1954 in music

Flamenco guitarist Carlos Montoya in 1954

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1954.

Specific locations

• 1954 in British music
• 1954 in Norwegian music

Specific genres

• 1954 in country music
• 1954 in jazz

Events

• January 14 – First documented use of the abbreviated term "Rock 'n' Roll" to promote Alan Freed's Rock 'n' Roll Jubillee, held at St. Nicholas Arena in New York, New York. Previously the genre term was just called "Rock and Roll"
• February 1 – Johnny "Guitar" Watson records "Space Guitar" pioneering reverb and feedback techniques on guitar
• March 12 – Arnold Schoenberg's opera Moses und Aron has its first performance in Hamburg (it is given a staged première on June 6 in Zurich).^[1]
• March 15 – The Chords record "Sh-Boom" for Atlantic Records' Cat subsidiary.
• March 25 – At the 26th Academy Awards, Frank Sinatra wins the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in From Here to Eternity, resuscitating his singing career in the process. At the same ceremony, Bing Crosby is nominated for Best Actor for his role in The Country Girl.^[2]
• April – Fender Stratocaster electric guitar first produced in California.
• April 12 – Bill Haley and His Comets record "Rock Around the Clock" in New York City for Decca Records.^[3]
• May 5 – The seventeenth Maggio Musicale Fiorentino opens with a performance of Gaspare Spontini's last opera, Agnese di Hohenstaufen, and continues until 20 June, featuring operas by Weber, Adriano Lualdi, Puccini, and Tchaikovsky, as well as the world premiere of Valentino Bucchi's Il contrabasso.^[4]
• May 20 – "Rock Around the Clock" is released as the B-side of "Thirteen Women (and Only One Man in Town)". The song is only a moderate success (US # 23 on May 29, 1954, for only one week ; UK # 17, in December 1954) until it is featured in the film Blackboard Jungle the following year.
• July 5 – Elvis Presley has his first commercial recording session at Sun Studios in Memphis, Tennessee. He sings "That's All Right (Mama)" and "Blue Moon of Kentucky", released as his first single on July 19 naming the performers as Elvis Presley, Scotty and Bill.^[5] The songs were originally sung by Arthur Crudup in 1946 and Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys in 1947 respectively.
• October 16 – Elvis Presley makes his first radio broadcast, on a show in Shreveport, Louisiana, called the Louisiana Hayride.
• Fall – A cover version of Big Joe Turner's "Shake, Rattle and Roll" by Bill Haley and His Comets becomes the first internationally popular rock and roll recording.
• Record companies deliver 7 inch 45 rpm record singles to radio stations instead of 78s.
• Lyric Opera of Chicago is founded.^[6]
• Pat Boone begins his recording career at Republic Records.
• Les Paul commissions Ampex to build the first eight track tape recorder, at his own expense.
• The Drifters form.
• The Isley Brothers make their first recordings, featuring only the three eldest brothers, O'Kelly Jr., Rudolph and Ronald.^[7]
• The Newport Jazz Festival is established by George Wein.
• São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra is founded.^[8]

Albums released

• Al Haig Trio (Esoteric) – Al Haig
• And I Thought About You – Patti Page
• Bing: A Musical Autobiography – Bing Crosby
• Blue Haze – Miles Davis
• The Chordettes Sing Your Requests – The Chordettes
• Clap Yo' Hands – The Four Lads
• Crew Cut Capers – The Crew Cuts
• Dinah Jams – Dinah Washington
• Favorite Songs – The Ames Brothers
• Grand Jacques – Jacques Brel
• Guy Mitchell Sings – Guy Mitchell
• Irving Berlin Favorites – Eddie Fisher
• Irving Berlin's White Christmas – Rosemary Clooney
• It Must Be True – The Ames Brothers
• Louis Armstrong and the Mills Brothers – Louis Armstrong & The Mills Brothers
• Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy – Louis Armstrong and His All Stars
• The Man That Got Away – Georgia Gibbs
• Meet The Mills Brothers – The Mills Brothers
• Mr. Rhythm – Frankie Laine
• My Heart's In The Highland – Jo Stafford
• A Night at Birdland Vol. 1 – The Art Blakey Quintet
• A Night at Birdland Vol. 2 – The Art Blakey Quintet
• Old Masters – Bing Crosby
• RCA Thesaurus – John Serry, Sr.
• Red Garters – Rosemary Clooney
• Rock with Bill Haley and the Comets – Bill Haley & His Comets
• Selections from Irving Berlin's White Christmas – Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Trudy Stevens, Peggy Lee
• Some Fine Old Chestnuts – Bing Crosby
• Something Cool – June Christy
• Song Souvenirs – Patti Page
• Songs for Young Lovers – Frank Sinatra
• Songs in a Mellow Mood – Ella Fitzgerald
• Souvenir Album – The Mills Brothers
• Swing Easy! – Frank Sinatra
• Till I Waltz Again with You – Teresa Brewer
• The Tin Angel – Odetta & Larry
• Toshiko at Mocambo – Toshiko Akiyoshi
• Toshiko's Piano – Toshiko Akiyoshi
• Young at Heart – Doris Day & Frank Sinatra

