1948 in British music

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

List of years in British music
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Events

• 16 January – The day after her New York concert debut, Kathleen Ferrier writes to her sister: "Some of the critics are enthusiastic, others unimpressed".[1]
• 17 April – The death of Alice, Viscountess Wimborne, lover of William Walton, ends their 14-year affair.
• 5 June – Opening of the first Aldeburgh Festival, founded by Benjamin Britten, Eric Crozier and Peter Pears.
• 13 October – Kathleen Ferrier joins Sir John Barbirolli and the Hallé Orchestra in a broadcast performance of Mahler's song cycle Kindertotenlieder.
• October – The Duke of Edinburgh is introduced to musical comedy star Pat Kirkwood in her dressing room after a show. They are seen together at a restaurant, creating a scandal in the newspapers.[2]
• 13 October – William Walton marries Susana Gil Passo.[3]
• date unknown
  • Steuart Wilson becomes head of music at the BBC; the appointment results in the retirement of Sir Adrian Boult as chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra.[4]
  • Harman Grisewood replaces George Barnes as controller of the BBC Third Programme.
  • The National School of Opera is founded by Joan Cross.[5]

Popular music

• Anne Shelton – "If You Ever Fall in Love Again" (Dick Farrelly)
• Dorothy Squires – "A Tree in the Meadow" (Billy Reid)

Classical music: new works

• Malcolm Arnold – The Smoke (Overture), Op. 21
• Arnold Bax – Magnificat[6]
• Benjamin Britten – Saint Nicolas, for tenor soloist, children's chorus, chorus, and orchestra[7]
• Michael Tippett – Suite in D for the Birthday of Prince Charles[8]
• Ralph Vaughan Williams – Partita for Double String Orchestra[9]

Opera

• Arthur Bliss – The Olympians[10]
• Norman Demuth – Le Flambeau[11]

Film and Incidental music

• William Alwyn – The Fallen Idol directed by Carol Reed, starring Ralph Richardson.[12]
• Arnold Bax – Oliver Twist directed by David Lean, starring Alec Guinness.
• Brian Easdale – The Red Shoes directed and produced by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.
• Constant Lambert – Anna Karenina, starring Vivien Leigh and Ralph Richardson.
• Elisabeth Lutyens – Penny and the Pownall Case (the first feature film to be scored by a female British composer).
• Ralph Vaughan Williams – Scott of the Antarctic, starring John Mills.
• William Walton – Hamlet, directed by and starring Laurence Olivier.
• John Wooldridge – The Guinea Pig, starring Richard Attenborough.

Musical theatre

• 10 March – Carissima, starring Ginger Rogers and David Hughes, opens at the Palace Theatre and runs for 488 performances.
• 22 December – High Button Shoes (Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn) opens at the Hippodrome and runs for 291 performances.

Musical films

• A Date with a Dream, starring Terry-Thomas, Jeannie Carson and Wally Patch.[13]
• Bless 'Em All, starring Max Bygraves.[14]
• One Night with You, directed by Terence Young and starring Nino Martini, Patricia Roc and Bonar Colleano.[15]

D.C.

Births

• 17 January – Mick Taylor, guitarist
• 19 January – Amanda Holden, English playwright, lyricist and composer
• 29 January – Mel Pritchard, drummer (died 2004)
• 3 February – Gavin Henderson, English trumpet player and conductor
• 28 February – Geoff Nicholls, keyboardist (Black Sabbath (died 2017)
• 4 March – Chris Squire, guitarist, singer and songwriter
• 11 March – Jan Schelhaas, keyboard player
• 22 March – Andrew Lloyd Webber, composer
• 16 April – Robert Kirby, arranger (died 2009)[16]
• 28 April – Scott Fitzgerald (William McPhail), singer
• 12 May – Steve Winwood, R&B singer
• 15 May – Brian Eno, synthesizer virtuoso and composer
• 21 May – Leo Sayer, singer-songwriter
• 29 May – Michael Berkeley, composer
• 6 June – Richard Sinclair, bass player (Caravan, The Wilde Flowers, Camel, and Hatfield and the North)
• 1 July – John Ford, English-American singer, songwriter and guitarist (Strawbs, The Monks, and Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera)
• 4 July – Jeremy Spencer, English guitarist (Fleetwood Mac)
• 5 July – Alan Hazeldine, pianist and conductor (died 2008)
• 21 July – Cat Stevens (Steven Demetre Georgiou), singer-songwriter[17]
• 2 August – Andy Fairweather Low, guitarist, songwriter, producer and vocalist
• 26 September – Olivia Newton-John, singer and actress
• 3 October – Ian MacDonald (Ian MacCormick), music critic (died 2003)[18]
• 11 October – David Rendall, operatic tenor
• 24 October
  • Dale Griffin, rock drummer and producer (died 2016)
  • Barry Ryan, singer-songwriter
  • Paul Ryan, singer-songwriter and producer (died 1992)
• 3 November – Lulu (Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie), singer and actress
• 1 December – Colin Sell, pianist
• 20 December – Alan Parsons, engineer and record producer

