1931
Mohandas Gandhi is released from jail • By the Statute of Westminster, Dominions of the British Empire are recognised as sovereign states • Japan invades Manchuria, beginning a Sino-Japanese war • Revolution flares in Spain: King Alphonso XIII leaves the country and a republic is proclaimed • Collapse of Austria’s largest bank, Credit Ansalt, precipitates a financial crisis in Europe • New York’s Empire State Building completed • Physicist August Piccard (Switz) ascends by balloon into the stratosphere • Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer statue completed • Films: Dracula (with Bela Lugosi); Frankenstein (with Boris Karloff) • Salvador Dali (Sp) paints The Persistence of Memory
1932
Japan establishes a puppet state of Manchukuo in Manchuria, China • A World Disarmament Conference (in which the USA and USSR join) opens in Geneva • The National Socialists (Nazis) become the largest party in the German Reichstag (parliament) • War between Bolivia and Paraguay breaks out over the ownership of th Gran Chaco region • British Physicist James Chadwick discovers the neutron and US physicist Carl D. Anderson discovers the Positron • Sydney Harbour Bridge is opened in Australia • Shirley Temple, aged three, makes her film debut • Frieda Kahlo - Self Portrait on the Border Line Between Mexico and the United States • Ernest Hemingway (US): Death in the Afternoon • Aldous Huxley (Eng): Brave New World
1933
Franklin D. Roosevelt (Dem) becomes 32nd President of the USA, and announces a ‘New Deal’ to cure the Depression • Nazi leader Adolf Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany; under his rule, open persecution of Jews begins, and trade unions are suppressed • Germany withdraws from the international disarmament conference and leaves theLeague of Nations • Japan also leaves the League • The USA and Canada abandon the gold standard • The 21st Amendment to the US Constitution repeals prohibition • James Hilton (Eng) introduces Shangri-La in Lost Horizon • H. G. Wells (Eng): The Shape of Things to Come
1934
Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss is killed by Nazis; Justice Minister Kurt von Schuschnigg succeeds him • President Paul von Hindenburg of Germany dies; Chancellor Adolf Hitler is given dictatorial powers as Fuhrer (leader) • King Alexander of Yugoslavia and French Foreign Minister, Jean Barthou, are assassinated in Marseilles (Fr) • A Balkan Entente is formed by Greece, Romania, Yugoslavia and Turkey • The USSR joins the League of Nations • F. Scott Fitzgerald (US): Tender is the Night • Robert Graves (Eng): Claudius • Agatha Christie (Eng): Murder on the Orient Express
1935
Germany rejects the disarmament clauses of the Versailles Treaty (which ended World War I) and introduces conscription • In a plebiscite, the Saarland votes to return to Germany • Britain signs a naval treaty with Germany • German Jews are deprived of citizen’s rights by the Nuremberg Laws • Abyssinian War: Italian troops invade Ethiopia • Kurt von Schuschnigg tries to curb growing Nazi strength in Austria • Stresa Conference: Britain, France and Italy denounce unilateral repudiation^ treaties • Persia changes its name to Iran • Physicist Robert Watson Watt (Scot) devises radar • T. S. Elliot (US/Eng): play Murder in the Cathedral • Dorothy L. Sayers (Eng): Gaudy Night

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was an Indian activist who was the leader of the Indian independence movement against British rule. Employing nonviolent civil disobedience, Gandhi led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. The honorific Mahātmā (Sanskrit: "high-souled", "venerable")– applied to him first in 1914 in South Africa – is now used worldwide. In India, he is also called Bapu (Gujarati: endearment for father, papa) and Gandhi ji, and known as the Father of the Nation
1931
George Gershwin adapts the theme Manhattan Rhapsody from the score into his Second Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra.
George Gershwin - Second Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra
Temple University Symphony Orchestra
William Wolfram, piano
Andreas Delfs, conductor, 2017
Sergei Prokofiev composes his Piano Concerto No. 4 for the left hand for the one-armed war veteran and pianist Paul Wittgenstein. Unfortunately, Wittgenstein (brother of the philosopher, Ludwig) does not care for the piece and refuses to play it. The composer hides away his score, never to hear it performed.
