Editing 1956 in music (section)

==Events==
*[[January 3]] – ''[[Bach: The Goldberg Variations (Glenn Gould album)|Bach: The Goldberg Variations]]'', [[Glenn Gould]]'s debut solo piano recording, is released by [[Columbia Records]] in the United States; it sells 40,000 copies by 1960.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Glenn Gould: The Performer in the Work: A Study in Performance Practice |date=1997 |publisher=Clarendon Press |isbn=0198166567 |last=Bazzana |first=Kevin |location=Oxford |pages=95, 150–153}}</ref>
*[[January 26]]
**The North American premiere of [[Carlos Chávez]]'s [[Symphony No. 3 (Chávez)|Third Symphony]] is given by the [[New York Philharmonic]], conducted by the composer. The work had been commissioned by [[Clare Boothe Luce]] to commemorate her daughter.<ref>{{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Parker|1984}}|reference=Parker, Robert L. 1984. "Clare Boothe Luce, Carlos Chávez, and Sinfonía No. 3". ''Latin American Music Review'' / ''Revista de Música Latinoamericana'' 5, no. 1 (Spring–Summer): 48–65.}}</ref>
*[[January 27]] – [[Elvis Presley]]'s single "[[Heartbreak Hotel]]" / "I Was the One" is released. It goes on to be Elvis's first #1 hit.
*[[January 28]] – [[Elvis Presley]] makes his national television debut on ''The Dorsey Brothers Stage Show''.
*[[February 3]] – The [[Symphony of the Air]], conducted by [[Leonard Bernstein]], gives the world première of [[Robert Moevs]]'s Fourteen Variations for Orchestra (composed in 1952) in New York.
*[[February 11]] – [[Henry Barraud (composer)|Henry Barraud]]'s Concertino for Piano and Winds receives its world-première performance by [[Eugene List]] and members of the New York Chamber Ensemble in New York City.
*[[February 24]] – "[[Canto a Baja California]]", with lyrics by Rafael Trujillo ("Caballero Aguila") and music by Rafael Gama ("Escala"), is selected as the official anthem of the [[States of Mexico|Mexican state]]s of [[Baja California]] and [[Baja California Sur]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bajacalifornia.gob.mx/portal/nuestro_estado/historia/canto_bc.jsp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150502192350/http://www.bajacalifornia.gob.mx/portal/nuestro_estado/historia/canto_bc.jsp|url-status=dead|archive-date=2015-05-02|title=Canto de Baja California |author=Gobierno del Estado de Baja California |access-date=November 12, 2024}}</ref>
*March – [[The Coasters]]' recording career begins, with "Turtle Dovin'".
*[[March 10]] – [[Carl Perkins]]' single "[[Blue Suede Shoes]]" enters the R&B charts, the first time a country music artist has made it on the R&B charts.
*[[March 21]] – World première of [[Heitor Villa-Lobos]]'s Eleventh Symphony, by the [[Boston Symphony Orchestra]], conducted by [[Charles Münch]], at [[Carnegie Hall]] in New York City.
*[[March 22]] – [[Carl Perkins]] is injured in a car accident near Wilmington, Delaware, United States, on his way to New York City to make an appearance on ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show]]''. He spends several months in hospital.<ref>{{Cite book|first1=Carl|last1=Perkins|first2=David|last2=McGee|title=Go, Cat, Go!|publisher=Hyperion Press|year=1996|isbn=0-7868-6073-1 |location=New York |oclc=32895064 |pages=178–180}}</ref>
*[[March 24]] – The first regularly scheduled nationally broadcast [[rock & roll]] show, ''Rock 'n Roll Dance Party'', with [[Alan Freed]] as host, premières on the [[CBS]] Radio Network.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}
*[[March 26]] – [[Colonel Tom Parker]] formally becomes [[Elvis Presley]]'s manager.<ref>{{cite book|last=Guralnick|first=Peter|title=Last Train to Memphis|url=https://archive.org/details/lasttraintomemph00gura_0|url-access=registration|year=1994|publisher=Little, Brown|page=[https://archive.org/details/lasttraintomemph00gura_0/page/258 258]|isbn=9780316332200}}</ref>
*[[March 31]] – [[Elvis Presley]] films a screen test for [[Paramount Pictures]].
