1964 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1964.

Specific locations

• 1964 in British music
• 1964 in Norwegian music

Specific genres

• 1964 in country music
• 1964 in jazz

Events

• January 1 – The first episode of the long-running weekly pop music show Top of the Pops airs on BBC TV in the U.K.^[1] The first programme is produced in Manchester and the first two acts featured are Dusty Springfield with "I Only Want to Be with You" and The Rolling Stones with "I Wanna Be Your Man".^[2][3]
• The Jack Paar Show
  in the U.S.
• January 10 – Introducing... The Beatles, the first album by The Beatles to be released in the United States, comes out on Chicago's Vee-Jay Records, preceding Capitol Records' release of Meet the Beatles!, scheduled for January 20.^[4]
• January 13 – Bob Dylan's The Times They Are a-Changin' is released on Columbia Records.
• Vee Jay Records files a lawsuit against Capitol Records and Swan Records over manufacturing and distribution rights to Beatles albums on the U.S. On April 9, Capitol Records is granted an injunction restraining Vee Jay Records from further manufacturing, distributing or advertising recordings by the Beatles.^[4]
• Billboard magazine
  charts in the U.S. for the first time.

• January 25 – The late John F. Kennedy becomes the first President credited with a Top 10 album after Dickie Goodman releases John F. Kennedy: The Presidential Years 1960–1963. The following week a second album credited to the late President would also hit the Top 10, giving Kennedy two posthumous albums simultaneously in the Top 10.
• February 1 – Indiana Governor Matthew E. Welsh declares the 1963 recording of "Louie Louie" by The Kingsmen pornographic. He requests that the Indiana Broadcasters Association ban the record. Governor Welsh claims that hearing the song made his "ears tingle." Publisher Max Firetag offers $1,000 to anyone that can find anything "suggestive" in the song's lyrics and there are no prosecutions. The FBI's investigation is hampered by it finding the lyrics nearly unintelligible.^[5]
• Kennedy Airport
  .
• February 9 – The Beatles perform on The Ed Sullivan Show, which breaks television ratings records.
• February 12 – Anna Moffo collapses onstage at Covent Garden in the first act of Rigoletto, and her part is taken over, after a delay of 45 minutes, by Welsh soprano Elizabeth Vaughan.
• February 16 – The Beatles again appear on The Ed Sullivan Show.
• February 22 – Plácido Domingo makes his international breakthrough at the première of Ginastera's Don Rodrigo in New York City.
• February 23
  • The Beatles again appear on The Ed Sullivan Show.
  • Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra at Birmingham Town Hall
    due to an attack of appendicitis.
• March 1
  • Capitol Records is bombarded with requests for heavyweight boxing champion Cassius Clay's album, I Am the Greatest, following Clay's defeat of Sonny Liston on February 25 and his announcement two days later that he has converted to Islam. (On March 6 will come the announcement that he would adopt the name Muhammad Ali.)
  • American premiere of
    SUNY Potsdam (Brock McElheran, chorus master), and members of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra (Lukas Foss, music director), conducted by the composer, in Kleinhans Music Hall in Buffalo, New York
    .
• March 6 – Elvis Presley's 14th motion picture, Kissin' Cousins is released to theaters.
• March 14 – Billboard magazine reports that sales of Beatles records make up 60% of the entire singles market.
• March 16 – Disc jockey Alan Freed is charged with tax evasion in the U.S.
• March 21 – Italy wins the 9th Eurovision Song Contest, held in the Tivoli Concert Hall, Copenhagen, with the song "Non ho l'età", sung by 16-year-old Gigliola Cinquetti.
• March 24 – John Lennon's first book, In His Own Write is published.
• March 27 – The Beatles occupy the top six spots on the Australian pop chart.
• March 28 – Wax likenesses of The Beatles are put on display in London's Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. The Beatles are the first pop stars to be displayed at the museum.
• April – Drummer Keith Moon joins The Who.
• Billboard
  's Hot 100 with their singles "Can't Buy Me Love", "Twist and Shout", "She Loves You", "I Want to Hold Your Hand", and "Please Please Me".
• Billboard Hot 100 chart. Previously, the highest number of concurrent singles by one artist on the Hot 100 was nine by Elvis Presley
  , December 19, 1956.
• April 16 – The Rolling Stones release their eponymous début album.
• May 2 – In the United States, The Beatles' Second Album climbs to the #1 spot on the LP charts in only its second week of release.
• The Swingle Singers wins Best New Artist
  .
• Melbourne, Australia
• June
  • During a performance at the Railway, Pete Townshend of The Who accidentally breaks the head of his guitar on the low ceiling above the stage. This incident marks the start of auto-destructive art by destroying guitars and drums on stage.
  • Marianne Faithfull's singing career begins with the release of her single "As Tears Go By" written by members of The Rolling Stones.
• June 5 – The Rolling Stones start their first U.S. tour.
• mod
  audience. It fails to reach the top 50 and the band reverts to calling themselves The Who.
• July 6 – The Beatles' first film, A Hard Day's Night, is released.^[6]
• July 10
  • The album of A Hard Day's Night is released in the U.K. All tracks are written by Lennon and McCartney.
  • More than 300 people are injured in Liverpool when a crowd of some 150,000 people welcome The Beatles back to their home city.
• August 2 – The wreckage of the plane piloted by Jim Reeves is found near Brentwood, Tennessee, 42 hours after it crashed. There are no survivors.
• August 4 – The Kinks release their iconic single "You Really Got Me".
• August 8 – Bob Dylan releases his fourth album, Another Side of Bob Dylan.
• August 17 – Indiana University Opera Theater presents Turandot at the New York World's Fair featuring newly retired Metropolitan Opera soprano Margaret Harshaw, a member of the voice faculty, in the title role.
• August 19 – The Beatles start their second visit to, and first nationwide tour of, the United States with a concert at the Cow Palace in Daly City, California, before more than 17,000 fans.
• August 22 – The Supremes reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with the first of five successive number one hits, "Where Did Our Love Go".
• September 8 – The American premiere of Karlheinz Stockhausen's Originale at Judson Hall in New York City is picketed by a group calling themselves Action Against Cultural Imperialism.
• September 16 – Shindig! premieres on ABC.
• September 21 – The China Conservatory of Music is established in Beijing.
• September 22 – Fiddler on the Roof opens on Broadway.
• October – Dr. Robert Moog demonstrates his prototype synthesizers.^[7]
• Sounds of Silence
  , in 1966, it hits #30 on the Billboard charts.
• October 24 – The Rolling Stones start their second US tour.
• October 25 – The Rolling Stones perform on The Ed Sullivan Show for the first time.
• The T.A.M.I. Show
  is filmed.
• October 31 – The Supremes reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with the second of five successive number one hits, "Baby Love".
• November – A deal with U.K. impresario W. H. Miller lands the Anita Kerr Quartette on Capitol Records for North America.
• A Change Is Gonna Come
  ", a song considered by many to be his best, is released.
• December 19 – The Supremes reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with the third of five successive number one hits, "Come See About Me".
• December 24 – The Beatles gain the Christmas number one in the United Kingdom for the second year running with I Feel Fine, which has topped the singles charts for the third week running. The Beatles have now had six number ones in the U.K. alone.^[8]
• date unknown
  • Dalida is the first star to receive a Platinum Disc in Europe.
  • 11-year-old
    ASCAP
    ) after publishing, recording and releasing the song "The Way I Used to Be".
  • The National Institute of Kathak Dance is established in New Delhi.
  • Sonny and Cher begin performing together as "Caesar and Cleo".

