This is a summary of 1937 in music in the United Kingdom.
Events 24 January – Ernest John Moeran completes the revised version of his Symphony in G minor, dedicated to conductor Hamilton Harty.From Beyond the Stave: The most glorious of English symphonies 6 March – Composer Benjamin Britten and his partner, the tenor Peter Pears, meet for the first time, in London. 12 May – William Walton's ceremonial march, "Crown Imperial", originally written for his predecessor, King Edward VIII, is performed for the first time at the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. 27 August – Britten's Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge is performed at the Salzburg Festival, conducted by Boyd Neel. 20 December – The Gaumont State Cinema opens in London with Sidney Torch as organist. date unknown Kathleen Ferrier wins the piano and vocal competitions at the Carlisle Festival, and is awarded a special rose bowl as champion of the festival.Leonard, Maurice (1988). Kathleen: The Life of Kathleen Ferrier, 1912–1953. London: Hutchinson. . pp. 28–30. George Lloyd marries Nancy Juvet. Lloyd has PTSD and later acknowledges that he could not have recovered without Nancy's care. Ukrainian-born pianist Benno Moiseiwitsch takes up British citizenship.
Popular music "A Nice Cup of Tea" Gracie Fields w. m. A. P. Herbert, Henry Sullivan "Did Your Mother Come From Ireland?" w.m. Jimmy Kennedy & Michael Carr "Harbour Lights" w. Jimmy Kennedy m. Hugh Williams "Home Town" w.m. Jimmy Kennedy & Michael Carr "The Lambeth Walk" w. Douglas Furber, L. Arthur Rose m. Noel Gay "Leaning on a Lamp-post" w.m. Noel Gay "Me And My Girl" w.m. Noel Gay & Douglas Furber
Classical music: new works Arthur Bliss – Checkmate (ballet) Rutland Boughton – Symphony No. 3 in B minor Frank Bridge String Quartet No. 4 Benjamin Britten – Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge George Dyson – Symphony in G major John Ireland – These Things Shall Be Edmund Rubbra – Symphony No. 1 Ralph Vaughan Williams – Job: A Masque for Dancing (ballet) Percy Whitlock – Wessex Suite
Film and Incidental music Richard Addinsell – Fire Over England, starring Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. Ernest Irving – Feather Your Nest, starring George Formby, Polly Ward and Enid Stamp-Taylor.
Musical theatre 5 February – On Your Toes London production opened at the Palace Theatre and ran for 123 performances 29 March – Swing is in the Air London revue opened at the Palladium 16 December – Me and My Girl (Noel Gay) – London production opened at the Victoria Palace Theatre and ran for 1646 performances.
Musical films Big Fella, directed by J. Elder Wills, starring Paul Robeson and Elisabeth Welch Calling All Stars, directed by Herbert Smith, starring Carroll Gibbons and Evelyn Dall Gangway, starring Jessie Matthews and Alastair Sim Head Over Heels, starring Jessie Matthews Mayfair Melody, directed by Arthur B. Woods, starring Keith Falkner and Chili Bouchier The Show Goes On, starring Gracie Fields, Owen Nares and John Stuart. Song of the Forge, starring Stanley Holloway. The Street Singer, starring Arthur Tracy, Margaret Lockwood and Arthur Riscoe Take My Tip, directed by Herbert Mason, starring Jack Hulbert and Cicely Courtneidge
Births 8 January – Shirley Bassey, singer 22 January – Ryan Davies, comedian, singer and songwriter (died 1977) 27 January – John Ogdon, pianist (died 1989) 28 April – Jean Redpath, folk singer (died 2014) 5 May – Delia Derbyshire, musician and composer of electronic music (died 2001) 21 May – John Barstow, pianist and teacher 12 July – Guy Woolfenden, conductor and theatre composer (died 2016) 27 July – Anna Dawson, actress and singer 19 November – Geoff Goddard, songwriter, singer and instrumentalist (died 2000) 30 November – Frank Ifield, British-born Australian singer 1 December Gordon Crosse, composer David Measham, violinist and conductor (died 2005) 12 December – Philip Ledger, composer and teacher (died 2012) 31 December – Anthony Hopkins, actor and composer
Deaths 22 January – Walter Willson Cobbett, businessman and amateur violinist, editor/author of Cobbett's Cyclopedic Survey of Chamber Music, 89 10 April – Algernon Ashton, pianist and composer, 77 1 May – Herbert Hughes, composer, music critic and collector of folk songs, 54 2 May – Sir Arthur Somervell, composer, 73 23 July – Charles Henry Mills, composer and music teacher (b. 1873) 25 November – Lilian Baylis, founder of Sadler's Wells ballet company, 63 (heart attack)Tanitch, Robert, "Olivier". Abbeville Press 23 December – Muriel Foster, contralto, 60Eric Blom, ed., Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th ed, 1954, Vol. III, p. 455 26 December Dan Beddoe, tenor, 74 Ivor Gurney, composer and poet, 47 (tuberculosis)P. J. Kavanagh (ed.) (2004). Ivor Gurney, Collected poems (reprint ed.). Fyfield Books. .
See also 1937 in British television 1937 in the United Kingdom List of British films of 1937
References