1957 in British music

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This is a summary of 1957 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.

Events edit

1 January – Benjamin Britten conducts the opening performance of his ballet The Prince of the Pagodas at Covent Garden.^[1]
11 January – Tommy Steele reaches no 1 in the UK chart with his cover of "Singing the Blues", thus achieving chart-topping success before his American rival Elvis Presley.
16 January – The Cavern Club opens in Liverpool as a jazz club.
25 January – First performance of William Walton's Cello Concerto in Boston.^[1]
3 March – Patricia Bredin represents the UK at the 2nd Eurovision Song Contest in Frankfurt, finishing in 7th place. It is the first time the UK has entered the competition.
June – Kay Kendall, star of Les Girls, marries Rex Harrison, star of My Fair Lady.
6 July – John Lennon and Paul McCartney of The Beatles first meet at a garden fete at St. Peter's Church, Woolton, Liverpool, at which Lennon's skiffle group, The Quarrymen, is playing (and in the graveyard of which an Eleanor Rigby is buried).
7 August – The Quarrymen first play at The Cavern Club in Liverpool in an interlude spot between jazz bands; when John Lennon starts the group playing Elvis Presley's "Don't Be Cruel", the club's owner at this time hands him a note reading "Cut out the bloody rock 'n roll".^[2]

Malcolm Arnold – The River Kwai March, Toy Symphony
Arthur Bliss - Discourse for orchestra
Benjamin Britten – Songs from the Chinese Op. 58, for soprano or tenor and guitar
Gordon Jacob – Piano Concerto No. 2
Robin Orr - Rhapsody for string orchestra
Edmund Rubbra - Symphony No 7
Michael Tippett – Symphony No. 2
William Walton – Partita for Orchestra
Grace Williams - Symphony No 2

Benjamin Britten – Noye's Fludde (composition draft completed 18 December).^[3]

11 April – Zuleika, with music by Peter Tranchell and book and lyrics by James Ferman receives its West End première at the Saville Theatre, starring Diane Cilento in the title role.

20 January – Andy Sheppard, saxophonist and composer
27 January – Janick Gers, guitarist and songwriter
3 February – Steven Stapleton, singer-songwriter (Nurse with Wound and Current 93)
13 February – Tony Butler English bass player (Big Country and On the Air)
28 February – Phil Gould, drummer, singer and songwriter (Level 42)
21 March – John Whitfield, conductor
26 March – Paul Morley, music journalist
20 May – Sid Vicious, punk musician (died 1979)
27 May – Siouxsie Sioux, singer
29 May – Big George, composer, bandleader, and broadcaster (died 2011)
7 June – Paddy McAloon, English singer-songwriter (Prefab Sprout)
21 June – Mark Brzezicki, drummer (Big Country, The Cult, Ultravox, and Procol Harum)
24 June – Astro, rapper (UB40)
3 July – Poly Styrene, punk musician (died 2011)
11 July – Peter Murphy, singer-songwriter (Bauhaus and Dalis Car)
18 July – Keith Levene, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer (Public Image Ltd, The Flowers of Romance, and The Clash) (died 2022)
31 August – Glenn Tilbrook, singer, songwriter and guitarist (Squeeze)
11 September – Jon Moss, drummer
11 November – Tony 'Gad' Robinson, singer (Aswad)
20 December – Billy Bragg, singer-songwriter

5 January – Gertie Gitana, music hall entertainer, 69^[4]
21 January – Harry Gordon, entertainer, 63^[5]
13 March – Lena Ashwell, entertainer, 84
12 May – Marie Rappold, operatic soprano, 83^[6]
1 August – Cathal O'Byrne, singer and poet, 90
18 August – Louis Levy, film composer, 62
1 September – Dennis Brain, horn virtuoso, 36 (car accident)
20 October – Jack Buchanan, singer, dancer, actor and director, 66
21 December – Eric Coates, composer, 71
date unknown
- William Henley, violinist, composer and arranger^[7]
- Jack Robson, songwriter

^ ^a ^b Kendall, Alan. The Chronicle of Classical Music. Thames & Hudson, 2000: p. 242
^ Spitz, Bob (2005). The Beatles: The Biography. Little Brown & Company. p. 65. ISBN 978-0-316-80352-6.
^ Reed, Philip & Cooke, Mervyn (eds). Letters From a Life: The Selected Letters of Benjamin Britten, Vol. 4 1952–1957. The Boydell Press (2008). p. 494
^ John Parker (1967). Who's who in the Theatre. Pitman.
^ THE SCOTS MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 1982. 1982.
^ Oscar Thompson; Nicolas Slonimsky (1958). The International Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians. Dodd, Mead.
^ The Strad: A Monthly Journal for Professionals and Amateurs of All Stringed Instruments Played with the Bow. Lavendar Publications. 1985.