"One O'Clock Jump"
Jan 21 Count Basie records the music single and Jazz standard "One O'Clock Jump"
Danses Concertantes
Feb 8 Igor Stravinsky's orchestral piece "Danses Concertantes" premieres in Los Angeles, California
First Gold Record
Feb 10 Glenn Miller and his Orchestra awarded the 1st ever gold record for selling 1 million copies of "Chattanooga Choo Choo"
Music History
Feb 19 Tommy Dorsey & his orchestra record "I'll Take Tallulah"
Shostakovich' 7th Symphony
Mar 5 World première of Dmitri Shostakovich' 7th Symphony in Kuybyshev, Russia
Pillar of Fire
Apr 8 Arnold Schoenberg & Tudor's ballet "Pillar of Fire" premieres in NYC
Gretchaninov's 4th Symphony
Apr 9 Alexander Gretchaninov's 4th Symphony premieres at Carnegie Hall, NYC, with John Barbirolli conducting the New York Philharmonic
Lincoln Portrait
May 14 World premiere performance of Aaron Copland's "Lincoln Portrait" with: Andre Kostelanetz conducting the Cincinnati Symphony in Cincinnati, Ohio
Yankee Doodle Dandy
May 29 "Yankee Doodle Dandy", based on life of George M. Cohan, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring James Cagney and Joan Lesley, premieres in NYC (Academy Awards Best Actor 1943)
White Christmas
May 29 Bing Crosby records Irving Berlin's song "White Christmas", with the John Scott Trotter Orchestra and the Ken Darby Singers, in just 18 minutes; becomes world's best-selling single (estimated 100 million copies sold)
The City Wears a Slouch Hat
May 31 Avant-garde radio play "The City Wears A Slouch Hat" with music by John Cage and script by Kenneth Patchen broadcast in Chicago
- Jun 8 Bing Crosby records "Silent Night"
- Jun 22 European broadcast première of Dmitri Shostakovich's 7th Symphony in London conducted by Sir Henry J. Wood and the London Philharmonic Orchestra
Music History
Jul 4 Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane's musical "Best Foot Forward", starring June Allyson, with choreography by Gene Kelly, closes at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, NYC, after 326 performances
- Jul 18 1st performances of "Chôros No. 6" and "Chôros No. 11" by Heitor Villa-Lobos, with the composer conducting Orquestra Sinfônica do Theatro Municipal, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Jul 19 US première of Dmitri Shostakovich' 7th Symphony in NYC by the NBC Symphony Orchestra under Arturo Toscanini in a concert broadcast nationwide on NBC radio
- Jul 20 Time magazine puts Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich on its cover
This Is The Army
Jul 24 Irving Berlin's musical "This Is The Army" premieres in NYC
- Aug 1 American Federation of Musicians labor union begins a strike over royalty payment disagreements, refusing to perform on commercial recordings. ban lasts over two years
- Aug 9 Dmitri Shostakovich's 7th Symphony, dedicated to city of Leningrad, performed in Leningrad by starving musicians and broadcast to German forces over loudspeakers during siege by Nazi forces
Music History
Sep 27 Glenn Miller and his Orchestra give their final performance at Central Theater in Passaic, New Jersey; Miller disbanded the group as he joined the US Army
Eve of St Mark
Oct 7 Maxwell Anderson's stage drama "The Eve of St Mark" opens at the Cort Theatre, NYC; runs for 307 performances
- Oct 16 Aaron Copland and Agnes de Mille's ballet "Rodeo," premieres in NYC
- Oct 23 All 12 passengers and crewmen aboard an American Airlines DC-3 airliner killed when it is struck by a U.S. Army Air Forces bomber near Palm Springs, California. Amongst the victims is composer Ralph Rainger ("Thanks for the Memory")
Sinatramania"
Dec 30 NYC's Times Square greets Frank Sinatra at Paramount Theater, initiating the term "Sinatramania"
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