music from all over the UK, broadcasts on the BBC, and works with folklorists Peter Douglas Kennedy, Hamish Henderson, and Séamus Ennis,^[3] recording among others, Margaret Barry and the songs in Irish of Elizabeth Cronin; Scots ballad singer Jeannie Robertson; and Harry Cox of Norfolk.^[4]
Jazz musician John Dankworth forms the Dankworth Seven, with Jimmy Deuchar (trumpet), Eddie Harvey (trombone), Don Rendell (tenor sax), Bill Le Sage (piano), Eric Dawson (bass) and Tony Kinsey (drums).
Gracie Fields' radio show transfers from the BBC to Radio Luxembourg, where it is sponsored by Wisk soap powder.
Pianist Moura Lympany divorces her husband Colin Defries.^[5]
Harrison & Harrison begin work on a 7,866 pipe organ destined for the Royal Festival Hall, working to a design by Ralph Downes.^[6]

Classical music: new works

Malcolm Arnold – English Dances for orchestra, op. 27
Benjamin Britten – Lachrymae
Arnold Cooke – Trio for Violin, Viola and Cello
Vivian Ellis – Alpine Pastures
Arwel Hughes – Dewi Sant (Saint David) (oratorio)
Humphrey Searle – Poem for 22 Strings
William Walton – 2 Pieces for violin and piano
Grace Williams – Three Traditional Ballads
W. S. Gwynn Williams – Breuddwyd Glyndwr

Opera

Hugo Cole – Asses' Ears^[7]
Lawrance Collingwood – The Death of Tintagiles^[8]
Norman Demuth – The Oresteia
Brian Easdale – The Corn King (written in 1935)^[9]
Berthold Goldschmidt – Beatrice Cenci
Inglis Gundry – The Horses of the Dawn (not performed)^[10]
Elisabeth Lutyens – Penelope^[11]

Film and Incidental music

William Alwyn – State Secret , starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Jack Hawkins, Glynis Johns and Herbert Lom.
Anthony Collins – Odette , starring Anna Neagle and Trevor Howard.
John Wooldridge – The Woman in Question directed by Anthony Asquith, starring Jean Kent, Dirk Bogarde and John McCallum.

Musical theatre

Musical films

Come Dance with Me , featuring Anne Shelton and Anton Karas
Dance Hall , starring Petula Clark and Diana Dors
The Dancing Years , starring Dennis Price

Births

21 January – Billy Ocean (real name Leslie Charles), singer and songwriter
12 February – Steve Hackett, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Genesis, Quiet World, and GTR)
24 February – Howard Griffiths, conductor
13 February — Peter Gabriel, singer and songwriter
19 February — Andy Powell, musician (Wishbone Ash)
9 March – Howard Shelley, pianist and conductor
10 March – Stephen Oliver, opera composer (died 1992 in British music)
20 April – Ray Hodson (Line Dance Instructor – UK)
22 April — Peter Frampton, singer and songwriter
3 May — Mary Hopkin, singer
13 May – Danny Kirwan, guitarist, singer and songwriter (Fleetwood Mac)
22 May — Bernie Taupin, songwriter
1 June – Tom Robinson, singer and songwriter
5 June – Barbara Gaskin, singer
16 June – Andrew Ball, pianist
23 June – Nicholas Cleobury, conductor
27 August – Neil Murray, bass guitarist
14 September – Paul Kossoff, guitarist (Free) (died 1976)^[12]
26 September – Simon Brint, comedy musician and composer (died 2011)
18 November – Graham Parker, singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Rumour)

Deaths

14 February – Robert Graham Manson, violinist, pianist and composer, 66^[13]
26 February – Sir Harry Lauder, singer, comedian and songwriter, 79^[14]
19 April – Gerald Tyrwhitt-Wilson, 14th Baron Berners, composer, writer and artist, 66
13 May – Bruno Siegfried Huhn, organist and composer, 78
6 June – Alfred Edward Moffat, composer and collector of music, 86^[15]
28 June – H. Balfour Gardiner, musician, composer and teacher, 72 (stroke)^[16]
14 October – Florence Aylward, composer, 88
26 October – Evelyn Suart, pianist, 69
19 November – Thomas Wood, composer, 57 (heart attack)^[17]
23 November – Percival Mackey, pianist, composer and bandleader, 56^[18]
1 December – Ernest John Moeran, composer, 55 (cerebral haemorrhage)^[19]
23 December – John Rippiner Heath, violinist and composer, 63
25 December – Edward d'Evry, organist and composer, 81
"date unknown" – Kate Carney, singer and comedian, 80

Related Research Articles

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1945.

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1950.

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1937.

This is a summary of 2000 in music in the United Kingdom.

The cultural year was dominated by the Festival of Britain and the opening of The Royal Festival Hall, the first dedicated concert hall of its size to be built in London since 1893: located on the south bank of the Thames, this was to host concerts by major orchestras from Britain and abroad. The Festival itself was a celebration of music, art and theatre. It notably provided an opportunity for the staging of many events seen during the first Folk music Festival held in Edinburgh, organised with the help of such talents as the American Alan Lomax, the Irish traditional musician Seamus Ennis and the political theatre director Ewan MacColl, who would go on to form the Ballad and Blues Club.

