1928 in music

Events

April 27 - Igor Stravinsky's ballet Apollon musagète is premiered in Washington
September 11 - Leos Janacek's String Quartet No. 2, Intimate Letters, is premiered in Brno
September 12 - Anton Webern's String Trio is premiered in Siena
September 14 - Carl Nielsen's Clarinet Concerto is given its first performance
November 22 - Maurice Ravel's Bolero is premiered in Paris
November 27 - Igor Stravinsky's ballet La Baiser de la Fée is premiered in Paris
December 2 - Arnold Schoenberg's Variations for Orchestra is premiered in Berlin
Edward German is knighted for services to music.
Eric Fenby begins work as amanuensis for Frederick Delius.
Sammy Davis Jr.'s musical career begins
Tampa Red's musical career begins
Scrapper Blackwell's musical career begins
Leroy Carr's musical career begins
Howlin' Wolf's musical career begins
Big Bill Broonzy's musical career begins
The first commercial recordings of Cajun music are released
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra makes its Carnegie Hall debut.

Published popular music

"After My Laughter Came Tears" w.m. Charles Tobias & Roy Turk
"Alabama Song" w. Bertolt Brecht m. Kurt Weill
"All By Yourself In The Moonlight" w.m. Jay Wallis
"Anything You Say" w.m. Walter Donaldson
"Back In Your Own Backyard" w.m. Dave Dreyer, Al Jolson & Billy Rose
"Basin Street Blues" w.m. Spencer Williams
"Because My Baby Don't Mean Maybe Now" w.m. Walter Donaldson
"Bill" w. P.G. Wodehouse & Oscar Hammerstein II m. Jerome Kern. Introduced by Helen Morgan in the musical Showboat and performed by Miss Morgan in the 1929 and 1936 film versions.
"Button Up Your Overcoat" w. B.G. DeSylva & Lew Brown m. Ray Henderson
"Can't Help Loving Dat Man" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Jerome Kern
"Carolina Moon" w. Benny Davis m. Joe Burke
"Cherry" w.m. Don Redman
"Chiquita" w. L. Wolfe Gilbert m. Mabel Wayne
"C-O-N-S-T-A-N-T-I-N-O-P-L-E" w.m. Harry Carlton
"Coquette" w. Gus Kahn m. Carmen Lombardo & John Green
"Cow Cow Blues" m. Charles Davenport
"Crazy Rhythm" w. Irving Caesar m. Joseph Mayer & Roger Wolfe Kahn. Introduced by Ben Bernie, Peggy Chamberlain and June O'Dea in the musical Here's Howe.
"Dance, Little Lady" w.m Noel Coward. Introduced by Sonnie Hale in the revue This Year of Grace
"Diga Diga Doo" w. Dorothy Fields m. Jimmy McHugh. Introduced by Adelaide Hall in the revue Blackbirds of 1928
"Do I Hear You Saying?" w. Lorenz Hart m. Richard Rodgers. Introduced by Charles King and Flora LeBreton in the musical Present Arms.
"Doin' The New Low-Down" w. Dorothy Fields m. Jimmy McHugh. Introduced by Bill Robinson in the revue Blackbirds of 1928.
"Doin' The Raccoon" w. Raymond Klages m. J. Fred Coots
"Don't Look At Me That Way" w.m. Cole Porter. Introduced by Irene Bordoni in the musical ''Paris.
"Dusky Stevedore" w. Andy Razaf m. J.C Johnson
"Empty Bed Blues" w.m. J. C. Johnson
"Fancy Our Meeting" w. Douglas Furber m. Joseph Meyer & Philip Charig. Introduced by Jack Buchanan and Elsie Randolph in the musical That's a Good Girl.
"Forgetting You" w. B.G. DeSylva & Lew Brown m. Ray Henderson
"From Monday On" w. Bing Crosby m. Harry Barris
"A Garden In The Rain" w. James Dyrenforth m. Carroll Gibbons
"A Gay Caballero" w.m. Frank Crumit & Lou Klein
"Get Out And Get Under The Moon" w. Charles Tobias & William Jerome m. Larry Shay
"De Glory Road" w. Clement Wood m. Jacques Wolfe
"Golden Gate" by Rose & Dreyer
"Henry's Made A Lady Out Of Lizzie" w.m. Walter O'Keefe
"Honey" w. Seymour Simons & Haven Gillespie m. Richard A. Whiting
"Hooray For Captain Spaulding" w. Bert Kalmar m. Harry Ruby. Introduced by Zeppo Marx, Robert Greig, Margaret Dumont and Groucho Marx in the musical Animal Crackers and also performed by them in the 1930 film version.
"How About Me?" w.m. Irving Berlin
"How Long Has This Been Going On?" w. Ira Gershwin m. George Gershwin. Introduced by Bobbe Arnst in the musical Rosalie
"I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby" w. Dorothy Fields m. Jimmy McHugh. Introduced by Aida Ward and Willard McLean in the revue Blackbirds of 1928''.
"I Kiss Your Hand, Madame" w. (Eng) Sam M. Lewis & Joe Young (Ger) Fritz Rotter m. Ralph Erwin
