1950 - Music

Music

Hollywood musical: Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske, and Clyde Geronimi's Cinderella with Walt Disney animation, music by Al Hoffman and Jerry Livingston, lyrics by Mack David, songs that include "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes," "Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo."

Broadway musicals: Call Me Madam 10/12 at the Imperial Theater, with Ethel Merman as U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg Perle Mesta (see politics, 1949), music and lyrics by Irving Berlin, songs that include "Hostess with the Mostes' on the Ball," "It's a Lovely Day Today," "The Ocarina," "The Best Thing for You," 644 perfs.; Guys and Dolls 11/24 at the 46th Street Theater, with Robert Alda, Vivian Blaine, Sam Levene, Isabel Bigley, Peter Gennaro, rotund New York comedian Stubby Kaye, 29, as Nicely-Nicely (he sings, "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat"), book based on the late Damon Runyon's story "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown," music and lyrics by Frank Loesser, songs that include "Luck Be a Lady," "Fugue for Tinhorns," "I've Never Been in Love Before," "A Bushel and a Peck," "Adelaide's Lament," "Sue Me," "If I Were a Bell," 1,200 perfs.; Out of This World 12/21 at the New Century Theater, with William Eythe, Charlotte Greenwood, Peggy Rea, music and lyrics by Cole Porter, songs that include "Use Your Imagination," 157 perfs.

Sir Harry Lauder dies after a cerebral hemorrhage in Lancashire, Scotland, February 26 at age 79; composer Kurt Weill of a heart attack at New York April 3 at age 50; softshoe hoofer Lou Clayton of cancer at Hollywood September 12 at age 63 with his old partner Jimmy Durante at his bedside; Al Jolson dies of a coronary occlusion in his San Francisco hotel suite October 23 at age 64 after his return from an exhausting USO tour in Korea; onetime Broadway musical producer Rufus LeMaire dies at Los Angeles December 2 at age 55.

Opera: The Consul 3/15 at New York, with music by Gian-Carlo Menotti. U.S. baritone Cornell MacNeil, 27, has made his operatic debut singing the role of Sorel in Menotti's new work 3/1 at Philadelphia; The Triumph of St. Joan 5/9 at Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, N.Y., with music by Norman Dello Joio; Bolívar 5/12 at the Paris Opéra, with music by Darius Milhaud; Spanish soprano Victoria de Los Angeles (originally Victoria Gómez Cima), 26, makes her London debut at Covent Garden singing the role of Mimi in the 1896 Puccini opera La Bohème, goes on to make her Milan debut at La Scala, and will make her Metropolitan Opera debut next year in the 1859 Gounod opera Faust (she will appear regularly at Covent Garden until 1961, singing such roles as Manon Lescaut and Cio-cio-san); Italian bass Cesare Siepi, 27, who has sung at La Scala since 1946, makes his Metropolitan Opera debut 11/6 as Felipe II in the 1867 Verdi opera Don Carlos; German bass-baritone Hans Hotter, 41, makes his Metropolitan Opera debut 11/9 as the Dutchman in the 1843 Wagner opera Der Fliegende Holländer; New York-born soprano Roberta Peters (originally Petermann), 20, makes her Metropolitan Opera debut 11/17, replacing the ailing Nadine Conner in the role of the peasant girl Zerlina in the 1787 Mozart opera Don Giovanni. A school dropout whose father is a shoe salesman, Peters has never before appeared on stage.

The Metropolitan Opera appoints Viennese-born manager Rudolf Bing, 48, general manager. He has managed England's Glyndebourne Opera and the Edinburgh Festival.

Former Metropolitan Opera and New York Symphony conductor Walter Damrosch dies at New York December 22 at age 88.

Ballet: Judith 1/4 at Louisville, with Martha Graham, music by William Schuman; The Age of Anxiety 2/26 at the New York City Center, with Jerome Robbins, music by Leonard Bernstein.

Legendary dancer Vaslav Nijinsky dies at London April 8 at age 60. His paranoid schizophrenia was diagnosed in 1917, and he has been confined ever since to a mental institution.

First performances: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra by Francis Poulenc 1/6 at Boston's Symphony Hall, with Poulenc as soloist; Concerto for Piano and Orchestra by Paul Creston 1/11 at Washington, D.C.; Timon of Athens symphonic portrait by David Diamond 2/1 at Louisville; Concerto for Violin and Orchestra by William Schuman 2/10 at Boston's Symphony Hall, with Isaac Stern as soloist; Sinfonietta in E major by Paul Hindemith 3/1 at Louisville; Concerto No. 4 for Piano and Orchestra by Darius Milhaud 3/3 at Boston's Symphony Hall; Concerto for Cello by Virgil Thomson 3/21 at Philadelphia's Academy of Music; Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Purcell by Benjamin Britten 5/2 at Boston's Symphony Hall; Concerto for French Horn and Orchestra by Hindemith 6/8 at Baden-Baden; Fantasia (Quasi Variazione) on the "Old 104th" Psalm Tune for Piano, Orchestra, Organ, and Chorus by Ralph Vaughan Williams 9/16 at Gloucester's Three Choirs Festival; Symphony No. 3 by Creston 10/27 at Worcester, Mass.; Symphony No. 3 by Diamond 10/30 at Boston's Symphony Hall; Concerto for Clarinet, String Orchestra, Harp, and Piano by Aaron Copland 11/6 in an NBC Symphony Orchestra broadcast, with Benny Goodman as soloist; Concerto Grosso by Vaughan Williams 11/18 at London; Short Symphony by Atlanta-born composer Howard Swanson, 43, 11/23 at New York's Carnegie Hall; Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra by Hindemith 12/11 at Philadelphia's Academy of Music, with Benny Goodman as soloist.

