right|thumb|[[Maurice Ravel at the piano with Éva Gauthier in 1928; George Gershwin listens at right.]]

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1928.

Specific locations

  • 1928 in British music
  • 1928 in Norwegian music

Specific genres

  • 1928 in country music
  • 1928 in jazz

Events

  • April 27 – Igor Stravinsky's ballet Apollon musagète receives its première in Washington.
  • May 5 – Composers Alban Berg and George Gershwin meet for the first time, in Vienna.
  • June – 1928 International Columbia Graphophone Competition, sponsored by the Columbia Graphophone Company to mark Schubert's death centenary, is judged in Vienna. Kurt Atterberg's Sixth Symphony is the winner and becomes probably the first major piece to be premiered on disc.
  • August 31 – The Threepenny Opera (Die Dreigroschenoper), adapted by Bertolt Brecht, Elisabeth Hauptmann and composer Kurt Weill (with set designer Caspar Neher) from The Beggar's Opera, receives its première in Berlin at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm with Harald Paulsen and Lotte Lenya (Weill's wife) in the principal rôles.
  • September 11 – Leoš Janáček's String Quartet No. 2, Intimate Letters, receives its première in Brno.
  • September 12 – Anton Webern's String Trio receives its première in Siena.
  • September 14 – Carl Nielsen's Clarinet Concerto is given its first performance.
  • September 21 – Al Jolson marries Ruby Keeler.
  • November 22 – Maurice Ravel's Bolero receives its première in Paris at the Palais Garnier.
  • November 27 – Igor Stravinsky's ballet Le Baiser de la fée receives its première in Paris.
  • December 2 – Arnold Schoenberg's Variations for Orchestra receives its première in Berlin
  • December 29 – Pinetop Smith records "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie" in Chicago; released in 1929 (the year of Smith's death) it becomes the first hit boogie-woogie recording.
  • Edward German is knighted for services to music.
  • Eric Fenby begins work as amanuensis for Frederick Delius.
  • Maurice Ravel embarks on a concert tour of the United States, where he meets George Gershwin.
  • Tampa Red's recording career begins.
  • Scrapper Blackwell makes his first recordings for Vocalion Records.
  • Leroy Carr's recording career begins with the release of "How Long, How Long Blues".
  • The first commercial recordings of Cajun music are released.
  • The Detroit Symphony Orchestra makes its Carnegie Hall début.
  • "Alabama Song" w. Bertolt Brecht m. Kurt Weill
  • "Anything You Say" w.m. Walter Donaldson
  • "Baby" w. Dorothy Fields m. Jimmy McHugh. Recorded and sung by Adelaide Hall
  • "Back in Your Own Backyard" w.m. Dave Dreyer, Al Jolson & Billy Rose
  • "Basin Street Blues" w.m. Spencer Williams
  • "Because My Baby Don't Mean Maybe Now" w.m. Walter Donaldson
  • "The Big Rock Candy Mountains" Harry McClintock
  • "Bill" w. P.G. Wodehouse & Oscar Hammerstein II m. Jerome Kern. Introduced by Helen Morgan in the musical Showboat and performed by Miss Morgan in the 1929 and 1936 film versions.
  • "Blue Yodel" w. Jimmie Rodgers
  • "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Jerome Kern
  • "Carolina Moon" w. Benny Davis m. Joe Burke
  • "Cherry" w.m. Don Redman
  • "Chiquita" w. L. Wolfe Gilbert m. Mabel Wayne
  • "My Baby Just Cares for Me" w. Gus Kahn m. Walter Donaldson
  • "My Lucky Star" w. B.G. DeSylva & Lew Brown m. Ray Henderson
  • "My Mammy" w. Walter Donaldson, Joe Young & Sam M. Lewis. Sung by Al Jolson.
  • "Nagasaki" w. Mort Dixon m. Harry Warren
  • "Oh, So Nice!" w. Ira Gershwin m. George Gershwin from Treasure Girl
  • "One Kiss" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Sigmund Romberg
  • "Pirate Jenny" w. Bertolt Brecht m. Kurt Weill
  • "Room 1411" m. Glenn Miller & Benny Goodman
  • "'Round Evening" w. Herb Steiner & J. Fred Coots m. George Whiting
  • "She's Funny That Way" w. Richard A. Whiting m. Neil Moret
  • "Short'nin' Bread" adapt. w.m. Jacques Wolfe
  • "Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Sigmund Romberg. Introduced by William O'Neal in the operetta The New Moon. Performed in the 1940 film New Moon by Nelson Eddy.
  • "The Song Of The Prune" Frank Crumit, De Costa
  • "Sonny Boy" w.m. Al Jolson, B.G. DeSylva, Lew Brown & Ray Henderson Numerical rankings are approximate, they are only used as a frame of reference.

