1929 in music

See also: 1928 in music, other events of 1929, 1930 in music and the list of 'years in music'.

Events

• May 3 – Francis Poulenc's Concert champêtre for harpsichord and orchestra is premiered in Paris
• May 17 – Sergei Prokofiev's Symphony No. 3 is premiered in Paris
• December 31 – Guy Lombardo plays "Auld Lang Syne" for the first time
• Cab Calloway's musical career begins
• Charley Patton's musical career begins
• T-Bone Walker's musical career begins
• Memphis Minnie's musical career begins
• Gene Autry's musical career begins

Published popular music

• "Adios Muchachos" Raven, Cesar Vedani m. Julio Sanders
• "Ain't Misbehavin'" w. Andy Razaf m. Thomas "Fats" Waller & Harry Brooks
• "Am I Blue?" w. Grant Clarke m. Harry Akst
• "Any Old Time" w.m. Jimmie Rodgers
• "Around The Corner" w. Gus Kahn m. Art Kassel
• "The Banjo (That Man Joe Plays)" w.m. Cole Porter
• "Barnacle Bill The Sailor" w.m. Carson Robison & Frank Luther
• "Big City Blues" w. Sidney D. Mitchell m. Archie Gottler & Con Conrad
• "Bilbao Song" w. (Eng) Johnny Mercer w. (Ger) Bertolt Brecht m. Kurt Weill English lyrics 1961
• "Black And Blue" w. Andy Razaf m. Thomas "Fats" Waller
• "Bolero" m. Maurice Ravel
• "Broadway Melody" w. Arthur Freed m. Nacio Herb Brown
• "Can Broadway Do Without Me?" w.m. Jimmy Durante
• "Can't We Be Friends?" w. Paul James m. Kay Swift
• "Chant Of The Jungle" w. Arthur Freed m. Nacio Herb Brown
• "Corrine, Corrina" w. J. Mayo Williams & Bo Chatman
• "Cross Your Fingers" w. Arthur Swanstrom & Benny Davis m. J. Fred Coots
• "Cryin' For The Carolines" w. Sam M. Lewis & Joe Young m. Harry Warren
• "Daddy Won't You Please Come Home?" w.m. Sam Coslow
• "Dear Little Cafe" w.m. Noel Coward
• "Deep Night" w. Rudy Vallee m. Charlie Henderson
• "Do Something" w. Bud Green m. Sam H. Stept
• "Do What You Do" w. Ira Gershwin & Gus Kahn m. George Gershwin
• "Don't Ever Leave Me" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Jerome Kern
• "Dream Lover" w. Clifford Grey m. Victor Schertzinger
• "Every Little Moment" w.m. Vivian Ellis
• "Feeling Sentimental" w. Ira Gershwin m. George Gershwin
• "Find Me A Primitive Man" w.m. Cole Porter
• "Funny, Dear, What Love Can Do" w.m. Charles Straight, Joe Bennett & George Little
• "Gee Baby, Ain't I Good To You?" w. Andy Razaf & Don Redman m. Don Redman
• "Great Day!" w. Billy Rose & Edward Eliscu m. Vincent Youmans
• "Happy Days Are Here Again" w. Jack Yellen m. Milton Ager
• "Have A Little Faith In Me" w. Sam M. Lewis & Joe Young m. Harry Warren
• "Here Am I" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Jerome Kern
• "He's A Good Man To Have Around" w. Jack Yellen m. Milton Ager
• "High And Low" w. Howard Dietz m. Arthur Schwartz
• "Honeysuckle Rose" w. Andy Razaf m. Thomas "Fats" Waller
• "How Am I To Know?" w. Dorothy Parker m. Jack King
• "I Got A Code In My Dose" w.m. Arthur Fields, Fred Hall & Billy Rose
• "I Guess I'll Have To Change My Plans" w. Howard Dietz m. Arthur Schwartz
• "I Have To Have You" Leo Robin, Richard A. Whiting
• "I Lift Up My Finger" w.m. Leslie Sarony
• "I May Be Wrong" w. Harry Ruskin m. Henry Sullivan
• "If I Can't Have You" w. Al Bryan m. George W. Meyer
• "If I Had A Talking Picture Of You" w. B. G. De Sylva & Lew Brown m. Ray Henderson
• "If Love Were All" w.m. Noel Coward
• "I'll See You Again" w.m. Noel Coward
• "I'm A Dreamer, Aren't We All?" w. B. G. De Sylva & Lew Brown m. Ray Henderson
• "I'm A Gigolo" w.m. Cole Porter
• "I'm In Seventh Heaven" w.m. Al Jolson, B. G. De Sylva, Lew Brown & Ray Henderson
• "I'm Just A Vagabond Lover" w.m. Rudy Vallee & Leon Zimmerman
• "I've Got A Feeling I'm Falling" w. Billy Rose m. Fats Waller & Harry Link
• "Kansas City Kitty" w. Edgar Leslie m. Walter Donaldson
• "Keepin' Myself For You" w. Sidney Clare m. Vincent Youmans
• "Let Me Sing And I'm Happy" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "Little By Little" w.m. Walter O'Keefe & Robert Emmet Dolan
• "The Little Things You Do" w. Lorenz Hart m. Richard Rodgers