*[[April 6]] – [[Paramount Pictures]] signs [[Elvis Presley]] to a three-picture deal.
*[[April 10]] – A group of racial segregationists (followers of [[Asa Earl Carter]]) rush the stage at a [[Nat King Cole]] concert in [[Birmingham, Alabama]], but are quickly restrained.
*[[April 22]] – [[The 2i's Coffee Bar]] opens in [[Old Compton Street]], [[Soho]], London; its basement rapidly becomes a pioneering venue for rock & roll music in Britain, [[Tommy Steele]] being resident from July.
*[[May 2]] – For the first time in [[Billboard magazine|''Billboard'' magazine]] history, five singles appear in both the pop and R&B Top Ten charts. They are [[Elvis Presley]]'s "Heartbreak Hotel" (#1 pop, #6 R&B), [[Carl Perkins]]' "Blue Suede Shoes" (#4 pop, #3 R&B), [[Little Richard]]'s "Long Tall Sally" (#9 pop, #1 R&B), [[the Platters]]' "[[(You've Got) The Magic Touch]]" (#10 pop, #7 R&B) and [[Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers]]' "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" (#7 pop, #4 R&B). Presley's and Perkins' singles also appeared on the [[country and western]] Top Ten chart at #1 and #2 respectively.
*[[May 6]]–In Paris, [[Heitor Villa-Lobos]] records his ''Bachiana Brasileira No. 9'' with the strings of the [[Orchestre National de France|Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Française]], for [[EMI]].
*[[May 6]]–28 – In Paris, [[Heitor Villa-Lobos]] supervises the recording of his ''[[Bachianas Brasileiras]] No. 6'' by Fernand Dufrene (flute) and René Plessier (bassoon) and his ''Bachianas Brasileiras No. 2'' with the [[Orchestre National de France|Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Française]], the four suites of his ''Descobrimento do Brasil'', his ''[[Chôros No. 10]]'' and his ''Invocação em defesa da patria'', with Maria Kareska (soprano), the Chorale des {{ill|Jeunesses musicales de France|fr}}, and the [[Orchestre National de France|Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Française]] for [[EMI]].
*[[May 8]]
**[[Ernst Toch]]'s Third Symphony is awarded the [[Pulitzer Prize for Music]].
**[[Benjamin Britten]]'s opera ''[[Gloriana]]'' is given its US premiere in [[Cincinnati]], in concert form conducted by [[Josef Krips]].
*[[May 24]] – First-ever [[Eurovision Song Contest 1956|Eurovision Song Contest]] from the Kursaal Theatre, [[Lugano]], Switzerland. Seven countries participate, each with two songs. [[Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest|Switzerland]] is declared the winner, with [[Lys Assia]] singing "[[Refrain (Lys Assia song)|Refrain]]".
*June – The winners of the [[Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition]], held in [[Brussels]] and devoted this year to the [[piano]], are:
**First Prize: [[Vladimir Ashkenazy]]
**Second Prize: [[John Browning (pianist)|John Browning]]
**Third Prize: [[Andrzej Czajkowski]]
**Fourth Prize: [[Cécile Ousset]]
**Fifth Prize: [[Lazar Berman]]
*[[June 3]] – [[Fred Diodati]] replaces [[Al Alberts]] as lead singer of [[The Four Aces]].
*[[June 5]] – [[Elvis Presley]] introduces his new single, "[[Hound Dog (song)|Hound Dog]]", on ''[[The Milton Berle Show]]'', scandalizing the audience with his suggestive hip movements.
*[[June 7]]–13 – In Paris, [[Heitor Villa-Lobos]] records his ''Bachiana Brasileira No. 5'' with [[Victoria de los Ángeles]] (soprano) and a cello ensemble from the [[Orchestre National de France|Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Française]], for [[EMI]].
