1941 in British music

Events

• 29 March – Benjamin Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem is premiered in Carnegie Hall by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by John Barbirolli.
• 3 April – William Walton's Scapino overture has its premiere in Chicago, conducted by Frederick Stock.
• May – Arthur Bliss joins the BBC's overseas music service.
• 10 May – London's Queen's Hall, venue for the Promenade Concerts, is bombed by the Luftwaffe. The Proms re-locate to the Royal Albert Hall.
• 30 October – On the occasion of Britten's String Quartet No. 1 being performed in Washington, he is awarded the Library of Congress Medal for services to chamber music.

Popular music

• "Could You Please Oblige Us with a Bren Gun?" w.m. Noël Coward
• "Down Forget-Me-Not Lane" w.m. Horatio Nicholls, Charlie Chester & Reg Morgan
• "He Wears A Pair Of Silver Wings" w. Eric Maschwitz m. Michael Carr
• "Hey Little Hen" w.m. Ralph Butler & Noel Gay
• "London Pride" w.m. Noël Coward
• "When They Sound The Last All Clear" w.m. Hughie Charles, Louis Elton

Classical music: new works

• Kenneth J. Alford
• *By Land and Sea
• *Army of the Nile
• Richard Addinsell – Warsaw Concerto
• Arthur Bliss – String Quartet No. 1
• Benjamin Britten – String Quartet No. 1
• Ralph Vaughan Williams – ''England, my England''

Opera

• Benjamin Britten – ''Paul Bunyan''

Film and Incidental music

• Richard Addinsell – Dangerous Moonlight
• William Walton – Major Barbara, starring Wendy Hiller and Rex Harrison.

Musical films

• He Found a Star, starring Vic Oliver
• Turned Out Nice Again, starring George Formby
• You Will Remember, starring Robert Morley and Emlyn Williams

Musical theatre

• 5 March – Apple Sauce revue opens at the Palladium.
• 24 July – Lady Behave London production opens at His Majesty's Theatre and runs for 401 performances.
• 19 November – Get a Load of This London production opens at the Hippodrome Theatre and runs for 698 performances.

Births

• 12 January – Long John Baldry, R&B singer
• 4 February – John Steel, drummer
• 14 February – Big Jim Sullivan, English guitarist
• 5 April – Dave Swarbrick, folk musician
• 11 April – Arthur Davies, operatic tenor
• 13 April – Margaret Price, soprano
• 23 April – Ed Stewart, disc jockey
• 3 May – Paul Ferris, film composer and actor
• 9 May – Pete Birrell, bass player
• 11 May – Eric Burdon, R&B singer
• 21 May – Martin Carthy, folk musician
• 9 June – Jon Lord, keyboard player and composer
• 12 June – Reg Presley, singer and songwriter
• 30 June
• * Mike Leander, arranger, songwriter and record producer
• * Nigel Walley, tea-chest bass player and golfer
• 7 July – Jim Rodford, bass player
• 17 July – Spencer Davis, instrumentalist
• 20 August – Anne Evans, operatic soprano
• 10 September – Christopher Hogwood, conductor and harpsichordist
• 27 October – Don Partridge, singer-songwriter
• 2 November – Brian Poole, singer
• 15 November – Rick Kemp, singer-songwriter, bass player and producer
• 24 November – Pete Best, rock drummer
• 27 December
• *Les Maguire, pop pianist
• *Mike Pinder, rock keyboard player
• 29 December – Ray Thomas, rock flautist and singer-songwriter

Deaths

• 10 January – Frank Bridge, composer, 61
• 19 February – Sir Hamilton Harty, conductor and composer, 61
• 11 March – Sir Henry Walford Davies, composer, 71
• 27 March – Stewart Macpherson, music teacher and writer, 75
• 16 August – John Coates, operatic tenor, 76
• date unknown – William Hargreaves, music hall composer