Music Premiere
Jan 9 Walter Piston's 3rd Symphony in E, premieres in Boston by the Boston Symphony Orchestra; conducted by Serge Koussevitzky; wins 1947 Pulitzer Prize
- Jan 10 "Call Me Mister" closes at National Theater NYC after 734 performances
- Jan 13 1st country music TV show, "Midwestern Hayride", premieres on WLW-T in Cincinnati, Ohio
- Jan 24 "Music in My Heart" closes at Adelphi Theater NYC after 124 performances
- Jan 29 "Look Ma, I'm Dancin'" opens at Adelphi Theater NYC for 188 performances
- Feb 7 "Cradle Will Rock" closes at Mansfield Theater NYC after 34 performances
Music History
Mar 16 Billie Holiday is released from prison early due to good behavior
- Mar 20 1st live televised musical Eugene Ormandy on CBS followed in 90
- Mar 21 "Stop the Music" with Bert Parks premieres on ABC radio
- Mar 27 Just 11 days after being released from prison, Billie Holiday plays in front of a sold-out crowd at Carnegie Hall
- Apr 30 "Inside USA" opens at Century Theater NYC for 339 performances
- May 6 Revival of Jerome Kerns and Clifford Grey's rags-to-riches musical "Sally" opens at Martin Beck Theater, NYC; runs for 36 performances
- May 18 "Ballet Ballads" opens at Music Box Theater NYC for 62 performances
Music Premiere
May 24 Benjamin Britten's "Beggar's Opera" premieres at Arts Theatre, Cambridge, England
Music Premiere
Jun 3 Musical "Sleepy Hollow", based on Washington Irving's novel, opens at St James Theater, NYC; runs for 12 performances
- Jun 5 "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky: A Cowboy Legend" single released by Stan Jones
- Jun 8 Revival of Jerome Kerns' musical "Sally" closes at Martin Beck Theater, NYC, after 36 performances
- Jun 12 "Hold It!" closes at National Theater NYC after 46 performances
- Jun 12 The musical "Sleepy Hollow" closes at St James Theater NYC after 12 performances
Goodbye Scratchy 78s, Hello Vinyl
Jun 21 Columbia Records unveil the 33-1/3 rpm LP phonograph record invented by Peter Carl Goldmark, allowing up to 20 minutes per side (available in 10 and 12 inch diameters), at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, NYC; over the next decade the popularity and profitability of the LP pushed the 78 rpm out of production [1]
- Jul 10 "Allegro" closes at Majestic Theater NYC after 318 performances
- Jul 10 "Ballet Ballads" closes at Music Box Theater NYC after 62 performances
- Jul 10 "Look Ma, I'm Dancin'" closes at Adelphi Theater NYC after 188 performances
- Jul 18 "Marinka" opens at Winter Garden Theater NYC for 168 performances
- Jul 31 "Brigadoon" closes at Ziegfeld Theater NYC after 581 performances
- Aug 8 "Hold It!" opens at National Theater NYC for 46 performances
- Sep 4 "Angel in the Wings" closes at Coronet Theater NYC after 308 performances
- Sep 6 "Mr Strauss Goes to Boston" opens at Century Theater NYC for 12 performances
- Sep 9 "Hilarities (of 1949)" opens at Adelphi Theater NYC for 14 performances
- Sep 15 Musical revue "Small Wonder", starring Tom Ewell, opens at Coronet Theater, NYC; runs for 134 performances
- Sep 16 "Heaven on Earth" opens at Century Theater NYC for 12 performances
- Sep 16 "Mr Strauss Goes to Boston" closes at Century NYC after 12 performances
- Sep 18 "Hilarities (of 1949)" closes at Adelphi Theater NYC after 14 performances
- Sep 20 Heitor Villa-Lobos' folk operetta "Magdalena" opens at Ziegfeld Theater, NYC; runs for 88 performances
- Sep 25 "Heaven on Earth" closes at Century Theater NYC after 12 performances
- Oct 2 "Finian's Rainbow" closes at 46th St Theater NYC after 725 performances
Music Premiere
Oct 6 "Polonaise" musical featuring works of Frederic Chopin, opens at Alvin Theater, NYC; runs for 113 performances
- Oct 11 "Love Life" opens at 46th St Theater, NYC; runs for 252 performances
- Oct 11 Frank Loesser's musical "Where's Charley?", starring Ray Bolger, and directed by George Abbott, opens at St James Theater, NYC; runs for 792 performances and wins a Tony Award
- Oct 16 Revival of Victor Herbert and Henry Blossom's operetta "The Red Mill" opens at Ziegfeld Theater, NYC; rums for 831 performances
- Oct 19 "My Romance" opens at Shubert Theater NYC for 95 performances
- Nov 13 "As the Girls Go" opens at Winter Garden Theater NYC for 420 performances
- Nov 29 1st opera to be televised, "Othello", broadcast from the Met (NYC)
- Dec 4 "Magdalena" closes at Ziegfeld Theater, NYC, after 48 performances
- Dec 8 "Marinka" closes at Winter Garden Theater NYC after 168 performances
- Dec 16 "Lend an Ear" opens at National Theater NYC for 460 performances
Music History
Dec 23 "Cinderella" the first full-length ballet by Frederick Ashton with music by Sergei Prokofiev is first presented by Sadler's Wells Ballet at Covent Garden, London
Music Premiere
Dec 30 Cole Porter's musical "Kiss Me Kate" opens at the New Century Theatre, NYC, later transferred to Sam S. Shubert Theatre; runs for 1077 performances
