1953 in music explained

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1953.

Specific locations

Specific genres

Events

Albums released

Biggest hit singles

The following singles achieved the highest chart positions in the limited set of charts available for 1953.

#ArtistTitleYear CountryChart entries
1 1953 US BB 1 of 1953, POP 1 of 1953, UK 2 – Jan 1954, US 1940s 2 – Nov 1953, RYM 2 of 1953, Scrobulate 47 of Italian, DDD 73 of 1953, Party 101 of 2007
2 1953 US 1940s 1 – Jun 1953, US 1 for 11 weeks Aug 1953, Italy 2 of 1954, US BB 3 of 1953, POP 3 of 1953, UK 7 – Nov 1953, RYM 24 of 1953, Europe 97 of the 1950s
3 1953 UK 1 – Jan 1953, US 1940s 1 – Dec 1952, US 1 for 5 weeks Jan 1953, US BB 20 of 1953, POP 20 of 1953, RYM 31 of 1953
4 1953 UK 1 – May 1953, US 1940s 1 – May 1953, US 1 for 2 weeks Jul 1953, US BB 16 of 1953, POP 23 of 1953, RYM 119 of 1953
5 1953 RYM 1 of 1953, DDD 2 of 1953, US BB 4 of 1953, POP 4 of 1953, RIAA 34, Scrobulate 87 of country, Rolling Stone 213, Acclaimed 286

US No. 1 hit singles

These singles reached the top of US Billboard magazine's charts in 1953.

First weekNumber of weeksTitleArtist
January 10, 19535"Don't Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes"Perry Como
February 14, 19535"Till I Waltz Again With You"Teresa Brewer
March 21, 19538"The Doggie in the Window"Patti Page
May 16, 195310"The Song from Moulin Rouge"Percy Faith & his Orchestra
July 25, 19532"I'm Walking Behind You"Eddie Fisher
August 8, 19539"Vaya con Dios"Les Paul & Mary Ford
October 10, 19534"St. George and the Dragonet"Stan Freberg
November 7, 19532"Vaya con Dios"Les Paul & Mary Ford
November 21, 19536"Rags to Riches"Tony Bennett

Top R&B and country hits on record

Published popular music

Classical music

Premieres

Sortable table
Composer Composition Date Location Performers
Suite hébraïque for Viola and Orchestra 1953-01-01 Chicago Preves / Chicago SymphonyKubelik[9]
Structures book 1, for two pianos 1953-05-04 Cologne Grimaud, Loriod[10]
1953-02-26 New York Walden Quartet[11]
1953-02-11 Louisville, KY Louisville OrchestraChávez[12]
1953-12-01 Los Angeles Los Angeles Chamber OrchestraChávez[13]
1953-07-14 London London String Quartet[14]
1953-10-10 Donaueschingen (Musiktage) Bergmann / SWF SymphonyRosbaud[15]
1953-03-05 Copenhague Danish Radio SymphonyKletzki[16]
A Christmas Cantata 1953-12-18 Basel Basel Chamber ChoirSacher[17]
1953-12-05 New York City Kroll Quartet[18]
1953-??-?? Moscow Ashkenazy / Moscow Philharmonic – ?[19]
Rhapsody-Concerto for Viola and Orchestra 1953-02-19 Cleveland Veissi / Cleveland OrchestraSzell[20]
1953-10-16 Turin RAI National SymphonyMilhaud[21]
Concierto breve for piano and orchestra 1953-12-20 Barcelona de Larrocha / Barcelona Philharmonic – de Froment[22]
Poema Concertante for violin and orchestra 1953-05-25 Barcelona Szeryng / Barcelona Municipal OrchestraToldrà[23]
1953-09-03 Edinburgh (Festival) Primrose / London PhilharmoniaBoult[24]
1953-04-15 London BBC SymphonySargent[25]
1953-11-13 Moscow Beethoven Quartet[26]
1953-12-17 Leningrad Leningrad PhilharmonicMravinsky[27]
Kontra-Punkte 1953-05-26 Cologne (ISCM World Music Days) members of the WDR SymphonyScherchen[28]
Schlagquartett 1953-03-23 Munich (Musica Viva) Porth, Gschwendner, Peinkofer, Kaul[29]
1953-01-14 Manchester Ritchie / Hallé OrchestraJohn Barbirolli[30]
Alvorada na Floresta Tropical for orchestra 1953-??-?? Louisville, KY Louisville OrchestraWhitney[31]
1953-01-09 Syria Mosque, Pittsburgh, PA Segall / Pittsburgh Symphony OrchestraVilla-Lobos[32]

Compositions

Opera

Film

Jazz

See main article: 1953 in jazz.

