1931 in British music

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This is a summary of 1931 in music in the United Kingdom.

Events[]

24 January – Mary Garden makes her last appearance with the Chicago Civic Opera company. She retires to her native Scotland.^[1]
22–28 July – The ninth annual ISCM Festival of Contemporary Music takes place in London and Oxford, with concerts of orchestral, choral, and chamber music.^[2]
date unknown – Gustav Holst appears as an extra in a crowd scene in the film The Bells.^[3]

Havergal Brian – Symphony No. 2 in E minor
Frank Bridge – Phantasm, for piano and orchestra
Benjamin Britten –
- Christ's Nativity, Christmas Suite, for SATB choir
- Plymouth Town, ballet, for orchestra
- String Quartet in D
Arnold Cooke – Passacaglia, Scherzo, and Finale, for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and string quartet
Frederick Delius –
- Fantastic Dance, for orchestra
- Irmelin Prelude, for orchestra
George Dyson – The Canterbury Pilgrims (Geoffrey Chaucer), for soprano, tenor, baritone, choir, and orchestra
Edward Elgar – Soliloquy, for oboe and orchestra
Gerald Finzi – To Joy, for voice and piano, op. 13
Patrick Hadley – Symphonic Ballad: The Trees So High^[4]
Gustav Holst – Twelve Welsh Folk Songs, for choir, H183
Herbert Howells –
- "A Maid Peerless", for SSAA choir and orchestra
- Severn, for SATB choir
Gordon Jacob – Passacaglia on a Well-Known Theme, for orchestra
Elizabeth Maconchy –
- A Hymn to Christ, A Hymn to God the Father, for double choir
- The Leaden Echo and the Golden Echo, for choir and orchestra
Cyril Scott –
- Concerto, for cello and orchestra
- Trio No. 1, for violin, viola, and cello
- Trio No. 2, for violin, viola, and cello
Herbert Sumsion – Piano Trio
Michael Tippett – Symphonic Movement, for orchestra
Ralph Vaughan Williams –
- Job: A Masque for Dancing (ballet)
- Piano Concerto in C major
William Walton – Belshazzar's Feast (oratorio)

8 January – (revue) opens at the Piccadilly Theatre, starring Cicely Courtneidge.
13 October – Noël Coward's Cavalcade opens at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, where it runs for 405 performances.^[6]
23 December – (Music: Noel Gay Lyrics: Desmond Carter Book: Stanley Lupino) opens at the Gaiety Theatre, Starring Jessie Matthews, Sonnie Hale and Stanley Lupino.

6 January – David Whitaker, composer, songwriter, arranger and conductor (died 2012)^[7]
25 March – Humphrey Burton, television music and arts presenter
29 April – Lonnie Donegan, skiffle musician (died 2002)
5 July – Aloysius Gordon, British-based Jamaican jazz pianist, singer (died 2017)
28 August – John Shirley-Quirk, operatic bass-baritone (died 2014)^[8]
12 September – Tommy Moore, drummer (died 1981)
24 September – Anthony Newley, songwriter, actor and singer (died 1999)^[9]
4 October – Anna Reynolds, operatic mezzo-soprano (died 2014)
4 November – Clinton Ford, singer (died 2009)

8 May – Bertha Lewis, singer and actress with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, 43 (car accident)
18 June – Fanny Holland, singer and actress, 83
22 August – Joseph Tabrar, songwriter, 73^[10]
19 November – Frederic Cliffe, composer, 74^[11]
23 November – Leonora Braham, operatic soprano and actress, 78^[12]

^ The Opera Quarterly. University of North Carolina Press. 1995. p. 7.
^ Anon., "Contemporary Music: Festival in England This Year", The Times, issue 45735 (Saturday, 31 January 1931): 10C.
^ Holst, Imogen (1981). The Great Composers: Holst (second ed.). London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-09967-X., p. 80
^ Mann, William. Note in booklet with 2007 Lyrita CD SRCD 238, 2007, originally written for 1979 Lyrita LP issue.
^ Dunhill, Stanford, Bantock Violin Sonatas [RB]: Classical CD Reviews- May 2001 MusicWeb(UK)
^ Morley, Sheridan. A Talent to Amuse: A Biography of Noël Coward, Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, New York, 1969, pp. 200–214, 223
^ "David Whitaker". dailytelegraph.co.uk. 2 February 2012. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
^ Gerald Norris (1981). A Musical Gazetteer of Great Britain & Ireland. David & Charles. p. 210. ISBN 978-0-7153-7845-8.
^ The Bulletin. J. Haynes and J.F. Archibald. September 1992. p. 101.
^ Who was who: A Companion to Who's Who, Containing the Biographies of Those who Died During the Period ... A. & C. Black. 1929. p. 1322.
^ Maggie Humphreys; Robert Evans (1 January 1997). Dictionary of Composers for the Church in Great Britain and Ireland. A&C Black. p. 67. ISBN 978-0-7201-2330-2.
^ John Parker (1967). Who's who in the Theatre. Pitman. p. 1596.