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

! <big>#</big>

! <big>Artist</big>

! <big>Title</big>

! Label

! Recording date

! Release date

! Chart positions

|-

| 1 || Al Jolson || "Sonny Boy" || Brunswick 4033 || || || US BB 1928 #1, US #1 for 12 weeks, 19 total weeks, 938,466 sales

|-

| 2 || Jimmie Rodgers || "Blue Yodel No. 1 (T for Texas)" || Victor 21142 || || || US BB 1928 #20, US #2 for 1 week, 11 total weeks, Hillbilly 1928 #1, 1,085,985 sales, || Victor 21334 || || || US BB 1928 #2, US #1 for 8 weeks, 17 total weeks, 1,000,000 sales || Victor 21388 || || || US BB 1928 #3, US #1 for 6 weeks, 16 total weeks

|-

| 5 || Gene Austin || "Jeannine, I Dream of Lilac Time" || Victor 21564 || || || US BB 1928 #4, US #1 for 5 weeks, 15 total weeks

|-

| 6 || Paul Whiteman and His Concert Orchestra v_The Rhythm Boys || "Among My Souvenirs" || Victor 35877 || || || US BB 1928 #5, US #1 for 4 weeks, 13 total weeks

|-

| 7 || Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra || "Ramona" || Victor 21214 || || || US BB 1928 #6, US #1 for 3 weeks, 12 total weeks

|-

| 8 || Al Jolson || "There's a Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder" || Brunswick 4033 || || || US BB 1928 #7, US #1 for 2 weeks, 13 total weeks

|-

| 9 || Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra v_Rhythm Boys || "Together" || Victor 35883 || || || US BB 1928 #8, US #1 for 2 weeks, 12 total weeks

|-

| 10 || Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians || "Laugh, Clown, Laugh!" || Victor 21308 || || || US BB 1928 #9, US #1 for 1 week, 12 total weeks

|-

| 11 || Cliff Edwards || "I Can't Give You Anything but Love" || Columbia 1471-D || || || US BB 1928 #10, US #1 for 1 week, 11 total weeks

|-

| 12 || Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra v_Bing Crosby || "Ol' Man River" || Victor 21218 || || || US BB 1928 #11, US #1 for 1 week, 11 total weeks

|-

| 13 || Gene Austin || "Girl Of My Dreams" || Victor 21334 || || || US BB 1928 #12, US #2 for 3 weeks, 13 total weeks, 408,684 sales

|-

| 14 || Al Jolson || "Mother of Mine, I Still Have You" || Brunswick 3719 || || || US BB 1928 #13, US #2 for 3 weeks, 8 total weeks

|-

| 15 || Nat Shilkret and the Troubadors Orchestra || "Diane (I'm In Heaven When I See You Smile)" || Victor 21000 || || || US BB 1928 #14, US #2 for 3 weeks, 8 total weeks

|-

| 16 || Nat Shilkret and the Victor Orchestra || "Jeannine (I Dream of Lilac Time)" || Victor 21572 || || || US BB 1928 #15, US #2 for 3 weeks, 8 total weeks

