1932 in music

Events

• January 14 - Maurice Ravel's Piano Concerto is premiered in Paris
• October 19 - Frankie Laine and Ruthie Smith set the all-time dance marathon record of 3,501 hours (145 days) at the Million Dollar Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey
• October 31 - Sergei Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 5 is premiered in Berlin
• Henry Hall becomes Director of the BBC Dance Orchestra.
• Thomas Beecham founds the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
• Ruth Porter Crawford marries Charles Seeger.
• Sydney Symphony comes into existence

Published popular music

• "After You, Who?" w.m. Cole Porter
• "Alone Together" w. Howard Dietz m. Arthur Schwartz
• "And Love Was Born" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Jerome Kern
• "And So To Bed" w. Mack Gordon m. Harry Revel
• "April in Paris" w. E. Y. Harburg m. Vernon Duke
• "As You Desire Me" w.m. Allie Wrubel
• "Auf Wiedersehen, My Dear" w.m. Al Hoffman, Ed G. Nelson, Al Goodhart & Milton Ager
• "Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea" w. Ted Koehler m. Harold Arlen
• "Chinese Laundry Blues" Cottrell
• "The Clouds Will Soon Roll By" w.m. Billy Hill & Harry Woods
• "Dance Of The Cuckoos" w.m. T. Marvin Hatley & Harry Steinberg
• "Darkness On The Delta" w. Marty Symes & Al Neiburg m. Jerry Livingston
• "Eadie Was A Lady" w. B. G. De Sylva m. Richard Whiting & Nacio Herb Brown
• "The Echo Of A Song" Peter Mendoza
• "Eres Tú" Miguel Sandoval
• "Fit As A Fiddle" w.m. Arthur Freed, Al Hoffman & Al Goodhart
• "The Flies Crawled Up The Window" w.m. Douglas Furber & Vivian Ellis
• "Give Her A Kiss" w. Lorenz Hart m. Richard Rodgers
• "Goodnight My Love" w.m. Gus Arnheim, Harry Tobias & Jules Lemare
• "Goodnight Vienna" w.m. Holt Marvell & George Posford
• "Got The South In My Soul" w.m. Ned Washington, Victor Young & Lee Wiley
• "Happy-Go-Lucky You (And Broken-Hearted Me)" w.m. Al Goodhart, Al Hoffman & J. F. Murray
• "Have You Ever Been Lonely?" w. Billy Hill (as George Brown) m. Peter De Rose
• "Here Lies Love" w. Leo Robin m. Ralph Rainger
• "How Deep Is The Ocean?" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You" w. Bing Crosby & Ned Washington m. Victor Young
• "I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues" w. Ted Koehler m. Harold Arlen
• "If It Ain't Love" w.m. Andy Razaf, Don Redman & Fats Waller
• "I'll Do My Best To Make You Happy" w.m. Ray Noble
• "I'll Never Be The Same" w. Gus Kahn m. Matty Malneck & Frank Signorelli from the revue After Dinner
• "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You" w. Ned Washington m. George Bassman
• "In A Shanty In Old Shanty Town" w. Joe Young m. Ira Schuster & Jack Little
• "In Egern On The Tegern Sea" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Jerome Kern. Introduced by Ivy Scott in the musical Music in the Air
• "Isn't It Romantic?" w. Lorenz Hart m. Richard Rodgers
• "It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" w. Irving Mills m. Duke Ellington
• "It Was So Beautiful" w. Arthur Freed m. Harry Barris
• "I've Got You On My Mind" w.m. Cole Porter
• "I've Told Every Little Star" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Jerome Kern
• "Just An Echo In The Valley" w.m. Harry Woods, Jimmy Campbell & Reg Connelly
• "Keepin' Out Of Mischief Now" w. Andy Razaf m. Fats Waller
• "Lawd, You Made The Night Too Long" w. Sam M. Lewis m. Isham Jones
• "Let's All Sing Like The Birdies Sing" w. Robert Hargreaves & Stanley J. Damerell m. Tolchard Evans & H. Tilsley
• "Let's Call It A Day" w. Lew Brown m. Ray Henderson
