This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1948.
Specific locations 1948 in British music 1948 in Norwegian music
Specific genres 1948 in country music 1948 in jazz
Events January 10 – The Amadeus Quartet gives its first recital under this name, at the Wigmore Hall in London. February 25 – First Nice Jazz Festival with Louis Armstrong, Stéphane Grappelli, Claude Luter, Mezz Mezzrow and Django Reinhardt. It is during this first edition that Suzy Delair sings for the first time the song "C'est si bon" to a cabaret where Louis Armstrong ended his evening. March 20 – Renowned Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini makes his television debut, conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra in the United States in a program featuring the works of Richard Wagner. April 3 – Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 is played on television in its entirety for the first time in a concert featuring Toscanini conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra. The chorus was prepared by Robert Shaw. April 21 – National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain gives its first concert. May 20 – The Second International Congress of Composers and Music Critics 1948 opens in Prague. June 5 – Opening of the first Aldeburgh Festival, founded by Benjamin Britten, Eric Crozier and Peter Pears. Summer – John Cage begins teaching at Black Mountain College in North Carolina. June 21 – Columbia Records introduces the long-playing record album in a public demonstrationThe First Long-Playing Disc Library of Congress (Congress.gov) (accessdate 21 June 2021) at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. November 29 – First live telecast of a complete opera by the Metropolitan Opera, of the opening-night performance of Giuseppe Verdi's Otello, starring Ramón Vinay, Licia Albanese, and Leonard Warren, on ABC-TV December – Perry Como has his first television Christmas Special. Hans Werner Henze becomes musical assistant at the Deutscher Theater in Konstanz. Al Jolson is voted the "Most Popular Male Vocalist" of the year by a Variety poll. Patti Page becomes the first artist to use the technique of multi-track overdubbing (later popularized by Les Paul & Mary Ford). Columbia Records introduces the rpm LP ("long playing") record at New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, featuring 25 minutes of music per side, compared to the four minutes per side of the 78 rpm record, the previous standard for gramophone records. Otis Rush moves to Chicago and begins his musical career. Igor Stravinsky and Robert Craft meet for the first time. Quartetto Cetra dubs the choruses for the Italian release of Disney's Dumbo. Gabriel von Wayditch begins work on his last opera The Heretics, which is still not completed when he dies in 1969. However, he completed the piano score of the massive 8.5 hour work, which is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's longest opera. Bruno Maderna meets Hermann Scherchen for the first time: a fundamental encounter. John Serry Sr. meets his mentor, the composer Robert Strassburg for the first time while concertizing nightly at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.
Albums released The Jolson Album Vol. 2 – Al Jolson Christmas Songs by Sinatra – Frank Sinatra Selections from Road to Rio – Bing Crosby, Andrews Sisters Concierto de Aranjuez – Regino Sainz de la Maza and the Orquesta Nacional de España
Top popular records
The following songs appeared in The Billboard's 'Best Selling Retail Records', 'Records Most-Played On the Air' and 'Most Played Juke Box Records' charts, starting November 1947 and before December 1948. Each week fifteen points were awarded to the number one record, then nine points for number two, eight points for number three, and so on. This system rewards songs that reach the highest positions, as well as those that had the longest chart runs. The total of a song's complete chart run is determined (never cutoff at the end of December, as in The Billboard's year-end lists), then the three Popular charts are combined, with that number determining a record's year-end rank. Regional charts determine the 11-25 rankings each week, and records that failed to score on the main chart were ranked by highest position. If a record scored on only one or two of the popular charts, it will obviously rank lower than a national hit on radios and juke