1957 in British music

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List of years in British music

This is a summary of 1957 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.

Events[]

  • 1 JanuaryBenjamin Britten conducts the opening performance of his ballet The Prince of the Pagodas at Covent Garden.[1]
  • 11 JanuaryTommy Steele reaches no 1 in the UK chart with his cover of "Singing the Blues", thus achieving chart-topping success before his American rival Elvis Presley.
  • 16 JanuaryThe Cavern Club opens in Liverpool as a jazz club.
  • 25 January – First performance of William Walton's Cello Concerto in Boston.[1]
  • 3 MarchPatricia Bredin represents the UK at the 2nd Eurovision Song Contest in Frankfurt, finishing in 7th place. It is the first time the UK has entered the competition.
  • June – Kay Kendall, star of Les Girls, marries Rex Harrison, star of My Fair Lady.
  • 6 JulyJohn Lennon and Paul McCartney of The Beatles first meet at a garden fete at St. Peter's Church, Woolton, Liverpool, at which Lennon's skiffle group, The Quarrymen, is playing (and in the graveyard of which an Eleanor Rigby is buried).
  • 7 August – The Quarrymen first play at The Cavern Club in Liverpool in an interlude spot between jazz bands; when John Lennon starts the group playing Elvis Presley's "Don't Be Cruel", the club's owner at this time hands him a note reading "Cut out the bloody rock 'n roll".[2]

Charts[]

  • See UK No.1 Hits of 1957

Classical music: new works[]

Opera[]

  • Benjamin BrittenNoye's Fludde (composition draft completed 18 December).[3]

Film and Incidental music[]

Musical theatre[]

Musical films[]

Births[]

Deaths[]

  • 5 JanuaryGertie Gitana, music hall entertainer, 69[4]
  • 21 JanuaryHarry Gordon, entertainer, 63[5]
  • 13 MarchLena Ashwell, entertainer, 84
  • 12 MayMarie Rappold, operatic soprano, 83[6]
  • 1 AugustCathal O'Byrne, singer and poet, 90
  • 18 AugustLouis Levy, film composer, 62
  • 1 SeptemberDennis Brain, horn virtuoso, 36 (car accident)
  • 20 OctoberJack Buchanan, singer, dancer, actor and director, 66
  • 21 DecemberEric Coates, composer, 71
  • date unknown

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Kendall, Alan. The Chronicle of Classical Music. Thames & Hudson, 2000: p. 242
  2. ^ Spitz, Bob (2005). The Beatles: The Biography. Little Brown & Company. p. 65. ISBN 978-0-316-80352-6.
  3. ^ Reed, Philip & Cooke, Mervyn (eds). Letters From a Life: The Selected Letters of Benjamin Britten, Vol. 4 1952–1957. The Boydell Press (2008). p. 494
  4. ^ John Parker (1967). Who's who in the Theatre. Pitman.
  5. ^ THE SCOTS MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 1982. 1982.
  6. ^ Oscar Thompson; Nicolas Slonimsky (1958). The International Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians. Dodd, Mead.
  7. ^ The Strad: A Monthly Journal for Professionals and Amateurs of All Stringed Instruments Played with the Bow. Lavendar Publications. 1985.
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