# 1923 in British music

This is a summary of 1923 in music in the United Kingdom.

## Events

* 12 June – William Walton's Façade, a collaboration with Edith Sitwell, is given its first public performance at the Aeolian Hall, London. The critics' reception is unfavourable.
* 4 July – Ralph Vaughan Williams's English Folk Song Suite is premièred at Kneller Hall, conducted by Hector Adkins.
* September–October – Philip Heseltine (Peter Warlock) and E. J. Moeran tour East Anglia in search of original folk music.
* 11 November – The première of John Foulds's A World Requiem is held at the Royal Albert Hall in London, with soloists including Herbert Heyner. It is repeated on that date each year until 1926.
* 23 December – The Beggar's Opera by John Gay and Dr Pepusch, with score restored by Frederic Austin, ends its record run of 1,463 performances at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith; Austin himself plays Peachum, with Frederick Ranalow as Macheath and Sylvia Nelis as Polly.
* date unknown
** The Royal Scottish Country Dance Society is founded by Jean Milligan and Ysobel Stewart.
** The moving-coil microphone is developed by Captain H. J. Round and is adopted by the BBC's London studios.
** Edward Elgar moves to the village of Kempsey, Worcestershire, where he will live until 1927.
** Arthur Bliss's father retires to California. Arthur goes with him to work as a conductor, lecturer, pianist and occasional critic.
** Eugene Aynsley Goossens becomes conductor of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra in the United States.
** Henry Tippett agrees to support his son Michael Tippett's studies at the Royal College of Music, where Michael is accepted despite lacking the entry qualifications.
** The Savoy Orpheans is formed as a resident dance band at the Savoy Hotel, London, by Debroy Somers.

## Classical music: new works

* Kenneth J. Alford – Cavalry of the Clouds
* Granville Bantock – Suite from Cathay (words by Ezra Pound)
* Arthur Bliss – String Quartet
* Gerald Finzi – A Severn Rhapsody
* John Ireland – Cello Sonata
* Constant Lambert – 2 Songs (words by Sacheverell Sitwell), for soprano, flute and harp
* Roger Quilter – "The Fuchsia Tree", Op. 25 No. 2
* Cyril Scott – The Incompetent Apothecary (ballet)
* Ralph Vaughan Williams – Sea Songs
* William Walton – Toccata for Violin and Piano

## Opera

* Gustav Holst – The Perfect Fool

## Musical theatre

* London Calling!, a revue produced by André Charlot with music and lyrics by Noël Coward, co-starring Coward and Gertrude Lawrence, opens at the Duke of York's Theatre on 4 September and runs for 367 performances.

## Births

* 21 April – Ronald Cass, film composer (died 2006)
* 15 May – John Lanchbery, composer and conductor (died 2003)
* 4 August – Arthur Butterworth, composer (died 2014)
* 19 August – Dill Jones, pianist (died 1984)
* 30 September – Donald Swann, musician (died 1994)
* 5 October – Glynis Johns, actress and singer (died 2024)
* 10 November – Anne Shelton, singer (died 1994)

## Deaths

* 18 January – Kate Santley, German-born actress, singer and comedian (exact age unknown)
* 10 July – Albert Chevalier, actor, singer, songwriter and music hall performer, 62
* 27 August – Letty Lind, singer and burlesque performer, 61
* 12 October – John Cadvan Davies, poet and hymn-writer, 77
* date unknown – Nicholas Kilburn, choral conductor and composer, 80