Deaths

• 9 January – Violet Gordon-Woodhouse, harpsichordist and clavichordist, 75[19]
• 21 February – Frederic Lamond, pianist, 80
• 17 May – David Evans, composer, 74[20]
• 14 June – John Blackwood McEwen, composer, 80
• 8 July – Reginald Somerville, composer and actor, 81
• 20 August – David John de Lloyd, composer, 65
• 12 September – Rupert D'Oyly Carte, impresario, 70
• 20 November – Robert Carr, baritone, 67
• 24 November – Nellie Wallace, music hall star, actress, comedian, dancer and songwriter, 78[21]
• 14 December – R. O. Morris, British composer and teacher, 62
• 31 December – Ethel Barns, violinist, pianist and composer, 74
• date unknown – Euphemia Allen, composer best known for "Chopsticks"

See also

• 1948 in British television
• 1948 in the United Kingdom
• List of British films of 1948

References

1. Fifield, Christopher (ed.) (2003). Letters and Diaries of Kathleen Ferrier. Woodbridge, Suffolk: The Boydell Press. ISBN 1-84383-012-4. p. 49
2. Edge, Simon (2007-12-27). "The prince and the showgirl | Express Yourself | | Daily Express". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-06-07.
3. Friedrich Blume (1968). Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart: allgemeine Enzyklopädie der Musik (in German). Bärenreiter-Verlag.
4. Kennedy, Michael (1987). Adrian Boult. London: Hamish Hamilton. ISBN 0-333-48752-4. p215
5. D. Brook, Singers of Today (Revised Edition – Rockliff, London 1958), 55–60.
6. Maggie Humphreys; Robert Evans (1 January 1997). Dictionary of Composers for the Church in Great Britain and Ireland. A&C Black. p. 25. ISBN 978-0-7201-2330-2.
7. Eric Walter White (1983). Benjamin Britten, His Life and Operas. University of California Press. pp. 63. ISBN 978-0-520-04894-2.
8. Michael Kennedy; Tim Rutherford-Johnson; Joyce Kennedy (15 August 2013). The Oxford Dictionary of Music. OUP Oxford. p. 857. ISBN 978-0-19-957854-2.
9. Ryan Ross (17 March 2016). Ralph Vaughan Williams: A Research and Information Guide. Routledge. p. 294. ISBN 978-1-317-64616-7.
10. Stewart R. Craggs (1996). Arthur Bliss: a source book. Scolar Press. ISBN 978-0-85967-940-4.
11. Enciclopedia dello spettacolo. Unedi-Unione editoriale. 1975.
12. Adrian Wright (2008). The Innumerable Dance: The Life and Work of William Alwyn. Boydell & Brewer Ltd. p. 3. ISBN 978-1-84383-412-0.
13. "BFI | Film & TV Database | DATE WITH A DREAM (1948)". Ftvdb.bfi.org.uk. 2009-04-16. Archived from the original on 2009-01-16. Retrieved 2012-02-12.
14. "Bless 'Em All / BFI Most Wanted". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 3 August 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
15. "BFI | Film & TV Database | ONE NIGHT WITH YOU (1948)". Ftvdb.bfi.org.uk. 2009-04-16. Archived from the original on 2009-01-13. Retrieved 2014-06-07.
16. Irwin, Colin (7 October 2009). "Robert Kirby obituary". guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
17. "Prince goes pop to praise school". BBC News. 10 May 2000. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
18. Williams, Richard. "Obituary: Ian MacDonald". The Guardian, 8 September 2003. Retrieved on 25 February 2008.
19. Jessica Douglas-Home (1996). Violet: The Life and Loves of Violet Gordon Woodhouse. Harvill Press. ISBN 978-1-86046-269-6.
20. "The National Library of Wales :: Dictionary of Welsh Biography". Wbo.llgc.org.uk. 1948-05-17. Retrieved 2014-06-07.
21. "Wallace, Nellie [Eleanor]", The Cambridge Guide to Theatre, Cambridge University Press, 2000