Bands formed

• See Category:Musical groups established in 1964

Albums released

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Release date unknown

   Billboard Top Soul Singles 1964

   Billboard Top Country Singles 1964

   Top Easy Listening Singles 1964

   Top Rock Tracks 1964 (unofficial)

• "The Addams Family theme song" w.m. Vic Mizzy
• "
  Edward Holland, Brian Holland & Lamont Dozier
• "The Ballad of
  Frank DeVol and Sherwood Schwartz
• "Before the Parade Passes By" w.m. Jerry Herman, from the musical Hello, Dolly!
• "Bewitched theme song" w.m. Howard Greenfield and Jack Keller
• "Chapel Of Love" w.m. Phil Spector, Ellie Greenwich & Jeff Barry
• "Chim Chim Cher-ee" w.m. Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman
• "Cryin' Time" w.m. Buck Owens
• "Dear Heart" w. Jay Livingston & Ray Evans m. Henry Mancini
• "Feed the Birds" w.m. Richard M. Sherman & Robert B. Sherman introduced by Julie Andrews in the film Mary Poppins
• "Gimme Some" w. Lee Adams m. Charles Strouse
• "Glad All Over" w.m. Dave Clark & Mike Smith
• "Goin' Out of My Head" w.m. Teddy Randazzo & Bobby Weinstein
• "Golden Boy" w. Lee Adams m. Charles Strouse
• "
  Bert Russell & Wes Farrell
• "Have I the Right?" w.m. Ken Howard & Alan Blaikley
• "A House Is Not a Home" w. Hal David m. Burt Bacharach from the film A House Is Not a Home. Recorded by Dionne Warwick.
• "Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte", m.
  film
  of the same name
• "
  I Will Wait For You" m. Michel Legrand. From the film musical The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
• "
  musical Fiddler on the Roof by Zero Mostel. Performed by Chaim Topol
  in the 1971 film version.
• "Invisible Tears" w.m. Ned Miller and Sue Miller
• "It's Over" w.m. Roy Orbison & Bill Dees
• "
  The Roar of the Greasepaint - The Smell of the Crowd
• "Let's Go Fly a Kite" w.m. Richard M. Sherman & Robert B. Sherman from the film Mary Poppins
• "Oh, Pretty Woman" w.m. Roy Orbison & Bill Dees
• "Pass Me By" w. Carolyn Leigh m. Cy Coleman. Introduced by Digby Wolfe in the film Father Goose
• "Put On Your Sunday Clothes" w.m. Jerry Herman, from the musical Hello, Dolly!
• "Sister Suffragette" w.m. Richard M. Sherman & Robert B. Sherman. Introduced by Glynis Johns in the film Mary Poppins.
• "So Long, Dearie" w.m. Jerry Herman, from the musical Hello, Dolly!
• "A Spoonful of Sugar" w.m. Richard M. Sherman & Robert B. Sherman from the film Mary Poppins
• "Style" w.
  Robin And The Seven Hoods
• "Sunrise, Sunset" w. Sheldon Harnick m. Jerry Bock
• "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" w.m. Richard M. Sherman & Robert B. Sherman from the film Mary Poppins
• "That's Life" w.m. Dean Kay & Kelly Gordon
• "Tradition" w. Sheldon Harnick m. Jerry Bock
• "
  Edward Holland
• "A World Without Love" w.m. John Lennon and Paul McCartney
• "
  Zorbas" (Zorba's Dance) m. Mikis Theodorakis

• "
  Dahil Sa Iyo
  " w.m. Tom Spinosa and Mike Velarde, Jr.
• "
  I miei pensieri
  " w. Sanzio Chiesa m. Giovanni Pelli
• "Laisse tomber les filles" w.m. Serge Gainsbourg
• "L'Orange" w.m. Gilbert Bécaud and Pierre Delanoë
• "Mon Pays" w.m. Gilles Vigneault
• "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" w.m. Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman (for Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress)
• "
  It's A Small World (After All)" w.m. Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman
• "
  Que C'est Triste Venise" w.m. Françoise Dorin