*[[June 13]] – [[Herbert von Karajan]] is announced as the new artistic director of the [[Vienna State Opera]], to succeed [[Karl Böhm]] starting in September.
*July – At the [[Berkshire Festival]], [[Benny Goodman]] records both the Clarinet Concerto (with the [[Boston Symphony Orchestra]], conducted by [[Charles Münch]]) and the Quintet for Clarinet and Strings (with the Boston Symphony String Quartet) by [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]], for [[RCA Victor]]. The recordings are made in stereo, though first released in 1957 only in a monaural mixdown (the first stereo issue is in 1968).
*[[July 11]]–22 – The [[Darmstädter Ferienkurse]] are held in [[Darmstadt]] with a series of lectures by [[Theodor W. Adorno]], two public discussions of the new medium of [[electronic music]], and world premieres of works by (amongst others) [[Richard Rodney Bennett]], [[Pierre Boulez]], [[Jacques Calonne]], [[Aldo Clementi]], [[Luc Ferrari]], [[Alexander Goehr]], [[Bengt Hambraeus]], [[Hans Werner Henze]], [[Bruno Maderna]], [[Henri Pousseur]], and [[Karlheinz Stockhausen]].
*[[July 17]] – The [[Metropolitan Opera Association]] announces the cancellation of its 1956–57 season because of a labor dispute.
*[[July 19]] – The [[American Guild of Musical Artists]] and the Metropolitan Opera Association announce a resolution of their dispute, so that the season will begin on October 29 as originally planned.
*[[July 22]] – The first [[UK Albums Chart]] is published, in ''[[Record Mirror]]'';<ref>{{cite book|author1=Warwick, Neil|author2=Kutner, Jon|author3=Brown, Tony|year=2004|title=The Complete Book of the British Charts: Singles and Albums|edition=3rd|location=London|publisher=Omnibus Press|isbn=1-84449-058-0}}</ref> [[Frank Sinatra]]'s ''[[Songs for Swingin' Lovers!]]'' tops it for the first two weeks.
*Summer – [[John Lennon]] forms a [[skiffle]] group, [[The Quarrymen]], with friends from [[Quarry Bank High School]] in [[Liverpool]], England, originally [[Eric Griffiths]] and [[Pete Shotton]].
*August–September – [[Maria Callas]] makes studio recordings of [[Giuseppe Verdi]]'s, ''[[Il trovatore]]'', conducted by [[Herbert von Karajan]], [[Giacomo Puccini]]'s, ''[[La bohème]]'', conducted by [[Antonino Votto]], and [[Giuseppe Verdi]]'s, ''[[Un ballo in maschera]]'', also conducted by Votto, for [[EMI]].
*[[September 5]] – The posthumous world première of [[Sergei Prokofiev]]'s [[Piano Concerto No. 4 (Prokofiev)|Piano Concerto No. 4]] (for the left hand), composed in 1931, takes place in Berlin, performed by [[Siegfried Rapp]] and the [[Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin|West Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra]], conducted by [[Martin Rich]].
*[[September 9]] – [[Elvis Presley]] appears on ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show]]''.
*[[October 6]] - [[Lawrence Welk]] signs with [[Ben Selvin]] at [[RCA Thesaurus]] to broadcast "The New Lawrence Welk Show" on national radio networks.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=SkUEAAAAMBAJ&dq=RCA+Thesaurus+Lawrence+Welk&pg=PA26 The Billboard - "Speed and Quality on RCA Thesaurus"] [[Ben Selvin]] 6 October 1956 p. 26 & p. 32 RCA Thesaurus Lawrence Welk on Google Books</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=SkUEAAAAMBAJ&dq=RCA+Thesaurus+Lawrence+Welk&pg=PA19 The Billboard - "The Lawrence Welk Story - Welk to Radio via Thesaurus" 6 October 1956 p. 19 RCA Thesaurus Lawrence Welk on Google Books]</ref>  
*[[October 10]]–20 – First [[Warsaw Autumn]] International Festival of Contemporary Music.