• "Let's Have Another Cup of Coffee" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "Let's Put Out The Lights And Go To Sleep" w.m. Herman Hupfeld
• "A Little Street Where Old Friends Meet" w. Gus Kahn m. Harry Woods
• "Look What You've Done" w. Bert Kalmar & Irving Caesar m. Harry Ruby & Harry Akst
• "Looking On The Bright Side" w.m. Howard Flynn
• "Louisiana Hayride" w. Howard Dietz m. Arthur Schwartz
• "Love Is The Sweetest Thing" w.m. Ray Noble
• "Love Me Tonight" w. Lorenz Hart m. Richard Rodgers
• "Lover" w. Lorenz Hart m. Richard Rodgers
• "Mad About The Boy" w.m. Noel Coward
• "A Million Dreams" w. Gus Kahn m. J. C. Lewis Jr
• "Mimi" w. Lorenz Hart m. Richard Rodgers
• "Mine" w. Ira Gershwin m. George Gershwin
• "Minnie The Moocher's Wedding Day" w. Ted Koehler m. Harold Arlen
• "My Cousin in Milwaukee" w. Ira Gershwin m. George Gershwin. Introduced by Lyda Roberti in the musical Pardon My English
• "My Silent Love" w. Edward Heyman m. Dana Suesse
• "My Sweet Virginia" w.m. Vincent Rose
• "Night And Day" w.m. Cole Porter introduced by Fred Astaire in Gay Divorce
• "Oh! That Mitzi" w. Leo Robin m. Ralph Rainger. Introduced by Maurice Chevalier in the film One Hour with You.
• "Old Yazoo" w. Andy Razaf m. Fats Waller
• "One Hour With You" w. Leo Robin m. Richard A. Whiting. From the film of the same name
• "The Party's Over Now" w.m. Noel Coward
• "Pink Elephants" w. Mort Dixon m. Harry Woods
• "Play, Fiddle, Play" w. Jack Lawrence m. Emery Deutsch & Arthur Altman
• "Please" w. Leo Robin m. Ralph Rainger
• "The Poor Apache" w. Lorenz Hart m. Richard Rodgers
• "Precious Lord Take My Hand" by Thomas A. Dorsey, first major gospel music hit
• "Pu-leeze! Mr Hemingway" w. Walter Kent & Milton Drake m. Abner Silver
• "Say It Isn't So" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "Sentimental Gentleman From Georgia" w. Mitchell Parish m. Frank Perkins
• "Sleep, Come On And Take Me" w.m. Joe Young & Boyd Bunch
• "Smoke Rings" w. Ned Washington m. Gene Gifford
• "Snuggled On Your Shoulder" w. Joe Young m. Carmen Lombardo
• "So Do I" w. B. G. De Sylva m. Vincent Youmans
• "Soft Lights And Sweet Music" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "Somebody Loves You" w. Charlie Tobias m. Peter DeRose
• "The Song is You" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Jerome Kern
• "Street of Dreams" w. Sam M. Lewis m. Victor Young
• "The Sun Has Got His Hat On" w.m. Ralph Butler & Noel Gay
• "Three's a Crowd" w. Al Dubin & Irving Kahal m. Harry Warren
• "Too Many Tears" w. Al Dubin m. Harry Warren
• "Try a Little Tenderness" w.m. Harry Woods, Jimmy Campbell & Reg Connelly
• "Underneath The Harlem Moon" w. Mack Gordon m. Harry Revel
• "Wanderer" w.m. Bud Flanagan
• "We Just Couldn't Say Goodbye" w.m. Harry Woods
• "We've Got The Moon And Sixpence" Oscar Levant, Clifford Grey
• "We've Got To Put That Sun Back In The Sky" Kahal, Meyer
• "What More Can I Ask?" w. A. E. Wilkins m. Ray Noble
• "What Would You Do?" w. Leo Robin m. Richard A. Whiting. Introduced by Maurice Chevalier in the film One Hour with You
• "Why Don't Women Like Me?" Cottrell, Bennett, Formby
• "Willow Weep for Me" w.m. Ann Ronell
• "Wintergreen For President" w. Ira Gershwin m. George Gershwin
• "You Are Too Beautiful" w. Lorenz Hart m. Richard Rodgers
• "The Younger Generation" w.m. Noel Coward
• "You're An Old Smoothie" w.m. B. G. De Sylva, Richard A. Whiting & Nacio Herb Brown
• "You're Getting To Be A Habit With Me" w. Al Dubin m. Harry Warren
• "You've Got What Gets Me" w. Ira Gershwin m. George Gershwin

Biggest hit songs

The following songs achieved the highest chart positions in the limited set of charts available for 1932.