• Gilbert Amy
  • Alpha-beth, for flute, oboe, clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon, and horn
  • Cahiers d'épigrammes, for piano
• Eyvin Andersen – Concerto for violin and orchestra
• Jurriaan Andriessen – After the Fall, incidental music
• Louis Andriessen
  • A Flower Song II, for oboe
  • A Flower Song III, for cello
  • Ittrospezione III, for two pianos and three instrumental groups,
  • Sweet, for alto recorder
• Malcolm Arnold
  • Pieces (5), for violin and piano, Op. 84
  • Sinfonietta No. 3, for orchestra, Op. 81
  • A Sunshine Overture, for orchestra, Op. 83
  • Water Music, for winds and percussion, Op. 82
• Milton Babbitt
  • Ensembles for Synthesizer, for four-track tape
  • Philomel, for soprano and four-track tape
• Samuel Barber
  • Chorale for Ascension Day, for chorus, brass, timpani, and organ (ad lib.)
  • Night Flight, for orchestra, Op.19a,
• Luciano Berio
  • Chemins I on Sequenza II, for harp and orchestra
  • Folk Songs, for soprano and seven instruments
  • Rounds, for voice and harpsichord (subsequently withdrawn)
  • Traces, for soprano, mezzo-soprano, two actors, chorus, and orchestra (subsequently withdrawn)
• Harrison Birtwistle
  • Entr'actes and Sappho Fragments, for soprano, flute, oboe, violin, viola, harp, and percussion
  • Three Movements with Fanfares, for chamber orchestra
• Rob du Bois
  • Deuxième série de rondeaux, for piano four-hands and optional percussion
  • Just Like a Little Sonata, for piano
  • Pastorale VI, for piano
  • Pastorale VII, for alto recorder
  • Quartet, for oboe, violin, violin, and cello (revised version)
• Benjamin Britten
  • Cadenza for Haydn's Cello Concerto in C major
  • Suite No. 1 for cello solo, Op. 72
  • Symphony for Cello and Orchestra, op. 68 (revised version)
• Earle Brown – Corroboree, for three or two pianos
• Carlos Chávez
  • Concerto for four horns and orchestra (revision)
  • Fuga HAGC, for violin, viola, cello, and contrabass
  • Resonancias, for orchestra
  • Tambuco, for six percussionists
• Aaron Copland
  • Down a Country Lane, for school orchestra
  • Emblems, for symphonic band
  • Music for a Great City
• George Crumb – Four Nocturnes (Night Music II) for violin and piano
• Luigi Dallapiccola
  • Parole di San Paolo, for mezzo-soprano or boy's voice and 11 instruments
  • Quattro liriche di Antonio Machado, version for soprano and chamber orchestra
• Mario Davidovsky
  • Electronic Study No. 3
  • Synchronisms No. 2 for flute, clarinet, violin, cello and tape
  • Synchronisms No. 3 for cello and electronic sound
• Peter Maxwell Davies
  • Little Pieces (5), for piano
  • Second Fantasia on John Taverner's In Nomine, for orchestra
  • Shakespeare Music, for 11 instruments
• Michel Decoust – Horizon remarquable (lyrics by René Char)
• David Diamond
  • The Martyr for male choir (revised version)
  • "My Papa's Waltz", for voice and piano
  • "Prayer", for voice and piano
  • String Quartet No. 8
  • Symphony No. 5
  • We Two, song cycle, voice and piano
• Andrzej Dobrowolski – Music for Strings and Four Groups of Wind Instruments
• Henri Dutilleux – Métaboles
• Morton Feldman
  • The King of Denmark, for percussion solo
  • Numbers, for flute, horn, trombone, tuba, percussion, celesta, piano, violin, and contrabass
  • Piano Piece
  • Vertical Thoughts IV, for piano
• Wolfgang Fortner
  • Epigramme, for piano
  • Minne, cantata for tenor and guitar
  • Zyklus, for cello and piano
• Gara Garayev
  • Symphony No. 3
• Roberto Gerhard
  • The Anger of Achilles, incidental music
  • Macbeth, incidental music
• Alberto Ginastera
  • Bomarzo cantata, for tenor or baritone, narrator, and chamber orchestra, Op. 32
  • Don Rodrigo Symphony, for soprano and orchestra, Op. 31a
• Alexander Goehr
