1931 in British music

Events

• 24 January – Mary Garden makes her last appearance with the Chicago Civic Opera company. She retires to her native Scotland.
• 22–28 July – The ninth annual ISCM Festival of Contemporary Music takes place in London and Oxford, with concerts of orchestral, choral, and chamber music.
• 22 August – Anton Webern’s Passacaglia Op. 1 receives its first performance in England at the Proms, by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conductor Henry Wood.
• date unknown – Gustav Holst appears as an extra in a crowd scene in the film The Bells.

Popular music

• "Close Your Eyes", by D. Carter and H. M. Tennent
• "Lady Of Spain"; music by Tolchard Evans, lyrics by Erell Reaves
• "Mad Dogs and Englishmen", by Noël Coward
• "My Girl's Pussy", by Harry Roy and his Bat Club Boys

Classical music: new works

• Havergal Brian – Symphony No. 2 in E minor
• Frank Bridge – Phantasm, for piano and orchestra
• Benjamin Britten –
• *Christ's Nativity, Christmas Suite, for SATB choir
• *Plymouth Town, ballet, for orchestra
• *String Quartet in D
• Arnold Cooke – Passacaglia, Scherzo, and Finale, for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and string quartet
• Frederick Delius –
• *Fantastic Dance, for orchestra
• *Irmelin Prelude, for orchestra
• George Dyson – The Canterbury Pilgrims, for soprano, tenor, baritone, choir, and orchestra
• Edward Elgar – Soliloquy, for oboe and orchestra
• Gerald Finzi – To Joy, for voice and piano, op. 13
• Patrick Hadley – Symphonic Ballad: The Trees So High
• Gustav Holst – Twelve Welsh Folk Songs, for choir, H183
• Herbert Howells –
• *"A Maid Peerless", for SSAA choir and orchestra
• *Severn, for SATB choir
• Gordon Jacob – Passacaglia on a Well-Known Theme, for orchestra
• Elizabeth Maconchy –
• *A Hymn to Christ, A Hymn to God the Father, for double choir
• *The Leaden Echo and the Golden Echo, for choir and orchestra
• Cyril Scott –
• *Concerto, for cello and orchestra
• *Trio No. 1, for violin, viola, and cello
• *Trio No. 2, for violin, viola, and cello
• Herbert Sumsion – Piano Trio
• Michael Tippett – Symphonic Movement, for orchestra
• Ralph Vaughan Williams –
• *Job: A Masque for Dancing
• *Piano Concerto in C major
• William Walton – ''Belshazzar's Feast''

Opera

• Thomas Frederick Dunhill – Tantivy Towers, words by A. P. Herbert

Film and Incidental music

• John D. H. Greenwood – ''Alibi''

Musical theatre

• 8 January – Folly To Be Wise opens at the Piccadilly Theatre, starring Cicely Courtneidge.
• 13 October – Noël Coward's Cavalcade opens at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, where it runs for 405 performances.
• 23 December – Hold My Hand opens at the Gaiety Theatre, Starring Jessie Matthews, Sonnie Hale and Stanley Lupino.

Musical films

Births

• 6 January – David Whitaker, composer, songwriter, arranger and conductor
• 29 January – Leslie Bricusse, composer, lyricist and playwright
• 5 March – Anthony Hedges, composer
• 25 March – Humphrey Burton, television music and arts presenter
• 30 June – James Loughran, orchestral conductor
• 29 April – Lonnie Donegan, skiffle musician
• 4 July – Duncan Lamont, saxophonist, composer and bandleader
• 5 July – Aloysius Gordon, British-based Jamaican jazz pianist, singer
• 28 August – John Shirley-Quirk, operatic bass-baritone
• 12 September – Tommy Moore, drummer
• 24 September – Anthony Newley, songwriter, actor and singer
• 4 October – Anna Reynolds, operatic mezzo-soprano
• 4 November – Clinton Ford, singer

Deaths

• 8 May – Bertha Lewis, singer and actress with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, 43
• 18 June – Fanny Holland, singer and actress, 83
• 22 August – Joseph Tabrar, songwriter, 73
• 19 November – Frederic Cliffe, composer, 74
• 23 November – Leonora Braham, operatic soprano and actress, 78