1934 in music

Top popular recordings

The Great Depression continued to wreak havoc on the American record industry in 1934. The Grigsby-Grunow Company, owner of Columbia Phonograph Company, failed, and Columbia was put up for sale. Columbia operations, catalogue and trademarks, as well as Okeh Records, were purchased by the American Record Corporation (ARC) for $70,000 in July 1934. Columbia's pressing and warehouse facilities, along with equipment and machines, were absorbed by ARC, but for the next four years, both labels were dormant. Decca Records, Ltd., London, UK, formed Decca Records, Inc. in the United States, and began operations in August 1934. Three former Brunswick managers, including Jack Kapp, were hired.

The top popular records of 1934 listed below were compiled from Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890–1954, record sales reported on the "Discography of American Historical Recordings" website, and other sources as specified. Numerical rankings are approximate, there were no Billboard charts in 1934, the numbers are only used for a frame of reference.

Top Christmas hits

• "Winter Wonderland" – Richard Himber & His Orchestra
• "Winter Wonderland" – Guy Lombardo

Classical music

Premieres

Compositions

• Henk Badings
• Symphony No. 3
• Sonata, for cello and piano
• Béla Bartók – String Quartet No. 5
• Arnold Bax – Symphony No. 6
• Benjamin Britten – Simple Symphony
• John Fernström – Symphony No. 4, Op. 27
• Alexander Glazunov – Saxophone Concerto
• Karl Amadeus Hartmann – Miserae
• Qunihico Hashimoto – Cantata Celebrating the Birth of the Prince
• Jacques Ibert – Flute Concerto
• Darius Milhaud – Concertino de Printemps, for violin and orchestra
• Sergei Prokofiev – Egyptian Nights suite
• Nico Richter – Sonatine, for piano
• Harald Sæverud – Canto Ostinato
• Arnold Schoenberg – Suite in G major, for string orchestra
• Leopold Spinner – Passacaglia
• Germaine Tailleferre – Concerto for 2 Pianos, Eight Solo Voices, Saxophone Quartet and Orchestra
• Eduard Tubin – Symphony No. 1 in C minor (1931–34)
• Edgard Varèse – Ecuatorial (1932–34)
• Heitor Villa-Lobos – Uirapuru, symphonic poem and ballet (begun 1917)
• Kōsaku Yamada – Nagauta Symphony

Opera

• Vittorio Giannini – Lucedia
• Gustav Holst – The Wandering Scholar
• LeoÅ¡ Janáček – Destiny
• Dmitri Shostakovich – Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District
• Virgil Thomson – Four Saints in Three Acts (libretto by Gertrude Stein)

Film

• Hubert Bath – Wings Over Everest
• Sergei Prokofiev – Lieutenant Kijé
• Willy Schmidt-Gentner – Maskerade
• Max Steiner – The Lost Patrol

Jazz

Musical theatre

• Anything Goes – Broadway production opened at the Alvin Theatre on November 21 and ran for 420 performances
• The Bing Boys Are Here – London revival
• Calling All Stars – Broadway revue with music by Harry Akst and lyrics by Lew Brown
• Caviar – Broadway production opened at the Forrest Theatre on June 7 and ran for 20 performances
• Cotton Club Parade – Cotton Club Harlem, starring Adelaide Hall ran for eight months
• Conversation Piece – London productions opened at His Majesty's Theatre on February 16 and ran for 177 performances; Broadway production opened at the 44th Street Theatre on October 23 and ran for 55 performances
• The Great Waltz – Broadway production opened at the Center Theatre on September 22 and ran for 298 performances. The show returned only two months later for a further run of 49 performances
• Here's How – London production opened at the Saville Theatre on February 22. Starring George Robey
• Jill Darling – London production opened at the Saville Theatre on December 19 and ran for 242 performances, starring Frances Day, John Mills and Louise Browne.
• Lucky Break – London production opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre on November 14 and ran for 198 performances
• Mr. Whittington – London production opened at the Hippodrome on February 1, starring Jack Buchanan and Elsie Randolph
• Revenge with Music – Broadway production opened on November 28 at the New Amsterdam Theatre and ran for 158 performances
• Sporting Love – opened at the Gaiety Theatre on March 31 and ran for 302 performances
• Streamline – London production opened at the Palace Theatre on September 28
• Thumbs Up! – Broadway revue opened at the St. James Theatre on December 27 and ran for 156 performances
• Yes, Madam? – (Music: Jack Waller and Joseph Tunbridge Lyrics: R. P. Weston and Bert Lee Book: R. P. Weston, Bert Lee and R. G. Browne) London production opened at the Hippodrome on September 27 and ran for 302 performances
• Yours Sincerely – London revue opened at Daly's Theatre on February 19, starring Binnie Barnes
• Ziegfeld Follies of 1934 – Broadway revue opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on January 4 and ran for 182 performances

