Editing 1955 in music (section)

==Events==
*[[January 1]] – [[RCA]] Victor announces a marketing plan called "Operation TNT." The label drops the list price on LPs from $5.95 to $3.98, EPs from $4.95 to $2.98, 45 EPs from $1.58 to $1.49 and 45's from $1.16 to $.89. Other record labels follow RCA's lead and begin to drop prices as well.
*[[January 7]]
** [[Marian Anderson]] is the first [[African American]] singer to perform at the [[Metropolitan Opera]] in [[New York City]].
** "[[Rock Around the Clock]]" by [[Bill Haley & His Comets]] first appears on the British charts.
*[[January 14]] – In New York City, [[Alan Freed]] produces the first [[rock and roll]] concert.
*[[January 27]] – [[Michael Tippett]]'s opera ''[[The Midsummer Marriage]]'' is premiered at the [[Royal Opera House]], Covent Garden in London, conducted by [[John Pritchard (conductor)|John Pritchard]], with designs by [[Barbara Hepworth]] and choreography by [[John Cranko]]; it arouses controversy.<ref>{{cite book|last=Gloag|first=Kenneth|editor=Gloag, Kenneth |editor2=Jones, Nicholas |title=The Cambridge Companion to Michael Tippett|chapter=Tippett's operatic world: from ''The Midsummer Marriage'' to ''New Year''|pages=230–31|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2013|isbn= 978-1-107-60613-5}}</ref>
*[[February 19]] – Dot Records introduces a new singer, [[Pat Boone]], with an advertisement in ''Billboard'' magazine calling him "a great new voice". His first record for Dot Records is "Two Hearts, Two Kisses, One Love."
*[[February 24]] – [[Carlisle Floyd]]'s opera ''[[Susannah]]'' is premiered in the Ruby Diamond Auditorium of [[Florida State University]], [[Tallahassee, Florida|Tallahassee]] with [[Phyllis Curtin]] in the title role.
*[[February 26]] – For the first time since their introduction in 1949, 45 rpm discs begin to outsell standard 78s.
*February – [[Kay Starr]] leaves Capitol to sign with RCA.
*[[March 3]] – Italian soprano [[Mirella Freni]] makes her operatic debut as Micaëla in ''[[Carmen]]'' at the [[Teatro Comunale Modena|Teatro Municipale]] in her native [[Modena]].
*[[March 7]] – The [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] production of [[Peter Pan (1954 musical)|''Peter Pan'']], starring [[Mary Martin]], is presented on American television for the first time by [[NBC]]-TV with its original cast, as an installment of ''[[Producers' Showcase]]''. It is also the first time that a stage musical is presented in its entirety on TV almost exactly as it was performed on stage. This program gains the largest viewership of a TV special up to this time and becomes one of the first great TV family musical classics.
*[[March 15]] – [[Colonel Tom Parker]] becomes [[Elvis Presley]]'s ''de facto'' manager.
*[[March 19]] – The film ''[[Blackboard Jungle]]'' is premièred in [[New York City]], featuring [[Bill Haley & His Comets]]' "[[Rock Around the Clock]]" over the opening credits, the first use of a rock and roll song in a major film.
*[[March 22]] – Decca Records signs DJ Alan Freed as an A&R man.
*[[March 26]] – [[Bill Hayes (actor)|Bill Hayes]] tops the US charts for five weeks with "[[The Ballad of Davy Crockett]]" and starts a (fake) [[coonskin cap]] craze.
*[[April 14]] – [[Imperial Records]] in the United States release "[[Ain't That a Shame]]" by [[Fats Domino]] (co-written with [[Dave Bartholomew]]). It reaches #1 in the [[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs|R&B chart]] and becomes over time a million seller, bringing Domino to prominence and giving his work covers by white artists: [[Pat Boone]] makes this song a [[List of Billboard number-one singles of 1955|''Billboard'' number-one single of 1955]] for [[jukebox]] play.
*[[May 13]] – First riot at an [[Elvis Presley]] concert takes place in Jacksonville, Florida.
*[[May 21]] – [[Chuck Berry]] records his first single, "[[Maybellene]]", for [[Chess Records]] in Chicago.
*[[May 22]] – [[Bridgeport, Connecticut]], authorities cancel a rock concert to be headlined by [[Fats Domino]] for fear of a riot breaking out.
*June
**The 29th [[International Society for Contemporary Music]] Festival takes place in [[Baden-Baden]].
**The newly formed [[Netherlands Chamber Orchestra]] gives its first performance at the [[Holland Festival]].
*[[June 2]] – Italian singers [[Natalino Otto]] and [[Flo Sandon's]] marry.