  • Five Poems and an Epigram of William Blake, for chorus and trumpet, Op. 17
  • Pieces (3), for piano, Op. 18
• Karel Goeyvaerts – Stuk voor piano en tape
• Fernando Lopes Graça
  • Canciones (4), for voice and chamber orchestra (revised version)
  • Prelúdio, capricho e galope, for violin and piano (second revision)
  • Romances, for voice and piano
  • Sonnets (4), for voice and piano
  • String Quartet No. 1
• Ferde Grofé – World's Fair Suite
• Alois Hába
  • String Quartet No. no.15, Op. 95, in 1⁄5-tones
  • Suite, for bass clarinet solo, Op. 96
• Roy Harris
  • Epilogue to Profiles in Courage–JFK, for orchestra
  • Etudes for Pedals, for organ
  • Fantasy, for organ, brass, and timpani
  • Horn of Plenty, for orchestra
  • Jubilate for Worship (Alleluia), for SATB choir, brass, piano, and percussion
  • Salute to Youth, for orchestra
  • Sonata, for cello and piano
• Hans Werner Henze
  • Chor gefangener Trojer, for chorus and orchestra (revised version)
  • Divertimenti, for two pianos
  • Der Frieden, incidental music
  • Ein Landarzt, opera in one-act (revised from the 1951 radio opera version)
  • Lieder von einer Insel, for chamber chorus, trombone, two cellos, contrabass, chamber organ, percussion, and timpani
  • Sinfonische Etüden (3), for orchestra (revised version)
  • Tancredi, ballet, for orchestra
  • Zwischenspiele (from Der junge Lord), for orchestra
• Alan Hovhaness
  • Bagatelles (4), for string quartet, Op. 30
  • Floating World "Ukiyo", for orchestra, Op. 209
  • Haiku (3), for piano, op. 113
  • Meditation on Zeami, for orchestra, Op. 207
  • Sonata, for flute solo, Op. 118
  • Sonata, for 2 oboes and organ, Op. 130 (revised version)
  • String Quartet no.3, Op. 208, No. 1
  • String Quartet no. 4, Op. 208, No. 2
  • Variations and Fugue, for orchestra, Op. 18
• Kan Ishii – Otokonoko ga umarete (男の子が生まれて), for male chorus
• Maki Ishii – Gallow Songs (絞首台の歌; Galgenlieder) for baritone, male chorus and ensemble
• Wojciech Kilar – Diphthongos for mixed choir and orchestra
• Włodzimierz Kotoński
  • Monochromia, for oboe solo
  • Pezzo, for flute and piano
  • Wind Quintet
• György Ligeti – Fragment, for ten instruments (revised version)
• Annotations of Auschwitz (cantata with words by Peter Porter
  )
• Witold Lutosławski – String Quartet
• Bruno Maderna
  • Aria da Hyperion, for soprano, flute, and orchestra
  • Dimensioni IV, for flute, picccolo, alto flute, bass flute, and chamber orchestra
• Yoritsune Matsudaira
  • Chamber Concerto, for harpsichord and harp
  • Concerto No. 1 for piano and orchestra
• Toshirō Mayuzumi
  • Campanology Olympica, electronic music
  • Ongaku no tanjō, for orchestra
  • Raihai jokyoku, for orchestra
• Olivier Messiaen
  • Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum, for 34 wind instruments and 3 percussionists
  • Prélude, for piano
• Darius Milhaud
  • Adam, for soprano, 2 tenors, and 2 baritones, Op. 411
  • Adieu (cantata), for voice, flute, viola, and harp, Op. 410
  • L'amour chanté, for voice and piano, Op. 409
  • Concerto for harpsichord and orchestra, Op. 407
  • Septet, for 2 violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos, and contrabass, Op. 408
• İlhan Mimaroğlu
  • Agony, for magnetic tape
  • Le Tombeau d'Edgar A. Poe, for magnetic tape
  • Intermezzo, for magnetic tape
  • Bowery Bum, for magnetic tape
• Makoto Moroi
  • Pieces (5), for shakuhachi
  • Toccata, Sarabande, and Tarantella, for piano and two string orchestras
• Bo Nilsson – La bran, for chorus and orchestra
• Luigi Nono
  • Da un diario italiano, for two choruses
  • La fabbrica illuminata, for mezzo-soprano and tape
• Juan Orrego-Salas
  • Concerto, for winds, Op. 53
  • Sonata, for violin and piano, op. 9 (revised version)
  • Sonata a 4 (Edgewood Sonata), for flute, oboe, harpsichord, and contrabass, Op. 55