Musical films

• Babes In Toyland starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy
• Bachelor of Arts starring Tom Brown, Anita Louise, Henry Walthall, Arline Judge and Mae Marsh, directed by Louis King
• Belle of the Nineties starring Mae West
• The Big Road starring Jin Yan and Li Lili (silent film with music and sound effects added post-production)
• Blossom Time starring Richard Tauber
• Boots! Boots! starring George Formby and Beryl Formby, and featuring Betty Driver and Harry Hudson & his Band
• Bottoms Up starring Spencer Tracy, Pat Paterson, John Boles and Thelma Todd
• The Cat and the Fiddle starring Ramon Novarro, Jeanette MacDonald, Frank Morgan and Vivienne Segal
• Cockeyed Cavaliers starring Bert Wheeler, Robert Woolsey, Dorothy Lee, Noah Beery and Thelma Todd, directed by Mark Sandrich
• College Rhythm starring Joe Penner, Jack Oakie, Lyda Roberti and Lanny Ross
• Dames starring Joan Blondell, Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler and ZaSu Pitts
• Down to Their Last Yacht starring Mary Boland, Polly Moran and Ned Sparks, directed by Paul Sloane
• Evergreen starring Jessie Matthews
• The Gay Divorcee starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
• Gay Love starring Florence Desmond and Sophie Tucker
• George White's Scandals starring Alice Faye, Rudy Vallee, Jimmy Durante and Cliff Edwards
• Gift of Gab starring Edmund Lowe, Ruth Etting and Ethel Waters
• Give Her a Ring starring Wendy Barrie
• The Grasshopper and the Ants animated short
• Happiness Ahead starring Dick Powell and Dorothy Dare
• Here Is My Heart starring Bing Crosby and Kitty Carlisle, directed by Frank Tuttle
• Hips, Hips, Hooray! starring Bert Wheeler, Robert Woolsey, Thelma Todd and Ruth Etting
• Hollywood Party starring Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Jimmy Durante, Lupe Vélez, Polly Moran, Charles Butterworth, Frances Williams, June Clyde and Mickey Mouse, directed by Ray Rowland
• Kid Millions starring Eddie Cantor, Ann Sothern, Ethel Merman and George Murphy
• Melody in Spring starring Lanny Ross, Mary Boland, Charles Ruggles and Ann Sothern
• The Merry Widow starring Maurice Chevalier, Jeanette MacDonald, Edward Everett Horton and Una Merkel
• Moulin Rouge starring Constance Bennett and Franchot Tone and featuring Russ Columbo and The Boswell Sisters
• Mister Cinders starring W. H. Berry, Clifford Mollison and Zelma O'Neal
• Murder at the Vanities starring Carl Brisson, Kitty Carlisle, Victor McLaglen and Jack Oakie and featuring Duke Ellington
• Music in the Air starring Gloria Swanson and John Boles
• She Loves Me Not starring Bing Crosby, Miriam Hopkins and Kitty Carlisle
• Shoot the Works starring Jack Oakie, Ben Bernie and Dorothy Dell
• Student Tour starring Jimmy Durante, Charles Butterworth, Maxine Doyle, Phil Regan, Monte Blue, Betty Grable and Nelson Eddy, directed by Charles Reisner
• Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round released November 1 starring Gene Raymond, Nancy Carroll, Mitzi Green and Frank Parker and featuring The Boswell Sisters, Jean Sargent and Jimmie Grier and his Orchestra
• Wake Up and Dream starring Russ Columbo, June Knight and Wini Shaw
• Waltzes from Vienna starring Jessie Matthews
• We're Not Dressing starring Bing Crosby, Carole Lombard, George Burns, Gracie Allen and Ethel Merman
• Wonder Bar starring Al Jolson, Kay Francis, Dolores del Río and Dick Powell
• Zouzou starring Josephine Baker and Jean Gabin

