1946 in British music

Events

• February – Kathleen Ferrier's recording contract with Columbia Records expires, and she transfers to Decca.
• 21 March – Swedish premiere of Peter Grimes, the opera's first performance outside the UK, in Stockholm.
• June – George Formby is awarded the Order of the British Empire in the 1946 King's Birthday Honours List.
• 5 July – Michael Tippett arranges the first British performance of Monteverdi's Vespers at Morley College, adding his own organ Preludio for the occasion.
• 6, 7 & 9 August – Leonard Bernstein conducts the first US performance of Peter Grimes at the Berkshire Music Center, Tanglewood.

Popular music

• Geraldo and his Orchestra – "We'll Gather Lilacs"
• Archie Lewis and The Geraldo Strings – "I Dream of You (More Than You Dream I Do)"
• "It's A Pity To Say Goodnight" –

Classical music: new works

• Malcolm Arnold – Symphony for Strings, Opus 13
• Edmund Rubbra – Cello Sonata, Opus 60
• Michael Tippett – Little Music for String Orchestra
• Ralph Vaughan Williams – Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra, co-arranged with Joseph Cooper
• William Walton – String Quartet No. 2 in A minor

Opera

• Benjamin Britten – ''The Rape of Lucretia''

Film and Incidental music

• William Alwyn – I See a Dark Stranger, starring Deborah Kerr and Trevor Howard.
• John Ireland – The Overlanders.
• Alan Rawsthorne – The Captive Heart, starring Michael Redgrave.

Musical theatre

• 7 March – The London production of Song of Norway opens at the Palace Theatre and runs for 526 performances.
• 19 December – Noël Coward's new musical Pacific 1860 opens at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, starring Mary Martin and Graham Payn.

Musical films

Births

• 3 January – John Paul Jones
• 6 January – Syd Barrett
• 10 January – Aynsley Dunbar, drummer and songwriter
• 22 January – Malcolm McLaren, impresario and founder of the Sex Pistols
• 7 March – Matthew Fisher
• 21 March – Ray Dorset
• 1 April – Ronnie Lane, singer, songwriter and guitarist
• 2 April – Raymond Gubbay, classical music promoter
• 4 April – Dave Hill, guitarist
• 11 April – Bob Harris, DJ
• 10 May
• *Donovan, folk singer
• *Graham Gouldman, singer and songwriter
• *Dave Mason, singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 15 May – Aly Bain, Scottish fiddler
• 16 May – Robert Fripp, guitarist, composer and record producer
• 18 May – Bruce Gilbert, guitarist
• 15 June – Noddy Holder, singer and songwriter
• 30 June – Giles Swayne, composer
• 19 July – Alan Gorrie, Scottish singer and bass player
• 23 July – Andy Mackay, saxophonist, oboist, and composer
• 10 August – Peter Karrie, star of West End musical productions
• 1 September – Barry Gibb, singer and songwriter
• 5 September – Freddie Mercury, singer
• 23 September – Duster Bennett, blues singer and musician
• 28 September – Helen Shapiro, singer
• 14 October
• *Justin Hayward, guitarist, singer and songwriter
• *Dan McCafferty
• 29 October – Peter Green, guitarist and singer
• 8 November – Roy Wood, singer and songwriter
• 11 November – Chip Hawkes, vocalist and guitarist
• 24 November – Bev Bevan, drummer
• 1 December – Gilbert O'Sullivan, singer-songwriter
• 10 December – Ace Kefford, bass player
• 12 December – Clive Bunker, drummer
• 14 December – Jane Birkin, French-based actress and singer
• 16 December – Trevor Pinnock, harpsichordist and conductor
• 29 December – Marianne Faithfull, singer and actress

Deaths

• 29 January – Sidney Jones, conductor and composer, 84
• 20 February – Hugh Allen, organist and choral conductor, 76
• 13 March – Thomas Dunhill, composer and music writer, 69
• 13 April – W. H. Bell, composer and conductor, 72
• 1 May
• *Edward Bairstow, organist and composer, 71
• *Percy Whitlock, organist and composer, 42
• 16 October – Sir Granville Bantock, composer, 78
• 10 November – Nicholas Gatty, composer and music critic, 72
• 5 December – Tom Clare, music hall singer and pianist, 70
• 15 December – Frederic Norton, composer, 77