- Jan 4 Billboard magazine publishes its 1st music hit parade
Event of Interest
Jan 9 Noël Coward's "Astonished Heart" premieres in London
Noël Coward
- Jan 24 Benny Goodman & orchestra record "Stompin' at the Savoy" on Victor Records
Event of Interest
Jan 26 Joseph Stalin views Dmitri Shostakovich's opera "Lady Macbeth" but he and his officials leave early and the play is denounced in state press
Joseph Stalin
Dmitri Shostakovich
Event of Interest
Jan 28 Pravda criticizes Dmitri Shostakovich's opera "Lady Macbeth"
Dmitri Shostakovich
- Feb 6 Pravda criticizes Dmitri Shostakovich's ballet "Clear Brook"
- Apr 11 Rodgers & Hart's musical "On Your Toes" premieres in NYC
Murder of Interest
Apr 14 French singer Édith Piaf questioned after nightclub owner and her patron Louis Leplée murdered in Paris
Edith Piaf
- Apr 26 Dmitri Shostakovich completes his 4th Symphony
- May 2 Sergei Prokofiev's musical "Peter and the Wolf" premieres in Moscow
Event of Interest
Jun 29 George M. Cohan is the first artist to be presented with a US Congressional Gold Medal, by Franklin D. Roosevelt (for raising war morale)
George M. Cohan
- Nov 24 Noël Coward's "Tonight at 8:30" premieres in NYC
- Dec 26 Israel's Philarmonic Orchestra forms