1946 in British music

This is a summary of 1946 in music in the United Kingdom.

Events

 * February – Kathleen Ferrier's recording contract with Columbia Records expires, and she transfers to Decca.
 * 21 March – Swedish premiere of Peter Grimes, the opera's first performance outside the UK, in Stockholm.
 * June – George Formby is awarded the Order of the British Empire in the 1946 King's Birthday Honours List.
 * 5 July – Michael Tippett arranges the first British performance of Monteverdi's Vespers at Morley College, adding his own organ Preludio for the occasion.
 * 6, 7 & 9 August – Leonard Bernstein conducts the first US performance of Peter Grimes at the Berkshire Music Center, Tanglewood.

Popular music

 * Geraldo and his Orchestra – "We'll Gather Lilacs" (Ivor Novello)
 * Archie Lewis and The Geraldo Strings – "I Dream of You (More Than You Dream I Do)"
 * "It's A Pity To Say Goodnight" – (Billy Reid)

Classical music: new works

 * Malcolm Arnold – Symphony for Strings, Opus 13
 * Edmund Rubbra – Cello Sonata, Opus 60
 * Michael Tippett – Little Music for String Orchestra
 * Ralph Vaughan Williams – Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra, co-arranged with Joseph Cooper
 * William Walton – String Quartet No. 2 in A minor

Opera

 * Benjamin Britten – The Rape of Lucretia

Film and Incidental music

 * William Alwyn – I See a Dark Stranger, starring Deborah Kerr and Trevor Howard.
 * John Ireland – The Overlanders.
 * Alan Rawsthorne – The Captive Heart, starring Michael Redgrave.

Musical theatre

 * 7 March – The London production of Song of Norway opens at the Palace Theatre and runs for 526 performances.
 * 19 December – Noël Coward's new musical Pacific 1860 opens at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, starring Mary Martin and Graham Payn.

Musical films

 * Gaiety George, released July 22, starring Richard Greene and Ann Todd.
 * I'll Turn to You, directed by Geoffrey Faithfull, starring Terry Randall and Don Stannard
 * The Laughing Lady, directed by Paul L. Stein, starring Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth
 * London Town, released September 30, starring Sid Fields, Greta Gynt, Petula Clark, Kay Kendall and Sonny Hale and featuring Tessie O'Shea and Beryl Davis.
 * The Magic Bow, directed by Bernard Knowles, starring Stewart Granger and Phyllis Calvert

Births

 * 3 January – John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin)
 * 6 January – Syd Barrett (Pink Floyd) (died 2006)
 * 10 January – Aynsley Dunbar, drummer and songwriter
 * 22 January – Malcolm McLaren, impresario and founder of the Sex Pistols (died 2010)
 * 7 March – Matthew Fisher (Procol Harum)
 * 21 March – Ray Dorset (Mungo Jerry)
 * 1 April – Ronnie Lane, singer, songwriter and guitarist (The Faces) (died 1997)
 * 2 April – Raymond Gubbay, classical music promoter
 * 4 April – Dave Hill, guitarist (Slade)
 * 11 April – Bob Harris, DJ
 * 10 May
 * Donovan, folk singer
 * Graham Gouldman, singer and songwriter (10cc)
 * Dave Mason, singer-songwriter and guitarist (Traffic and Fleetwood Mac)
 * 15 May – Aly Bain, Scottish fiddler (The Boys of the Lough)
 * 16 May – Robert Fripp, guitarist, composer and record producer
 * 18 May – Bruce Gilbert, guitarist (Wire and Dome)
 * 15 June - Noddy Holder, singer and songwriter (Slade)
 * 30 June - Giles Swayne, composer
 * 19 July – Alan Gorrie, Scottish singer and bass player (Average White Band and Forever More)
 * 23 July – Andy Mackay, saxophonist, oboist, and composer
 * 10 August – Peter Karrie, star of West End musical productions
 * 1 September – Barry Gibb, singer and songwriter
 * 5 September – Freddie Mercury, singer (Queen) (died 1991)
 * 23 September – Duster Bennett, blues singer and musician (died 1976)
 * 28 September – Helen Shapiro, singer
 * 14 October
 * Justin Hayward, guitarist, singer and songwriter (The Moody Blues)
 * Dan McCafferty (Nazareth)
 * 29 October – Peter Green, guitarist and singer
 * 8 November – Roy Wood, singer and songwriter (The Move, Wizzard)
 * 11 November – Chip Hawkes, vocalist and guitarist (The Tremeloes)
 * 24 November – Bev Bevan, drummer (Electric Light Orchestra, Black Sabbath)
 * 1 December – Gilbert O'Sullivan, singer-songwriter
 * 10 December – Ace Kefford, bass player
 * 12 December – Clive Bunker, drummer (Jethro Tull, Electric Sun, Solstice, and Aviator)
 * 14 December – Jane Birkin, French-based actress and singer (died 2023)
 * 16 December – Trevor Pinnock, harpsichordist and conductor
 * 29 December – Marianne Faithfull, singer and actress

Deaths

 * 29 January – Sidney Jones, conductor and composer, 84
 * 20 February – Hugh Allen, organist and choral conductor, 76
 * 13 March – Thomas Dunhill, composer and music writer, 69
 * 13 April – W. H. Bell, composer and conductor, 72
 * 1 May
 * Edward Bairstow, organist and composer, 71
 * Percy Whitlock, organist and composer, 42 (tuberculosis)
 * 16 October – Sir Granville Bantock, composer, 78
 * 10 November – Nicholas Gatty, composer and music critic, 72
 * 5 December – Tom Clare, music hall singer and pianist, 70
 * 15 December – Frederic Norton, composer, 77