• Luis de Pablo – Escena, for SATB choir, strings, and percussion
• Arvo Pärt
  • Collage über B-A-C-H, oboe, harpsichord, piano, and strings
  • Diagramme, for piano, Op.11
  • Musica sillabica, for 12 instruments, Op. 12
  • Quintettino, for wind quintet
• Juan Carlos Paz
  • Concreción 1964, for flute, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone, and tuba
  • Galaxia 64, for organ
  • Música para piano y orquesta
• Krzysztof Penderecki
  • Cantata in honorem Almae Matris Universitatis Iagellonicae sescentos abhinc annos fundatae, for 2 choruses, contrabassoon, brass, percussion, piano, and organ
  • Pieśń żałobna ku czci B. Rutkowskiego, for chorus
  • Sonata, for cello and orchestra
• Vincent Persichetti
  • Cummings Choruses (4), for two voices and piano, Op. 98
  • Introit, for string orchestra, Op. 96
  • Winter Cantata (11 Haiku), for four-part women's choir, flute, and marimba, Op. 97
• Goffredo Petrassi
  • Concerto for Orchestra No. 7
  • Sesto non-senso, for a cappella choir
  • Tre per sette, for piccolo (+ flute + alto flute), oboe (+ English horn), E♭ clarinet (+ clarinet)
• Walter Piston
  • Quartet for violin, viola, cello, and piano
  • Sextet for strings
• Terry Riley – In C
• Hilding Rosenberg – Sönerna (Cain and Abel), ballet, for orchestra
• Ahmed Adnan Saygun
  – Ten Etudes on "Aksak" Rhythms, for piano
• R. Murray Schafer – Statement in Blue, for youth orchestra
• Dieter Schnebel
  • Compositio, for orchestra (revised version)
  • Concert sans orchestre (réactions 2), for piano and audience
• William Schuman – Amaryllis Variations, for string trio
• Dmitri Shostakovich
  • String Quartet No. 9 in E-flat major, Op. 117
  • String Quartet No. 10 in A-flat major, Op. 118
• Karlheinz Stockhausen
  • Mikrophonie I
  • Mixtur for five orchestra groups, sine-wave generators, and ring modulators
• Igor Stravinsky
  • Elegy for J.F.K., for baritone or mezzo-soprano and 3 clarinets
  • Fanfare for a New Theatre, for two trumpets
• Tōru Takemitsu
  • Blue Aurora for Toshi Ichiyanagi, theatre piece
  • Ichinotani monogatari, incidental music
  • Natsukashino San Francisco, for tape
• James Tenney – Music for Player Piano
• Mikis Theodorakis – Axion Esti
• Virgil Thomson
  • Autumn, concertino for harp, strings, and percussion
  • Auvergnat Folk Songs (5), for SATB choir and orchestra
  • The Feast of Love, for baritone and orchestra
  • Pilgrims and Pioneers, for band
  • When I Survey the Bright Celestial Sphere, for unison voices and organ or piano
• Iannis Xenakis
  • Eonta, for two trumpets, three trombones, and piano
  • Hiketides: les suppliates d'Eschyle, for 50 female voices and 10 instruments or orchestra
• La Monte Young
  • Bowed Mortar Relays, action work, realization of Composition 1960 no. 9
  • Eat (music for the film by Andy Warhol), for tape
  • Haircut (music for the film by Andy Warhol), for tape
  • Kiss (music for the film by Andy Warhol), for tape
  • Prelude to The Tortoise, for voices, various instruments, and electronic drones
  • Sleep (music for the film by Andy Warhol), for tape
  • The Tortoise Droning Selected Pitches from The Holy Numbers for The Two Black Tigers, The Green Tiger and The Hermit, for voices, various instruments, and electronic drones
  • The Tortoise Recalling The Drone of The Holy Numbers as They Were Revealed in the Dreams of The Whirlwind and The Obsidian Gong and Illuminated by The Sawmill, The Green Sawtooth Ocelot and The High-Tension Line Stepdown Transformer, for voices, various instruments, and electronic drones
  • The Well-Tuned Piano
• Joji Yuasa – Projection Esemplastic with White Noise, electronic music
• Bernd Alois Zimmermann
  • Monologue, for two pianos
  • Un petit rien, for small orchestra

