1902 in British music

This is a summary of 1902 in music in the United Kingdom.

List of years in British music
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Events

• 2 June – Land of Hope and Glory, with music by Edward Elgar and lyrics by A. C. Benson, is publicly performed in London for the first time, by Clara Butt.[1]
• 26 June – Composer Hubert Parry is made a baronet in the 1902 Coronation Honours,[2] while another British composer, Charles Villiers Stanford, is knighted.
• 9 August – Frederick Bridge is director of music at the Coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. Music performed during the ceremony includes works by Thomas Tallis, Orlando Gibbons, Henry Purcell, Arthur Sullivan, Charles Villiers Stanford and John Stainer.[3]
• date unknown – In his book, The Operatic Problem, MP William Johnson Galloway expresses concern at the lack of home-grown musical talent: "Things have come to such a pass that one may well wonder whether there is any room for an Englishman, and whether the time has not arrived for a voice to be raised on behalf of native artists and native art."[4]

Popular music

• "I Live in Trafalgar Square", words & music by C. W. Murphy, performed by Morny Cash[5]

Classical music: new works

• Edward Elgar – Dream Children, Op. 43
• Sir Henry Walford Davies – Three Jovial Huntsmen[6]
• Ralph Vaughan Williams – "Whither Must I Wander" [7]

Opera

• Edward German – Merrie England, with libretto by Basil Hood[8]

Musical theatre

• 10 May – Three Little Maids, by Paul Rubens, with additional songs by Percy Greenbank and Howard Talbot, opens at the Apollo Theatre (later moving to the Prince of Wales Theatre, and runs for 348 performances.[9]
• 15 November – The Girl from Kays, with book by Owen Hall, music by Ivan Caryll, and lyrics by Hall, opens at the Apollo Theatre (later moving to the Comedy Theatre, and runs for 432 performances.[10]

Births

• January – Billy Pigg, Northumbrian piper (d. 1968)[11]
• 11 January – Evelyn Dove, first black singer to be played on BBC Radio (d. 1987)[12]
• 21 January – Webster Booth, tenor (d. 1984)[13]
• 29 March – William Walton, composer (d. 1983)[14]
• 30 March – Ted Heath, bandleader (died 1969)
• 1 May – Sonnie Hale, actor and singer (d. 1959)
• 31 May – Billy Mayerl, pianist, composer and conductor (d. 1959)
• 20 July – Jimmy Kennedy, songwriter (d. 1984)[15]
• 15 December – Mary Skeaping, choreographer (d. 1984)

Deaths

• 11 January – James James, harpist and composer of the Welsh national anthem, "Hen Wlad fy Nhadau", 69[16]
• 21 April – Ethna Carbery, songwriter, 37 (gastritis)[17]
• date unknown – Jones Hewson, D'Oyly Carte soloist, 27[18]

See also

• 1902 in the United Kingdom

References

1. "Arthur Christopher Benson (1862–1925): Land of Hope and Glory". Representative Poetry Online. University of Toronto Libraries. Archived from the original on 2011-05-18. Retrieved 2010-08-18.
2. "No. 27448". The London Gazette (Supplement). 26 July 1902. p. 4189.
3. Richards, Jeffrey (2001), Imperialism and Music: Britain, 1876–1953, Manchester University Press, ISBN 0-7190-6143-1 (p. 104)
4. Irene Morra (2007). Twentieth-century British Authors and the Rise of Opera in Britain. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. pp. 2–. ISBN 978-0-7546-6063-7.
5. C. A. Mathew; David Webb; Alison Carpenter (January 1974). The eastern fringe of the City: a photographic tour of the Bishopsgate area in 1912. Bishopsgate Institute.
6. Edward Wulstan Atkins; Edward Elgar; Sir Ivor Atkins (26 April 1984). The Elgar-Atkins friendship. David & Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-8583-8.
7. Stephen Banfield (27 January 1989). Sensibility and English Song: Critical Studies of the Early Twentieth Century. Cambridge University Press. pp. 521–. ISBN 978-0-521-37944-1.
8. "Merrie England". The Edward German Discography. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
9. "Chronology of London shows 1902". Guide to Musical Theatre. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
10. Ganzl, Kurt. The British Musical Theatre Vol. 1, 1865–1914 (1987), Macmillan Press, pp. 802–19
11. Billy Pigg, the Border Minstrel. Leader Sound, 1971: LEA 4006
12. Chelsea Ritschel (11 January 2019). "Evelyn Dove: Who was the groundbreaking singer and why is her legacy so important?". The Independent. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
13. Mr Webster Booth, Obituary, The Times, 22 June 1984
14. Patrick Kavanaugh (1996). Music of the Great Composers: A Listener's Guide to the Best of Classical Music. Zondervan. p. 255. ISBN 978-0-310-20807-5.
15. "Jimmy Kennedy". New York Times. 7 April 1984. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
16. Thomas, Daniel Lleufer (1912), Dictionary of National Biography, 2 (1912 supplement ed.), London: Smith, Elder & Co., p. 361
17. "General Registrar's Office". IrishGenealogy.ie. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
18. "Jones Hewson". The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company - archive. Retrieved 21 January 2019.