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Overview of the events of 1956 in British music
List of years in British music
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This is a summary of 1956 in music in the
United Kingdom , including the official charts from that year.
Events
February – Release of
Shirley Bassey 's first
single ,
Burn My Candle (At Both Ends) .
8 May –
Benjamin Britten 's opera
Gloriana , written in 1953, is given its US première in
Cincinnati , in concert form, conducted by
Josef Krips .
14 May –
Ralph Vaughan Williams 's
Symphony No. 8 receives its first London performance.
[1]
June –
Arthur Bliss heads the first delegation by British musicians to the Soviet Union since the end of the Second World War. The party included the violinist
Alfredo Campoli , the oboist
Léon Goossens , the soprano
Jennifer Vyvyan and the pianist
Gerald Moore .
[2]
17 August – Bacchanale by
Ibert , a commission by the BBC to mark the tenth anniversary of the
Third Programme , is performed at the
Proms with the composer in the audience.
13 November – The first of a series of
Hoffnung Music Festival Concerts takes place at the
Royal Festival Hall , in London.
31 December –
Flanders and Swann launch their two-man revue At the Drop of a Hat .
Charts
Classical music: new works
Arthur Bliss
Edinburgh Overture, for orchestra
Seek the Lord (anthem), SATB choir and organ
Reginald Smith Brindle – El Polifemo de Oro
Benjamin Britten
Peter Maxwell Davies – Sonata for Clarinet and Piano
Stephen Dodgson – Concerto No. 1 for Guitar and Orchestra
[3]
Cecil Armstrong Gibbs – Threnody
Gordon Jacob
Concerto No. 2 for Oboe and Orchestra
Sextet for Piano and Wind Quintet
Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano
Variations on "Annie Laurie" , for two piccolos, two contrabass clarinets,
heckelphone , two contrabassoons, serpent, contrabass serpent, subcontrabass tuba, harmonium and
hurdy-gurdy
Michael Tippett
Bonny at Morn (arr. of Northumbrian folksong), unison choir and three recorders
Songs from the British Isles (4), SATB choir
Ralph Vaughan Williams
A Choral Flourish (text from the Psalms), for SATB choir, two trumpets and organ
God Bless the Master of This House , for SATB choir
Preludes on Welsh Folksongs (2), for organ
Symphony No. 8
A Vision of Aeroplanes (text: N. Ezekiel), motet for SATB choir and organ
William Walton – Cello Concerto
Opera
Malcolm Arnold – The Open Window , Op. 56 (opera in one act, libretto by S. Gilliat, after Saki)
Alan Bush – Men of Blackmoor , with libretto by Nancy Bush, premiered at the German National Theatre, Weimar
[4]
Film and Incidental music
Musical theatre
Musical films
Births
1 January –
Andy Gill , guitarist and singer-songwriter
17 January –
Paul Young , singer and guitarist
25 January –
Andy Cox (
The Beat ,
Fine Young Cannibals )
31 January –
Johnny Rotten , singer (
Sex Pistols )
12 February –
Brian Robertson , Scottish guitarist and songwriter (
Thin Lizzy ,
Motörhead ,
Wild Horses )
13 February –
Peter Hook , singer and bass player (
Joy Division ,
New Order ,
Freebass ,
Revenge ,
Monaco )
12 March –
Steve Harris , musician, composer (
Iron Maiden )
3 June –
Lynne Dawson , operatic soprano
4 June –
Richard Butler , singer-songwriter
5 July
15 July –
Ian Curtis , vocalist (Joy Division) (died 1980)
19 July –
Nikki Sudden , English singer-songwriter and guitarist (
Jacobites ,
Swell Maps ) (d. 2006)
20 July
27 August –
Glen Matlock , guitarist (
Sex Pistols )
12 September –
B. A. Robertson , singer-songwriter
27 October –
Hazell Dean , singer
17 November –
Philip Grange , composer
19 December –
Jimmy Cauty , artist and musician
28 December –
Nigel Kennedy , violinist
Deaths
9 March –
Amanda Aldridge ('Montague Ring'), opera singer, teacher and composer, 89
[6]
16 March –
Joseph John Richards , conductor, composer and music teacher, 77
9 April –
Jack Little , composer, actor, singer and songwriter
16 May –
Orlando Morgan , music teacher, composer and musicologist, 91
18 July –
Violet Loraine , musical theatre star, 69
6 September –
Felix Borowski , British/American composer and teacher, 84
27 September –
Gerald Finzi , composer, 55 ("severe brain inflammation")
18 October –
Harry Parry , jazz
clarinetist and
bandleader , 44
[7]
8 December –
Edgar Bainton , church music composer, 76
9 December –
Ethel Scarborough , pianist and composer, 76
date unknown –
George Oldroyd , organist and composer
Awards
Ivor Novello Awards
See also
References
^ Kendall, Alan. The Chronicle of Classical Music . Thames & Hudson, 2000: p. 240
^ Bliss, Arthur, "A musical embassy to the USSR – Russia through English eyes", The Times , 1 June 1956, p. 11
^
Music Web International . Accessed 15 April 2013
^ Ford (8 June 1974). "Burning Bush: Christopher Ford meets Alan Bush, neglected British master of grand opera". The Guardian .
ProQuest
185747511 . (subscription required)
^
"The Guide to Musical Theatre" . The Guide to Musical Theatre. 1956-11-27. Retrieved 2012-09-13 .
^
"Amanda Aldridge, Teacher and Composer: A Life in Music" by Joyce Andrews, in
Journal of Singing , 1 January 2010,
ISSN
1086-7732 . Accessed 5 October 2010
^
Davies, John ;
Jenkins, Nigel ; Menna, Baines; Lynch, Peredur I., eds. (2008). The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales . Cardiff: University of Wales Press. p. 651.
ISBN
978-0-7083-1953-6 .
^
"The Seiber Centenary: 2005 and Beyond"
Archived 2012-02-06 at the
Wayback Machine , Suppressed Music , 9 August 2005.
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