1938 in British music

	… 1928; 1929; 1930; 1931; 1932; 1933; 1934; ; 1935; 1936; 1937; 1938; 1939; 1940; 1941; ; 1942; 1943; 1944; 1945; 1946; 1947; 1948 …;
	Art; Archaeology; Architecture; Literature; Music; Philosophy; Science; +...

This is a summary of 1938 in music in the United Kingdom.

Events

June – at the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) Festival in London Benjamin Britten meets Aaron Copland.^[1]
18 August – Benjamin Britten is the soloist at the first performance of his Piano Concerto, staged during the London Proms.^[1]
date unknown – the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams begins an affair with Ursula Wood.

"The Biggest Aspidistra In The World" by Tommie Connor, W. G. Haines & James S. Hancock
"Boomps-A-Daisy", with words and music by Annette Mills
"Cinderella, Stay In My Arms" w. Jimmy Kennedy m. Michael Carr
"Dearest Love" w.m. Noël Coward
"I Went to a Marvelous Party" w.m. Noël Coward
"The Stately Homes Of England", with words and music by Noël Coward
"Where Are The Songs We Sung?" w.m. Noël Coward
"You're What's The Matter With Me" w.m. Jimmy Kennedy and Michael Carr. Introduced by Harry Richman and Evelyn Dall in the film Kicking the Moon Around.

Benjamin Britten – Piano Concerto, Op. 13 (original version)
Alan Bush – Piano Concerto, Op. 18, with baritone and male choir in last movement
Hamilton Harty – The Children of Lir
Herbert Howells – Hymnus Paradisi
Michael Tippett – Piano Sonata No. 1

26 January – The London production of Nine Sharp opens at The Little Theatre, to run for 405 performances.
16 March – The London production of Operette opens at His Majesty's Theatre after a short run in Manchester.^[2]
6 July – Maritza aka Countess Maritza, London production opened at the Palace Theatre
29 September – These Foolish Things London revue opened at the Palladium

^ ^a ^b Mitchell, Donald (ed) (1991). Letters From A Life: Selected Letters of Benjamin Britten, Vol. 1 1923–39. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-15221X. p. 318
'^ "The Theatres: Mr. Noel Coward's Operette", The Times, 3 March 1938, p. 12
^ "Break the News (1938)". BFI. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
^ Scott Palmer (1988). British Film Actors' Credits, 1895-1987. McFarland. p. 269. ISBN 978-0-89950-316-5.
^ "Mountains o'Mourne". BFI. Archived from the original on May 5, 2019. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
^ Jazzprofessional.com Archived 2012-06-29 at the Wayback Machine
^ Rob Barnett (2009). "Howard Blake – A survey of his music on CD". Musicweb-International. Retrieved 2013-04-09.
^ Philip L Scowcroft, First Garland, accessed 20 November 2010
^ Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th ed. (1954), Vol. I, p. 476
^ "Obituary: Sir Landon Ronald", The Times, 15 August 1938, p. 12
^ "Obituaries, Dr. J. K. Pyne, Distinguished Organist", The Times, 5 September 1938, pg. 14
^ The Times, obituary, 16 November 1938, p. 9.