# 1931 in British music

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.
* 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.
* 22 August – Anton Webern’s Passacaglia Op. 1 receives its first performance in England at the Proms, by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conductor Henry Wood.
* date unknown – Gustav Holst appears as an extra in a crowd scene in the film The Bells.

## Popular music

* "Close Your Eyes", by D. Carter and H. M. Tennent
* "Lady Of Spain"; music by Tolchard Evans, lyrics by Erell Reaves
* "Mad Dogs and Englishmen", by Noël Coward
* "My Girl's Pussy", by Harry Roy and his Bat Club Boys

## Classical music: new works

* 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
* 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)

## Opera

* Thomas Frederick Dunhill – Tantivy Towers, words by A. P. Herbert

## Film and Incidental music

* John D. H. Greenwood – Alibi

## Musical theatre

* 8 January – Folly To Be Wise (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.
* 23 December – Hold My Hand (Music: Noel Gay Lyrics: Desmond Carter Book: Stanley Lupino) opens at the Gaiety Theatre, Starring Jessie Matthews, Sonnie Hale and Stanley Lupino.

## Musical films

* A Man of Mayfair, starring Jack Buchanan
* Sally in Our Alley, starring Gracie Fields
* Sunshine Susie, starring Renate Müller and Jack Hulbert

## Births

* 6 January – David Whitaker, composer, songwriter, arranger and conductor (died 2012)
* 29 January – Leslie Bricusse, composer, lyricist and playwright (died 2021)
* 5 March – Anthony Hedges, composer (died 2019)
* 25 March – Humphrey Burton, television music and arts presenter
* 30 June – James Loughran, orchestral conductor (died 2024)
* 29 April – Lonnie Donegan, skiffle musician (died 2002)
* 4 July – Duncan Lamont, saxophonist, composer and bandleader (died 1919)
* 5 July – Aloysius Gordon, British-based Jamaican jazz pianist, singer (died 2017)
* 28 August – John Shirley-Quirk, operatic bass-baritone (died 2014)
* 12 September – Tommy Moore, drummer (died 1981)
* 24 September – Anthony Newley, songwriter, actor and singer (died 1999)
* 4 October – Anna Reynolds, operatic mezzo-soprano (died 2014)
* 4 November – Clinton Ford, singer (died 2009)

## Deaths

* 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
* 19 November – Frederic Cliffe, composer, 74
* 23 November – Leonora Braham, operatic soprano and actress, 78