Biggest hit singles

The following singles achieved the highest chart positions in the set of charts available for 1954.

#	Artist	Title	Year	Country	Chart Entries
1	The Chordettes	Mr Sandman	1954		US Billboard 1 – Oct 1954 (20 weeks), US 1940s 1 – Nov 1954 (8 weeks), US 1 for 4 weeks – Dec 1954, US CashBox 1 – Oct 1954 (23 weeks), Radio Luxembourg sheet music 1 for 6 weeks – Jan 1955, Australia 1 for 4 weeks – Apr 1955, Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002 (1954), Peel list 1 of 1954, US BB 5 of 1954, DZE 5 of 1954, Your Hit Parade 6 of 1954, POP 7 of 1954, RYM 9 of 1954, UK 11 – Dec 1954 (8 weeks), Brazil 27 of 1955, DDD 45 of 1954, RIAA 252, Acclaimed 1006 (1954)
2	Doris Day	Secret Love	1954		UK 1 – Apr 1954 (29 weeks), US Billboard 1 – Jan 1954 (22 weeks), US 1940s 1 – Jan 1954 (20 weeks), US 1 for 3 weeks – Feb 1954, US CashBox 1 – Nov 1953 (30 weeks), Radio Luxembourg sheet music 1 for 7 weeks – May 1954, Oscar in 1953 (film 'Calamity Jane'), Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999 (1953), UKMIX 7, DZE 8 of 1954, US BB 11 of 1954, POP 11 of 1954, Your Hit Parade 12 of 1954, RYM 12 of 1953, Brazil 17 of 1954, Italy 54 of 1954
3	The Crew-Cuts	Sh-Boom	1954		US Billboard 1 – Jul 1954 (20 weeks), US 1940s 1 – Jul 1954 (20 weeks), US 1 for 7 weeks – Aug 1954, US CashBox 1 – Jul 1954 (24 weeks), Australia 1 for 4 weeks – Dec 1954, DZE 1 of 1954, US BB 3 of 1954, Flanders 3 – Dec 1954 (3 months), POP 3 of 1954, UK 12 – Oct 1954 (9 weeks), Brazil 13 of 1954, France (50s) 20 of 1954, RYM 22 of 1954, Italy 95 of 1955
4	Kitty Kallen	Little Things Mean a Lot	1954		UK 1 – Jul 1954 (23 weeks), US Billboard 1 – Apr 1954 (26 weeks), US 1940s 1 – Apr 1954 (25 weeks), US 1 for 9 weeks – Jun 1954, US CashBox 1 – Apr 1954 (28 weeks), Radio Luxembourg sheet music 1 for 12 weeks – Jul 1954, Australia 1 for 5 weeks – Oct 1954, DZE 2 of 1954, Your Hit Parade 9 of 1954, US BB 15 of 1954, POP 15 of 1954, UKMIX 28, RYM 145 of 1954
5	Rosemary Clooney	Hey There	1954		US Billboard 1 – Jul 1954 (27 weeks), US 1940s 1 – Jul 1954 (23 weeks), US 1 for 6 weeks – Sep 1954, US CashBox 1 – Jul 1954 (31 weeks), Australia 1 for 4 weeks – Feb 1957, Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999 (1954), UK 4 – Oct 1955 (11 weeks), DZE 7 of 1954, Your Hit Parade 14 of 1954, US BB 18 of 1954, POP 21 of 1954, Brazil 31 of 1954, RYM 34 of 1954, DDD 66 of 1954

US No. 1 hit singles

These singles reached the top of US Billboard magazine's charts in 1954.