Sergei Prokofiev - Piano Concerto No. 4 (for the left hand)
The Philadelphia Orchestra
- Conductor: Eugene Ormandy
- Soloist: Rudolf Serkin
- Year of recording: 1958
Edgard Varese completes Ionisation, probably the first stand-alone piece of Western classical music scored for percussion ensemble.
Edgard Varèse - Ionisation - pour 13 percussions dont 1 piano
Solistes de l'Ensemble intercontemporain
Elèves du Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris
Susanna Mälkki, direction
Percussions : Gilles DUROT, Samuel FAVRE, Victor HANNA (Ensemble intercontemporain) / Matthieu DRAUX, Adelaide FERRIERE, Jean-Baptiste BONNARD, Noam BIERSTONE, Christophe DRELICH, Julien LACROUZADE, Thibault LEPRI, Sylvain BORREDON, Othman LOUATI
Piano : Sébastien VICHARD
3 October
Leading Danish composer Carl Nielsen dies from angina in Copenhagen, aged 66.

10 October
William Walton's oratorio Belshazzars Feast, commissioned by the Leeds Festival, is first performed there under Malcolm Sargent. It is an indisputable triumph with both the public and critics.
Sir William Walton - Belshazzar's Feast
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Bryn Terfel, baritone
BBC Singers - BBC Symphony Chorus
conducted by Sir Andrew Davis, 1994
23 October
Violinist Samuel Dushkin premieres Igor Stravinsky’s Violin Concerto under the composer’s baton with the Berlin Radio Orchestra.
Igor Sravinsky - Violin concerto in D major
I Toccata;
II Aria I;
III Aria II;
IV Capriccio
Itzhak Perlman;
Seiji Ozawa: Boston Symphony Orchestra
12 November
Edward Elgar and the London Symphony Orchestra inaugurate Abbey Road Studios, recording the popular Pomp and Circumstance March, No. 1.
Elgar: Pomp and Circumstance March No 1 in D major, 'Land of Hope and Glory' (Prom 75)
Performed by the BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Chorus and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sakari Oramo.
10 January
Charles Ives's Three Places in New England for chamber orchestra is introduced in Boston. The work taxes the skills of Nicolas Slonimsky, who at one point has to conduct different beats with his right and left hand simultaneously to direct the orchestra through conflicting rhythms and tempi.
Charles Ives - Three Places in New England
Ensemble Intercontemporain
Matthias Pintscher, direction
Enregistré en direct le 24.09.2016 à la Cité de la musique - Paris
5 March
Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari – La vedova scaltra, staged 5 March, at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Rome
Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari - LA VEDOVA SCALTRA
Rosaura : Alda Noni,
Marionette : Dora Gatta,
Conte di Bosco Nero : Agostino Lazzari,
Folletto : Florindo Andreolli,
Arlecchino : Renato Capecchi,
Monsieur Le Blau : Amilcare Blaffard,
Don Alvaro di Castiglia : Carlo Badioli,
Milord Runebif : Antonio Cassinelli,
Birif : Giorgio Onesti
Orchestra Sinfonica della Rai di Milano, 1955
Direttore Nino Sanzogno
17 September
Frederick Delius’s tone poem A Song of Summer is introduced at a Promenade Concert in London. Now blind and paralysed from the late stages of syphilis, Delius has completed the work with the help of his amanuensis, Eric Fenby. The composer, at home in France, hears the premiere broadcast by radio.
Frederick Delius - Song of Summer
Hallé Orchestra London Symphony Orchestra Conducted by John Barbirolli 1967
2 December
Composer Vincent d’lndy dies in Paris, aged 80.


1932
Francis Poulenc composes his comic secular cantata Le Bal masque for voice and chamber ensemble, setting four poems by Max Jacob.
Francis Poulenc - Le Bal Masqué
Franck Leguérinel (baritone), Alexandre Tharaud (piano), Jean-Marc Phillips (violin), Françoise Groben (cello), Serge Krichewski (oboe), Marc Bauer (cornet), Ronald Van Spaendonck (clarinet), Marie Gondeau (bassoon), Françoise Rivalland (percussion)
Conductor: Pierre-Michel Durand, 1997
00:00 - I. Préambule et air de bravoure
04:27 - II. Intermède
06:58 - III. Malvina
09:13 - IV. Bagatelle
11:29 - V. La dame aveugle
13:49 - VI. Finale (Caprice)
Arnold Schoenberg breaks off from his opera Moses und Aron, never to compose the third act.
