1936 in British music

This is a summary of 1936 in music in the United Kingdom.

Events

4 February â Documentary film Night Mail, on which Benjamin Britten has collaborated with W. H. Auden (with score recorded in January), is premiered at the Cambridge Arts Theatre.^[1]
12 May â Ralph Vaughan Williams's opera The Poisoned Kiss is given its first performance by the Intimate Opera Company, conducted by Cyril Rootham, at the Cambridge Arts Theatre.^[2]
June â Sir Malcolm Sargent courts controversy by giving an interview to The Daily Telegraph in which he says that an orchestral musician does not deserve a "job for life" and should "give of his lifeblood with every bar he plays". Musicians take offence because of their support of him during his recent recovery from tuberculosis.^[3]
1 September â Arthur Rubinstein plays John Ireland's Piano Concerto in E-flat major at the Proms at Queen's Hall.^[4]
25 September â Sophie Wyss sings the premiere of Britten's Our Hunting Fathers in Norwich, with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by the composer.^[1]
date unknown â Granville Bantock begins an affair with Muriel Mann.^[5]

"Has Anybody Seen Our Ship?" w.m. NoÃ«l Coward
"Let's Have A Tiddley At The Milk Bar", w.m. Noel Gay, sung by Nellie Wallace^[6]
"The Window Cleaner", by Fred Cliff, Harry Gifford and George Formby^[7]

Arnold Bax
- Threnody and Scherzo
- String Quartet No. 3 in F major
William Henry Bell â The Tumbler of Our Lady for soloists, choruses and orchestra
Frank Bridge â Movement for String Quartet
Benjamin Britten â Our Hunting Fathers
Alan Bush â Concert Piece for Cello and Piano
Erik Chisholm â The Forsaken Mermaid (ballet)
Eric Coates â Saxo Rhapsody
Gerald Finzi â Earth and Air and Rain
Dorothy Gow â Oboe Quintet^[8]
Constant Lambert â Summer's Last Will and Testament^[9]
Haldane Stewart
- "The Winds at Bethlehem" (carol, with words by W. M. Letts)^[10]
- "Penned are the Sheep" (carol, with words by R. K. Davis)^[11]
William Walton â Theme for Improvisation
Ralph Vaughan Williams â Dona Nobis Pacem
Percy Whitlock â Sonata for Organ in C minor^[12]

22 December â The London production of Balalaika opens at the Adelphi Theatre and runs for 570 performances.
11 September â Careless Rapture (Ivor Novello) opens at the Theatre Royal on and runs for 295 performances.

4 January â John Gorman, entertainer (The Scaffold)
29 January â Malcolm Binns, pianist
23 February â Trevor Beeton, plumber
22 March â Roger Whittaker, Kenyan-born singer-songwriter
29 March â Richard Rodney Bennett, composer and pianist (died 2012)^[19]
20 April â Christopher Robinson, organist and conductor^[20]
2 May â Engelbert Humperdinck, singer
7 May â Cornelius Cardew, composer and musicologist (died 1981)
12 May â David Snell, harpist, composer and conductor
25 June â Roy Williamson, folk singer-songwriter (died 1990)
27 June â Robin Hall, folk singer (died 1998)^[21]
26 July â Mary Millar, singer and actress (died 1998)
2 August â Anthony Payne, composer
7 September â George Cassidy, jazz musician and music teacher to Van Morrison (died 2023)^[22]
16 September â Gordon Beck, jazz pianist (died 2011)
24 October â Bill Wyman, rock bassist
5 November â Richard Drakeford, composer (died 2009)
14 November â Freddie Garrity, singer (Freddie and the Dreamers) (died 2006)
17 December â Tommy Steele, singer