boxes. Additional information from other sources is reported, but not used for ranking. This includes dates obtained from the "Discography of American Historical Recordings" website, chart performance from 'Most Played Juke Box Race Records', 'Most Played Juke Box Folk (Hillbilly) Records', 'Cashbox', and other sources as noted. Rank Artist Title Label Recorded Released Chart positions 1 Dinah Shore and Her Happy Boys "Buttons and Bows" Columbia 38284 US Billboard 1948 #1, US #1 for 10 weeks, 23 total weeks, 577 points, CashBox #1, Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998, sold 2.5 million 2 Pee Wee Hunt Orchestra "Twelfth Street Rag" Capitol 15105 US Billboard 1948 #2, US #1 for 8 weeks, 32 total weeks, 559 points, CashBox #34 3 Peggy Lee (Dave Barbour Orchestra) "Mañana (Is Soon Enough for Me)" Capitol 15022 US Billboard 1948 #3, US #1 for 9 weeks, 21 total weeks, 551 points, CashBox #16 4 Margaret Whiting "A Tree in the Meadow" Capitol 15122 US Billboard 1948 #4, US #1 for 5 weeks, 23 total weeks, 424 points, CashBox #3 5 Art Mooney and his Orchestra "I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover" MGM 10119 US Billboard 1948 #5, US #1 for 5 weeks, 18 total weeks, 413 points, CashBox #10 6 King Cole "Nature Boy" Capitol 15054 US Billboard 1948 #6, US #1 for 8 weeks, 18 total weeks, 386 points, CashBox #4 7 Bing Crosby "Now is the Hour" Decca 24279 US Billboard 1948 #7, US #1 for 3 weeks, 23 total weeks, 383 points, CashBox #2 8 Jon and Sondra Steele "My Happiness" Damon 11133 US Billboard 1948 #8, US #2 for 2 weeks, 30 total weeks, 380 points, CashBox #6 9 Al Trace and His New Orchestra You Call Everybody Darlin' Regent 117 US Billboard 1948 #9, US #1 for 6 weeks, 24 total weeks, 378 points, CashBox #18 10 Kay Kyser and his Orchestra "Woody Woodpecker" Columbia 38197 US Billboard 1948 #10, US #1 for 6 weeks, 15 total weeks, 360 points, CashBox #5 11 Ken Griffin (Organ) (Vocal Jerry Wayne) "You Can't Be True, Dear" Rondo 228 US Billboard 1948 #11, US #1 for 7 weeks, 23 total weeks, 341 points, CashBox #9 12 Kay Kyser and his Orchestra "On a Slow Boat to China" Columbia 38301 US Billboard 1948 #12, US #2 for 7 weeks, 20 total weeks, 328 points 13 Jo Stafford and Gordon MacRae "My Darling, My Darling" Capitol 15270 US Billboard 1948 #13, US #1 for 1 weeks, 17 total weeks, 253 points 14 Dick Haymes "Little White Lies" Decca 24280 US Billboard 1948 #14, US #2 for 1 week, 23 total weeks, 250 points 15 The Pied Pipers "My Happiness" Capitol 15278 US Billboard 1948 #15, US #3 for 1 week, 27 total weeks, 247 points 16 Doris Day "It's Magic" Columbia 38188 US Billboard 1948 #16, US #2 for 1 week, 21 total weeks, 229 points, CashBox #7 17 Ken Griffin "You Can't Be True, Dear" Rondo 128 US Billboard 1948 #17, US #2 for 7 weeks, 15 total weeks, 224 points 18 Doris Day and Buddy Clark "Love Somebody" Columbia 38174 US Billboard 1948 #18, US #1 for 5 weeks, 24 total weeks, 214 points 19 Gordon Jenkins and His Orchestra "Maybe You'll Be There" Decca 24403 US Billboard 1948 #19, US #1 for 2 weeks, 15 total weeks, 188 points 20 Francis Craig and His Orchestra "Beg Your Pardon" Bullet 1012 US Billboard 1948 #20, US #3 for 1 week, 20 total weeks, 188 points, sold 2.5 million 25 Spike Jones and His City Slickers "All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth" RCA Victor 20-3177 US Billboard 1948 #25, US #1 for 3 weeks, 8 total week, 138 points 30 Mel Blanc and the Sportsmen "Woody Woodpecker" Capitol 15278 US Billboard 1948 #30, US #2 for 5 weeks, 9 total weeks, 81 points 56 Gene Autry "Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane)" Columbia 37942 US Billboard 1948 #56, US #8 for 1 week, 5 total weeks, US Hillbilly 1948 #24, USHB #4 for 1 week, 7 total weeks, 35 points 134 Gene Autry "Buttons and Bows" Columbia 20469 US Billboard 1948 #134, US #17 for 1 week, 3 total weeks, US Hillbilly 1948 #30, USHB #6 for 1 weeks, 12 total weeks, 17 points
The Billboard's Top Race Records
The following songs appeared in The Billboard's Most-Played Juke Box Race Records and Best-Selling Retail Race Records charts, starting November 1947 through November 1948. Each week twenty points were awarded to the number one record, then fourteen points for number two, thirteen points for number three, and so on. This system rewards songs that reach the highest positions, as well as those that had the longest chart runs. Also see Billboard Top Race Records of 1948.