Moses und Aron (Moses and Aaron) is a three-act opera by Arnold Schoenberg with the third act unfinished. The German libretto is by the composer after the Book of Exodus. Hungarian composer Zoltán Kocsis completed the last act, with Schoenberg's heirs' permission, in 2010, but as of 2014 Moses und Aron was almost always performed as Schoenberg left it in 1932, with only two of the planned three acts completed.
Schönberg - Moses und Aron
Bochumer Symphoniker
Conductor: Michael Boder
ChorWerk Ruhr
Moses - Dale Duesing
Aron - Andreas Conrad
Ein junges Mädchen - Ilse Eerens
Eine Kranke - Karolina Gumos
Ein junger Mann - Finnur Bjarnason
Der nackte Jüngling - Michael Smallwood
Ein anderer Mann/Ephraimit - Boris Grappe
Ein Priester - Renatus Meszar
Vier nackte Jungfrauen - Ilse Eerens, Hanna Herfurtner, Karolina Gumos - Constance Heller
Arnold SCHÖNBERG - Moses und Aron
Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra -
cond. Zoltan KOCSIS
MOSES - Wolfgang SCHÖNE
ARON - Daniel BRENNA
PRIEST - Krisztián CSER
A YOUNG GIRL: Borbála KESZEI
A MAN: László LISZTES
AN ILL WOMAN: Andrea LEHŐCZ
EHPIRAIMIT: Ádám HORVÁTH
THE YOUNG MAN AND THE YOUNGSTER: István HORVÁTH
National Choir (cond. Mátyás ANTAL)
The Choir of the Singer School of Budapest (cond. Tamás BUBNÓ)
The 'Honvéd' Men's Choir: (Richárd RIEDERAUER)
Act I: 0:01:22
Act II: 0:50:38
Act III. 1:42:18
Igor Stravinsky, following a successful tour of his Violin Concerto (1931) with Samuel Dushkin, composes the Duo concertant for violin and piano, to add to their concert-giving repertoire.
Igor Stravinsky - Duo concertant
Mariya Nesterovska - violin
Nenad Lecic - piano
1. Cantilene 0:00
2. Eglogue 1 3:07
3. Eglogue 2 5:34
4. Gigue 8:53
5. Dithyramb 13:42
14 January
Maurice Ravel conducts Marguerite Long in the first performance of his Piano Concerto in G major, in Paris.
Carl Nielsen: Concerto for Violin and orchestra, op. 33
I. Praeludium. Largo – Allegro cavalleresco
II. Poco adagio – Rondo. Allegretto scherzando
Alina Pogostkina, violin
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra - John Storgards
6 March
Composer and bandmaster John Philip Sousa dies in Reading, Pennsylvania, aged 77.

10 March
Kurt Weill – Die Bürgschaft
Die Bürgschaft (The Pledge) is an opera in three acts by Kurt Weill. Caspar Neher wrote the German libretto after the parable Der afrikanische Rechtspruch (The African Verdict) by Johann Gottfried Herder. Composed from August to October 1931, it was premiered on 10 March 1932 at the Städtische Oper in Berlin, Germany.
Kurt Weill - Die Bürgschaft (Part 1 of 2)
Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra - Dir. Julius Rudel
Johann Mattes : Frederick Burchinal (Hoher Bariton)
Anna Mattes : Margaret Thompson (Mezzosopran)
David Orth : Dale Trevis (Hoher Baß)
Jakob Orth : Joel Sorensen (Tenor)
Luise Mattes : Ann Panagulias (Sopran)
Der Richter von Urb : Enrico Di Giuseppe (Tenor)
Ellis, der Kommissar : John Daniecki (Tenor)
Kurt Weill - Die Bürgschaft (Part 2 of 2)
16 March
Ottorino Respighi – Maria egiziaca
Maria egiziaca (Saint Mary of Egypt) is an opera "in three episodes" by the Italian composer Ottorino Respighi. The libretto, by Claudio Guastalla, is based on a Medieval life of Saint Mary of Egypt, contained in the translation into the vernacular of the Vitae Patrum written by Domenico Cavalca.