London-born guitarist and lutenist Julian (Alexander) Bream, 17, gives his first public recital at London to begin a career that will make him an international celebrity.

The Suzuki Method of learning the violin is introduced by Japanese violinist Shinichi Suzuki, 52, whose Talent Education Institute will organize annual concerts at Tokyo in which several thousand children, some as young as 2 or 3, will play Bach, Handel, and Mendelssohn in unison. Educated in Germany beginning at age 23, Suzuki returned to his homeland, formed a quartet with his three younger brothers, taught at Tokyo's Imperial Music School, and has founded an institute at Matsumoto, basing his method on the fact that children can master the Japanese language through parental nurturing. The method begins, ideally, at birth, with classical music records played beside an infant's crib; children learn by listening, imitating, and memorizing. By the time of Suzuki's death at age 99 in January 1998, Tokyo will have more symphony orchestras than any other city in the world, and 400,000 children per year in 34 countries will be using the Suzuki Method, 25,000 of them in Japan.

Washington Post critic Paul (Chandler) Hume, 34, writes a disparaging review of a song recital by Margaret Truman and receives a letter in longhand from the president on White House stationery dated December 6: "Mr. Hume: I have just read your lousy review of Margaret's concert. I've come to the conclusion that you are an eight-ulcer man on four-ulcer pay . . . Some day I hope to meet you. When that happens, you'll need a new nose, a lot of beefsteak for black eyes, and perhaps a supporter below."

Cantata: On Guard for Peace by Sergei Prokofiev 12/19 at Moscow.

The Mambo is introduced from Cuba to U.S. dance floors.

New York's Birdland opens on Broadway with alto saxophonist Charlie Parker, now 30 (see 1944). Parker will be a leading exponent of bebop until his death in 1955 (see 1952).

New Orleans jazz trumpeter Alois Maxwell "Al" Hirt, 27, starts his own band, having studied at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, served in the army, and toured with the Tommy Dorsey and Benny Goodman bands.

Television music: Your Hit Parade 7/10 on NBC with the Lucky Strike Orchestra, Windsor, Ont.-born vocalist Dorothy Collins (originally Marjorie Chandler), 23 (see radio, 1935) (to 4/24/1959).

Popular songs: "Dearie" by Bob Hilliard and Dave Mann; "Hoop-Dee-Doo" by Frank Loesser; "If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake" by Al Hoffman, lyrics by Atlantic City-born songwriter Bob Merrill (originally Henry Robert Merrill Levan), 29, and Clem Watts; "It's So Nice to Have a Man Around the House" by Harold Spina, lyrics by Jack Elliott; "Music! Music! Music!" by Stephen Weiss and Bernie Baum; "My Heart Cries for You" by Percy Faith and Carl Sigman; "Rag Mop" by Johnnie Lee Wills and Deacon Anderson; "Sam's Song" by Lew Quadling, lyrics by Jack Elliott; "Sentimental Me" by Jim Morehead and Jimmy Cassin; "Sunshine Cake" by Jimmy Van Heusen, lyrics by Johnny Burke (for the film Riding High); "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White" by Louiguy, lyrics by Jacques Larme (English lyrics by Mack David); "Silver Bells" by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans (for the film The Lemon Drop Kid). Nat "King" Cole records a new version of the 1948 song "Mona Lisa" for Capitol Records featuring conductor Lex Baxter and backgrounds by Oradell, N.J.-born NBC staff arranger Nelson Riddle, 29; Teresa Brewer, 19, records "Music, Music, Music" and has her first hit; "Teardrops from My Eyes" establishes Ruth Brown as the top rhythm & blues singer; Patti Page records "Tennessee Waltz" and has another big success; "Che Bandoneon" by tango composer Anibal "Pichuco" Troilo, lyrics by Homero Manzi; "The Afro-Cuban Jazz Suite" recorded at New York December 21 by Charlie Parker, Flip Phillips, and Buddy Rich wins acclaim for Havana-born composer-arranger Arturo "Chico" O'Farrill, 28, who got his nickname from Benny Goodman.

Philadelphia-born vocalist and songwriter Margaret Allison, 30, forms the Angelic Gospel Singers and records her song "Touch Me, Lord Jesus"; it has sales of 500,000 copies in less than 6 months.

Songwriter Joseph A. "Joe" Burke dies at his Upper Darby, Pa., home June 9 at age 66; B. G. "Buddy" DeSylva of a heart attack at Hollywood, Calif., July 11 at age 55.