Top hits on record

Top R&B and country hits on record

• "Bimbo" – Jim Reeves
• "Goodnight Sweetheart Goodnight" – Spaniels
• 'Slowly" – Webb Pierce
• "Hearts Of Stone" – Jewels
• "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man" – Muddy Waters
• "Mambo Baby" – Ruth Brown
• "Oh What A Dream" – Ruth Brown
• "Oop Shoop" – Shirley Gunther and The Queens
• "Shake A Hand" – Faye Adams
• "Shake Rattle And Roll" – Big Joe Turner
• "I Don't Hurt Anymore" – Hank Snow
• "The Things That I Used To Do" – Guitar Slim
• "Tweedlee Dee" – LaVern Baker
• "Work With Me, Annie" – Hank Ballard & the Midnighters

Published popular music

Other notable songs

• "Le Déserteur" – Boris Vian
• "V Put" – Vasili Solovyov-Sedoy and Mikhail Dudin

Classical music

Premieres

Sortable table

Composer	Composition	Date	Location	Performers
Brian, Havergal	Symphony No. 8 (1949)	1954-02-01	London	London Philharmonic – Boult [9]
Chávez, Carlos	Symphony No. 3	1954-12-09	Caracas	Venezuela Symphony – Chávez[10]
Dohnányi, Ernő	American Rhapsody	1954-02-21	Athens, OH	? – Dohnányi[11]
Enescu, George	String Quartet No. 2, Op. 22, No. 2	1954-02-07	Boston	Stradivarius Quartet[12]
Goeyvaerts, Karel	Nummer 5	1954-10-19	Cologne (Musik der Zeit)[13]	electronic music
Jolivet, André	Symphony No. 1	1954-05-30	Haifa (ISCM Festival)	[unknown orchestra and conductor] [14]
Korngold, Erich W.	Symphony	1954-10-17	Vienna	Vienna Symphony – Harold Byrns1[15]
Lutoslawski, Witold	Concerto for Orchestra	1954-11-26	Warsaw	Warsaw Philharmonic – Rowicki[16]
Persichetti, Vincent	Symphony No. 4	1954-12-17	Philadelphia	Philadelphia Orchestra – Ormandy[17]
Rubbra, Edmund	Symphony No. 6	1954-11-17	London	BBC Symphony – Sargent[18]
Shchedrin, Rodion	Piano Concerto No. 1	1954-11-07	Moscow	Shchedrin / Moscow Conservatory Symphony – Rozhdestvensky[19]
Shostakovich, Dmitri	Festive Overture	1954-11-06	Moscow	Bolshoi Orchestra – Nebolsin[20]
Stockhausen, Karlheinz	Klavierstücke I–V	1954-08-21	Darmstadt (Ferienkurse)	Mercenier[21]
Karlheinz Stockhausen	Studie I + Studie II	1954-10-19	Cologne (Musik der Zeit)[13]	electronic music
Stravinsky, Igor	In memoriam Dylan Thomas	1954-09-20	Los Angeles (Monday Evening Concerts)	Robinson, Baker, Babitz, Figelski, Neikrug, Bohannon, Howard, Ulyate, Zeldin – Craft[22][23]
Thomson, Virgil	Concerto for Flute, Strings, Harp and Percussion	1954-09-17	Venice (Biennale)	La Fenice Philharmonic – Sanzogno[24]
Varèse, Edgard	Déserts	1954-12-02	Paris	Henry / French Radio National Orchestra – Scherchen[25]
Vaughan Williams, Ralph	Tuba Concerto	1954-06-13	London	Catelinet / London Symphony – Barbirolli[26]
Villa-Lobos, Heitor	Odisseia de uma raça, symphonic poem	1954-05-30	Haifa (ISCM Festival)	Israel Philharmonic – Taube[27]
Villa-Lobos, Heitor	Rudá (Dio d'amore), symphonic poem and ballet	1954-08-30	Paris	French Radio National Orchestra – Villa-Lobos[28]
Villa-Lobos, Heitor	String Quartet No. 14	1954-08-11	Ann Arbor	Stanley Quartet[29]

• ¹ Recording for the Austrian Radio. The Symphony received its two first concert performances in 1955 under Alois Melichar in Graz and Jan Koetsier in Munich.^[30]

Compositions

Witold Lutoslawski in 1952/53. The Concerto for Orchestra launched his international career