#	Artist	Title	Year	Country	Chart Entries
1	Fred Astaire & Leo Reisman	Night & Day	1932		US BB 1 of 1932, POP 1 of 1932, RYM 4 of 1932, RIAA 195, Acclaimed 1369
2	Duke Ellington	It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)	1932		RYM 1 of 1932, Scrobulate 31 of swing
3	Cab Calloway & His Cotton Club Orchestra	I've Got the World On a String	1932		US BB 2 of 1932, POP 2 of 1932
4	Louis Armstrong	All of Me	1932		RYM 5 of 1932, US BB 8 of 1932, POP 8 of 1932
5	Rudy Vallee	Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?	1932		POP 4 of 1932, RYM 6 of 1932, RIAA 196

Top hit records

• "All of Me" by Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra; also version by Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra
• "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" - Bing Crosby; also version by Rudy Vallee
• "Got The South In My Soul" by Paul Robeson
• "I Can't Get Mississippi Off My Mind" by Billy Cotton Band
• "In A Shanty In Old Shanty Town" by Ted Lewis & His Band
• "Love Is The Sweetest Thing" by Al Bowlly
• "Love Me Tonight" by Jeanette MacDonald
• "Mad Dogs And Englishmen" by Noel Coward
• "Mah Lindy Lou" by Paul Robeson
• "Ooh That Kiss" by Frances Day
• "Please" by Bing Crosby
• "Say It Isn't So" by George Olsen & His Music
• "The Thrill Is Gone" by Rudy Vallee
• "Was That the Human Thing To Do?" by The Boswell Sisters
• "Where the Blue of the Night (Meets the Gold of the Day)" by Bing Crosby
• "The Younger Generation" by Ray Noble and Al Bowlly

Top blues recordings

• "Worrying You Off My Mind" - Big Bill Broonzy
• "Mistreatin Mama" - Big Bill Broonzy
• "How You Want It Done" - Big Bill Broonzy
• "Searching the Desert For the Blues" - Blind Willie McTell
• "Winnie The Wailer" - Lonnie Johnson

Classical music

• Jean Françaix - Piano Concerto
• Gunnar de Frumerie - Variations and Fugue
• Percy Grainger - Handel in the Strand
• Camargo Guarnieri - String Quartet No. 1
• Jascha Heifetz - arrangement of Grigoraş Dinicu's Hora staccato
• Dmitri Kabalevsky - Symphony No. 1
• László Lajtha - Cello Sonata
• Sergei Prokofiev - Piano Concerto No. 5, Op. 55
• Miklós Rózsa - Bagatelles for Piano, Op. 12

Opera

• Amy Beach - Cabildo
• Ottorino Respighi - Maria Egiziaca

Musical theater

• After Dinner London revue opened at the Gaiety Theatre on October 21
• L'Auberge Du Cheval Blanc Paris production
• Ball im Savoy Berlin production
• Ballyhoo (Music: William Waller Lyrics: Robert Nesbitt) London revue opened at the Comedy Theatre on December 22
• Casanova London production
• The Cat and the Fiddle London production opened at the Palace Theatre on March 4 and ran for 329 performances
• The Dubarry London production opened at Her Majesty's Theatre on April 14 and ran for 398 performances
• The Dubarry Broadway production opened at George M. Cohan's Theatre on November 22 and ran for 87 performances
• Face the Music Broadway revue opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre on February 17 and ran for 165 performances
• Gay Divorce Broadway production opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on November 29 and transferred to the Shubert Theatre on January 16, 1933 for a total run of 248 performances
• Music in the Air Broadway production opened at the Alvin Theatre on November 8 and ran for 342 performances
• Out of the Bottle London production opened at the Hippodrome on June 11 and ran for 109 performances
• Over She Goes London revue opened at the Alhambra Theatre on August 27.
• Show Boat Broadway revival opened at the Casino Theatre on May 19 and ran for 180 performances
• Take a Chance Broadway production opened at the Apollo Theatre on November 26 and ran for 243 performances
• Tell Her the Truth London production opened at the Saville Theatre on June 14 and ran for 234 performances

• Wild Violets opened at the Theatre Royal on October 31 and ran for 291 performances
• Words and Music London revue (Noël Coward) opened at the Adelphi Theatre on September 16.