• "Liza" w. Gus Kahn & Ira Gershwin m. George Gershwin
• "Looking At You" w.m. Cole Porter
• "Louise" w. Leo Robin m. Richard A. Whiting
• "Lovable And Sweet" w. Sidney Clare m. Oscar Levant
• "Love, Your Magic Spell Is Everywhere" w. Elsie Janis m. Edmund Goulding
• "March Of The Grenadiers" w. Clifford Grey m. Victor Schertzinger
• "Maybe Who Knows" John Tucker, Joe Schuster, Ruth Etting
• "Mean To Me" w. Roy Turk m. Fred E. Ahlert
• "The Minor Drag" m. Thomas "Fats" Waller
• "Miss Hannah" w.m. Don Redman & John Nesbitt
• "Miss You" w.m. Harry Tobias, Charles Tobias & Henry Tobias
• "Moanin' Low" w. Howard Dietz m. Ralph Rainger
• "More Than You Know" w. Edward Eliscu & Billy Rose m. Vincent Youmans
• "My Ideal" w. Leo Robin m. Richard A. Whiting & Newell Chase
• "My Kinda Love" w. Jo Trent m. Louis Alter
• "My Love Parade" w. Clifford Grey m. Victor Schertzinger
• "My Mother's Eyes" w. L. Wolfe Gilbert m. Abel Baer
• "My Sin" w. B. G. De Sylva & Lew Brown m. Ray Henderson
• "Nobody's Using It Now" Clifford Grey, Victor Schertzinger
• "On The Amazon" w. Clifford Grey & Greatrex Newman m. Vivian Ellis
• "Orange Blossom Time" w. Joe Goodwin m. Gus Edwards
• "Pagan Love Song" w. Arthur Freed m. Nacio Herb Brown
• "Painting the Clouds With Sunshine" w. Al Dubin m. Joe Burke
• "Paris, Stay the Same" w. Clifford Grey m. Victor Schertzinger
• "Piccolo Pete" w.m. Phil Baxter
• "Puttin' on the Ritz" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "Raisin' the Roof" w. Dorothy Fields m. Jimmy McHugh
• "Reaching For Someone" w. Edgar Leslie m. Walter Donaldson
• "Rockin' Chair" w.m. Hoagy Carmichael
• "Romance" w. Edgar Leslie m. Walter Donaldson
• "Satisfied!" w. Irving Caesar m. Cliff Friend
• "Serenade of Love" by Irving Caesar
• "Seventh Heaven" w. Sidney D. Mitchell m. Lew Pollack
• "She's Such A Comfort To Me" w. Douglas Furber, Max Lief, Nathaniel Lief & Donovan Parsons m. Arthur Schwartz
• "She's Wonderful" w. Gus Kahn m. Walter Donaldson
• "A Ship Without A Sail" w. Lorenz Hart m. Richard Rodgers
• "Should I?" w. Arthur Freed m. Nacio Herb Brown
• "Siboney" w. Dolly Morse m. Ernesto Lecuona
• "Singin' In the Bathtub" w.m. Herb Magidson, Ned Washington & Michael H. Cleary
• "Singin' in the Rain" w. Arthur Freed m. Nacio Herb Brown
• "So The Bluebirds And The Blackbirds Got Together" w. Billy Moll m. Harry Barris
• "S'posin"' w. Andy Razaf m. Paul Denniker
• "Spread A Little Happiness" w.m. Vivian Ellis, Richard Myers & Greatrex Newman
• "Star Dust" w. Mitchell Parish m. Hoagy Carmichael Music 1927.
• "Sunny Side Up" w. B. G. De Sylva & Lew Brown m. Ray Henderson
• "Thank Your Father" w. B. G. De Sylva & Lew Brown m. Ray Henderson
• "Then You've Never Been Blue" w. Sam M. Lewis & Joe Young m. Ted Fiorito
• "Thinking Of You" w. Bert Kalmar m. Harry Ruby
• "True Blue Lou" w.m. Sam Coslow, Leo Robin & Richard A. Whiting
• "Wait 'Til You See Ma Cherie" w. Leo Robin m. Richard A. Whiting
• "Waiting At The End Of The Road" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "Wake Up And Dream" w.m. Cole Porter
• "Walk Right In" Cannon, Woods, Darling, Suanoe
• "Wedding Bells Are Breaking Up That Old Gang Of Mine" w. Irving Kahal & Willie Raskin m. Sammy Fain
• "The Wedding Of The Painted Doll" w. Arthur Freed m. Nacio Herb Brown
• "What Is This Thing Called Love?" w.m. Cole Porter
• "What Wouldn't I Do For That Man?" w. E. Y. Harburg m. Jay Gorney
• "When It's Springtime In The Rockies" w. Mary Hale Woolsey & Milton Taggert m. Robert Sauer
• "Why Can't I?" w. Lorenz Hart m. Richard Rodgers
• "Why Do You Suppose?" w. Lorenz Hart m. Richard Rodgers
• "Why Was I Born?" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Jerome Kern
• "With A Song in My Heart" w. Lorenz Hart m. Richard Rodgers
• "Without A Song" w. Edward Eliscu & Billy Rose m. Vincent Youmans
• "You Do Something To Me" w.m. Cole Porter
• "You Were Meant For Me" w. Arthur Freed m. Nacio Herb Brown
• "Yours Sincerely" w. Lorenz Hart m. Richard Rodgers
• "You've Got That Thing" w.m. Cole Porter
• "Zigeuner" w.m. Noël Coward