• Arnold Bax – Autumn Legend for Cor Anglais and Strings
• Luciano Berio – Nones for orchestra
• Boris Blacher – Viola Concerto
• Pierre Boulez – Le Marteau sans maître
• Havergal Brian – Symphony No. 10
• Carlos Chávez – Symphony No. 3
• George Crumb – String Quartet
• Mario Davidovsky – Concertino for Percussion and Strings
• George Enescu – Chamber Symphony in E major, Op. 33
• Ross Lee Finney – Piano Trio No. 2
• Gerald Finzi – Cello Concerto
• André Fleury – Messe pour la fête de tous les saints
• Armstrong Gibbs – Dale and Fell, suite for strings
• Howard Hanson – Sinfonia sacra (Symphony No. 5)
• Andrew Imbrie – Violin Concerto
• Alemdar Karamanov – Symphony No. 1
• Ernst Krenek
  • Symphony "Pallas Athene", Op. 137
  • Violin Concerto No. 2, Op. 140
• György Ligeti – Métamorphoses nocturnes (String Quartet No. 1)
• Witold Lutoslawski
  • Concerto for Orchestra
  • Dance Preludes, for clarinet and piano
• Bohuslav Martinů – Sonata for Piano, H. 350
• Darius Milhaud – West Point Suite
• Walter Piston – Symphony No. 5
• Edmund Rubbra – Symphony No. 6
• John Serry Sr.  –
  • Allegro – m. Joseph Haydn, arranged for accordion quartet
  • The Golden Wedding – m. Jean Gabriel-Marie, arranged for accordion quartet
  • Tango of Love – arranged for accordion quartet
• Roger Sessions – Idyll of Theocritus
• Robert Simpson – String Quartet No. 3
• Karlheinz Stockhausen – Studie II
• Igor Stravinsky – In memoriam Dylan Thomas
• Virgil Thomson – Concerto for Flute, Strings, Harp and Percussion
• Ernst Toch – String Quartet No. 13
• Henri Tomasi – Horn Concerto
• Eduard Tubin – Symphony No. 6
• Edgard Varèse – Déserts
• Ralph Vaughan Williams – Tuba Concerto
• Heitor Villa-Lobos – String Quartet No. 15
• Stefan Wolpe
  • Symphony for 24 Instruments
  • Piece for Oboe, Cello, Percussion and Piano, "Oboe Quartet"

Opera

• Jack Beeson – Hello, Out There
• Benjamin Britten – The Turn of the Screw
• Valentino Bucchi – Il contrabasso (Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, 20 June)
• Aaron Copland – The Tender Land
• Paul Hindemith – Neues vom Tage, revised version of 1929 opera
• Bohuslav Martinů – Mirandolina
• Jerome Moross – The Golden Apple
• William Walton – Troilus and Cressida

Jazz

Musical theater

• After the Ball (Music, Lyrics and Book: Noël Coward) London production opened at the Globe Theatre on June 10 and ran for 188 performances
• The Boy Friend Broadway production opened at the Royale Theatre on September 30 and ran for 485 performances
• By the Beautiful Sea (Music: Arthur Schwartz Lyrics: Dorothy Fields) Broadway production opened at the Majestic Theatre on April 8 and transferred to the Imperial Theatre on October 2 for a total run of 268 performances. Starring Shirley Booth
• Can-Can London production opened at the Coliseum on October 14 and ran for 394 performances
• The Duenna ( Music: Julian Slade Lyrics & Book: Dorothy Reynolds) London production opened at the Westminster Theatre on July 28 and ran for 134 performances
• Fanny Broadway production opened at the Majestic Theatre on November 4 and transferred to the Belasco Theatre on December 4, 1956, for a total run of 888 performances
• The Girl in Pink Tights Broadway production opened at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on March 5 and ran for 115 performances
• The Golden Apple Broadway production opened at the Alvin Theatre on April 20 and ran for 125 performances
• Happy Holiday (Music: George Posford Lyrics & Book: Eric Maschwitz and Arnold Ridley) London production opened at the Palace Theatre on December 22 and ran for 31 performances
• House of Flowers Broadway production opened at the Alvin Theatre on December 30 and ran for 165 performances
• On Your Toes Broadway revival opened at the 46th Street Theatre on October 11 and ran for 64 performances
• The Pajama Game (Richard Adler and Jerry Ross) — Broadway production opened at the St. James Theatre on May 13 and transferred to the Shubert Theatre on November 24, 1956, for a total run of 1063 performances
• Pal Joey (Music: Richard Rodgers Lyrics: Lorenz Hart Book: John O'Hara) London production opened at Princes Theatre on August 4 and ran for 245 performances
• Peter Pan Broadway production opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on October 20 and ran for 152 performances
• Salad Days (Music: Julian Slade Lyrics & Book: Dorothy Reynolds and Julian Slade) London production opened at the Vaudeville Theatre on August 5 and ran for 2283 performances
• You'll Be Lucky London revue opened at the Adelphi Theatre on February 25. Starring Sally Barnes and Lauri Lupino Lane.
• Zuleika — premiere in Cambridge, England

