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Overview of the events of 1981 in British music
List of years in British music
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This is a summary of 1981 in music in the United Kingdom , including the official charts from that year.
9 February – Phil Collins releases his first solo album, although he would not leave the band Genesis until 1995.14 February – Billy Idol leaves Generation X to begin a solo career.26 February – The Symphony No. 2 by Peter Maxwell Davies commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in celebration of its centenary, receives its world premiere at Symphony Hall, Boston , with Seiji Ozawa conducting.4 April – Bucks Fizz win the Eurovision Song Contest with "Making Your Mind Up ".7 April – Former Who manager Kit Lambert dies after falling down a flight of stairs in his mother's home in London.17 April – Eric Clapton is released from St. Paul's Hospital in Minnesota following a month-long treatment for bleeding ulcers.18 April – Yes announce that they are breaking up. They would, however, reunite frequently in the future.25 April – Paul McCartney 's band, Wings , officially breaks up.2 May – Working as a local wedding singer 12 months previously, Scottish vocalist Sheena Easton hits number one in the US with "Morning Train (9 to 5) "11 May – The musical Cats West End .August – The success of Stars on 45 leads to a short-lived medley craze . The most successful imitator of the Stars on 45 format is, rather unexpectedly, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra , whose "Hooked on Classics (Parts 1 & 2)" reaches number two in the charts.
17 June – Pink Floyd perform their last full concert with Roger Waters , as part of The Wall Tour, at Earls Court in London. Waters would not perform with the band again until a one-off performance for Live 8 in 2005.13 July – The first performance of George Lloyd ‘s Symphony No 4, written in 1945-6 after the composer’s harrowing wartime experiences in the Arctic convoys, at the Cheltenham Festival.14 September – Emma Kirkby and Gothic Voices record the album A Feather on the Breath of God St Jude-on-the-Hill, Hampstead Garden Suburb , London.23 September – The first performance of Christian Darnton ‘s Twenty Minute Symphony (his fourth), composed in 1978 with the subtitle Diabolus in musica (it is based on the tritone), performed by the BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra under Edward Downes .The tables below include sales between 1 January and 31 December 1981: the year-end charts reproduced in the issue of Music Week
Best-selling singles [ edit ] At the end of 1981, the official year-end charts provided by the UK's chart provider, the British Market Research Bureau, stated that the best-selling single of the year was "Tainted Love" by Soft Cell.[ 1] [ 2] [ 3]
Best-selling albums [ edit ] [ 4] [ 5]
Notes:
^ Reached number 2 in 1980
^ Reached number 3 in 1980
^ Reached number 1 in 1980
Classical music: new works [ edit ] David Bedford
Elegy and Caprice for oboe and pianoOcean Star, a Dreaming Song , for youth orchestraPrelude for a Maritime Nation Sonata for piano, in one movement
String Quartet
Symphony for 12 musicians
Vocoder Sextet
Wind Sextet Richard Rodney Bennett
Impromptu on the Name of Haydn for pianoIsadore , balletMusic for String Quartet
Noctuary , ballet for pianoSix Tunes for the Instruction of Singing-birds , flute soloSonatina for clarinet solo
Vocalise , for soprano and pianoLennox Berkeley – Bagatelles for two pianosMichael Berkeley
Flames for orchestraString Quartet No. 1
String Quartet No. 2
Wessex Graves for voice and harpHarrison Birtwistle – Pulse Sampler for oboe and clavesEdward Cowie - Kelly Choruses for voices and harpPeter Maxwell Davies
The Bairnes of Brugh for chamber ensembleBrass Quintet
