1932 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1932.

Events

• January 14 – Maurice Ravel's Piano Concerto is premièred in Paris.
• February 3 and 9 - Duke Ellington and his Orchestra record 2 medleys for Victor at 33⅓ rpm. Over half a century later it is discovered that 2 microphone-to-cutting table chains were used, and that the session exists in "accidental stereo."
• March 1 - Frank Teschemacher, 25, acclaimed jazz clarinetist of the Chicago school, dies after a traffic accident.
• May 1 – The music to John Alden Carpenter's ballet Skyscrapers is recorded by the Victor Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Nathaniel Shilkret; in addition to be being issued as six sides on 78 rpm discs, the recording is made available as one Victor's early 33⅓ rpm LP releases.
• July 1 - The very young Eddie Duchin and his Central Park Casino Orchestra, and the Three X Sisters aka, Hamilton Sisters & Fordyce record The Clouds Will Soon Roll By for Columbia records.
• July 7 - Benny Carter's orchestra first records. Crown Records rejects all but one title, "Tell All You Daydreams to Me."
• August 15 – First successful electrical re-recording, directed by Nathaniel Shilkret, of an orchestral accompaniment of a Victor recording by Enrico Caruso.
• October 2 - Charles Seeger is divorced from his first wife, Constance de Clyver Edson. He subsequently marries composer Ruth Crawford.^[1]
• October 7 - The London Philharmonic Orchestra, recently founded by Thomas Beecham, gives its first public concert.
• October 13 - Isham Jones and the Three X Sisters record at New York Studio No.1. Several songs utilized for RCA Victor were labeled "experimental" as this blues era band-leader was fusing new arrangements, and an idea that would later influence part of the Swing era.
• October 19 – Frankie Laine and Ruthie Smith set the all-time dance marathon record of 3,501 hours (145 days) at the Million Dollar Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey
• October 31 – Sergei Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 5 is premiered in Berlin
• December 13 - Bennie Moten's Kansas City Orchestra make their last record date for Victor. It becomes a singular example of early swing music.
• Henry Hall becomes Director of the BBC Dance Orchestra.
• Sydney Symphony comes into existence.

