Musicians Who Died in 1943

  • Jan 14 Adolf Sandberger, German composer and musicologist, dies at 78
  • Jan 20 Giacomo Benvenuti, Italian composer, dies at 57
  • Jan 21 Otakar Sini, composer, dies at 61
  • Feb 14 Dora Gerson, German-Jewish actress, cabaret singer, and Holocaust victim (Caravan of Death), dies in Auschwitz concentration camp at 43
  • Feb 15 William Victor Harris, American composer, dies at 73
  • Feb 17 Armand J. Piron, American jazz violinist and composer, dies at 54
  • Mar 19 Vicente Ripollés, Spanish composer, dies at 75
  • Mar 23 Joseph Moiseyevich Schillinger, composer, dies at 47

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)

Mar 28 Russian-American piano virtuoso, conductor, and composer (Aleko; Piano Concerto No. 3), dies at 69

  • Apr 4 Hartzell "Tiny" Parham, American jazz pianist, theater organist, and bandleader, dies at 43
  • Apr 4 Raoul Laparra, French composer, dies during a bombing raid in WWII at 66
  • Apr 14 Geoffrey Turton Shaw, English organist, composer, and educator, dies at 63
  • Apr 15 Raffaele Casimiri, Italian composer, and musicologist dies at 62
  • Apr 19 Gustave Doret, Swiss composer, dies at 76
  • Apr 29 Joseph Achron, Lithuanian-American concert violinist and composer (Golem Suite), dies at 56
  • Apr 29 Karl Adrian Wohlfart, Swedish composer, dies at 68
  • Apr 30 Leo Smit, Dutch composer, dies in Sobibór extermination camp at 42
  • May 3 Leslie Heward, English composer, dies at 45
  • May 12 Albert Stoessel, American violinist, conductor, composer, and educator, dies of a heart attack on the podium at 48
  • May 29 Hermann Hans Wetzler, German-American composer, dies at 72
  • Jun 8 (Wilford) "Min" Leibrook, American jazz tuba player and bassist (Paul Whiteman Orchestra), dies of meningitis at 40
  • Jul 10 Arthur Nevin, American composer, dies at 72
  • Jul 30 Benjamin Dale, British composer (Before the Paling of the Stars; The Flowing Tide), and educator (Royal Academy), dies at 58
  • Aug 3 Edward "Corky" Cornelius, American jazz trumpeter (Benny Goodman; Gene Krupa), dies of kidney failure at 28
  • Aug 12 Georges Martin Witkowski, composer, dies at 76
  • Aug 23 Johann Zilcher, German composer, dies at 88
  • Sep 27 Waclaw Gieburowski, Polish composer, dies at 65
  • Oct 2 R. Nathaniel Dett, Canadian-American pianist, organist, choral director, and composer (In The Bottoms), dies of a heart attack while on tour with the USO at 60
  • Oct 5 Leon Roppolo, American early jazz clarinetist, dies at 41
  • Oct 22 Josef Venantius von Woss, Austrian composer, dies at 80
  • Oct 27 Béla Reinitz, Hungarian composer, dies at 64
  • Nov 17 Paul Charles Rene Landormy, French musicologist, music critic, and composer, dies at 74

Lorenz Hart (1895-1943)

Nov 22 American lyricist, usually to music of Richard Rodgers ("I Could Write A Book"; "My Funny Valentine"), dies of pneumonia from exposure after drinking heavily in NYC at 48

  • Nov 22 Pietro Alessandro Yon, Italian organist and composer, dies at 57
  • Dec 6 Hermann Löhr, British composer, dies at 72

Fats Waller (1904-1943)

Dec 15 American jazz organist, piano player, singer and composer ("Ain't Misbehavin'"; "Honeysuckle Rose"; "Hot Chocolate"), dies of pneumonia at 39 [1]

  • Dec 25 Ilona Durigo, Hungarian contralto singer, dies at 62
  • Dec 25 Raymond Huntington Woodman, composer, dies at 82