1934 in music

Specific locations

• 1934 in British music
• 1934 in Norwegian music

Specific genres

• 1934 in country music
• 1934 in jazz

Events

• March 13 – The French Orchestre national plays its first concert, in Paris.
• May 28 – The Glyndebourne festival of opera is inaugurated in England.
• June – Baritone Sir Henry Lytton retires from the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.
• September–October – Folk song collector John Lomax makes the first recordings of "Rock Island Line" at prison farms in Arkansas.
• November 7 – Sergei Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini is premiered with the composer at the piano at the Lyric Opera House in Baltimore, Maryland, with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Leopold Stokowski. On December 24, the same ensemble make the first recording, at RCA Victor's Trinity Church Studio in Camden, New Jersey.
• November 15 – Wilhelm Furtwängler writes a letter in the Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, "Der Fall Hindemith", in support of the composer Paul Hindemith, labelled a degenerate artist by the Nazis, but whose Mathis der Maler Furtwängler premiered earlier in the year. He resigns from his official positions, including that of vice-president of the Reichsmusikkammer.
• December 2 – First public performance by the Quintette du Hot Club de France at the École Normale de Musique in Paris, playing continental jazz, led by guitarist Django Reinhardt with violinist Stéphane Grappelli.
• December 21 – The orchestral suite Lieutenant Kijé, one of Sergei Prokofiev's best-known works, is premiered in Paris.
• A former London roller skating rink reopens as the BBC's Maida Vale Studios and it becomes the home of the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