Hill Runes for guitarLittle Quartet No. 2 for string quartetLullabye for Lucy for mixed chorusThe Medium , monodrama for mezzo sopranoPiano Sonata
The Rainbow , music theatre for childrenSeven Songs Home for children's voicesGordon Crosse
Dreascanon 1 for choir, piano and percussionElegy and Scherzo Alla Marcia for string orchestraFear No More , for oboe, oboe d'amore and cor anglaisPeace for Brass Wildboy , ballet scoreBrian Ferneyhough
Lemma - Icon - Epigram for pianoSuperscripto for solo piccoloMichael Finnissy
An-dimironnai for solo celloDuru-duru for soprano, flute, percussion and pianoJisei for ensembleKelir for six voicesKeroiylu for oboe, bassoon and pianoPiano Concert No 7
Reels for pianoRushes for pianoStomp for accordionTerekkeme for solo cembaloTree Setting for pianoWhite Rain for piano or clavichorrdYalli for solo celloAlexander Goehr
Behold the Sun for soprano, vibraphone and chamber ensembleDeux Etudes for orchestraIain Hamilton
The Morning Watch for mixed chorus and ten wind instrumentsLa Ricordanza for tenor and orchestraSymphony No. 3.Spring
Symphony No. 4 Robin Holloway
Brand , dramatic ballet for soli, chorus, organ and orchestraClarissa Symphony for soprano, tenor and orchestraThe Lover's Well for bass-baritone and pianoSonata for Violin Solo Wilfred Josephs
Eight Aphorisms for trombone octetOverture The Brontes
Quartet Prelude in honour of Joseph HaydnSpring Songs for chorusString Quartet No. 4
Testimony for toccata and organKenneth Leighton
Household Pets for pianoThese Are Thy Wonders for high voice and organGeorge Lloyd – Symphony No 10, November Journeys (for brass)John McCabe
Afternoons and Afterwards for pianoDesert 1: Lizard for woodwind and percussionDesert II: Horizon for ten brass instrumentsMusic's Empire for soli, chorus and orchestraElizabeth Maconchy
Little Symphony Piccola Musica for violin, viola and celloTrittico for two oboes, bassoon and harpsichordWilliam Mathias – Rex Gloriae for unaccompanied voicesNicholas Maw – Flute QuartetDominic Muldowney
In Dark Times for soli and ensembleSports et Divertissements for reciter and ensembleThea Musgrave
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge , radio operaPreipeteia for orchestraStephen Oliver
Mass for unaccompanied chorus
Wind Octet Paul Patterson – The Canterbury Psalms for chorus and orchestraPriaulx Rainier – Concertante for two winds (oboe, clarinet) and orchestraJohn Tavener
Funeral Ikos for chorusThe Great Canon of the Ode to Saint Andrew of Crete for chorusMandelion for organPrayer for the World for sixteen solo voicesTrisagion for brass quintetAdrian Williams – String Quartet No. 2Malcolm Williamson
Fountainbleau Fanfare , for brass, percussion and organJosip Broz Tito for baritone and orchestra11 January
22 January – Sarah Davies, bassist (Hepburn )19 January – Thaila Zucchi , singer (allSTARS* ) and actress24 February – Gwilym Simcock , pianist and composer11 March – Russell Lissack , guitarist with Bloc Party 13 March – Ivo Neame , jazz pianist and saxophonist20 March – Declan Bennett, singer (Point Break )26 March – Jay Sean , singer1 April – Hannah Spearritt , actress and singer (S Club 7 )2 April – Linzi Martin, singer (Girl Thing )10 April – Liz McClarnon , singer (Atomic Kitten )21 April – Mike Christie , baritone (G4)26 April – Ms Dynamite , singer4 May – Ryan Elliott, singer (Ultimate Kaos )5 May – Craig David , singer20 May – Sean Conlon , musician (5ive )22 May – Su-Elise Nash , singer (Mis-Teeq )23 May – Gwenno Saunders , singer5 June – Anika Bostelaar, Dutch-born singer (Girl Thing )22 June – Chris Urbanowicz , guitarist (Editors )23 June – Antony Costa , singer (Blue )27 June – Colin and Joe O'Halloran, Irish singers (Reel)6 July – Vicky Palmer, singer (Boom! )12 July – Rebecca Hunter , singer (allSTARS* )19 July – Didz Hammond , singer and bass player (Dirty Pretty Things and The Cooper Temple Clause )24 July – Lisa Lister, guitarist (Hepburn )8 August – Bradley