Music History
Jan 1 Dmitri Shostakovich completes his 5th string quartet
- Jan 2 Revival of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart's musical "Pal Joey", starring Harold Lang and Vivienne Segal, opens at Broadhurst Theater NYC; runs for 540 performances, and wins 3 Tony Awards
Music Premiere
Jan 5 Darius Milhaud's orchestral composition "West Point Suite", marking the US Military Academy's sesquicentennial, premieres at Carnegie Hall, NYC
- Jan 30 Paul Creston's 4th Symphony premieres
Music Concert
Mar 21 20,000 attempt to attend the 1st rock & roll concert ever when Alan Freed presents "The Moondog Coronation Ball" at old 12.000 seat Cleveland Arena; performers include: Paul Williams and the Hucklebuckers; Tiny Grimes and the Rocking Highlanders; The Dominoes; and Varetta Dillard
Film Premiere
Mar 27 "Singin' in the Rain", musical comedy directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, starring Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds, premieres at Radio City Music Hall in NYC
- Apr 16 "4 Saints in 3 Acts" opens at Broadway Theater NYC for 15 performances
- Apr 27 "4 Saints in 3 Acts" closes at Broadway Theater NYC after 15 performances
- May 2 John Cage's "Water Music" (for a solo pianist, using a piano, a radio, whistles, water containers, and a deck of cards) premieres in New York City
- May 3 "Call Me Madam" closes at Imperial Theater NYC after 644 performances
- May 8 Revival of Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle's musical "Shuffle Along" opens at Broadway Theater, NYC; runs for 4 performances
Music Premiere
May 8 Revival of George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind's musical political satire "Of Thee I Sing", directed by Kaufman, opens at Ziegfeld Theater, NYC; runs for 72 performances
Musical Finale
Jul 5 Revival of George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind's musical political satire "Of Thee I Sing", directed by Kaufman, closes at Ziegfeld Theater, NYC, after 72 performances
- Jul 19 "Paint Your Wagon" closes at Shubert Theater NYC after 289 performances
- Aug 13 Blues singer Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton records "Hound Dog" song, written a day earlier especially for her by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, at Radio Recorders Studio in Los Angeles, California
- Aug 23 Kitty Wells becomes 1st woman to reach #1 on Billboard Country chart with "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels"; stays at top for 15 weeks [1]
Music History
Sep 12 Noël Coward's "Quadrille," premieres in London
Music History
Sep 23 "Kaw-Liga" single recorded by Hank Williams
- Oct 4 "Top Banana" closes at Winter Garden Theater NYC after 356 performances
- Oct 14 "Buttrio Square" opens at New Century Theater NYC for 7 performances
- Oct 18 "Buttrio Square" closes at New Century Theater NYC after 7 performances
- Oct 27 "My Darlin' Aida" opens at Winter Garden Theater NYC for 89 performances
- Nov 6 Dmitri Shostakovich's cantata "About our Fatherland" premieres
- Nov 14 First regular UK singles chart published by the New Musical Express
Music Premiere
Dec 15 Vernon Duke, Ogden Nash and Sammy Cahn's musical revue "Two's Company", starring Bette Davis, and choreographed by Jerome Robbins, opens at Alvin Theater, NYC; runs for 90 performances