Births

• January 16 – Marilyn Horne, mezzo soprano
• January 21 – Eva Olmerová, Czech pop and jazz musician (died 1993)
• January 24 – Ann Cole, American singer (died 1986)
• January 26 – Huey "Piano" Smith, American R&B pianist (died 2023)
• January 30 – Tammy Grimes, actress and singer (died 2016)
• February 1 – Bob Shane, American folk singer (The Kingston Trio) (died 2020)
• February 2 – Skip Battin, American rock singer-songwriter (The Byrds, New Riders of the Purple Sage) (died 2003)
• February 7
• King Curtis, American saxophonist (died 1971)
• Earl King, American singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer (died 2003)
• February 8 – Jan Kirsznik, Polish rock saxophonist (died 2018)
• February 14 – Florence Henderson, American actress and singer (died 2016)
• February 23
• Yevgeny Krylatov, Soviet and Russian composer (died 2019)
• Augusto Algueró, Spanish composer (died 2011)
• February 24 – Renata Scotto, Italian operatic soprano (died 2023)
• March 2 – Bernard Rands, British-born American composer (died 2026)
• March 4 – John Dunn, British DJ (died 2004)
• March 8 – Christian Wolff, American composer
• March 16 – Roger Norrington, English conductor (died 2025)
• March 18 – Charley Pride, American country singer and baseball player (died 2020)
• March 25 – Johnny Burnette, American rockabilly pioneer (died 1964)
• March 29 – Delme Bryn-Jones, Welsh operatic baritone (died 2001)
• March 31
• Richard Chamberlain, American actor and singer (died 2025)
• Shirley Jones, American singer and actress
• John D. Loudermilk, American singer-songwriter (died 2016)
• April 1 – Jim Ed Brown, country singer-songwriter (The Browns) (died 2015)
• April 16
• Vince Hill, singer (died 2023)
• Robert Stigwood, music promoter (died 2015)
• April 19 – Dickie Goodman, pioneer of music sampling (died 1989)
• April 24 – Shirley MacLaine, born Shirley MacLean Beaty, American actress and singer
• April 29 – Otis Rush, blues musician (died 2018)
• May 1 – Shirley Horn, American singer (died 2005)
• May 3 – Frankie Valli, singer (The Four Seasons)
• May 5
• Ace Cannon, saxophonist (died 2018)
• Johnnie Taylor, singer-songwriter (died 2000)
• May 6 – Oskar Gottlieb Blarr, composer
• May 9 – Soo Bee Lee, operatic soprano (died 2005)
• May 24 – Dr Barry Rose, English choir-trainer and organist
• June 1 – Pat Boone, American singer
• June 9 – Jackie Wilson, American singer (died 1984)
• June 11 – James "Pookie" Hudson, American R&B frontman (The Spaniels) (died 2007)
• June 21 – Cornel Țăranu, Romanian composer (died 2023)
• June 21 – Luigi Albertelli, Italian lyricist
• June 24 – Gloria Christian, Italian canzone Napoletana singer
• June 26 – Dave Grusin, American pianist and composer
• July 8 – Alice Gerrard, American singer and banjo player
• July 12 – Van Cliburn, American concert pianist (died 2013)
• July 15 – Harrison Birtwistle, composer (died 2022)
• July 21 – Jonathan Miller, opera director and polymath (died 2019)
• July 28 – Jacques d'Amboise, dancer and choreographer (died 2021)
• July 30 – André Prévost, composer (died 2001)
• August 5 – Vern Gosdin, country music singer (died 2009)
• August 9 – Merle Kilgore, country singer/songwriter (died 2005)
• August 10 – James Tenney, composer and music theorist (died 2006)
• August 18 – Ronnie Carroll, Northern Irish popular singer (died 2015)
• September 3 – Freddie King, American blues guitarist and singer (died 1976)
• September 4 – Otto Brandenburg, Danish singer and actor (died 2007)
• September 5 – Bira, Brazilian musician and guitarist (died 2019)
• September 7 – Little Milton, American blues singer and guitarist (died 2005)
• September 8 – Peter Maxwell Davies, composer (died 2016)
• September 16 – Ronnie Drew, Irish folk musician (died 2008)
• September 19 – Brian Epstein, English manager of The Beatles (died 1967)
• September 21 – Leonard Cohen, Canadian poet and singer (died 2016)
• September 23 – Gino Paoli, Italian singer/songwriter
• September 30 – Ronald Turini, pianist
• October 1 – Geoff Stephens, English songwriter and record producer (died 2020)
• October 17 – Rico Rodriguez, Cuban-born Jamaican ska trombonist (died 2015)
• October 20 – Eddie Harris, American saxophonist (died 1996)
• October 22 – Donald McIntyre, New Zealand operatic bass-baritone (died 2025)
• October 26
• Jacques Loussier, French classical/jazz pianist (died 2019)
• Ferenc Rados, Hungarian pianist (died 2024)
• October 30 – Frans Brüggen, Dutch flutist, recorder player and conductor (died 2014)
• November 1 – William Mathias, composer (died 1992)
• November 7 – Sunanda Patnaik, Indian classical singer (died 2020)
• November 11 – Willi Tokarev, Russian-American singer-songwriter (died 2019)
• November 15 – Peter Dickinson, composer and musicologist (died 2023)
• November 18 – Tulsidas Borkar, Indian composer (died 2018)
• November 19 – Dave Guard, folk singer (The Kingston Trio) (died 1991)
• November 24 – Alfred Schnittke, composer (died 1998)
• December 1 – Billy Paul, soul singer (died 2016)
• December 9 – Alan Ridout, composer and music teacher (died 1996)
• December 12 – Habib Hassan Touma, composer and ethnomusicologist (died 1998)
• December 16 – Jim Parker, tv composer (died 2023)
• December 19 – Rudi Carrell, Dutch singer, entertainer (died 2006)
• December 30
• Del Shannon, singer (died 1990)
• Russ Tamblyn, dancer, singer and actor