"I Wanna Be Loved By You" w. Bert Kalmar m. Harry Ruby & Herbert Stothart. Introduced by Helen Kane and Dan Healy in the musical Good Boy. Performed by Miss Kane dubbing for Debbie Reynolds in the 1950 film Three Little Words.
"I'd Rather Be Blue Over You" w. Billy Rose m. Fred Fisher. Introduced by Fanny Brice in the film My Man.
"If I Had You" w.m. Ted Shapiro, Jimmy Campbell & Reg Connelly
"If You Want The Rainbow" w. Mort Dixon & Billy Rose m. Oscar Levant.
"I'll Get By" w. Roy Turk m. Fred E. Ahlert
"I'm a Ding Dong Daddy From Dumas" w.m. Phil Baxter
"I'm On The Crest Of A Wave" w. B.G. DeSylva & Lew Brown m. Ray Henderson. Introduced by Harry Richman in the revue George White's Scandals of 1928
"Is There Anything Wrong In That?" w.m. Michael H. Cleary & Herb Magidson
"It Goes Like This (That Funny Melody)" w. Irving Caesar m. Cliff Friend
"It's Tight Like That" Thomas A. Dorsey, Hudson "Tampa Red" Whittaker
"Jeannine, I Dream of Lilac Time" w. L. Wolfe Gilbert m. Nathaniel Shilkret
"Jimmy, the Well-Dressed Man" w.m. Jimmy Durante
"Let's Do It" w.m. Cole Porter. Introduced by Irene Bordoni and Arthur Margetson in the musical ''Paris.
"Let's Misbehave" w.m. Cole Porter
"Life Upon The Wicked Stage" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Jerome Kern
"Louisiana" w. Andy Razaf & Bob Schafer m. J. C. Johnson
"Lovable" Holmes, Simons, Whiting
"Love Me or Leave Me" w. Gus Kahn m. Walter Donaldson
"Lover, Come Back to Me" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Sigmund Romburg
"Ma Belle" w. Clifford Grey m. Rudolf Friml
"Mack The Knife" w. (Eng) Marc Blitzstein (Ger) Bertolt Brecht m. Kurt Weill
"Make Believe" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Jerome Kern
"Makin' Whoopee" w. Gus Kahn m. Walter Donaldson
"Malaguena" m. Ernesto Lecuona
"March Of The Musketeers" w. P. G. Wodehouse & Clifford Grey m. Rudolf Friml. Introduced by Dennis King, Douglass Dumbrille, Detmar Poppen, Joseph Macauley and chorus in the theatre musical The Three Musketeers
"Marie" w.m. Irving Berlin
"Memories of France" by Al Dubin
"My Blackbirds Are Bluebirds Now" w. Irving Caesar m. Cliff Friend
"My Lucky Star" w. B.G. DeSylva & Lew Brown m. Ray Henderson
"Nagasaki" w. Mort Dixon m. Harry Warren
"One Kiss" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Sigmund Romberg
"Pine Top's Boogie Woogie" m. Clarence "Pine Top" Smith
"A Precious Little Thing Called Love" w.m. Lou Davis & J. Fred Coots
" 'Round Evening" w. Herb Steiner & J. Fred Coots m. George Whiting
"She's Funny That Way" w. Richard A. Whiting m. Neil Moret
"Short'nin' Bread" adapt. w.m. Jacques Wolfe
"Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Sigmund Romberg
"The Song Of The Prune" Frank Crumit, De Costa
"Sonny Boy" w.m. Al Jolsen, B.G. DeSylva, Lew Brown & Ray Henderson
"St James Infirmary" w.m. Joe Primrose
"Stack O'Lee" trad arr. Cliff Edwards
"Stouthearted Men" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Sigmund Romburg
"Sugar (That Sugar Baby Of Mine)" w.m. Marceo Pinkard & Sidney D. Mitchell
"Sweet Lorraine" w. Mitchell Parish m. Cliff Burwell
"Sweet Sue" w. Will J. Harris m. Victor Young
"Sweetheart Of All My Dreams" w.m. Art Fitch, Kay Fitch & Bert Lowe
"Sweethearts On Parade" w. Charles Newman m. Carmen Lombardo
"'Tain't So, Honey, 'Tain't So" w.m. Willard Robison
"That's My Weakness Now" w.m. Bud Green & Sam H. Stept
"There Ain't No Sweet Man (That's Worth The Salt Of My Tears)" w.m. Fred Fisher
"There's A Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder" w.m. Dave Dreyer, Billy Rose & Al Jolson
"Together" w. B.G. DeSylva & Lew Brown m. Ray Henderson
"West End Blues" w.m. Joseph Oliver & Clarence Williams
"When You're Smiling" w.m. Mark Fisher, Joe Goodwin & Larry Shay
"Willow Tree" w. Andy Razaf m. Thomas Waller from the musical Keep Shufflin'
"World Weary" w.m. Noel Coward. Introduced by Beatrice Lillie in the revue This Year of Grace
"You Are Love" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Jerome Kern
"You Took Advantage Of Me" w. Lorenz Hart m. Richard Rodgers
"You Wouldn't Fool Me" w. B. G. De Sylva & Lew Brown m. Ray Henderson
"You're The Cream In My Coffee" w. B.G. DeSylva & Lew Brown m. Ray Henderson

