Musicians Who Died in 1956

Alexander Gretchaninov (1864-1956)

Jan 3 Russian-American Romantic composer, dies at 91

Jan 4 Alexandr Tikhonovich Grechaninov, composer, dies at 91
Jan 5 Mistinguett [Jeanne Florentine Bourgeois], French actress and singer (Moulin Rouge star), dies of cerebral hemorrhage at 80
Jan 9 Paul Malengreau, Belgian organist, composer, and educator (Brussels Conservatory, 1813-53), dies at 71
Jan 12 Norman Kerry, American actor (Air Eagles, Phantom of the Opera), dies at 61
Jan 27 Erich Kleiber, Austrian-Argentine conductor (Teatro Colón, 1937-49; NBC Symphony, 1947-48), dies at 65
Feb 4 Peder Gram, Danish composer, dies at 74
Feb 18 Gustave Charpentier, French opera composer (Louise), dies at 95
Feb 21 Edwin Franko Goldman, American march music composer (founder of American Bandmasters Association), dies at 78
Feb 25 Marij Kogoj, Slovenian composer, dies at 59
Feb 27 Frank Dailey, American orchestra leader (Music at Meadowbrook), dies at 54
Feb 27 Gunther Ramin, German organist and composer, dies at 57
Mar 1 Henriette Renié, French harp prodigy, composer, and teacher, dies at 80
Mar 3 Mihailo Vukdragović, Serbian composer, conductor and pedagogue, dies at 55
Mar 5 Erich Itor Kahn, German composer of Jewish descent, dies at 50
Mar 9 Amanda Aldridge, British opera singer, pianist, teacher, and composer of parlour songs and light orchestral pieces music, dies at 89
Mar 11 Sergey Nikiforovich Vasilenko, Russian opera composer, dies at 83
Mar 16 Joseph John Richards, American composer, dies at 77
Mar 25 George Luther Foote, American composer, dies at 70
Mar 26 Thomas de Hartmann, Russian composer, dies at 70
Apr 10 Bozidar Sirola, composer, dies at 66
Apr 10 Jozef Szulc, Polish composer, dies at 81
Apr 20 Jaap Vranken, Dutch organist and composer (Stabat mater), dies at 59
Apr 20 Lieven Duvosel, Flemish composer (De Leiecyclus - The Lys-cycle), dies at 78
Apr 29 Nemesio Otaño, Spanish organist, choral director, educator, and composer (Basque Suite), dies at 75
May 12 Vladimír Ambros, Czech composer, dies at 65
May 29 Hermann Abendroth, German conductor (Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, 1934-45), dies at 73
Jun 4 Max Kowalski, German singer, composer, singing teacher, and concentration camp survivor, dies at 73
Jun 13 Reginald Goss-Custard, British organist, arranger and composer (Chelsea Fayre), dies at 79
Jun 23 Reinhold Glière, Russian-Soviet composer, dies at 81
Jun 26 Clifford Brown, American jazz trumpeter and composer (Joyspring, Jordu), dies at 25
Jul 13 Vladimir Grigor'yevich Zakharov, Soviet-Russian composer, dies at 54
Jul 14 Jaroslav Řídký, Czech composer, dies at 58
Jul 17 Jozef de Voght, Flemish priest and songwriter (Under the Snow), dies at 78
Jul 26 Miguel Bernal Jiménez, Mexican organist, composer and pedagogue (Tata Vasco; Tres Cartas de México), dies of a heart attack at 46
Aug 30 Anita Donostia [Jose Antonio de Donostia], Spanish composer, musicologist and priest, dies at 70
Sep 6 Felix Borowski, British-American composer, educator (Chicago Musical College, 1896-1925), and musicologist (Chicago Symphony, 1908-56), dies at 84
Sep 8 Fred Rich, Polish-American jazz pianist and dance band bandleader ("I'm Tickled Pink with a Blue-Eyed Baby"; The Abbott and Costello Show), dies at 58
Sep 15 Henry Clough-Leiter, American composer, dies at 82
Sep 21 Robert Mills Delaney, American composer, dies at 53
Sep 27 Gerald Finzi, British composer (Dies natalis), dies of disseminated shingles, complicated by encephalitis at 55
Oct 6 Walter Herlihy, announcer (Music at Meadowbrook), dies at 42
Oct 18 Harry Parry, Welsh jazz clarinetist and bandleader (BBC's Radio Rhythm Club), dies at 44
Oct 19 Isham Jones, American saxophonist, bandleader ("Star Dust") and songwriter ("It Had To Be You"; "I'll See You in My Dreams"), dies of cancer at 62
Oct 26 Walter Gieseking, French-German pianist, composer, and lepidopterist, dies at 60
Nov 2 Jacob Weinberg, Russian-born Jewish composer, dies at 77
Nov 5 Art Tatum, American jazz pianist and composer, dies from complications of uremia at 47
Nov 7 Una Mae Carlisle, American jazz pianist and singer ("Walkin' By The River"), dies of pneumonia at 40
Nov 10 Victor Young, American violinist, arranger, orchestra leader, and composer ("Street of Dreams"; "Love Letters"; "I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You"), dies of a cerebral hemorrhage at 57
Nov 22 Theodore Kosloff, Russian-born actor, ballet dancer and choreographer, dies at 74
Nov 24 Guido Cantelli, Italian conductor, dies in a plane crash at Orly Airport, Paris at 36