1926 in Music

• Feb 2 3 men dance Charleston for 22 hours
• Feb 8 Sean O'Casey's "Plough & Stars" opens at Abbey Theater Dublin
• Mar 17 Richard Rodgers & L Hart's musical "Girl Friend" premieres in NYC
• Apr 3 1st performance of Jean Sibelius' 7th Symphony in C

• May 12 Dmitri Shostakovitch's 1st Symphony premieres in Leningrad
• May 22 "Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue" by Gene Austin hits #1
• Nov 8 George Gershwin's musical "Oh, Kay" premieres in NYC
• Dec 12 Leningrad: premier of Dmitri Shostakovich's 1st Piano concert
• Dec 16 Darius Milhauds opera "Le Pauvre Matelot" premieres in Paris

Birthdays 1 - 100 of 155

• Jan 1 Claire Polin [Schaff], composer flautist/musicologist
• Jan 1 Richard Verreau, French-Canadian tenor (d. 2005)
• Jan 3 Danny Overbea, blues singer/guitarist
• Jan 3 George Martin, British record producer (The Beatles), born in London (d. 2016)
• Jan 8 Evelyn Lear, [Shulman], soprano, born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2012)
• Jan 8 Jani Christou, composer
• Jan 8 Kelucharan Mohapatra, Indian Odissi dancer (d. 2004)
• Jan 12 Morton Feldman, American composer, born in NYC, New York
• Jan 12 Ray Price, country singer (Good Times), (d. 2013)
• Jan 17 Moira Shearer, Scottish actress and ballerina (Red Shoes), born in Dunfermline Scotland (d. 2006)
• Jan 20 David Eugene Tudor, composer, born in Philadelphi, Pennsylvania
• Jan 21 Franco Evangelisti, Italian composer
• Jan 21 Brian Brockless, English organist (d. 1995)
• Jan 26 Ronnie Hilton, British radio presenter and singer (Moonraker), born in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England (d. 2001)
• Jan 30 Lizbeth Webb, Reading, UK, soprano, (d. 2013)
• Feb 11 Alexander Gibson, British conductor and founder of the Scottish Opera, born in Motherwell, Scotland (d. 1995)
• Feb 13 Barney Childs, composer
• Feb 17 Friedrich Cerha, composer
• Feb 17 Lee Hoiby, composer (1957 Arts & Letters), born in Madison, Wisconsin
• Feb 19 Gyorgy Kurtag, composer
• Feb 20 Dame Gillian Lynne [Pyrke], British dancer, choreographer and actress, known for Broadway work on "Cats" and "The Phantom of the Opera," born in Bromley, Kent (d. 2018)
• Feb 23 Regine Crespin, French vocalist (Sheherazade, Les Nuits D'ete)
• Feb 26 Arsene Souffriau, composer
• Feb 28 Seymour Shifrin, composer
• Feb 28 Stanley Glasser, composer
• Mar 3 Lys Assia, Swiss singer
• Mar 4 Don Rendell, English jazz musician and arranger, born in Plymouth, Devon (d. 2015)
• Mar 4 Fran Warren, American singer, (d. 2013)
• Mar 6 Jon Nordal, Icelandic composer (Toccata)
• Mar 6 Miroslav Klega, composer
• Mar 9 Celso Garrido Lecca, Peruvian composer, born in Lima, Peru
• Mar 11 Ilhan Mimaroglu, composer
• Mar 12 Rolv Berger Yttrehus, composer
• Mar 14 Francois d'Assise Morel, composer
• Mar 14 Lita Roza, English singer ("How Much is That Doggie in the Window"), born in Liverpool (d. 2008)
• Mar 15 Benjamin Burwell Johnston, Jr. Macon Geeorgia, American composer
• Mar 23 Martha Wright, American actress and singer (South Pacific, The Martha Wright Show), born in Seattle, Washington (d. 2016)
• Mar 30 Werner Torkanowsky, conductor (New Orleans Symph), born in Berlin, Germany
• Apr 1 Charles Bressler, American tenor
• Apr 10 Junior Samples, American comedian and country singer (Hee Haw), born in Cumming, Georgia (d. 1983)
• Apr 10 Jacques Castérède, French composer and pianist, born in Paris (d. 2014)
• Apr 11 Gervase de Peyer, British clarinetist, born in London (d. 2017)
• Apr 11 Robert Hall Lewis, American composer, born in Portland, Oregon (d. 1996)
• Apr 11 Victor Bouchard, Canadian pianist and composer, born in Quebec City, Canada (d. 2011)
• Apr 12 Jane Withers, American actress, model, and singer (All Together Now, Josephine the plumber), born in Atlanta, Georgia
• Apr 14 Jan Carl Christian Maegaard, composer
• Apr 14 Gloria Jean, American actress and singer (Never Give a Sucker an Even Break), born in Buffalo, New York
• Apr 22 Charlotte Rae, American character actress, comedian, singer and dancer (Edna-Facts of Life), born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• Apr 25 Paul Walter Fürst, Austrian musician and composer, born in Vienna, Austria (d. 2013)
• Apr 26 Oldrich Frantisek Korte, composer
• Apr 28 Francis Burt, British composer, born in London (d. 2012)
• May 6 Marguerite Piazza, operatic soprano (Young Broadway), born in New Orleans, Louisiana (d. 2012)
• May 14 Cestmir Gregor, composer
• May 15 [Jean-Josephat] Clermont Pépin, Canadian pianist and composer (Implosion Symphony), born in Saint-Georges, Quebec (d. 2006)
• May 16 Jan Zimmer, Slovak composer, born in Ružomberok, North Slovakia (d. 1993)
• May 19 Paul Cooper, American composer, born in Victoria, Illinois (d. 1996)
• May 20 Vic Ames, singer (Ames Brothers), born in Malden, Massachusetts (d. 1978)
• May 21 Joseph Horovitz, composer
• May 26 Maria de Lourdes Martins, composer

