- Jan 4 Billboard magazine publishes its 1st music hit parade
"Astonished Heart"
Jan 9 Noël Coward's stage drama "Astonished Heart" premieres in London
Stompin' at the Savoy
Jan 24 Benny Goodman and His Orchestra record "Stompin' at the Savoy" for Victor Records in Chicago, Illinois
Stalin Dislikes Opera
Jan 26 Joseph Stalin views Dmitri Shostakovich's opera "Lady Macbeth" but he and his officials leave early and the play is denounced in state press
Shostakovich Opera Criticized
Jan 28 Pravda criticizes Dmitri Shostakovich's opera "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District"
- Feb 6 Pravda criticizes Dmitri Shostakovich's ballet "Clear Brook"
On Your Toes
Apr 11 George Abbott, Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart's musical "On Your Toes", choreographed by George Balanchine, and starring Ray Bolger and Tamara Geva, opens at the Imperial Theatre (later transfers to Majestic), NYC; runs for 515 performances
Édith Piaf Under Suspicion
Apr 14 French singer Édith Piaf questioned after nightclub owner and her patron Louis Leplée murdered in Paris
- Apr 26 Dmitri Shostakovich completes his 4th Symphony
Peter and the Wolf
May 2 Sergei Prokofiev's musical "Peter and the Wolf" premieres in Moscow
- May 12 Ralph Vaughan Williams' opera "Poisoned Kiss" premieres in London
Cohan 1st Congressional Medal
Jun 29 George M. Cohan is the first artist to be presented with a US Congressional Gold Medal, by Franklin D. Roosevelt (for raising war morale)
Music History
Jul 25 Jazz saxophonist Charlie "Bird" Parker marries his childhood sweetheart Rebecca Ruffin
Swing Time
Sep 4 RKO Radio Pictures releases "Swing Time", directed by George Stevens, starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
Red, Hot And Blue
Oct 29 Cole Porter's musical "Red, Hot And Blue", starring Ethel Merman, Jimmy Durante, and Bob Hope, opens at the Alvin Theatre, NYC; runs for 183 performances
Robert Johnson's Ist Recording Session
Nov 23 Legendary Delta blues musician Robert Johnson's first recording session with producer Don Law at the Gunter Hotel, San Antonio, Texas
- Nov 24 Noël Coward's anthology "Tonight at 8:30" premieres in NYC, runs for 118 performances
- Dec 26 Israel's Philarmonic Orchestra forms