|-

| 17 || Al Jolson || "My Mammy" || Brunswick 3912 || || || US BB 1928 #17, US #2 for 2 weeks, 7 total weeks

|-

| 18 || Vincent Lopez and His Orchestra || "My Angel (Angela Mia)" || Brunswick 3927 || || || US BB 1928 #18, US #2 for 2 weeks, 7 total weeks

|-

| 19 || The Knickerbockers (Ben Selvin Orchestra) || "I Can't Give You Anything but Love" || Columbia 1424 || || || US BB 1928 #19, US #2 for 1 week, 14 total weeks

|-

| 20 || Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians || "Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life" || Victor 35921 || || || US BB 1928 #20, US #2 for 1 week, 9 total weeks

|-

| 24 || Gene Austin || "My Melancholy Baby" || Victor 21015 || || || US Billboard 1928 #24, US #3 for 1 week, 8 total weeks

|}

1928 Harlem Hit Parade (non-official)

(created with Popular Music Chart Entries) || Victor 21238 || || || US BB 1928 #78, US #7 for 1 week, 4 total weeks || Victor 35912 || || || US BB 1928 #80, US #7 for 1 week, 4 total weeks || Okeh 8597 || || || US BB 1928 #82, US #8 for 1 week, 6 total weeks || Okeh 8510 || || || US BB 1928 #155, US #13 for 1 week, 2 total weeks || Okeh 8566 || || || US BB 1928 #157, US #14 for 1 week, 3 total weeks || Victor 21137 || || || US BB 1928 #170, US #15 for 1 week, 3 total weeks

