istoryworld
Events relating to music
Erich Korngold, one of Austria's most admired composers, moves to Hollywood
Jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinist Stephane Grapelli form the Quintet du Hot Club de France
Sergei Rachmaninov writes the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini in his villa beside Lake Lucerne
Swedish tenor Jussi Björling makes his debut in Stockholm, in Puccini's Manon Lescaut
Paul Hindemith's opera Mathis der Maler is banned by the Nazis and is not performed until 1938 in Zurich
The German composer Kurt Weill moves to New York, where he writes Broadway musicals
Arthur Honegger's opera Joan of Arc at the Stake has its premiere in Basel
Alban Berg writes his Violin Concerto, commissioned by Louis Krasner, in memory of Manon Gropius
French cabaret singer Edith Gassion acquires the nickname la môme piaf ('the little sparrow'), and so becomes Edith Piaf
Leningrad's opera and ballet company is renamed the Kirov, in memory of the city's recently assassinated commissar
Italian baritone Tito Gobbi makes his operatic debut in Gubbio in Bellini's La Somnambula
George Gershwin's 'folk opera' Porgy and Bess, based on the novel by DuBose Heyward, opens on Broadway
US jazz pianist William ('count') Basie acquires his own orchestra
Alban Berg's opera Lulu is incomplete when the composer dies
The new sound of jazz clarinetist Benny Goodman's touring band brings him the title 'King of Swing'
US composer Aaron Copland writes El Salón México, using popular Mexican tunes
Paul Robeson sings 'Ol' Man River' in the film of Jerome Kern's Showboat
On Stalin's orders Dmitry Shostakovich is attacked in Pravda for providing 'chaos instead of music'
Carl Orff's cantata Carmina Burana has its premiere in Frankfurt
Rachmaninov completes his Third Symphony, and records it two years later with the Philadelphia Orchestra
US trombonist Glenn Miller forms his first band, the Glenn Miller Orchestra
William Walton writes Crown Imperial for the coronation of George VI
Russian film-maker Sergei Eisenstein directs Alexander Nevsky, with music by Prokofiev
The first of many ballets to Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet score is premiered in Czechoslovakia
Marian Anderson's concert at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington effectively launches the US civil rights movement