Deaths

• January 12 – Paul Kochanski, violinist, composer and arranger, 46 (cancer)
• January 18 – Otakar Å evčík, violinist, 81
• February 4 – Ernesto Nazareth, pianist and composer, 70 (drowned)
• February 23 – Edward Elgar, composer, 76
• February 24 – Pyotr Slovtsov, operatic tenor, 47
• February 27 – Gene Rodemich, pianist and orchestra leader, 43
• March 21 – Franz Schreker, composer and conductor, 55
• April 12 – Thaddeus Cahill, inventor of the teleharmonium
• April 22 – Augusto de Lima, writer and musician
• April 28 – Charlie Patton, blues musician, 42
• May 7 – Edward Naylor, organist and composer, 57
• May 19 – Émile Pierre Ratez, violist and composer, 82
• May 25 – Gustav Holst, composer, 59 (complications following surgery)
• May 26 – Robert Samut, composer of the Maltese national anthem, 64
• June 10 – Frederick Delius, composer, 82
• June 13 – Charlie Gardiner, ice hockey player and amateur singer (born 1904) (brain hemorrhage)
• July 9 – C. Mortimer Wiske, American choral conductor, organist, and composer, 81
• July 14 – Ernst Eduard Taubert, composer, 95
• September 2
• Russ Columbo, violinist, 26 (shot)
• Alcide Nunez, jazz musician, 50
• September 10 – Sir George Henschel, operatic baritone, pianist and conductor, 84
• September 24 – Edwin Lemare, organist and composer, 68
• October 3 – Henri Marteau, French violinist, 60
• October 13 – Theodore Baker, American musicologist, 83
• October 14 – Leonid Sobinov, Russian operatic tenor, 62 (heart attack)
• October 26 – Marie Jahn, Austrian operatic soprano, 69
• November 12 – Henri Verbrugghen, violinist and conductor, 61
• November 14 – Blanche Ray Alden, pianist and composer, 64
• December 15 – Bernhard Sekles, composer and music teacher, 62
• December 19 – Francis Planté, pianist, 95
• date unknown
• Eddie Anthony, jazz violinist (born 1890)
• Olimpia Boronat, operatic soprano
• Alice Verlet, operatic soprano (born 1873)

References