The work was originally intended as a concert piece although it has been fully staged in some revivals. It was first performed at Carnegie Hall, New York City on 16 March 1932. The first stage performance was at the Teatro Goldoni in Venice on 10 August 1932.
Ottorino Respighi - Maria Egiziaca
Primo Episodio
- Intermedio I (21:26)
Secondo Episodio (25:00)
- Intermedio II (47:46)
Terzo Episodio (54:34)
Maria: Veronika Kincses
il Marinaio / il Lebbroso: János B. Nagy
il Pellegrino / l'Abate Zosimo: Lajos Miller
la Cieca / un Compagno: Mária Zempléni
un altro Compagno / il Povero: Ildikó Komlósi
una Voce dal mare: Mihály Kálmándi
la Voce dell'Angelo: Katalin Farkas
Hungarian Radio & Television Chorus
Hungarian State Orchestra / dir: Lamberto Gardelli

23 March
Pietro Mascagni – Pinotta
Pinotta is an idillio or opera in 2 acts by Pietro Mascagni from an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti. The opera received its first performance on 23 March 1932 at the Teatro del Casinò in San Remo.
Pietro Mascagni - PINOTTA
Maria Luisa Cioni, Giuseppe Vertechi, Lino Puglisi
16 August
Albert Coates conducts the premiere of George Gershwin's Cuban Overture (originally entitled Rumba) at Lewisohn Stadium.
George Gershwin - Cuban Overture
Orchestra: Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Jeff Tyzik
5 September
Francis Poulenc performs his Concerto for Two Pianos in D minor with Jacques Fevrier in Venice. Commissioned by Princess de Polignac, the neo-classical concerto overflows with irony and humour. Wild and capricious in its first movement, the second overtly parodies Mozart s piano concerto slow movements—notably that of K. 466 in D minor. The third returns to cavorting mood and wraps up Poulenc s enduring crowd-pleaser.
Francis Poulenc: Concerto for Two Pianos
Susan Merdinger and Irina Feoktistova, Duo Pianists
FullScore Chamber Orchestra, Ron Arden, Conductor
I. Allegro ma non troppo 00:00
II. Larghetto 8:25
III. Finale (Allegro Molto) 14:13
Recorded Live on March 25, 2017 "Piano Masters: From Bach to Beck"
Merit School of Music, Anne and Howard Gottlieb Hall, Chicago, Illinois
Recording Engineer: Edward Ingold
Score and Parts from Boosey and Hawkes and Licensed by Universal Music Group
Susan Merdinger, Artistic Director
9 October
Karol Szymanowski takes the solo part in his Symphonie Concertante for piano and orchestra, introduced in Poznan, Poland. Also designated ‘Symphony No. 4’, the three-movement work boasts powerful textural and thematic contrasts, culminating in an enthralling, barbarous climax. The audience encore the final movement.
Szymanowski - Symphony No. 4 "Symphonie concertante", Op. 60, for piano and orchestra
I. Moderato [0:00]
II. Andante molto sostenuto - [10:19]
III. Allegro non troppo [18:40]
Pianist: Tadeusz Żmudziński
Conductor: Karol Stryja
Polish State Philharmonic Orchestra, Katowice
31 October
Sergei Prokofiev gives the first performance of his Fifth Piano Concerto with the Berlin Philharmonic under Furtwangler. The composers final essay of the genre generates little interest.
Prokofiev – Piano Concerto No. 5 Opus 55
0:27 I. Allegro con brio
5:24 II. Moderato ben accentuato
9:00 III. Toccata (allegro con fuoco)
10:35 IV. Larghetto
16:59 V. Vivo
Sergei Babayan
Symphony Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre,
St Petersburg - Valery Gergiev - musical director, 2012
1933
Benjamin Britten, aged 19, begins composing his Simple Symphony, incorporating themes composed prior to his teens. He completes the work the following year.
Britten: Simple Symphony
Benjamin Britten, conducting the English Chamber Orchestra
1 July
At times sentimental operetta, Richard Strauss’s Arabella opens in Dresden. The composer muses to the writer Stefan Zweig, 'Must one become seventy to recognise that ones greatest strength lies in creating kitsch?’