This is a summary of 1959 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.

This is a summary of 1963 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.

This is a summary of 1960 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.

This is a summary of 1958 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.

This is a summary of 1956 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.

This is a summary of 1955 in music of all genres in the United Kingdom.

This is a summary of 1949 in music in the United Kingdom.

Inglis Gundry was an English composer, novelist, musicologist, music pedagogue and writer. He is particularly remembered for his operas and for his numerous books; not only on music, but on a broad array of historical subjects. For five decades he lectured on music appreciation for WEA London and also taught on the music faculties at the University of Cambridge, the University of London, and the University of Surrey.

This is a summary of 1948 in music in the United Kingdom.

This is a summary of 1947 in music in the United Kingdom.

This is a summary of 1945 in music in the United Kingdom.

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

This is a summary of 1942 in music in the United Kingdom.

This is a summary of 1938 in music in the United Kingdom.

References

↑ Mitchell, Donald (ed) (2004). Letters From A Life: Selected Letters of Benjamin Britten, Vol. 3 1946–51. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-22282-X. p. 533
↑ "Hymnus Paradisi". The Musical Times . 91 (1291): 352–353. September 1950. doi:10.2307/935574. JSTOR 935574.
↑ A recent BBC radio program (May 12, 2012), The First LP in Ireland commemorates Ennis and Lomax's Irish collaboration.
↑ John Szwed, Alan Lomax: The Man Who Recorded the World (New York: Viking, 2010), p. 251.
↑ Notable Twentieth Century Pianists by John Gillespie and Anna Gillespie c.1995 p.570
↑ Webb, Stanley; Patrick Russill. "Ralph Downes". Grove Music Online (subscription access). Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 2009-01-06. Retrieved 2007-04-30.
↑ Operaglass Opera Composers: C
↑ Naxos bio
↑ The Musical Times, 91 (1294): pp. 481–482
↑ Inglis Gundry, "Some of the operas of Inglis Gundry"
↑ Operaglass Opera Composers: L
↑ The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History. Palgrave Macmillan. 2011. p. 535. ISBN 9781403939104.
↑ Obituary: Toronto Star, Thursday, February 16, 1950, page 28:
↑ Russell, Dave. "Lauder, Sir Henry (1870–1950)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, online edition, January 2011, accessed 27 April 2014 (subscription required)
↑ Who was Who. (1941) London: Adam & Charles Black, 2nd ed. 1967, Vol. IV, 1941–1950, pp. 803–804.
↑ Stephen Lloyd (2005). H. Balfour Gardiner. Cambridge University Press. p. 211. ISBN 9780521619226.
↑ Thomas Wood, by Philip Scowcroft
↑ "MACKEY, Percival". Screenonline . British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 13 January 2009. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
↑ "Moeran's Unfinished Symphony", Rhoderick McNeill, The Musical Times, Vol. 121, No. 1654 (Dec 1980), pp. 771-773+775-777 JSTOR 962517

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[1] Mitchell, Donald (ed) (2004). Letters From A Life: Selected Letters of Benjamin Britten, Vol. 3 1946–51. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-22282-X. p. 533

[2] "Hymnus Paradisi". The Musical Times . 91 (1291): 352–353. September 1950. doi:10.2307/935574. JSTOR 935574.

[3] A recent BBC radio program (May 12, 2012), The First LP in Ireland commemorates Ennis and Lomax's Irish collaboration.

[4] John Szwed, Alan Lomax: The Man Who Recorded the World (New York: Viking, 2010), p. 251.

[5] Notable Twentieth Century Pianists by John Gillespie and Anna Gillespie c.1995 p.570

[6] Webb, Stanley; Patrick Russill. "Ralph Downes". Grove Music Online (subscription access). Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 2009-01-06. Retrieved 2007-04-30.

[7] Operaglass Opera Composers: C

[8] Naxos bio

[9] The Musical Times, 91 (1294): pp. 481–482

[10] Inglis Gundry, "Some of the operas of Inglis Gundry"

[11] Operaglass Opera Composers: L

[12] The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History. Palgrave Macmillan. 2011. p. 535. ISBN 9781403939104.

[13] Obituary: Toronto Star, Thursday, February 16, 1950, page 28:

[dnb-14] Russell, Dave. "Lauder, Sir Henry (1870–1950)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, online edition, January 2011, accessed 27 April 2014 (subscription required)

[15] Who was Who. (1941) London: Adam & Charles Black, 2nd ed. 1967, Vol. IV, 1941–1950, pp. 803–804.

[16] Stephen Lloyd (2005). H. Balfour Gardiner. Cambridge University Press. p. 211. ISBN 9780521619226.

[17] Thomas Wood, by Philip Scowcroft

[18] "MACKEY, Percival". Screenonline . British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 13 January 2009. Retrieved 23 April 2012.

[19] "Moeran's Unfinished Symphony", Rhoderick McNeill, The Musical Times, Vol. 121, No. 1654 (Dec 1980), pp. 771-773+775-777 JSTOR 962517

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