Opera

• Jurriaan Andriessen – Het zwarte blondje
• Samuel Barber – Vanessa (revised version)
• Benjamin Britten – Curlew River (church parable)
• Alberto Ginastera – Don Rodrigo, op. 31
• Bruno Maderna – Hyperion
• Gian Carlo Menotti – Martin's Lie
• Joaquín Rodrigo – El hijo fingido (zarzuela)
• Robert Ward – The Lady from Colorado

Jazz

Musical theater

• Hello, Dolly! (Jerry Herman) – Broadway production opened at the St. James Theatre on January 16 and ran for 2844 performances
• 54th Street Theater
  on February 27 and ran for 540 performances
• Funny Girl (Jule Styne and Bob Merrill) – Broadway production opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on March 26 and ran for 1348 performances
• Anyone Can Whistle – Broadway production opened at the Majestic Theatre on April 4 and ran for 9 performances
• Imperial Theatre
  on September 22 and ran for 3242 performances
• Robert Emmett Dolan. Broadway production opened on February 16 and ran for 72 performances. Starring Bert Lahr, Larry Blyden, Cathryn Damon and Julienne Marie
  .
• Golden Boy – Broadway production opened at the Majestic Theatre on October 20 and ran for 569 performances
• Lyric Theatre
  on April 29 and ran for 189 performances
• Maggie May London production opened at the Adelphi Theatre on September 22 and ran for 501 performances
• Lyric Theatre
  on October 20 and ran for 948 performances
• Little Me, the musical – London production opened at the Cambridge Theatre on November 18 and ran for 334 performances
• Salad Days (Julian Slade) – London revival