Classical music

• Béla Bartók – Piano Concerto No. 1
• Arnold Bax – Symphony No. 3
• Pierre-Octave Ferroud – Violin Sonata
• Paul Juon – Litaniae for Piano, Violin and Cello in C sharp minor
• Wilhelm Kempff – Symphony No. 2
• Dmitri Shostakovich – Symphony No. 3 E flat major, Op. 20

Opera

Musical theater

• Bitter Sweet (Noel Coward) – London and Broadway productions
• Boom Boom Broadway production opened at the Casino Theatre on January 28 and ran for 72 performances
• Die Dreigroschenoper Vienna production
• Fifty Million Frenchmen Broadway production
• Follow Thru Broadway production opened at the 46th Street Theatre on January 9 and ran for 401 performances
• Follow Through London production opened at the Dominion Theatre on October 3 and ran for 148 performances
• Hold Everything London production
• Hot Chocolates Broadway production
• Das Land Des Lächelns (Franz Lehár) – Berlin production
• The Little Show Broadway production
• Mr Cinders London production
• Show Boat (Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II) – Paris production
• Spring Is Here Broadway production
• Toad of Toad Hall London production
• Wake Up And Dream London and Broadway productions

Musical films

• The Broadway Melody
• The Cocoanuts
• The Desert Song
• The Glad Rag Doll
• Glorifying the American Girl
• Gold Diggers Of Broadway
• Hollywood Revue Of 1929
• Honky Tonk
• The Love Parade
• Rio Rita
• Sally
• Show Boat
• Sunny Side Up

Recorded popular music

• "Am I Blue?" by Ethel Waters
• "Button Up Your Overcoat" by Helen Kane
• "Heigh-Ho, Everybody, Heigh-Ho" by Rudy Vallee
• "I Want To Be Bad" by Annette Hanshaw
• "I'll Get By, As Long As I Have You" by Aileen Stanley
• "I'm The Medicine Man For The Blues" by Ted Lewis & His Jazz Band
• "If I Had A Talking Picture of You" by Johnny Hamp's Kentucky Serenaders
• "Louise" by Maurice Chevalier
• "Louise/So The Bluebirds And The Blackbirds Got Together" by Paul Whiteman's Rhythm Boys, featuring Bing Crosby
• "Makin' Whoopie" by Eddie Cantor
• "Maybe, Who Knows?" by Kate Smith
• "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" by Bessie Smith
• "Piccolo Pete" by Ted Weems & His Orchestra
• "Singin' in the Rain" by Cliff Edwards
• "Stardust" by Isham Jones & His Orchestra
• "What Did I Do To Be So Black and Blue?" by Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra
• "You'll Do It Someday, So Why Not Now?" by Rudy Vallee

Births

• January 6 – Wilbert Harrison
• January 28 – Mr Acker Bilk
• February 10 – Jerry Goldsmith, US composer for film and television
• March 4 – Bernard Haitink
• April 6 – André Previn
• April 29 – Peter Sculthorpe, composer
• May 1 – Sonny James
• May 3 – Denise Lor
• May 25 – Beverly Sills
• July 3 – Pedro Iturralde, composer
• June 9 – Johnny Ace
• June 23 – June Carter Cash
• July 9 – Lee Hazlewood
• July 18 – Screamin' Jay Hawkins
• August 12 – Buck Owens
• August 24 – William Winfield, The Harptones
• September 13 – Nicolai Ghiaurov, operatic bass
• October 2 – Kenneth Leighton, composer
• October 26 – Neal Matthews The Jordanaires
• November 10 – Marilyn Bergman, US songwriter
• November 11 – LaVern Baker
• November 28 – Berry Gordy Jr., record producer
• November 30 – Dick Clark, host of American Bandstand
• December 6 – Nikolaus Harnoncourt, conductor
• December 25 – Billy Horton, The Silhouettes
• December 25 – Chris Kenner

Deaths

• February 24 – André Messager, conductor and composer
• June 2 – Don Murray, jazz clarinettist
• June 4 – Harry Frazee, producer of Broadway musicals
• August 3 – Emile Berliner, inventor of the gramophone
• August 19 – Sergei Diaghilev, ballet impresario
• date unknown – Frederick Weatherly, songwriter