  • January 11 – Andréa Guiot, French operatic soprano (died 2021)
  • January 15 – François Pantillon, Swiss composer and conductor (died 2025)
  • January 16 – Pilar Lorengar, Spanish soprano (died 1996)
  • January 17 – Jean Barraqué, composer (died 1973)
  • January 29 – Bengt Hambraeus, composer (died 2000)
  • January 30 – Ruth Brown, R&B singer (died 2006)
  • January 31
  • Miltinho, Brazilian singer (died 2014)
  • Chuck Willis, singer and songwriter (died 1958)
  • February 3
  • Saulius Sondeckis, Lithuanian violinist and conductor (died 2016)
  • Frankie Vaughan, British singer (died 1999)
  • February 8 – Osian Ellis, Welsh harpist (died 2021)
  • February 10 – Anthony Prospect, conductor from Trinidad and Tobago (died 2000)
  • February 12 – Vincent Montana, Jr., American drummer and composer (MFSB and Salsoul Orchestra) (died 2013)
  • February 16 – Porfi Jiménez, Dominican-Venezuelan musician (died 2010)
  • February 17 – Tom Jones, American lyricist (died 2023)
  • February 23 – Isabel Bigley, singer and actress (died 2006)
  • February 26 – Fats Domino, pianist and singer-songwriter (died 2017)
  • February 27 – René Clemencic, Austrian composer, recorder player, harpsichordist, conductor and clavichord player (died 2022)
  • March 4 – Samuel Adler, American composer and conductor
  • March 6 – Ronald Stevenson, Scottish composer and pianist (died 2015)
  • March 9 – Keely Smith, American singer (died 2017)
  • March 10 – Sara Montiel, Spanish singer, actress (died 2013)
  • March 12 – Aldemaro Romero, Venezuelan composer and pianist (died 2007)
  • March 13 – Ronnie Hazlehurst, English conductor and composer (died 2007)
  • March 21 – Valentin Gheorghiu, Romanian pianist and composer (died 2023)
  • March 24 – Byron Janis, American pianist
  • March 31 – Lefty Frizzell, American country singer and songwriter (died 1975)
  • April 2 – Serge Gainsbourg, singer-songwriter (died 1991)
  • April 3 – Don Gibson, country singer and songwriter (died 2003)
  • April 4 – Monty Norman, singer and composer of the James Bond signature tune (died 2022)
  • April 5 – Tony Williams, vocalist (The Platters) (died 1992)
  • April 8 – Fred Ebb, lyricist (died 2004)
  • April 9 – Tom Lehrer, satirical singer-songwriter and mathematician (died 2025)
  • April 12 – Jean-François Paillard, French conductor (died 2013)
  • April 14 – Egil Monn-Iversen, Norwegian composer and pianist (died 2017)
  • April 19 – Alexis Korner, blues musician and historian (died 1984)
  • April 21 – Hillous Butrum, country musician (died 2002)
  • April 23
  • Sergio Tedesco, Italian actor, voice actor and tenor (died 2012)
  • Shirley Temple, actress, dancer and singer (died 2014)
  • April 29 – Carl Gardner, vocalist (The Coasters) (died 2011)
  • May 1 – Sonny James, American country singer (died 2016)
  • May 3 – Dave Dudley, country singer (died 2003)
  • May 4 – Maynard Ferguson, jazz trumpeter (died 2006)
  • May 12 – Burt Bacharach, songwriter (died 2023)
  • May 19
  • Klara Berkovich, Soviet-American violinist
  • Bak Sheut-sin, Cantonese opera singer
  • May 23 – Rosemary Clooney, singer and actress (died 2002)
  • May 27 – Thea Musgrave, composer
  • June 7 – Charles Strouse, lyricist and composer
  • June 8 – Mimi Mariani, Indonesian actress, model, and singer (died 1971)
  • June 10 – Carl Dahlhaus, musicologist and editor (died 1989)
  • June 12
  • <!--June 12-->Vic Damone, singer (died 2018)
  • <!--June 12-->Richard M. Sherman, songwriter (died 2024)
  • June 19 – Tommy DeVito (The Four Seasons) (died 2020)
  • June 26 – Jacob Druckman, composer (died 1996)
  • July 1 – Bobby Day, singer, songwriter (died 1990)
  • July 3 – Edward Greenfield, critic (died 2015)
  • July 12 – S. R. Janakiraman, Indian Carnatic vocalist and musicologist
  • July 13 – Leroy Vinnegar, American bassist (died 1999)
  • July 16
  • Concha Valdés Miranda, Cuban songwriter (died 2017)
  • Bella Davidovich, pianist
  • July 22 – Keter Betts, American bassist (died 2005)
  • July 23 – Leon Fleisher, American classical pianist and teacher (died 2020)
  • July 26
  • Tadeusz Baird, Polish composer (died 1981)
  • Joe Jackson, African-American manager, father of Michael Jackson (died 2018)
  • August 9
  • Camilla Wicks, American violinist (died 2020)
  • Dolores Wilson, American coloratura soprano (died 2010)
  • August 10
  • <!--August 10-->Jimmy Dean, singer (died 2010)
  • <!--August 10-->Eddie Fisher, singer (died 2010)
  • August 16 – Ann Blyth, actress and singer
  • August 18 – Sonny Til, doo-wop singer (died 1981)
  • August 21 – Art Farmer, American jazz trumpeter, flugelhorn player (died 1999)
  • August 22 – Karlheinz Stockhausen, German composer (died 2007)
  • August 25 – Karl Korte, American composer (died 2022)
  • August 28 – Vilayat Khan, sitar player (died 2004)
  • September 1 – Ed Summerlin, composer, arranger, jazz saxophonist and music educator (died 2006)
  • September 2 – Horace Silver, hard bop jazz pianist (died 2014)
  • September 5
  • Damayanti Joshi, Indian classical dancer of Kathak (died 2004)
  • Albert Mangelsdorff, German jazz musician (died 2005)
  • September 6 – Yevgeny Svetlanov, conductor, pianist and composer (died 2002)
  • September 15 – Cannonball Adderley, jazz musician (died 1975)
  • September 24 – John Carter, jazz musician (died 1991)
  • October 3 – Erik Bruhn, dancer and choreographer (died 1986)
  • October 7 – José Messias, Brazilian musician, composer, and writer (died 2015)
  • October 9 – Einojuhani Rautavaara, Finnish composer (died 2016)
  • October 22 – Clare Fischer, keyboardist, composer, arranger and bandleader (died 2012)
  • October 27
  • Waldo Holmes, American musician and songwriter
  • Gilles Vigneault, Canadian singer-songwriter and poet
  • November 10
  • Marilyn Keith Bergman, composer (died 2022)
  • Ennio Morricone, film composer (died 2020)
  • November 13 – Hampton Hawes, jazz pianist (died 1977)
  • November 14 – Bernabé Martí, Spanish operatic tenor
  • November 18
  • Otar Gordeli, Georgian composer (died 1994)
  • Sheila Jordan, American jazz singer and pianist (died 2025)
  • November 23 – Jerry Bock, composer of Fiddler on the Roof (died 2010)
  • November 27 – Walter Klien, pianist (died 1991)
  • December 7
  • Zdeněk Mahler, Czech writer, musicologist, pedagogue and screenwriter (died 2018)
  • Orlando Peña, Cuban bassist and songwriter (died 1994)
  • December 15 – Ida Haendel, violinist (died 2020)
  • December 18 – Galt MacDermot, Canadian-American composer and pianist (died 2018)
  • December 28 – Moe Koffman, jazz musician (died 2001)
  • December 29 – Bernard Cribbins, English actor, comedian and singer (died 2022)
  • December 30 – Bo Diddley, singer, songwriter and guitarist (died 2008)
  • December 31 – Tatyana Shmyga, Soviet-Russian operetta/musical theatre performer (died 2011)

