1956
Egypt seizes the Suez canal, Britain and France refer the question to the United Nations; the USSR vetoes a compromise solution • Israeli troops invade Egypt; Anglo-French forces invade Egypt to protect the canal • An international force is sent to Egypt to enforce ceasefire; British and French troops withdraw • Revolution breaks out in Hungary; Communist rule is restored and 150,000 refugees escape to the West • Japan is admitted to the UN • France grants independence to Tunisia and Morocco • Joern Utzon (Den) designs the Sydney Opera House • Elvis releases Heartbreak Hotel and Hound Dog • Winston Churchill (Eng): A History of the English Speaking Peoples
1957
Harold Macmillan becomes Britain’s Prime Minister • Egypt reopens the Suez Canal to shipping • Ghana becomes independent • Communist guerrilla warfare led by Fidel Castro breaks out in Cuba • The Treaty of Rome establishes the European Economic Community of Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands • The Space Age begins: Russians launch Sputnik 1, the world’s first earth-orbiting artificial satellite; Sputnik 2 carries a dog, Laika—she survives only two days • Arthur Boyd (Austral) paints Shearers playing fora bride • Jack Kerouac (US): On the Road • Boris Pasternak (USSR): Doctor Zhivago • Dr Seuss (US): The Cat in the Hat
1958
Continuing war in Algeria leads to crisis in France; Charles de Gaulle becomes Prime Minister • Egypt and Syria unite to form the United Arab Republic; Yemen later joins the UAR • In USSR, First Secretary Nikita Krushchev also becomes Premier of the Soviet Union • The USA launches Earth satellite Explorer 7; The USSR launches Sputnik 3 • Pope Pius XII dies; succeeded by John XXIII • Stereophonic phonograph recording is developed in Britain • First motorway in Britain is opened, the Preston Bypass (M6) • Truman Capote (US): Breakfast at Tiffany’s • Harold Pinter (Eng): The Birthday Party • Ian Fleming (Eng): Dr No, the sixth James Bond novel
1959
In Cuba, Batista government ousted by Communists; Fidel Castro becomes premier • General Charles de Gaulle is proclaimed President of France’s 5th Republic • UK grants Cyprus independence • Anti-Belgian riots in the Belgian Congo • Russian spaceship Lunik II reaches the Moon; Lunik III photographs the far side of the Moon • Americans Robert Noyce and Jack Kilby both invent the ‘microchip’ • Film: Ben Hur (US); Some Like it Hot (with Marilyn Monroe; US) • Jasper Johns (US) paints False Start • William S. Burroughs (US): Naked Lunch • Laurie Lee (Eng): Cider With Rosie
1960
Seventeen African countries become independent • Sharpeville Massacre, South Africa: Anti-apartheid demonstrations lead to shooting of 69 Africans • Civil war in newly-independent Congo: Katanga province attempts to break away under Moise Tshombe • France tests nuclear bombs in the Sahara • Sirima Bandaranaike (Ceylon) becomes the world’s first female Prime Minister • American scientists develop laser beams • Brasilia, largely the architectural brainchild of Oscar Niemeyer, is inaugurated as Brazil’s capital city • M. C. Escher (Neth) draws Ascending and Descending (optical illusion) • Harper Lee (US): To Kill a Mockingbird • Robert Bolt (Eng): play A Man for All Seasons

Oscar Ribeiro de Almeida Niemeyer Soares Filho (December 15, 1907 – December 5, 2012), known as Oscar Niemeyer , was a Brazilian architect considered to be one of the key figures in the development of modern architecture. Niemeyer was best known for his design of civic buildings for Brasília, a planned city that became Brazil's capital in 1960, as well as his collaboration with other architects on the headquarters of the United Nations in New York. His exploration of the aesthetic possibilities of reinforced concrete was highly influential in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
1956
Karlheinz Stockhausen composes his ‘open form’ Klavierstiick XI (Piano Piece XI), and Zeitmasse (Tempos) for five wind instruments, both incorporating aleatory (indeterminate) elements.
Karlheinz Stockhausen - Zeitmasse
Zeitmasse, for five woodwind instruments
London Sinfonietta
Karlheinz Stockhausen - Klavierstücke I-XI
Klavierstück I (1952/1953)
Klavierstück II (1952/1953)
Klavierstück III (1952/1953)
Klavierstück IV (1952/1953)
Klavierstück V (1954)
Klavierstück VI (1954/1955)
Klavierstück VII (1954)
Klavierstück VIII (1954)
Klavierstück IX (1954/1961)
Klavierstück X (1954/1961)
Klavierstück XI (1956)
Piano – Herbert Henck
2 March
Heitor Villa-Lobos introduces his energetic Symphony No. 11 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
This year also completion of his Harmonica Concerto.
Heitor Villa-Lobos: Symphony No. 11
Karabtchevsky - Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo
Heitor Villa-Lobos - Concerto for Harmonica
1.Allegro moderato
2.Andante 8:02
3.Allegro 15:29
Robert Bonfiglio, harmonica
New York Chamber Symphony
Gerard Schwarz, conductor, 1989.
10 March
Olivier Messiaen's Oiseaux exotiques (Exotic Birds) for piano, winds and percussion debuts at the Petit Theatre Marigny in Paris.
Messiaen - Oiseaux Exotiques
Daniel Kirk-Foster, Pianist;
Manhattan School of Music Contemporary Ensemble, Claire Heldrich, Conductor
2 May
Barbirolli conducts the first performance of Vaughan Williams’s Eighth Symphony in Manchester.
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Symphony No 8
Sir Mark Elder conducts the Halle Orchestra
30 May
Cologne Radio broadcasts Karlheinz Stockhausen Gesang der Junglinge (Song of the Youths), scored for recorded boy soprano and electronic sounds. Taking its text from the book of Daniel, the work is groundbreaking in its vocal processing techniques, creating an inscrutable fusion of recorded and electronic sound.
Karlheinz Stockhausen: Gesang der Jünglinge
13 September
Igor Stravinsky's semi-serialist Canticum sacrum is introduced at St Marks Basilica, Venice. Time magazine publishes its review under the title ‘Murder in the Cathedral’.
Igor Strawinsky - 'Canticum Sacrum' (1/2)
Performed by the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, the Netherlands Broadcasting Choir and soloists Marcel Beekman, tenor, and bariton David Wilson-Johnson, conducted by Reinbert de Leeuw on June 7, 2009.
Igor Strawinsky - 'Canticum Sacrum' (2/2)
13 November
Musical wit Malcolm Arnold assembles three vacuum cleaners, one floor polisher and four rifles to add to organ and orchestra for the premiere of A Grand Grand Overture, held at London’s Roval Festival Hall.
Malcolm Arnold: A Grand Grand Overture
NOVA philharmonic - conductor: Simon Perčič
Slovenian Philharmonic, Ljubljana, 23.12.2013
1 December
Leonard Bernstein’s Candide, opens on Broadway Later hugely popular, the operetta meets mixed reactions and folds after two months.