Published popular music

• "All I Do Is Dream Of You" w. Arthur Freed m. Nacio Herb Brown. Introduced by Gene Raymond in the film Sadie McKee
• "All Through The Night" w.m. Cole Porter
• "Annie's Cousin Fannie" w.m. Glenn Miller
• "Anything Goes" w.m. Cole Porter
• "As Long as I Live" w. Ted Koehler m. Harold Arlen. Introduced by Lena Horne and Avon Long in the revue Cotton Club Parade
• "Autumn In New York" w.m. Vernon Duke
• "Baby, Take A Bow" w. Lew Brown m. Jay Gorney
• "Be Like The Bluebird" w.m. Cole Porter
• "Beer Barrel Polka" w. Vasek Zeman Lew Brown m. Jaromir Vejvoda
• "Big John's Special" m. Horace Henderson
• "Blame It On My Youth" w. Edward Heyman m. Oscar Levant
• "Blow, Gabriel, Blow" w.m. Cole Porter
• "Blue Moon" w. Lorenz Hart m. Richard Rodgers
• "The Bluebird Of Happiness" w. Edward Heyman & Harry Parr-Davies m. Sandor Hamati
• "Boll Weevil" w. Lead Belly
• "Cocktails for Two" w.m. Arthur Johnston & Sam Coslow
• "College Rhythm" w. Mack Gordon m. Harry Revel
• "The Continental" w. Herb Magidson m. Con Conrad. Introduced by Ginger Rogers in the film The Gay Divorcee
• "Dames" w. Al Dubin m. Harry Warren
• "Don't Let It Bother You" w. Mack Gordon m. Harry Revel from the film The Gay Divorcee
• "Easy Come, Easy Go" w. Edward Heyman m. Johnny Green
• "Everything Stops for Tea" w.m. Maurice Sigler, Al Goodhart & Al Hoffman
• "Faint Harmony" w. Desmond Carter m. Vivian Ellis from the musical Jill Darling
• "Fair And Warmer" w. Al Dubin m. Harry Warren
• "Fare Thee Well, Annabelle" w. Mort Dixon m. Allie Wrubel
• "For All We Know" w. Sam M. Lewis m. J. Fred Coots
• "Fun To Be Fooled" w. Ira Gershwin & E. Y. Harburg m. Harold Arlen
• "Give Me A Heart To Sing To" w. Ned Washington m. Victor Young
• "The Gypsy In My Soul" w. Moe Jaffe m. Clay Boland
• "Here Come The British" w. Johnny Mercer m. Bernard Hanighen
• "Hold My Hand" w. Jack Yellen & Irving Caesar m. Ray Henderson
• "The House Is Haunted" w. Billy Rose m. Basil G. Adlam. Introduced by Jane Froman in the revue Ziegfeld Follies of 1934
• "I Get a Kick out of You" w.m. Cole Porter
• "I Never Had A Chance" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "I Only Have Eyes For You" w. Al Dubin m. Harry Warren
• "I Think I Can" Douglas Furber, Ray Noble
• "I Wish I Were Twins" w. Frank Loesser & Eddie DeLange m. Joseph Meyer
• "If" w. Robert Hargreaves & Stanley Damerell m. Tolchard Evans
• "If I Had A Million Dollars" w. Johnny Mercer m. Matty Malneck. Introduced by The Boswell Sisters in the film Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round.
• "If There Is Someone Lovelier Than You" w. Howard Dietz m. Arthur Schwartz. Introduced by Georges Metaxa in the musical Revenge with Music
• "I'll Follow My Secret Heart" w.m. Noël Coward, Introduced by Noël Coward and Yvonne Printemps in the musical Conversation Piece
• "I'll String Along With You" w. Al Dubin m. Harry Warren
• "Ill Wind" w. Ted Koehler m. Harold Arlen. Introduced by Aida Ward in the revue Cotton Club Parade
• "I'm On A Seesaw" w. Desmond Carter m. Vivian Ellis from the musical Jill Darling
• "Isle of Capri" w. Jimmy Kennedy m. Will Grosz
• "It's All Forgotten Now" w.m. Ray Noble
• "Judy" w.m. Hoagy Carmichael & Sammy Lerner
• "June In January" w. Leo Robin m. Ralph Rainger Movie: "Here Is My Heart"
• "Junk Man" w. Frank Loesser m. Joseph Meyer
• "Lady Fair" w.m. Cole Porter
• "Let's Take a Walk Around the Block" w. Ira Gershwin & E. Y. Harburg m. Harold Arlen. Introduced by Dixie Dunbar and Earl Oxford in the revue Life Begins at 8:40.
• "Little Man, You've Had a Busy Day" w. Maurice Sigler & Al Hoffman m. Mabel Wayne
• "Lost In A Fog" w. Dorothy Fields m. Jimmy McHugh
• "Love In Bloom" w. Leo Robin m. Ralph Rainger
• "Love Is Just Around The Corner" w. Leo Robin m. Lewis E. Gensler
• "Love Thy Neighbour" w. Mack Gordon m. Harry Revel
• "Midnight, the Stars and You" Jimmy Campbell, Reg Connelly, Harry Woods
• "Miss Otis Regrets" w.m. Cole Porter
• "Moon Country" w. Johnny Mercer m. Hoagy Carmichael