Top hits on record

"Because My Baby Don't Mean Maybe Now" by Ruth Etting
"Diga Diga Doo" by Duke Ellington & His Cotton Club Orchestra
"Is There Anything Wrong In That?" by Helen Kane
"I Wanna Be Loved By You" by Helen Kane
"Jazz Holiday" by Ted Lewis & His Jazz Band
"(Goodbye, Broadway) Hello, Montreal!" by Ted Lewis & His Jazz Band
"Let's Misbehave" by Irving Aaronson & His Commanders
"Let's Misbehave" by Helen Kane
"Little Orphan Annie" by the Coon Sanders Nighhawks
"Mississippi Mud" by Paul Whiteman's Orchestra
"Makin' Whoopie" by Eddie Cantor
"My Man" by Fanny Brice
"That's My Weakness Now" by Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra featuring Bing Crosby

Other important recordings

"The Mooche" by Duke Ellington
"Muggles" by Louis Armstrong
"Pinetop's Boogie Woogie" by Pinetop Smith
"West End Blues" by Louis Armstrong
"Big Bill Blues" by Big Bill Broonzy
"Prison Cell Blues" by Blind Lemon Jefferson
"Statesboro Blues" by Blind Willie McTell
"Playing With the Strings" by Lonnie Johnson

Classical music

Aaron Avshalomov - Four Biblical Tableaux
Granville Bantock - Pagan Symphony
Béla Bartók - String Quartet No. 4
Werner Egk - Concerto for Violin and Chamber Orchestra
Gerald Finzi - Grand Fantasia and Toccata
Roberto Gerhard - Wind Quintet
Karl Amadeus Hartmann - Jazz Toccata and Fugue
Dmitri Kabalevsky - Piano Concerto No. 1
Dmitri Kabalevsky - String Quartet No. 1
Wilhelm Kienzl - String Quartet No. 3 in E major
Uuno Klami - Karelian Rhapsody
Ernst Krenek - Little Symphony
Ernst Krenek - Piano Sonata No. 2
Sergei Prokofiev - Symphony No. 3
Sergei Prokofiev - The Prodigal Son (ballet)
Albert Roussel - Psalm 80
Roger Sessions - The Black Maskers Suite for Orchestra
Leo Sowerby - Symphony No. 2
Pancho Vladigerov - Bulgarische Rhapsodie "Vardar"

Opera

Erwin Dressel - Der arme Columbus
Cyril Scott - The Alchemist
Dmitri Shostakovich - The Nose (1927-28)

Musical theater

Angela Broadway production
Blackbirds of 1928 Broadway production opened at the Liberty Theatre on May 9 and ran for 518 performances
Casanova Berlin production
Die Dreigroschenoper (The Threepenny Opera) Berlin production (from which Mack the Knife is a hit)
Funny Face London production
Here's Howe Broadway production opened at the Broadhurst Theatre on May 1 and ran for 71 performances.
Hold Everything Broadway production opened at the Broadhurst Theatre on October 10 and ran for 409 performances.
Keep Shufflin' Broadway production opened at Daly's Theatre on February 27 and ran for 104 performances
The New Moon (Sigmund Romberg) - Broadway production opened at the Imperial Theatre on September 19, transferred to the Casino Theatre on November 18 and ran for a total of 509 performances.
Paris (Cole Porter) Broadway production opened at the Music Box Theatre on October 8 and ran for 195 performances.
Present Arms (Lorenz Hart and Richard Rodgers) Broadway production opened at Lew Fields' Mansfield Theatre on April 26 and ran for 155 performances.
Show Boat (Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II) - London production
So This is Love London production opened on April 25 at the Winter Garden Theatre and ran for 321 performances
Sunny Days Broadway production opened at the Imperial Theatre on February 8 and ran for 101 performances. It re-opened at the Century Theatre on October 1 for a further run of 32 performances.
This Year of Grace London revue opened at the Pavilion on March 22 and ran for 316 performances.
This Year of Grace Broadway production opened at the Selwyn Theatre on November 7 and ran for 158 performances.
The Three Musketeers Broadway production opened at the Lyric Theatre on March 13 and ran for 319 performances.
Virginia London production opened at the Palace Theatre on October 24.
Whoopee Broadway production

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Events

Published popular music

Top hits on record

Other important recordings

Classical music

Opera

Musical theater

Musical film

Births

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