*[[June 16]] – [[Glenn Gould]] completes his recording of [[Bach: The Goldberg Variations (Glenn Gould album)|Bach's ''Goldberg Variations'']].<ref>Fleming, Colin (28 November 2003). "Reissues: Glenn Gould – 'A State of Wonder: The Complete Goldberg Variations 1955 & 1981' [review]". ''[[Goldmine (magazine)|Goldmine]]'' 29 (24): 63.</ref>
*[[June 18]]
** [[Pearl Carr & Teddy Johnson]] marry in the U.K.
** [[Pierre Boulez]]'s influential composition ''[[Le marteau sans maître]]'' ("The hammer without a master"), for [[contralto]] and six instrumentalists, is premiered (in its first revised version) at the [[International Society for Contemporary Music]] Festival in [[Baden-Baden]] at the insistence of [[Heinrich Strobel (musicologist)|Heinrich Strobel]].<ref name=CM1>{{cite book|first=Jon|last=Paxman|title=Classical Music 1600–2000: A Chronology|location=London|publisher=Omnibus|year=2014|isbn=978-1-84449-773-7}}</ref>
*[[July 9]] – "Rock Around the Clock" becomes the first [[Rock and roll]] single to reach Number One on the American charts.
*[[July 13]] – The [[Beaux Arts Trio]] make their debut at the Berkshire Music Festival.
*[[August 8]] – [[Luigi Nono]] marries [[Arnold Schoenberg]]'s daughter Nuria in [[Venice]].<ref name=CM1/>
*[[August 19]] – WINS radio station in New York City adopts a policy of not playing white cover versions of black R&B songs.
*[[August 31]] – A Londoner is fined for "creating an abominable noise" for playing "[[Shake, Rattle, and Roll]]" at top volume.
*[[September 3]] – [[Little Richard]] records "[[Tutti Frutti (song)|Tutti Frutti]]" in New Orleans with significantly cleaned up lyrics (originally "Tutti Frutti, good booty" among other things); it is released in October.
*[[September 26]] – "America's Sweethearts", singers [[Eddie Fisher]] and [[Debbie Reynolds]], marry.
*[[October 15]] – [[Elvis Presley]] plays a concert in [[Lubbock, Texas]]. Opening act is local duo Buddy and Bob, Buddy being future rock star [[Buddy Holly]].
*[[October 20]] – [[Disc jockey]] [[Bill Randle]] of [[WERE]] ([[Cleveland]]) is the key presenter of a concert at [[Brooklyn High School (Ohio)]], featuring [[Pat Boone]] and [[Bill Haley & His Comets]] and opening with [[Elvis Presley]], not only Elvis's first performance north of the [[Mason–Dixon line]], but also his first filmed performance, for a documentary on Randle titled ''[[The Pied Piper of Cleveland]]''.
*[[October 29]] – [[Dmitri Shostakovich]]'s [[Violin Concerto No. 1 (Shostakovich)|Violin Concerto No. 1]], originally completed in [[1948 in music|1948]], is premiered by the [[Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra]] with its dedicatee, [[David Oistrakh]], as soloist.
*[[November 4]] – [[William Schuman]]'s orchestral piece ''Credendum: Article of Faith'', commissioned by [[UNESCO]], is premiered in [[Cincinnati]].
*[[November 12]] – ''Billboard'' magazine DJ poll names [[Elvis Presley]] as the most promising new country and western singer.
*[[November 20]] – [[Bo Diddley]] makes his debut TV appearance on ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show]]'' on [[CBS]] television.
*[[November 22]] – Colonel Tom Parker signs [[Elvis Presley]] to [[RCA Records]].
*[[November 29]] – [[Juan José Castro]] conducts the UK première of [[Carlos Chávez]]'s [[Symphony No. 3 (Chávez)|Symphony No. 3]] at the [[Maida Vale Studios]] with the [[London Symphony Orchestra]].
*[[December 15]] – Sun Records releases "[[Folsom Prison Blues]]" recorded by [[Johnny Cash]] on July 30.
*Christmas – [[The Temperance Seven]] is founded as a jazz band, initially comprising three members from the [[Chelsea School of Art]] in London.
*[[Paul Simon]] and [[Art Garfunkel]] write their first song, "The Girl For Me" (copyrighted with the [[Library of Congress]] in 1956), and begin singing together as a duo while still in high school in [[New York City]].
*Nine-year-old [[Al Green]] forms a gospel quartet, the Green Brothers.
*[[Clyde McPhatter]] launches a solo career.
*[[Renato Carosone]] and [[Nicola Salerno]] meet and start their [[songwriting]] partnership.
*[[Astor Piazzolla]], returning to [[Argentina]] from his studies with [[Nadia Boulanger]], forms his string orchestra (''Orquesta de Cuerdas'') and octet (''[[Octeto Buenos Aires]]'') and introduces the ''[[nuevo tango]]'' style.<ref name=CM1/>
*[[India]]n [[santoor]] player [[Shivkumar Sharma]] gives his first public performance in [[Bombay]].
*[[Etta James]] makes her debut with "[[The Wallflower (Dance with Me, Henry)]]" which tops the R&B Chart but is considered too risqué for pop radio. The song is subsequently covered by [[Georgia Gibbs]] in a sanitized version where the line "Roll with me Henry" is changed to "Dance with me Henry"
*Publication of ''[[Neue Mozart-Ausgabe]]'' begins.