• "The Moon Was Yellow" w. Edgar Leslie m. Fred E. Ahlert
• "Moonglow" w. Eddie DeLange m. Will Hudson & Irving Mills
• "Moonlight Is Silver" Clemence Dane, Richard Addinsell
• "A New Moon Is Over My Shoulder" w. Arthur Freed m. Nacio Herb Brown
• "Nobody Loves A Fairy When She's Forty" w.m. Arthur Le Clerq
• "The Object Of My Affection" w.m. Pinky Tomlin, Coy Poe & Jimmie Grier
• "Okay Toots" w. Gus Kahn m. Walter Donaldson
• "On The Good Ship Lollipop" w.m. Sidney Clare & Richard A. Whiting
• "One Night Of Love" w. Gus Kahn m. Victor Schertzinger
• "Over My Shoulder" w.m. Harry Woods
• "Over Somebody Else's Shoulder" w.m. Al Sherman & Al Lewis
• "P.S. I Love You" w. Johnny Mercer m. Gordon Jenkins
• "Pardon My Southern Accent" w. Johnny Mercer m. Matty Malneck
• "Rhythm Is Our Business" w. Sammy Cahn m. Jimmie Lunceford
• "Ridin' Around in the Rain" w.m. Gene Austin & Carmen Lombardo
• "Riptide" w. Gus Kahn m. Walter Donaldson
• "Rock And Roll" w. Sidney Clare m. Richard A. Whiting
• "Rug Cutter's Swing" m. Horace Henderson
• "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" w.m. Haven Gillespie & J. Fred Coots
• "She Reminds Me Of You" w. Mack Gordon m. Harry Revel. Introduced by Bing Crosby in the film We're Not Dressing
• "Sing As We Go" w.m. Harry Parr-Davies, Gracie Fields
• " Solitude" w. Eddie DeLange & Irving Mills m. Duke Ellington
• "Stars Fell on Alabama" w. Mitchell Parish m. Frank Perkins
• "Stay As Sweet As You Are" w. Mack Gordon m. Harry Revel. Introduced by Lanny Ross in the film College Rhythm
• "Stompin' at the Savoy" w. Andy Razaf m. Benny Goodman, Chick Webb & Edgar Sampson
• "Straight from the Shoulder " w. Mack Gordon m. Harry Revel. Introduced by Bing Crosby and Kitty Carlisle in the film She Loves Me Not
• "The Sweetest Music This Side Of Heaven" w.m. Carmen Lombardo & Cliff Friend
• "Take a Number from One to Ten" w. Mack Gordon m. Harry Revel. Introduced by Lyda Roberti in the film College Rhythm.
• "Thank You So Much, Mrs Lowsborough-Goodby" w.m. Cole Porter
• "There Goes My Heart" w. Benny Davis m. Abner Silver
• "Trust in Me" w. Ned Wever m. Milton Ager and Jean Schwartz. Recorded by Mildred Bailey in 1937.
• "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" w.m. Bob Nolan
• "Two Cigarettes In The Dark" w. Paul Francis Webster m. Lew Pollack
• "The Very Thought Of You" w.m. Ray Noble
• "Wagon Wheels" w. Billy Hill m. Peter De Rose
• "What A Diff'rence A Day Made" w. Stanley Adams Maria Grever m. Maria Grever
• "What a Little Moonlight Can Do" w.m. Harry Woods
• "When A Woman Loves A Man" w. Johnny Mercer m. Bernie Hanighen & Gordon Jenkins
• "When I Grow Too Old To Dream" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Sigmund Romberg
• "When My Ship Comes In" w. Gus Kahn m. Walter Donaldson
• "When You've Got A Little Springtime In Your Heart" w.m. Harry Woods. Introduced by Jessie Matthews in the film Evergreen
• "Winter Wonderland" w. Richard B. Smith m. Felix Bernard
• "With Every Breath I Take" w. Leo Robin m. Ralph Rainger
• "With Her Head Tucked Underneath Her Arm" w.m. R. P. Weston & Bert Lee
• "With My Eyes Wide Open, I'm Dreaming" w. Mack Gordon m. Harry Revel. Introduced by Jack Oakie and Dorothy Dell in the film Shoot the Works. Performed by Dean Martin in the 1952 film The Stooge
• "Wonder Bar" w. Al Dubin m. Harry Warren
• "The World Owes Me a Living" w. Larry Morey m. Leigh Harline. Introduced by Pinto Colvig on the soundtrack of the animated short The Grasshopper and the Ants
• "Wrappin' It Up" m. Fletcher Henderson
• "You And The Night And The Music" w. Howard Dietz m. Arthur Schwartz
• "You Oughta Be in Pictures" w. Edward Heyman m. Dana Suesse
• "You're A Builder-Upper" w. Ira Gershwin & E. Y. Harburg m. Harold Arlen
• "You're Not The Only Oyster In The Stew" w. Johnny Burke m. Harold Spina
• "You're the Top" w.m. Cole Porter
• "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart" w.m. James F. Hanley. Introduced by Hal Le Roy and Eunice Healey in the Broadway revue ''Thumbs Up!''