McIntosh , singer (S Club 7 )11 August – Sandi Thom , singer-songwriter21 August – Jenilca Giusti , Puerto Rican-born singer (Solid HarmoniE )29 September – Suzanne Shaw , singer (Hear'Say ) and actress6 October – Sarah Keating, Irish singer (Six )10 October – Una Healy , Irish singer (The Saturdays )13 October – Kele Okereke , singer (Bloc Party )31 October – Liam McKenna, Northern Irish singer (Six)17 November – Sarah Harding , singer (Girls Aloud )20 November – Kimberley Walsh , singer (Girls Aloud )22 November – Ben Adams , singer (A1 )26 November – Natasha Bedingfield , singer[ 7] 19 December – Sam Bloom , singer (allSTARS* )19 February
21 February – Ron Grainer , Australian-born electronic music pioneer and composer involved with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop , 58 (spinal cancer)[ 10] 10 March – Bill Hopkins , pianist, composer and critic, 37 (heart attack)24 March – George Charles Gray , cathedral organist, 837 April – Kit Lambert , manager and producer, 45 (fall)8 April – Eric Rogers , composer, 5914 April – Christian Darnton , composer, 7521 April – Ivor Newton , pianist and accompanist, 8828 April – Steve Currie , bassist of T.Rex , 33 (car crash)[ 11] 12 May – Frank Weir , orchestra leader and jazz musician, 7017 May – Alan Gowen , keyboardist (Gilgamesh ), 33 (leukaemia)29 May – Sir John Dykes Bower , cathedral organist, 7518 July – Janet Craxton , oboist, 5229 July – Sydney Kyte , bandleader and violinist, 85[ 12] 5 August – Reginald Kell , clarinettist, 7529 August – Guy Stevens , band manager, record producer and DJ, 38 (overdose)23 September – Sam Costa , dance band singer and DJ, 7129 September – Tommy Moore , former drummer of the Beatles , 50 (brain haemorrhage)30 September – Boyd Neel , orchestral conductor, 7615 October – Elsie Randolph , actress, dancer and singer, 779 November – Willis Grant , cathedral organist, 7413 December – Cornelius Cardew , experimental music composer, 45 (hit-and-run car accident)[ 13] 17 December – Sybil Gordon , operatic mezzo-soprano, 79date unknown – Albert Ernest Sims , composer, conductor and music director of The Central Band of H.M. Royal Air Force, 85[ 14]
^ Scaping, Peter, ed. (1982). "The Top 200 Singles: January–December 1981". BPI Year Book 1982 (5th ed.). London, England: The British Phonographic Industry Ltd. pp. 46–49. ISBN 0-906154-03-0 ^ Jones, Alan; Lazell, Barry; Rees, Dafydd (1982). "The Top 200 Singles (UK)". Chart File 1982 . London, England: Virgin Books. pp. 74–77. ISBN 0-907080-49-9 ^ Copsey, Rob (5 March 2021). "The Official Top 50 best-selling songs of 1981" . Official Charts Company . Archived from the original on 5 March 2021. Retrieved 24 November 2021 . ^ Scaping (1982). "The Top 200 LPs: January–December 1981". pp. 50–53.
^ Jones; Lazell; Rees (1982). "The Top 200 Albums (UK)". pp. 78–81.
^ Dean, Winton (1981). "Music in London: Anna Karenina" . The Musical Times
^ Tracie Ratiner (May 2010). Contemporary Musicians: Profiles of the People in Music ISBN 978-0-7876-9617-7 ^ "Miss Olive Gilbert", The Times , 20 February 1981, p. 16, col. G
^ Gerald Norris (1981). A Musical Gazetteer of Great Britain & Ireland ISBN 978-0-7153-7845-8 ^ Lone Eagle Publishing Co (2000). Film Composers Directory ^ Nick Talevski (1999). The Encyclopedia of Rock Obituaries ISBN 978-0-7119-7548-4 ^ Principal Probate Registry ; London, England; Calendar of the Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration made in the Probate Registries of the High Court of Justice in England^ Tilbury, John. Cornelius Cardew: A Life Unfinished Harlow: Copula, an imprint of Matchless Recordings and Publishing, 2008. ISBN 978-0-9525492-3-9
^ Bierley, Paul E; Rehrig, William H (1991). The heritage encyclopedia of band music : composers and their music. Westerville, Ohio: Integrity Press. ISBN 0-918048-08-7 .
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