Published popular music

• "After You, Who?" w.m. Cole Porter
• "Alone Together" w. Howard Dietz m. Arthur Schwartz
• "And Love Was Born" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Jerome Kern
• "And So To Bed" w. Mack Gordon m. Harry Revel
• "April in Paris" w. E. Y. Harburg m. Vernon Duke
• "As You Desire Me" w.m. Allie Wrubel
• "Auf Wiedersehen, My Dear" w.m. Al Hoffman, Ed G. Nelson, Al Goodhart & Milton Ager
• "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" w. Ted Koehler m. Harold Arlen
• "Chinese Laundry Blues" Cottrell
• "The Clouds Will Soon Roll By" w.m. Billy Hill & Harry Woods
• "Dance Of The Cuckoos" w.m. T. Marvin Hatley & Harry Steinberg
• "Darkness On The Delta" w. Marty Symes & Al Neiburg m. Jerry Livingston
• "Eadie Was A Lady" w. B. G. De Sylva m. Richard Whiting & Nacio Herb Brown
• "The Echo Of A Song" Peter Mendoza
• "Eres Tú" Miguel Sandoval
• "Fit As A Fiddle" w.m. Arthur Freed, Al Hoffman & Al Goodhart
• "The Flies Crawled Up The Window" w.m. Douglas Furber & Vivian Ellis
• "Give Her A Kiss" w. Lorenz Hart m. Richard Rodgers
• "Goodnight My Love" w.m. Gus Arnheim, Harry Tobias & Jules Lemare
• "Goodnight Vienna" w.m. Holt Marvell & George Posford
• "Got The South In My Soul" w.m. Ned Washington, Victor Young & Lee Wiley
• "Happy-Go-Lucky You (And Broken-Hearted Me)" w.m. Al Goodhart, Al Hoffman & J. F. Murray
• "Have You Ever Been Lonely?" w. Billy Hill (as George Brown) m. Peter De Rose
• "Here Lies Love" w. Leo Robin m. Ralph Rainger
• "How Deep Is The Ocean?" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You" w. Bing Crosby & Ned Washington m. Victor Young
• "I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues" w. Ted Koehler m. Harold Arlen
• "If It Ain't Love" w.m. Andy Razaf, Don Redman & Fats Waller
• "I'll Do My Best To Make You Happy" w.m. Ray Noble
• "I'll Never Be The Same" w. Gus Kahn m. Matty Malneck & Frank Signorelli from the revue After Dinner
• "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You" w. Ned Washington m. George Bassman
• "In A Shanty In Old Shanty Town" w. Joe Young m. Ira Schuster & Jack Little
• "In Egern On The Tegern Sea" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Jerome Kern. Introduced by Ivy Scott in the musical Music in the Air
• "Isn't It Romantic?" w. Lorenz Hart m. Richard Rodgers
• "It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" w. Irving Mills m. Duke Ellington
• "It Was So Beautiful" w. Arthur Freed m. Harry Barris
• "I've Got You On My Mind" w.m. Cole Porter
• "I've Told Every Little Star" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Jerome Kern
• "Just An Echo In The Valley" w.m. Harry Woods, Jimmy Campbell & Reg Connelly
• "Keepin' Out Of Mischief Now" w. Andy Razaf m. Fats Waller
• "Lawd, You Made The Night Too Long" w. Sam M. Lewis m. Isham Jones
• "Let's All Sing Like The Birdies Sing" w. Robert Hargreaves & Stanley J. Damerell m. Tolchard Evans & H. Tilsley
• "Let's Call It A Day" w. Lew Brown m. Ray Henderson
• "Let's Have Another Cup of Coffee" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "Let's Put Out The Lights And Go To Sleep" w.m. Herman Hupfeld
• "A Little Street Where Old Friends Meet" w. Gus Kahn m. Harry Woods
• "Look What You've Done" w. Bert Kalmar & Irving Caesar m. Harry Ruby & Harry Akst
• "Looking On The Bright Side" w.m. Howard Flynn
• "Louisiana Hayride" w. Howard Dietz m. Arthur Schwartz
• "Love Is The Sweetest Thing" w.m. Ray Noble
• "Love Me Tonight" w. Lorenz Hart m. Richard Rodgers
• "Love Me Tonight" w.m. Bing Crosby, Ned Washington & Victor Young (not to be confused with the Rodgers & Hart song listed above)
• "Lover" w. Lorenz Hart m. Richard Rodgers
• "Mad About The Boy" w.m. Noël Coward
• "A Million Dreams" w. Gus Kahn m. J. C. Lewis Jr
• "Mimi" w. Lorenz Hart m. Richard Rodgers
• "Mine" w. Ira Gershwin m. George Gershwin
• "Minnie The Moocher's Wedding Day" w. Ted Koehler m. Harold Arlen
• "My Cousin in Milwaukee" w. Ira Gershwin m. George Gershwin. Introduced by Lyda Roberti in the musical Pardon My English
• "My Silent Love" w. Edward Heyman m. Dana Suesse
• "My Sweet Virginia" w.m. Vincent Rose
• "Night And Day" w.m. Cole Porter introduced by Fred Astaire in Gay Divorce
• "Oh! That Mitzi" w. Leo Robin m. Ralph Rainger. Introduced by Maurice Chevalier in the film One Hour with You.
• "Old Yazoo" w. Andy Razaf m. Fats Waller
• "One Hour With You" w. Leo Robin m. Richard A. Whiting. From the film of the same name
• "The Party's Over Now" w.m. Noël Coward
• "Pink Elephants" w. Mort Dixon m. Harry Woods
• "Play, Fiddle, Play" w. Jack Lawrence m. Emery Deutsch & Arthur Altman
• "Please" w. Leo Robin m. Ralph Rainger
• "The Poor Apache" w. Lorenz Hart m. Richard Rodgers
• "Precious Lord Take My Hand" by Thomas A. Dorsey, first major gospel music hit
• "Pu-leeze! Mr Hemingway" w. Walter Kent & Milton Drake m. Abner Silver
• "Say It Isn't So" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "Sentimental Gentleman From Georgia" w. Mitchell Parish m. Frank Perkins
• "Sleep, Come On And Take Me" w.m. Joe Young & Boyd Bunch
• "Smoke Rings" w. Ned Washington m. Gene Gifford
• "Snuggled On Your Shoulder" w. Joe Young m. Carmen Lombardo
• "So Do I" w. B. G. De Sylva m. Vincent Youmans
• "Soft Lights And Sweet Music" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "Somebody Loves You" w. Charlie Tobias m. Peter DeRose
• "The Song is You" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Jerome Kern
• "Street of Dreams" w. Sam M. Lewis m. Victor Young
• "The Sun Has Got His Hat On" w.m. Ralph Butler & Noel Gay
• "Three's a Crowd" w. Al Dubin & Irving Kahal m. Harry Warren
• "Too Many Tears" w. Al Dubin m. Harry Warren
• "Try a Little Tenderness" w.m. Harry Woods, Jimmy Campbell & Reg Connelly
• "Underneath The Harlem Moon" w. Mack Gordon m. Harry Revel
• "Waltzing in a Dream" w. Ned Washington, Bing Crosby m. Victor Young
• "Wanderer" w.m. Bud Flanagan
• "We Just Couldn't Say Goodbye" w.m. Harry Woods
• "We've Got The Moon And Sixpence" Oscar Levant, Clifford Grey
• "We've Got To Put That Sun Back In The Sky" Kahal, Meyer
• "What More Can I Ask?" w. A. E. Wilkins m. Ray Noble
• "What Would You Do?" w. Leo Robin m. Richard A. Whiting. Introduced by Maurice Chevalier in the film One Hour with You
• "Why Don't Women Like Me?" Cottrell, Bennett, Formby
• "Willow Weep for Me" w.m. Ann Ronell
• "Wintergreen For President" w. Ira Gershwin m. George Gershwin
• "You Are Too Beautiful" w. Lorenz Hart m. Richard Rodgers
• "The Younger Generation" w.m. Noël Coward
• "You're An Old Smoothie" w.m. B. G. De Sylva, Richard A. Whiting & Nacio Herb Brown
• "You're Getting To Be A Habit With Me" w. Al Dubin m. Harry Warren
• "You've Got What Gets Me" w. Ira Gershwin m. George Gershwin

