Musicians Who Died in 1944

  • Jan 9 Johanna Beyer, German-American pianist and composer (March for Thirty Percussion Instruments; Clusters), dies from complications of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), at 55
  • Jan 19 Harold Fraser-Simson, composer, dies at 71
  • Feb 1 Martin Lunssens, Belgian composer, dies at 72
  • Feb 4 Yvette Guilbert, French singer and actress, dies at 79
  • Feb 7 Lina Cavalieri, Italian dramatic soprano, and silent film actress, killed during WWII Allied bombing near here home in Florence, Italy at 69
  • Feb 11 Ivan Sollertinski, friend of Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich, dies
  • Feb 16 Bob Zurke [Boguslaw Zukowski], American jazz pianist, arranger, (Bob Crosby Orchestra), and composer ("Old Tom-Cat On The Keys"), dies of complications of pneumonia aggravated by acute alcohol poisoning at 32
  • Feb 16 Edmund von Borck, German composer, dies fighting in Italy in WWII at 37
  • Feb 19 Siegfried Garibaldi Kallenberg, German composer, dies at 76
  • Mar 14 Pavel Chesnokov, Russian-Soviet composer, dies at 66
  • Mar 20 Felix Woyrsch, German composer, dies at 83
  • Apr 2 Mikulas Moyzes, Slovak composer, dies at 71
  • Apr 4 Karel Weis, Czech composer and folk song collector, dies at 82
  • Apr 5 Willy Derby [Dieben], singer (Hello Bandoeng), dies
  • Apr 9 Boleslaw Wallek-Walewski, Polish composer and conductor, dies at 59
  • Apr 13 Cécile Chaminade, French pianist and 1st female composer awarded with Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur (1913), dies at 86
  • Apr 22 Mezio Agostini, Italian composer, dies at 68
  • May 9 Ethel Smyth, English composer, dies at 86
  • May 16 Leone Sinigaglia, Italian composer, dies at 75
  • Jun 5 Riccardo Zandonai, Italian composer, dies at 61
  • Jun 24 Rio Gebhardt, German jazz pianist, composer, and orchestra leader, dies in France during WWII battle at 36
  • Jun 25 Lucha Reyes [María de Luz Flores], Mexican mariachi singer ("Guadalajara"), dies of barbiturate intoxication at 38
  • Jun 27 Werner Wehrli, Swiss composer, pedagogue, and conductor, dies at 52
  • Jun 29 Chick Henderson [Henderson Rowntree], British dance band vocalist (Joe Loss Orchestra - "Begin the Beguine"), killed in action while serving in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, at 31
  • Jul 5 William Gillies Whittaker, English composer, dies at 67
  • Jul 19 Will Marion Cook, American violinist, choral director, and composer, dies at 75
  • Jul 27 Victor Vreuls, Belgian violinist, teacher, and composer, dies at 68
  • Aug 7 Agustín Barrios Mangoré, Paraguayan classical guitarist and composer (La Catedral), dies at 59
  • Aug 16 Roman Padlewski, Polish violinist, composer, and underground resistance fighter, dies of battle injuries sustained during the Warsaw Uprising at 28 [1]
  • Aug 19 Henry Wood, British conductor associated with London's promenade "Proms" concerts (Gentle Art of Singing; My Life of Music), dies following an illness at 75
  • Aug 23 Nikolay Andreyevich Roslavets, Ukrainian composer, dies at 63
  • Aug 30 (William) Crickett Smith, American ragtime, and jazz cornetist and trumpeter (James Reese Europe's Clef Club; Ziegfeld's Midnight Frolics; Louis Mitchell's Jazz Kings), and bandleader, dies at 53
  • Sep 3 František Drdla, Czech composer, dies at 75
  • Sep 7 Eduardo Sanchez de Fuentes, Cuban composer, dies at 70
  • Sep 8 Jan van Gilse, Dutch composer (Frau Helga von Staveren; Thijl), conductor, and anti-Nazi resistance fighter, dies of pneumonia at 63
  • Sep 25 Leo Justinus Kauffmann, Alsatian composer, dies at 43
  • Sep 26 Ernst Isler, Swiss organist and critic, dies at 64
  • Oct 16 Eric Westberg, Swedish composer, dies at 52
  • Oct 17 Pavel Haas, Czech Jewish composer, murdered at Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp at 45 (b. 1899)
  • Oct 18 Orville "Hoppy" Jones, American bass singer and cellist (The Ink Spots - "If I Didn't Care"), dies of a brain hemorrhage at 39
  • Oct 18 Viktor Ullmann, Austrian pianist, conductor, and composer (Der Kaiser von Atlantis), murdered in gas chamber of Auschwitz concentration camp at 46
  • Oct 20 Gabriel Grovlez, French pianist, conductor (Opéra de Paris, 1914-34), and composer (L'Almanach aux images), dies at 65
  • Oct 30 Paul Ladmirault, French composer, dies at 66
  • Nov 12 Edgar Stillman Kelley, American composer (Gulliver), dies at 87
  • Nov 12 Roy Agnew, Australian composer (Sonata Ballade), dies at 51
  • Nov 13 Paul Graener, German Romantic composer, dies at 72
  • Nov 14 Carl Flesch, Hungarian violinist, dies at 71
  • Nov 24 Václav Štěpán, Czech pianist and composer, dies at 54
  • Nov 30 Antoine Mariotte, French composer (Paysage maritime), dies at 68
  • Dec 10 Johnny Marvin, American jazz, pop, and country ukulele player, singer, and vaudevillian, dies of dengue fever at 47

Glenn Miller (1904-1944)

Dec 15 American bandleader and jazz composer (Glenn Miller Orchestra - "In The Mood"; "Moonlight Serenade"; "String Of Pearls"), dies in a suspected plane crash over the English Channel, whiule serving in the US Army,at 40

  • Dec 24 Joseph Gustav Mraczek, German violinist, conductor, composer (Max und Moritz) and pedagogue, dies at 66

Amy Beach (1867-1944)

Dec 27 American pianist and composer (Gaelic Symphony), dies at 77