Musical theater

Musical films

Births

Deaths

Notes and References

  1. Book: Christopher Fifield. Fifield. Christopher. Letters and Diaries of Kathleen Ferrier. Boydell Press. Woodbridge, Suffolk. 2003. 1-84383-012-4. 183–4.
  2. Sadler's Wells. 25 March 1953. The Tatler. 17.
  3. Web site: 2010-09-02 . AmericanHeritage.com / More Mr. Nice Guy . 2022-03-11 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100902150344/http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/2006/1/2006_1_28.shtml . 2 September 2010 . dead.
  4. Book: Morawska-Büngeler, Marietta. 1988. Schwingende Elektronen: Eine Dokumentation über das Studio für Elektronische Musik des Westdeutschen Rundfunks in Köln 1951–1986. Cologne-Rodenkirchen. P. J. Tonger Verlag. 11–12.
  5. New York Journal-American (see the photograph of Serry's signature inscribed with signatures of other members of the cast on the stage door of the Empire Theatre at the closing of the play The Time of the Cuckoo), May 25, 1953, p. 15
  6. https://books.google.com/books?id=OxErAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22John+Serry&pg=PA12&article_id=2350,124787 "Celebrating National Music Week - Accordion Concert" : John Serry - p. 12...appearing with award winner Shirly Booth in "Time of the Cuckoo" See photograph and caption of John Serry in the "Reading Eagle" April 19, 1953 p. 12 on Google Books
  7. https://www.esm.rochester.edu/sibley/files/John-J-Serry-Sr-Collection.pdf Eastman School of Music - University of Rochester - Sibley Music Library: John J. Serry Sr. Collection - Series 3: Scrapbook - contains a clipping with a photograph from the "New York Journal American" May 25, 1953 p. 15 showing the stage cast door from the Empire Theater with Shirley Booth pointing to signatures of the cast of "The Time of the Cuckoo" which includes John Serry's signatue. The John J. Serry Sr. Collection p. 17 Series 3 Scrapbook Box 3 Item 1 archived at the University of Rochester Eastman School of Music on esm.rochester.edu
  8. News: Soprano Leaves New York Opera: Night Club Engagement. The Times. 52738. 1953-09-27. 6.
  9. Web site: BLOCH: America / Suite Hebraique.
  10. Martin Iddon, New Music at Darmstadt: Nono, Stockhausen, Cage, and Boulez, Music since 1900 (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press): 69. .
  11. Book: Sitsky, Larry. Music of the Twentieth-century Avant-garde: A Biocritical Sourcebook. 1 January 2002. Greenwood Publishing Group. 9780313296895. Google Books.
  12. Web site: Chavez Complete Symphonies VOXBOX CDX5061 [RB]

    Classical CD Reviews- June 2005 MusicWeb-International]

    . Music on the. Web(UK).
  13. Web site: Music and History .
  14. Web site: Berthold Goldschmidt – String Quartet No.2.
  15. http://www.schott-music.com/shop/1/show,34619.html Schott Music
  16. http://www.eclassical.com/shop/art14/BIS-618_booklet_x.pdf-6ee04c.pdf BIS Records
  17. Web site: Une Cantate de Noël (Honegger) – from CDA67688 – Hyperion Records – MP3 and Lossless downloads.
  18. https://web.archive.org/web/20150531031841/http://www.forgottenbooks.com/readbook_text/Portrait_of_a_Contemporary_Composer_1000071236/273 Forgotten Books
  19. Web site: Kabalevsky: Piano Concerto No. 3 / Rimsky-Korsakov: Piano Concerto.
  20. Web site: Martinů: Rhapsody-Concerto, Viola Sonata, Duo... – Bohuslav Martinu par Maxim Rysanov.
  21. Web site: 1953. https://web.archive.org/web/20140615030327/http://music-timeline.net/20th-c/1953a/. dead. June 15, 2014. 18 September 2009.
  22. http://www.montsalvatgecompositor.com/fitxa_obra.php?codi=31 Montsalvatgecompositor.com
  23. Web site: Xavier Montsalvatge Compositor.
  24. http://www.schott-music.com/shop/Hire_Material/orchestra/concerto/1261469/show,151873.html Schott Music
  25. Web site: Viola Concerto in A major, Op 75 (Rubbra) – from CDA67587 – Hyperion Records – MP3 and Lossless downloads.
  26. Book: Kuhn, Judith. Shostakovich in Dialogue: Form, Imagery and Ideas in Quartets 1–7. 1 January 2010. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. 9780754664062. Google Books.
  27. Book: Fay, Laurel E.. Shostakovich: A Life. 1 January 2005. Oxford University Press. 9780195182514. Google Books.
  28. Web site: Universal Edition: Karlheinz Stockhausen – Kontra-Punkte. Universal Edition. AG.
  29. Web site: Universal Edition: Karlheinz Stockhausen – Schlagtrio. Universal Edition. AG.
  30. Web site: Sinfonia Antartica/Scott Of The Antarctic – CD41.
  31. David P. Appleby, Heitor Villa-Lobos: A Bio-Bibliography, Bio-Bibliographies in Music 9 (New York, Westport, London: Greenwood Press, 1988): 114. However, Lisa Peppercorn, "Villa-Lobos's Last Years", translated from the German by Robert L. Jacobs, The Music Review 40, no. 4 (November 1979): 285–99, reprinted with corrigenda/addenda in Villa-Lobos: Collected Studies (Aldershot: Scolar Press, 1992): 89–105, gives the date of the first performance as 23 January 1954, by the Louisville Orchestra and Whitney, but for the recording later issued by First Edition Records and not in a public concert (pp. 293 / 97, respectively, and corrigenda 105).
  32. Villa-Lobos, sua obra , Version 1.0. (MinC / IBRAM, and the Museu Villa-Lobos, 2009, based on the third edition, 1989): 58.