Biggest hit songs

The following songs achieved the highest chart positions in the limited set of charts available for 1932.

#	Artist	Title	Year	Country	Chart Entries
1	Fred Astaire & Leo Reisman	"Night & Day"	1932		US Billboard 1 - 1932 (18 weeks), US BB 1 of 1932, POP 1 of 1932, RYM 4 of 1932, Music Imprint 14 of 1930s, Brazil 21 of 1933, nuTsie 34 of 1930s, DMDB 52 (1932), RIAA 195, Acclaimed 1369 (1932)
2	Louis Armstrong	"All of Me"	1932		US Billboard 1 - 1932 (18 weeks), Grammy Hall of Fame in 2005 (1932), RYM 5 of 1932, US BB 8 of 1932, POP 8 of 1932, Brazil 19 of 1932, nuTsie 42 of 1930s
3	Duke Ellington	"It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)"	1932		Grammy Hall of Fame in 2008 (1932), RYM 1 of 1932, US Billboard 6 - 1932 (6 weeks), Scrobulate 31 of swing, nuTsie 32 of 1930s, Song of 1932
4	Rudy Vallee	"Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?"	1932		US Billboard 1 - 1932 (8 weeks), POP 4 of 1932, RYM 6 of 1932, Music Imprint 15 of 1930s, Brazil 60 of 1933, RIAA 196
5	Bing Crosby & The Mills Brothers	"Dinah"	1932		US Billboard 1 - 1932 (9 weeks), US BB 5 of 1932, POP 5 of 1932, Brazil 27 of 1932, Europe 47 of the 1930s (1931)