Top Popular Recordings

Top Christmas hits

• "Winter Wonderland" – Richard Himber & His Orchestra
• "Winter Wonderland" – Guy Lombardo

Classical music

Compositions

• Henk Badings
• *Symphony No. 3
• *Sonata, for cello and piano
• Béla Bartók – String Quartet No. 5
• Arnold Bax – Symphony No. 6
• Benjamin Britten – Simple Symphony
• John Fernström – Symphony No. 4, Op. 27
• Alexander Glazunov – Saxophone Concerto
• Karl Amadeus Hartmann – Miserae
• Qunihico Hashimoto – Cantata Celebrating the Birth of the Prince
• Jacques Ibert – Flute Concerto
• Darius Milhaud – Concertino de Printemps, for violin and orchestra
• Sergei Prokofiev – Egyptian Nights suite
• Nico Richter – Sonatine, for piano
• Harald Sæverud – Canto Ostinato
• Arnold Schoenberg – Suite in G major, for string orchestra
• Leopold Spinner – Passacaglia
• Germaine Tailleferre – Concerto for 2 Pianos, Eight Solo Voices, Saxophone Quartet and Orchestra
• Eduard Tubin – Symphony No. 1 in C minor
• Edgard Varèse – Ecuatorial
• Heitor Villa-Lobos – Uirapuru, symphonic poem and ballet
• Kōsaku Yamada – ''Nagauta Symphony''

[Opera]

• Vittorio Giannini – Lucedia
• Gustav Holst – The Wandering Scholar
• Leoš Janáček – Destiny
• Dmitri Shostakovich – Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District
• Virgil Thomson – ''Four Saints in Three Acts''

Film

• Hubert Bath – Wings Over Everest
• Sergei Prokofiev – Lieutenant Kijé
• Willy Schmidt-Gentner – Maskerade
• Max Steiner – ''The Lost Patrol''

[Musical theatre]

• Yes, Madam? – London production opened at the Hippodrome on September 27 and ran for 302 performancesYours Sincerely – London revue opened at Daly's Theatre on February 19, starring Binnie BarnesZiegfeld Follies of 1934 – Broadway revue opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on January 4 and ran for 182 performances

[Musical film]s

Births

• January 16 – Marilyn Horne, mezzo soprano
• January 21 – Eva Olmerová, Czech pop and jazz musician
• January 24 – Ann Cole, American singer
• January 26 – Huey "Piano" Smith, American R&B pianist
• January 30 – Tammy Grimes, actress and singer
• February 1 – Bob Shane, American folk singer
• February 2 – Skip Battin, American rock singer-songwriter
• February 7
• *King Curtis, American saxophonist
• *Earl King, American singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer
• February 8 – Jan Kirsznik, Polish rock saxophonist
• February 14 – Florence Henderson, American actress and singer
• February 23
• * Yevgeny Krylatov, Soviet and Russian composer
• * Augusto Algueró, Spanish composer
• February 24 – Renata Scotto, Italian operatic soprano
• March 4 – John Dunn, DJ
• March 8 – Christian Wolff, composer
• March 16 – Roger Norrington, conductor
• March 18 – Charley Pride, country singer and baseball player
• March 25 – Johnny Burnette, rockabilly pioneer
• March 29 – Delme Bryn-Jones, operatic baritone
• March 31
• *Richard Chamberlain, actor and singer
• *Shirley Jones, singer and actress
• *John D. Loudermilk, singer-songwriter
• April 1 – Jim Ed Brown, country singer-songwriter
• April 16
• *Vince Hill, singer
• *Robert Stigwood, music promoter
• April 19 – Dickie Goodman, pioneer of music sampling
• April 24 – Shirley MacLaine, born Shirley MacLean Beaty, American actress and singer
• April 29 – Otis Rush, blues musician
• May 1 – Shirley Horn, American singer
• May 3 – Frankie Valli, singer
• May 5
• *Ace Cannon, saxophonist
• *Johnnie Taylor, singer-songwriter
• May 6 – Oskar Gottlieb Blarr, composer
• May 9 – Soo Bee Lee, operatic soprano
• May 24 – Dr Barry Rose, English choir-trainer and organist
• June 1 – Pat Boone, American singer
• June 9 – Jackie Wilson, American singer
• June 11 – James "Pookie" Hudson, American R&B frontman
• June 21 – Cornel Țăranu, Romanian composer
• June 21 – Luigi Albertelli, Italian lyricist
• June 24 – Gloria Christian, Italian canzone Napoletana singer
• June 26 – Dave Grusin, American pianist and composer
• July 8 – Alice Gerrard, American singer and banjo player
• July 12 – Van Cliburn, American concert pianist
• July 15 – Harrison Birtwistle, composer
• July 21 – Jonathan Miller, opera director and polymath
• July 28 – Jacques d'Amboise, dancer and choreographer
• July 30 – André Prévost, composer
• August 5 – Vern Gosdin, country music singer
• August 9 – Merle Kilgore, country singer/songwriter
• August 10 – James Tenney, composer and music theorist
• August 18 – Ronnie Carroll, Northern Irish popular singer
• September 3 – Freddie King, American blues guitarist and singer
• September 4 – Otto Brandenburg, Danish singer and actor
• September 5 – Bira, Brazilian musician and guitarist
• September 7 – Little Milton, American blues singer and guitarist
• September 8 – Peter Maxwell Davies, composer
• September 16 – Ronnie Drew, Irish folk musician
• September 19 – Brian Epstein, English manager of The Beatles
• September 21 – Leonard Cohen, Canadian poet and singer
• September 23 – Gino Paoli, Italian singer/songwriter
• September 30 – Ronald Turini, pianist
• October 1 – Geoff Stephens, English songwriter and record producer
• October 17 – Rico Rodriguez, Cuban-born Jamaican ska trombonist
• October 20 – Eddie Harris, American saxophonist
• October 22 – Donald McIntyre, New Zealand operatic bass-baritone
• October 26
• * Jacques Loussier, French classical/jazz pianist
• * Ferenc Rados, Hungarian pianist
• October 30 – Frans Brüggen, Dutch flutist, recorder player and conductor
• November 1 – William Mathias, composer
• November 7 – Sunanda Patnaik, Indian classical singer
• November 11 – Willi Tokarev, Russian-American singer-songwriter
• November 15 – Peter Dickinson, composer and musicologist
• November 18 – Tulsidas Borkar, Indian composer
• November 19 – Dave Guard, folk singer
• November 24 – Alfred Schnittke, composer
• December 1 – Billy Paul, soul singer
• December 9 – Alan Ridout, composer and music teacher
• December 12 – Habib Hassan Touma, composer and ethnomusicologist
• December 16 – Jim Parker, tv composer
• December 19 – Rudi Carrell, Dutch singer, entertainer
• December 30
• *Del Shannon, singer
• *Russ Tamblyn, dancer, singer and actor

