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.
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 . Classical music: new works [ edit ] 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 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 [ edit ] Musical theatre [ edit ] Musical films [ edit ] 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 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 Ivor Novello Awards [ edit ] See also [ edit ] References [ edit ] ^ 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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