*[[October 14]] – [[Leopold Stokowski]] conducts the [[Symphony of the Air]] in three world premièees at [[Carnegie Hall]]: [[Charles Ives]]'s ''Browning Overture'', [[Alan Hovhaness]]'s Symphony No. 3, and [[Kurt Leimer]]'s Piano Concerto No. 4.
*[[October 16]] – The [[New York Philharmonic|New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra]] announces that, at the request of their music director, [[Dimitri Mitropoulos]], they have engaged [[Leonard Bernstein]] to share the direction of the orchestra with Mitropoulos for the 1957–58 season.
*[[October 20]]–21 – The [[Donaueschinger Musiktage]] new-music festival takes place with a memorial concert featuring the music of [[Arthur Honegger]], and also concerts with compositions of (amongst others) [[Luciano Berio]], [[Pierre Boulez]], [[Claude Debussy]], [[Gottfried von Einem]], [[Hans Werner Henze]], [[Roman Haubenstock-Ramati]], [[Maurice Jarre]], [[Olivier Messiaen]], and [[Igor Stravinsky]]
*[[October 22]] – [[Sigurd Rascher]] and the [[Chattanooga]] Symphony Orchestra open their 1956–57 season with a concert including the world première of Carl Anton Wirth's ''Concerto for Saxophone and Orchestra''.
*[[October 29]] – In New York, the Metropolitan Opera's seventy-second season opens with a revival of [[Vincenzo Bellini|Bellini]]'s ''[[Norma (opera)|Norma]]'', made especially for [[Maria Callas]]'s Metropolitan debut in the title role.
*[[November 5]]
**[[Nat King Cole]] becomes the first major black performer to host a variety show on national television, when ''[[The Nat King Cole Show]]'' is broadcast.
**Royal Performance in the presence of Queen [[Elizabeth II]] of the United Kingdom, by [[Liberace]], in London.
*[[November 13]] – The first of a series of [[Gerard Hoffnung|Hoffnung]] Music Festival Concerts takes place at the [[Royal Festival Hall]], in London.
*[[November 28]] – [[Yoko Ono]], recently divorced from Japanese composer [[Toshi Ichiyanagi]], marries [[Anthony Cox (producer)|Anthony Cox]].
*[[December 4]] – [[Elvis Presley]], [[Jerry Lee Lewis]], [[Carl Perkins]] and [[Johnny Cash]] record together at [[Sun Records|Sun Studios]] in [[Memphis, Tennessee]]. The sessions are later released under the name "the Million Dollar Quartet"
*[[December 19]] – Breaking the record for the highest number of concurrent singles by a single artist, [[Elvis Presley]] holds 9 positions on the [[Billboard magazine|Billboard]] Hot 100 chart. Presley would hold the record until 1964 when the [[The Beatles|Beatles]] hold 14 positions on the chart.
*[[Pierre Gabaye]] wins the [[Prix de Rome]] in the Musical Composition category.
*[[Gene Vincent]] signs a publishing contract with [[Bill Lowery (record producer)|Bill Lowery]].
*[[Dalida]]'s musical career begins on [[Barclay Records]] in Europe as (one of) the first biggest "world pop star" and sex symbol and she is the first artist to have her photo on a single in France. 175 000 copies of her big hits "Bambino" are sold in a few weeks.
*[[Chrysler Corporation]] provides an in-car turntable 16{{frac|2|3}}&nbsp;rpm record player with 7-inch ultramicrogroove records in its luxury make, the [[Imperial (automobile)|Imperial]]. The machine was developed by [[Peter Carl Goldmark]]&nbsp;– the man who invented the 33{{frac|1|3}}&nbsp;rpm long playing (LP) record format.
*[[Cameo-Parkway Records]] is formed in [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]], by [[Kal Mann]] and [[Bernie Lowe]].
*Foundation of the Korean piano brand [[Young Chang]].
*Cleveland television station [[WEWS-TV]] launches ''Polka Varieties'', a regular Sunday-afternoon, hour-long program devoted to [[Polka|polka music]]; [[Frank Yankovic]] leads the original band to perform on the show.