Top hit records

• "All of Me" by Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra; also version by Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra, vocal; Mildred Bailey
• "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" – Bing Crosby; also version by Rudy Vallee
• "Delishious" by Nat Shilkret and the Victor Orchestra, vocal Paul Small
• "The Flies Crawled Up the Window" by Jack Hulbert
• "Got The South In My Soul" by Paul Robeson; also version by Leo Reisman & His Orchestra, vocal; Lee Wiley
• "How Deep Is the Ocean?" by Ethel Merman, accompanied Nat Shilkret and the Victor Orchestra
• "I Can't Get Mississippi Off My Mind" by Billy Cotton Band
• "In A Shanty In Old Shanty Town" by Ted Lewis & His Band
• "Love Is The Sweetest Thing" by Ray Noble. vocal; Al Bowlly
• "Love Me Tonight" by Jeanette MacDonald
• "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" by Noël Coward
• "Mah Lindy Lou" by Paul Robeson
• "Ooh That Kiss" by Frances Day
• "Please" by Bing Crosby
• "Say It Isn't So" by George Olsen & His Music
• "The Thrill Is Gone" by Rudy Vallee
• "Was That the Human Thing To Do?" by The Boswell Sisters
• "Where the Blue of the Night (Meets the Gold of the Day)" by Bing Crosby
• "The Younger Generation" by Ray Noble and Al Bowlly

Top blues recordings

• "Worrying You Off My Mind" – Big Bill Broonzy
• "Mistreatin Mama" – Big Bill Broonzy
• "How You Want It Done" – Big Bill Broonzy
• "Searching the Desert For the Blues" – Blind Willie McTell
• "Winnie The Wailer" – Lonnie Johnson