• May 30 Edouard Van Remoortel, conductor (1958-62 St Louis Symph), born in Brussels, Belgium
• Jun 1 Andy Griffith, American actor, comedian, television producer, Southern gospel singer, and writer (Andy Griffith Show, Matlock), born in Mount Airy, North Carolina (d. 2012)
• Jun 3 Carlos Veerhoff, composer
• Jun 3 Janez Maticic, composer
• Jun 6 Klaus Tennstedt, German conductor (Fidelio), born in Merseburg, Germany (d. 1998)
• Jun 7 Dick Williams, American singer and choral director (Andy Williams Show), born in Wall Lake, Iowa (d. 2018)
• Jun 8 Anatol Vieru, Romanian-Jewish composer, born in Iasi, Romania (d. 1998)
• Jun 11 Brother Dave Gardner, American comedian, drummer and singer, born in Jackson, Tennessee (d. 1983)
• Jun 11 Carlisle Floyd, American opera composer (Slow Dusk), born in Latta, South Carolina
• Jun 15 Jan Carlstedt, composer
• Jun 17 Manuel Enriquez, composer
• Jun 22 Ruth Zechlin, German organist and composer, born in Grosshartmannsdorf (d. 2007)
• Jun 23 Lars Johan Werle, composer
• Jul 2 Billy Usselton, saxophonist
• Jul 2 Lee Allen, American tenor sax (Walkin' With Mr Lee), born in Pittsburg, Kansas
• Jul 3 Johnny Coles, American jazz trumpeter (Little Johnny C), born in Trenton, New Jersey ( d. 1997)
• Jul 5 Kenneth Gaburo, American composer, born in Somerville, New Jersey (d. 1993)
• Jul 10 Carleton Carpenter, American actor, magician, songwriter, and novelist (Up Periscope, Summer Stock), born in Bennington, Vermont
• Jul 11 Rodolfo Arizaga, composer
• Jul 13 Meyer Kupferman, American composer (In Fimi Tres), born in NYC, New York
• Jul 14 Harry Dean Stanton,American actor, musician, and singer (Lucky, Alien, Cool Hand Luke, The Godfather Part II), born in West Irvine, Kentucky (d. 2017)
• Jul 14 Jan Krenz, Polish conductor and composer, born in Włocławku, Poland
• Jul 15 John Arthur Neill Lambert, composer
• Jul 19 Helen Gallagher, American singer, dancer and actress (Ryan's Hope, Strangers When We Meet), born in Brooklyn, New York
• Jul 21 Queenie Watts [Mary Spenton], British singer and actress (Up the Junction, Holiday on the Buses), born in London, England (d. 1980)
• Jul 25 Teodor Grigoriu, Romanian composer, born in Galați, Romania (d. 2014)
• Jul 28 Charlie Biddle, American-born Quebec jazz bassist (d. 2003)
• Aug 1 Karl Kohn, American composer, born in Vienna, Austria

• Aug 5 Betsy Jolas, French composer, born in Paris
• Aug 8 Urbie [Urban Clifford] Green, American jazz trombonist (toured with Woody Herman, Frankie Carlie), born in Mobile, Alabama
• Aug 9 Michiel de Ruyter, Dutch jazz historian (Mister Jazz)
• Aug 10 Edwin James Nairn Carr, composer
• Aug 10 Marie-Claire Alain, French organist/composer
• Aug 11 Johnny Van Derrick, jazz violinist
• Aug 12 Joe Jones, American R&B singer (d. 2005)
• Aug 14 Buddy Greco, jazz singer (Away We Go, Broadway Open House), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 2017)
• Aug 15 Lyutsian Abramovich Prigozhn, composer
• Aug 17 George Melly, British singer (d. 2007)
• Aug 20 Frank Rosolino, American jazz trombonist (The Frank Rosolino Sextet), born in Detroit, Michigan (d. 1978)

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• Jan 8 Emile Paladilhe, composer, dies at 81
• Jan 15 Enrico Toselli, Italian pianist and composer, dies at 42
• Jan 23 Joseph Carl Breil, American composer (Les amours de la reine Élisabeth), dies at 55
• Feb 5 André Gedalge, French composer (le Petit Savoyard, Phoebé) and Mayor of Chessy, Seine-et-Marne, dies at 69
• Feb 26 Peter Erasmus Lange-Muller, composer, dies at 75
• Mar 3 Cyril Metodej Hrazdira, composer, dies at 58
• Mar 7 Jindrich Z Albestu Kaan, composer, dies at 73
• May 17 Lucien Herr, French leader (Correspondance entre Schiller), dies
• May 21 Georgy Catoire, Russian composer, dies at 65
• May 23 Hans Koessler, composer, dies at 73
• Jun 1 Vasily Mikhaylovich Metallov, composer, dies at 64
• Jun 6 Henry Tate, Australian composer and poet, dies at 52
• Jun 7 Henry Charles Tonking, British organist and composer, dies at 63
• Jun 22 Hermann Suter, Swiss composer, dies at 56
• Jul 12 Charles Wood, composer, dies at 40
• Oct 25 Frederick Jr Zech, composer, dies at 68
• Nov 22 Darvish Khan, Iranian musician (b. 1872)
• Nov 23 Frederic Ayers, composer, dies at 50
• Dec 1 Hans Heinrich XIV Hochberg, composer, dies at 83
• Dec 17 Alexandr Dmitriyevich Kastal'sky, composer, dies at 70
• Dec 29 Rainer M Rilke, Austrias songwriter/writer (Wise Queen), dies at 51

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