1923 in British music

This is a summary of 1923 in music in the United Kingdom.

Events

12 June – William Walton's Façade, a collaboration with Edith Sitwell, is given its first public performance at the Aeolian Hall, London. The critics' reception is unfavourable.
4 July – Ralph Vaughan Williams's English Folk Song Suite is premièred at Kneller Hall, conducted by Hector Adkins.
September–October – Philip Heseltine and E. J. Moeran tour East Anglia in search of original folk music.
11 November – The première of John Foulds's A World Requiem is held at the Royal Albert Hall in London, with soloists including Herbert Heyner. It is repeated on that date each year until 1926.
23 December – The Beggar's Opera by John Gay and Dr Pepusch, with score restored by Frederic Austin, ends its record run of 1,463 performances at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith; Austin himself plays Peachum, with Frederick Ranalow as Macheath and Sylvia Nelis as Polly.
date unknown
*The Royal Scottish Country Dance Society is founded by Jean Milligan and Ysobel Stewart.
*The moving-coil microphone is developed by Captain H. J. Round and is adopted by the BBC's London studios.
*Edward Elgar moves to the village of Kempsey, Worcestershire, where he will live until 1927.
*Arthur Bliss's father retires to California. Arthur goes with him to work as a conductor, lecturer, pianist and occasional critic.
*Eugene Aynsley Goossens becomes conductor of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra in the United States.
*Henry Tippett agrees to support his son Michael Tippett's studies at the Royal College of Music, where Michael is accepted despite lacking the entry qualifications.
*The Savoy Orpheans is formed as a resident dance band at the Savoy Hotel, London, by Debroy Somers.

Classical music: new works

Kenneth J. Alford – Cavalry of the Clouds
Granville Bantock – Suite from Cathay
Arthur Bliss – String Quartet
Gerald Finzi – A Severn Rhapsody
John Ireland – Cello Sonata
Constant Lambert – 2 Songs, for soprano, flute and harp
Roger Quilter – "The Fuchsia Tree", Op. 25 No. 2
Cyril Scott – The Incompetent Apothecary
Ralph Vaughan Williams – Sea Songs
William Walton – ''Toccata for Violin and Piano''

Opera

Gustav Holst – ''The Perfect Fool''

Musical theatre

London Calling!, a revue produced by André Charlot with music and lyrics by Noël Coward, co-starring Coward and Gertrude Lawrence, opens at the Duke of York's Theatre on 4 September and runs for 367 performances.

Births

21 April – Ronald Cass, film composer
15 May – John Lanchbery, composer and conductor
4 August – Arthur Butterworth, composer
19 August – Dill Jones, pianist
30 September – Donald Swann, musician
5 October – Glynis Johns, actress and singer
10 November – Anne Shelton, singer

Deaths

18 January – Kate Santley, German-born actress, singer and comedian
10 July – Albert Chevalier, actor, singer, songwriter and music hall performer, 62
27 August – Letty Lind, singer and burlesque performer, 61
12 October – John Cadvan Davies, poet and hymn-writer, 77
date unknown – Nicholas Kilburn, choral conductor and composer, 80