1931 in British music

This is a summary of 1931 in music in the United Kingdom.

Events

 * 24 January – Mary Garden makes her last appearance with the Chicago Civic Opera company. She retires to her native Scotland.
 * 22–28 July – The ninth annual ISCM Festival of Contemporary Music takes place in London and Oxford, with concerts of orchestral, choral, and chamber music.
 * 22 August – Anton Webern’s Passacaglia Op. 1 receives its first performance in England at the Proms, by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conductor Henry Wood.
 * date unknown – Gustav Holst appears as an extra in a crowd scene in the film The Bells.

Popular music

 * "Close Your Eyes", by D. Carter and H. M. Tennent
 * "Lady Of Spain"; music by Tolchard Evans, lyrics by Erell Reaves
 * "Mad Dogs and Englishmen", by Noël Coward
 * "My Girl's Pussy", by Harry Roy and his Bat Club Boys

Classical music: new works

 * Havergal Brian – Symphony No. 2 in E minor
 * Frank Bridge – Phantasm, for piano and orchestra
 * Benjamin Britten –
 * Christ's Nativity, Christmas Suite, for SATB choir
 * Plymouth Town, ballet, for orchestra
 * String Quartet in D
 * Arnold Cooke – Passacaglia, Scherzo, and Finale, for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and string quartet
 * Frederick Delius –
 * Fantastic Dance, for orchestra
 * Irmelin Prelude, for orchestra
 * George Dyson – The Canterbury Pilgrims (Geoffrey Chaucer), for soprano, tenor, baritone, choir, and orchestra
 * Edward Elgar – Soliloquy, for oboe and orchestra
 * Gerald Finzi – To Joy, for voice and piano, op. 13
 * Patrick Hadley – Symphonic Ballad: The Trees So High
 * Gustav Holst – Twelve Welsh Folk Songs, for choir, H183
 * Herbert Howells –
 * "A Maid Peerless", for SSAA choir and orchestra
 * Severn, for SATB choir
 * Gordon Jacob – Passacaglia on a Well-Known Theme, for orchestra
 * Elizabeth Maconchy –
 * A Hymn to Christ, A Hymn to God the Father, for double choir
 * The Leaden Echo and the Golden Echo, for choir and orchestra
 * Cyril Scott –
 * Concerto, for cello and orchestra
 * Trio No. 1, for violin, viola, and cello
 * Trio No. 2, for violin, viola, and cello
 * Herbert Sumsion – Piano Trio
 * Michael Tippett – Symphonic Movement, for orchestra
 * Ralph Vaughan Williams –
 * Job: A Masque for Dancing (ballet)
 * Piano Concerto in C major
 * William Walton – Belshazzar's Feast (oratorio)

Opera

 * Thomas Frederick Dunhill – Tantivy Towers, words by A. P. Herbert

Film and Incidental music

 * John D. H. Greenwood – Alibi

Musical theatre

 * 8 January – Folly To Be Wise (revue) opens at the Piccadilly Theatre, starring Cicely Courtneidge.
 * 13 October – Noël Coward's Cavalcade opens at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, where it runs for 405 performances.
 * 23 December – Hold My Hand (Music: Noel Gay Lyrics: Desmond Carter Book: Stanley Lupino) opens at the Gaiety Theatre, Starring Jessie Matthews, Sonnie Hale and Stanley Lupino.

Musical films

 * A Man of Mayfair, starring Jack Buchanan
 * Sally in Our Alley, starring Gracie Fields
 * Sunshine Susie, starring Renate Müller and Jack Hulbert

Births

 * 6 January – David Whitaker, composer, songwriter, arranger and conductor (died 2012)
 * 29 January – Leslie Bricusse, composer, lyricist and playwright (died 2021)
 * 5 March – Anthony Hedges, composer (died 2019)
 * 25 March – Humphrey Burton, television music and arts presenter
 * 30 June – James Loughran, orchestral conductor (died 2024)
 * 29 April – Lonnie Donegan, skiffle musician (died 2002)
 * 4 July – Duncan Lamont, saxophonist, composer and bandleader (died 1919)
 * 5 July – Aloysius Gordon, British-based Jamaican jazz pianist, singer (died 2017)
 * 28 August – John Shirley-Quirk, operatic bass-baritone (died 2014)
 * 12 September – Tommy Moore, drummer (died 1981)
 * 24 September – Anthony Newley, songwriter, actor and singer (died 1999)
 * 4 October – Anna Reynolds, operatic mezzo-soprano (died 2014)
 * 4 November – Clinton Ford, singer (died 2009)

Deaths

 * 8 May – Bertha Lewis, singer and actress with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, 43 (car accident)
 * 18 June – Fanny Holland, singer and actress, 83
 * 22 August – Joseph Tabrar, songwriter, 73
 * 19 November – Frederic Cliffe, composer, 74
 * 23 November – Leonora Braham, operatic soprano and actress, 78