Classical music

• Henk Badings
  • Symphony for 16 soloists
  • Symphony No. 2
• Arnold Bax –
  • Concerto for Cello and Orchestra
  • Sinfonietta
  • Sonata No. 4, for piano
  • Summer Music, for orchestra (revised version)
  • Symphony No. 5
  • "Watching the Needleboats", for voice and piano (text by James Joyce)
• Arthur Benjamin – Violin Concerto
• Arthur Bliss – A Colour Symphony
• Marc Blitzstein –
  • The Condemned, choral opera in one act
  • Serenade, for string quartet
• John Cage – Greek Ode, for voice and piano (text from Aeschylus' The Persians)
• Carlos Chávez –
  • Antígona (incidental music for the adaptation by Jean Cocteau of the tragedy by Sophocles)
  • Caballos de vapor (H.P., sinfonía de baile)
  • String Quartet No. 2
  • Tierra mojada (for mixed choir, oboe, and cor anglais (text by R. López Velarde)
  • "Todo", for voice and piano (text by R. López Velarde)
• Henry Cowell –
  • Expressivo, for piano
  • Four Continuations, for string orchestra
  • Reel (Lilt of the Reel), for small orchestra
  • Rhythm Study, for piano
  • Two Appositions, for piano
  • Two Appositions: One Movement for Orchestra
• Ruth Crawford Seeger –
  • Ricercari (2), for voice and piano (text by H. T. Tsiang)
  • Songs (3), for alto voice, oboe, percussion, piano, and optional orchestra (texts by Carl Sandburg)
• Jean Françaix – Piano Concerto
• Gunnar de Frumerie – Variations and Fugue
• George Gershwin – Cuban Overture, for orchestra
• Peggy Glanville-Hicks –
  • Fantasy, for solo violin
  • "He Reproves the Curlew", for voice and piano (text by William Butler Yeats)
  • Prelude for a Pensive Pupil, for piano
  • "Sheiling Song", for voice and piano (text by F. MacLeod)
  • "They Are Not Long", for voice and piano (text by Ernest Dowson)
  • "To the Moon", for voice and piano (text by Percy Bysshe Shelley)
  • "A Widow Bird", for voice and piano (text by Percy Bysshe Shelley)
• Percy Grainger – Handel in the Strand
• Camargo Guarnieri – String Quartet No. 1
• Alois Hába –
  • Children's Choruses (5), in quarter tones, Op. 42 (texts by V. Nezval)
  • Children's Choruses, in quarter tones, Op. 43
  • Fantazie No. 2, for nonet, Op. 41
  • Pracující den, for male choir, in quarter tones, Op. 45 (text by J. Hora)
• Jascha Heifetz – arrangement of Grigoraş Dinicu's Hora staccato
• Gustav Holst –
  • "If 'twer the Time of Lilies", for two-part choir and piano, H187
  • Jazz-Band Piece
  • Jig, for piano, H179
• John Ireland - A Downland Suite
• Dmitri Kabalevsky – Symphony No. 1
• Ernst Krenek – Kantate von der Vergänglichkeit des Irdischen, for soprano, mixed choir, and piano, Op. 72 (texts by P. Fleming, A. Gryphius, and other 17th-century German writers)
• László Lajtha – Cello Sonata
• Nikolai Myaskovsky – Symphony No. 11
• Harry Partch – "The Lord Is My Shepherd" (Psalm XXIII), for voice and adapted viola
• Paul Pisk –
  • Campanella, cantata for voice and orchestra, Op. 28 (text after 11 poems of the Monk [Luitpold])
  • Little Suite, for chamber orchestra, Op. 11a
• Sergei Prokofiev – Piano Concerto No. 5, Op. 55
• Ottorino Respighi – Huntingtower, for large wind band, P. 173
• Silvestre Revueltas –
  • Alcancías, for orchestra
  • Colorines, for orchestra
  • Música de feria (String Quartet No. 4)
  • Three Pieces for violin and piano
• Miklós Rózsa – Bagatelles for Piano, Op. 12
• Arnold Schoenberg –
  • Mirror Canon, for string quartet
  • Mirror Canon in four parts, for Carl Moll
  • Moses und Aron, opera in 3 acts (act3 not composed)
• William Schuman –
  • "God's World", for voice and piano (text by Edna St. Vincent Millay)
  • Potpourri, for orchestra
• Dmitri Shostakovich –
  • Hamlet (incidental music for the play by William Shakespeare), Op. 32
  • Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, opera in four acts, Op. 29
  • Six Romances, for tenor and orchestra, Op. 21
  • Twenty-Four Preludes, for piano, Op. 34
  • Vstrechnïy (music for the film directed by F. Ermler and Yutkevich), Op. 33
• Igor Stravinsky –
  • Chants du rossignol et Marche chinoise, for violin and piano (arranged from The Nightingale)
  • Danse russe, for violin and piano
  • Duo concertant, for violin and piano
  • Scherzo, for violin and piano [arr. from The Firebird]
  • Suite italienne, for cello and piano (arranged from Pulcinella)
  • Suite italienne, for violin and piano (arranged from Pulcinella)
  • Simvol verï, for SATB choir
• Virgil Thomson –
  • String Quartet No. 2
  • Symphony No. 2 (arrangement for piano, four hands)
• Ivan Wyschnegradsky – Prelude and Fugue, for two pianos tuned a quarter tone apart, Op. 21

Opera

• Amy Beach – Cabildo (not performed until 1947)
• Ottorino Respighi – Maria egiziaca
• Pietro Mascagni - Pinotta
• Arnold Schoenberg - Moses und Aron (first staged in 1957)
• Erwin Schulhoff - Flammen
• Kurt Weill - Die Bürgschaft