Musical films

Ethel Merman sings the title number of the 1954 film There's No Business Like Show Business.

• Athena, starring Jane Powell, Debbie Reynolds, Edmund Purdom and Vic Damone
• Brigadoon
• Carmen Jones
• Casanova's Big Night starring Bob Hope
• Chandraharam, starring N.T. Rama Rao
• Deep in My Heart, starring José Ferrer
• French Cancan, starring Jean Gabin and María Félix
• The French Line, starring Jane Russell
• Living It Up, starring Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis and Janet Leigh
• Lucky Me, starring Doris Day, Robert Cummings and Phil Silvers
• Mayurpankh, directed by and starring Kishore Sahu
• New Faces
• Red Garters, starring Rosemary Clooney, Jack Carson and Guy Mitchell
• Rhapsody, starring Elizabeth Taylor
• River of No Return, starring Marilyn Monroe
• Rose Marie, starring Ann Blyth and Howard Keel
• Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, starring Jane Powell, Howard Keel and Julie Newmar.
• A Star Is Born
• The Student Prince, starring Ann Blyth and Edmund Purdom with Mario Lanza dubbing for Purdom.
• There's No Business Like Show Business
• Top Banana (film), starring Phil Silvers
• White Christmas, starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera Ellen

Musical television

• Babes in Toyland
• Lady in the Dark (starring Ann Sothern)

Births

Deaths

• January 9 – Eugen Coca, violinist and composer, 60
• January 11 – Oscar Straus (composer), Viennese operetta composer, 83
• March 3 – Noel Gay, English songwriter, 55
• March 11 – Frankie Newton, American trumpeter, 48
• March 19 – Walter Braunfels, pianist and composer, 71
• March 27 – Carl T. Fischer, composer and jazz pianist, 41
• April 5 – Claude Delvincourt, pianist and composer, 66
• April 8 – Edwin Grasse, violinist and composer, 69
• April 9 – Philip Greeley Clapp, pianist and composer, 65
• April 11 – Paul Specht, violinist and bandleader, 59
• April 14 – Lil Green, blues singer, 34 (pneumonia)
• April 17 – Torsten Ralf, operatic tenor, 53
• May 1 – Arthur Johnston, songwriter, 56
• May 19 – Charles Ives, composer, 79
• May 20 – Linda Lee Thomas, socialite and wife of Cole Porter, 70
• May 31 – Pedro Elías Gutiérrez, musician and composer, 84
• June 17 – Danny Cedrone, session guitarist (soloist on "Rock Around the Clock"), 33 (fell downstairs)
• July 7 – Idabelle Smith Firestone, American composer and songwriter, 79
• July 16 – Lucien Muratore, operatic tenor and actor, 77
• August 8 – Phil Ohman, film composer and pianist, 57
• August 13 – Demetrius Constantine Dounis, violin teacher
• August 17 – Billy Murray, singer, 77
• August 24 – Fred Rose, songwriter, music publisher, 56
• October 24 – Pepito Arriola, pianist, 57
• October 27 – Franco Alfano, composer and pianist, 79
• November 11 – J. Rosamond Johnson, composer and singer
• November 29 – Dink Johnson, jazz musician, 56
• November 30 – Wilhelm Furtwängler, conductor and composer, 68
• December 14
  • Papa Celestin, jazz musician, 70
  • Sergei Protopopov, Russian composer and music theorist, 61
• December 25
  • Johnny Ace, American rhythm and blues singer, 25 (shooting accident)
  • Rosario Scalero, violinist, teacher and composer, 84
• date unknown – Per Reidarson, composer and music critic

References