Deaths

• January 12 – Paul Kochanski, violinist, composer and arranger, 46
• January 18 – Otakar Ševčík, violinist, 81
• February 4 – Ernesto Nazareth, pianist and composer, 70
• February 23 – Edward Elgar, composer, 76
• February 24 – Pyotr Slovtsov, operatic tenor, 47
• February 27 – Gene Rodemich, pianist and orchestra leader, 43
• March 21 – Franz Schreker, composer and conductor, 55
• April 12 – Thaddeus Cahill, inventor of the teleharmonium
• April 22 – Augusto de Lima, writer and musician
• April 28 – Charlie Patton, blues musician, 42
• May 7 – Edward Naylor, organist and composer, 57
• May 19 – Émile Pierre Ratez, violist and composer, 82
• May 25 – Gustav Holst, composer, 59
• May 26 – Robert Samut, composer of the Maltese national anthem, 64
• June 10 – Frederick Delius, composer, 82
• June 13 – Charlie Gardiner, ice hockey player and amateur singer
• July 14 – Ernst Eduard Taubert, composer, 95
• September 2
• *Russ Columbo, violinist, 26
• *Alcide Nunez, jazz musician, 50
• September 10 – Sir George Henschel, operatic baritone, pianist and conductor, 84
• September 24 – Edwin Lemare, organist and composer, 68
• October 3 – Henri Marteau, French violinist, 60
• October 13 – Theodore Baker, American musicologist, 83
• October 14 – Leonid Sobinov, Russian operatic tenor, 62
• October 26 – Marie Jahn, Austrian operatic soprano, 69
• November 12 – Henri Verbrugghen, violinist and conductor, 61
• November 14 – Blanche Ray Alden, pianist and composer, 64
• December 15 – Bernhard Sekles, composer and music teacher, 62
• December 19 – Francis Planté, pianist, 95
• date unknown
• *Eddie Anthony, jazz violinist
• *Olimpia Boronat, operatic soprano
• *Alice Verlet, operatic soprano