Musical theater

• After Dinner London revue opened at the Gaiety Theatre on October 21
• L'Auberge Du Cheval Blanc Paris production
• Ball im Savoy (music by Paul Abraham, libretto by Alfred Grünwald and Fritz Löhner-Beda). Berlin production
• Ballyhoo (Music: William Waller Lyrics: Robert Nesbitt) London revue opened at the Comedy Theatre on December 22
• Casanova London production
• The Cat and the Fiddle London production opened at the Palace Theatre on March 4 and ran for 329 performances
• The Dubarry
  • London production opened at Her Majesty's Theatre on April 14 and ran for 398 performances
  • Broadway production opened at George M. Cohan's Theatre on November 22 and ran for 87 performances
• Face the Music Broadway revue opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre on February 17 and ran for 165 performances
• Gay Divorce Broadway production opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on November 29 and transferred to the Shubert Theatre on January 16, 1933, for a total run of 248 performances
• Music in the Air Broadway production opened at the Alvin Theatre on November 8 and ran for 342 performances
• Out of the Bottle London production opened at the Hippodrome on June 11 and ran for 109 performances
• Over She Goes London revue opened at the Alhambra Theatre on August 27.
• Show Boat Broadway revival opened at the Casino Theatre on 50th Street on May 19 and ran for 180 performances
• Take a Chance Broadway production opened at the Apollo Theatre on November 26 and ran for 243 performances
• Tell Her the Truth London production opened at the Saville Theatre on June 14 and ran for 234 performances
• Wild Violets opened at the Theatre Royal on October 31 and ran for 291 performances
• Words and Music London revue (Noël Coward) opened at the Adelphi Theatre on September 16.

Musical films

• Carmen, starring Marguerite Namara
• Girl Crazy, starring Dorothy Lee, Robert Quillan, Mitzi Green and Kitty Kelly
• Goodnight, Vienna, starring Jack Buchanan and Anna Neagle
• Gräfin Mariza, starring Dorothea Wieck, Hubert Marischka and Charlotte Ander
• Grün ist die Heide, starring Camilla Spira, Peter Voß and Theodor Loos
• Looking on the Bright Side, starring Gracie Fields.
• Love Me Tonight, starring Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald.
• The Maid of the Mountains, starring Nancy Brown and Harry Welchman.
• The Midshipmaid, starring Jessie Matthews
• Monte Carlo Madness, starring Sari Maritza and Hans Albers and featuring the Comedian Harmonists
• One Hour with You, starring Jeanette MacDonald, Maurice Chevalier, Genevieve Tobin and Charles Ruggles
• The Phantom President, starring George M. Cohan, Claudette Colbert and Jimmy Durante. Directed by Norman Taurog.
• Sehnsucht 202, starring Luise Rainer