Musical films

• Girl Crazy starring Dorothy Lee, Robert Quillan, Mitzi Green and Kitty Kelly
• Looking on the Bright Side starring Gracie Fields.
• Love Me Tonight starring Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald.
• The Maid of the Mountains starring Nancy Brown and Harry Welchman.
• The Midshipmaid starring Jessie Matthews
• Monte Carlo Madness starring Sari Maritza and Hans Albers and featuring the Comedian Harmonists
• One Hour with You starring Jeanette MacDonald, Maurice Chevalier, Genevieve Tobin and Charles Ruggles
• The Phantom President starring George M. Cohan, Claudette Colbert and Jimmy Durante. Directed by Norman Taurog.

Births

• January 26 - Coxsone Dodd, record producer (d. 2004)
• February 8 - John Williams, composer
• February 16 - Harry Goz, musical theatre star (d. 2003)
• February 24 - Michel Legrand, composer
• February 26 - Johnny Cash, country singer (d. 2003)
• March 4 - Miriam Makeba, singer (d. 2008)
• March 15 - Arif Mardin, record producer (d. 2006)
• April 1 - Debbie Reynolds, actress and singer
• April 9 - Carl Perkins, rockabilly singer (d. 1998)
• April 12 - Tiny Tim, singer and ukulele player (d. 1996)
• April 26 - Francis Lai, songwriter and film composer
• April 27 - Maxine Brown (The Browns)
• May 19 - Alma Cogan, English singer (d. 1966)
• June 7 - Tina Brooks, saxophonist (d. 1974)
• June 27 - Anna Moffo, operatic soprano (d. 2006)
• July 11 - Roquel Billy Davis, singer, songwriter and record producer (d. 2004)
• September 8 - Patsy Cline, country singer (d. 1963)
• September 25 - Glenn Gould, pianist (d. 1982)
• November 15 - Petula Clark, singer and actress
• November 15 - Clyde McPhatter (The Drifters) (d. 1972)
• November 30 - Bob Moore, bassist
• December 5 - Little Richard, singer, songwriter and pianist
• December 12 - Charlie Rich, country singer (d. 1995)
• December 15 - Jesse Belvin, singer, pianist and songwriter (d. 1960)
• December 28 - Dorsey Burnette, Rockabilly pioneer (d. 1979)

Deaths

• January 27 - Mortimer Wilson, composer (born 1876)
• February 22 - Johanna Gadski, opera singer (born 1872)
• March 1 - Frank Teschemacher, jazz musician (born 1905) (car accident)
• March 3 - Eugen d'Albert, pianist and composer (born 1864)
• March 6 - John Philip Sousa, composer (born 1854)
• March 18 - Chancellor Olcott, songwriter (born 1858)
• April 2 - Hugo Kaun, composer and conductor (born 1863)
• May 5 - Hilda Clark, music hall singer (born 1872)
• May 6 - Roméo Beaudry, pianist, composer and record producer (born 1882)
• May 9 - Emil Hertzka, music publisher (born 1869)
• May 20 - Bubber Miley, jazz trumpeter (born 1903)
• May 28 - Pascual Contursi, singer and guitarist (born 1888)
• June 7 - Emil Paur, conductor (born 1855)
• July 8 - Samuel Castriota, pianist, guitarist and composer (born 1885)
• July 22 - Florenz Ziegfeld, Broadway impresario
• September 13 - Julius Röntgen, composer (born 1855)
• September 14 - Jean Cras, composer (born 1879)
• September 26 - Pierre De Geyter, composer of The Internationale (born 1848)
• October 21 - Al Hopkins, country musician (born 1889)
• November 23 - Percy Pitt, organist and conductor (born 1870)
• November 27 - Evelyn Preer, actress and blues singer (born 1896)
• November 28 - Hubert de Blanck, pianist and composer (born 1856)
• December 1 - Amadeo Vives, composer (born 1871)
• December 21 - Liana Szekely, tango dancer (born 1875)
• December 24 - Eyvind Alnæs, pianist, organist and composer (born 1872)
• December 25 - Ernst Rolf, actor and singer (born 1891)
• date unknown
  • Hugh Blair, organist and composer (born 1864)
  • Emanuele Nutile, composer of Neapolitan songs (born 1862)