Deaths

  • January 1 – Loie Fuller, dancer (born 1862)
  • January 11 – Valborg Aulin, pianist and composer (born 1860)
  • February 16 – Eddie Foy, vaudeville star (born 1856)
  • March 1 – Sir Herbert Brewer, organist and composer (born 1865)
  • March 19 – Nora Bayes, singer, comedian and actress (born 1880)
  • March 27 – Leslie Stuart, musical theatre composer (born 1863)
  • April 24 – Ferdinand Hummel, harpist, pianist, conductor and composer (born 1855)
  • April 27 – Ernst Seifert, organ builder (born 1855)
  • May 6 – Juliusz Wertheim, pianist, conductor and composer (born 1880) (heart attack)
  • May 13 – David Thomas, composer (born 1881)
  • May 19 – Henry F. Gilbert, American composer and collector of folk music (born 1868)
  • May 28 – Emma Howson, operatic soprano (born 1844)
  • June 21 – Marie Novello, pianist (born 1898)
  • July 7 – Jón Laxdal, composer (born 1865)
  • August 12 – Leoš Janáček, composer (born 1854)
  • September 12 – Howard Talbot, conductor and composer (born 1865)
  • September 13 – Olena Falkman, concert vocalist (born 1849)
  • October 9 – Frank Ellsworth Olds, brass instrument manufacturer (born 1861)
  • October 30
  • <!--October 30-->Percy Anderson, D'Oyly Carte stage designer (born 1851)
  • <!--October 30-->Oscar Sonneck, musicologist (born 1873)
  • November 7 – Mattia Battistini, operatic baritone (born 1856)
  • November 10 – Anita Berber, dancer (born 1899)
  • November 13 – Enrico Cecchetti, dancer (born 1850)
  • November 26 – Herbert Sullivan, nephew and biographer of Sir Arthur Sullivan (born 1868)
  • December 3 – Theodor von Frimmel, musicologist (born 1853)
  • December 24 – Nicolae Leonard, operatic tenor (born 1886)
  • date unknown
  • Celeste Farotti, violin-maker (born 1864)
  • Lillie de Hegermann-Lindencrone, singer (born 1844)

References