Births

• January 26 – Coxsone Dodd, record producer (d. 2004)
• February 8 – John Williams, composer (JAWS)
• February 16 – Harry Goz, musical theatre star (d. 2003)
• February 24 – Michel Legrand, composer
• February 26 – Johnny Cash, country singer (d. 2003)
• March 4 – Miriam Makeba, singer (d. 2008)
• March 15 – Arif Mardin, record producer (d. 2006)
• March 21 – Joseph Silverstein, violinist (d. 2015)
• April 1 – Debbie Reynolds, actress and singer
• April 8 – John Kinsella, Irish composer
• April 9 – Carl Perkins, rockabilly singer (d. 1998)
• April 12 – Tiny Tim, singer and ukulele player (d. 1996)
• April 14 – Loretta Lynn, country singer (Coal Miner's Daughter)
• April 26 – Francis Lai, songwriter and film composer
• April 27 – Maxine Brown (The Browns)
• May 19 – Alma Cogan, English singer (d. 1966)
• June 7 – Tina Brooks, saxophonist (d. 1974)
• June 19 – Ernest Ranglin, Jamaican guitarist
• June 21 – Lalo Schifrin, film composer
• June 27 – Anna Moffo, operatic soprano (d. 2006)
• July 11 – Roquel Billy Davis, singer, songwriter and record producer (d. 2004)
• July 13 – Per Nørgård, Danish composer
• July 16 – John Chilton, English jazz trumpeter (d. 2016)
• July 19 – Buster Benton, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1996)
• August 23 – Sinn Sisamouth, singer-songwriter, "the King of Khmer music" (d. 1976)
• September 8 – Patsy Cline, country singer (d. 1963)
• September 25 – Glenn Gould, classical pianist (d. 1982)
• September 28 – Víctor Jara, Chilean singer-songwriter (k. 1973)
• November 10 – Paul Bley, jazz pianist (d. 2016)
• November 15 – Clyde McPhatter, (The Drifters) (d. 1972)
• November 21 – Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen, Danish composer (d. 2016)
• November 30 – Bob Moore, bassist (Elvis, Roy Orbison)
• December 5 – Little Richard, singer, songwriter and pianist
• December 9 – Donald Byrd, jazz saxophonist (d. 2013)
• December 12 – Charlie Rich, country singer (d. 1995)
• December 15 – Jesse Belvin, singer, pianist and songwriter (d. 1960)
• December 20 – Leslie Adams, American composer and educator
• December 28 – Dorsey Burnette, Rockabilly pioneer (d. 1979)

Deaths

• January 16 - Joseph Kekuku, inventor of the steel guitar (born 1874)
• January 27 – Mortimer Wilson, composer (born 1876)
• February 22 – Johanna Gadski, opera singer (born 1872) (car accident)
• March 1 – Frank Teschemacher, jazz musician (born 1905) (car accident)
• March 3 – Eugen d'Albert, pianist and composer (born 1864)
• March 6 – John Philip Sousa, composer (born 1854)
• March 18 – Chauncey Olcott, songwriter (born 1858)
• March 19 – Richard Specht, musicologist (born 1870)
• April 2 – Hugo Kaun, composer and conductor (born 1863)
• May 5 – Hilda Clark, music hall singer (born 1872)
• May 6 – Roméo Beaudry, pianist, composer and record producer (born 1882)
• May 9 – Emil Hertzka, music publisher (born 1869)
• May 20 – Bubber Miley, jazz trumpeter (born 1903)
• May 28 – Pascual Contursi, singer and guitarist (born 1888)
• June 7 – Emil Paur, conductor (born 1855)
• July 8 – Samuel Castriota, pianist, guitarist and composer (born 1885)
• July 22
  • Hugh Blair, organist and composer (born 1864)
  • Florenz Ziegfeld, Broadway impresario (born 1867)
• August 16 – Pietro Floridia, composer and conductor (born 1860)
• September 13 – Julius Röntgen, composer (born 1855)
• September 14 – Jean Cras, composer (born 1879)
• September 26 – Pierre De Geyter, composer of The Internationale (born 1848)
• October 19 – Arthur Friedheim, pianist (born 1859)
• October 21 – Al Hopkins, country musician (born 1889)
• November 23 – Percy Pitt, organist and conductor (born 1870)
• November 27 – Evelyn Preer, actress and blues singer (born 1896)
• November 28 – Hubert de Blanck, pianist and composer (born 1856)
• December 1 – Amadeo Vives, composer (born 1871)
• December 24 – Eyvind Alnæs, pianist, organist and composer (born 1872)
• December 25 – Ernst Rolf, actor and singer (born 1891)
• December 26 - Dina Barberini, operatic soprano (born 1862)
• date unknown
  • Giulia Novelli, operatic mezzo-soprano (born 1859)
  • Emanuele Nutile, composer of Neapolitan songs (born 1862)

References