1983 in British music

This is a summary of 1983 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.

• 8 January – The UK singles chart is tabulated from this week forward by The Gallup Organization and the BMRB manual diary method was ended. Electronic dataport machines were used in selected stores and Gallup would automatically dial up the terminals via telephone lines to gather the sales information.
• 10 February – John McCabe's Concerto for Orchestra is given its first performance by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Sir Georg Solti.
• 14 May – The Symphony No 2 Summer Music by William Mathias is performed for the first time by the Liverpool Philharmonic Society
• 30 May – Elton John releases his album Too Low for Zero, marking the beginning of his mid-1980s comeback after several albums disappointed in sales.
• 31 May – Nigel Osborne's Sinfonia No 2 is performed for the first time by the Leicestershire Schools Symphony Orchestra.
• 3 June – The opera Raleigh's Dream by Iain Hamilton is performed for the first time in Durham, North Carolina
• 17 July – The Cello Concerto by Lennox Berkeley, composed in 1939, is performed for the first time in Manchester.
• 27 July – The Piano Concerto by Dominic Muldowney is performed for the first time in London.
• 20 August – The Rolling Stones sign a new $28 million contract with CBS Records, the largest recording contract in history up to this time.
• 1 September – Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon of The Clash issue a press statement announcing that Mick Jones has been fired from the group.
• 20 September – The first ARMS Charity Concert is held at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
• 3 October – The first performance of the opera Marching Song by Benjamin Frankel, left in short score at the time of the composer's death ten years earlier, is broadcast by the BBC.
• 8 November – the first performance of Benjamin Britten's An American Overture (composed in 1941) by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra conducted by Simon Rattle.
• 9 November – The Blue Guitar for solo guitar by Michael Tippett is performed for the first time, at the Ambassador Auditorium, Pasadena, California.
• 28 November – The first Now album is released.
• 15 December – The broadcast premiere of Elisabeth Lutyens’ Music for Orchestra 1V is given by the City of London Sinfonia, conducted by Richard Hickox.

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Note: The year-end charts published in Music Week on 7 January 1984 only covered the period 4 January to 17 December 1983 – the BPI Year Book 1984 included the complete charts to the end of 1983.

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Notes:

• David Bedford
  • Five Diversions, for two flutes
  • The Valley Sleeper, the Children, the Snakes and the Giant, for orchestra
• Richard Rodney Bennett
  • Concerto for Wind Quintet
  • Guitar Sonata
  • Letters to Lindbergh, for female voices and piano duet
  • Memento, for flute and string orchestra
  • Seachange, for unaccompanied chorus
• Michael Berkeley
  • Cello Concerto
  • Or Shall We Die, oratorio
• Harrison Birtwistle
  • Deowa, for soprano and clarinet
  • Duets for Storab, for two flute
• David Blake – Rise, Dove, for baritone and orchestra
• Edward Cowie
  • Ancient Voices, for four voices
  • Missa Brevis
  • String Quartet No. 3, Creative Arts Quartet
  • String Quartet No. 4, Australia II
• Gordon Crosse – Wave Songs, for cello and piano
• Peter Maxwell Davies
  • Birthday Music for John, trio for flute, viola and cello
  • Into the Labyrinth, cantata
  • Sinfonietta Accademica, for chamber orchestra
• Brian Ferneyhough – Adagissimo, for string quartet
• Michael Finnissy
  • Australian Sea Shanties, for voices, recorders and piano
  • Ouraa, for ensemble (1982-83)
  • Soda Fountain, for voices and cymbals
  • Vaudeville, for mezzo, baritone and ensemble
• Alun Hoddinott – Quodlibet on Welsh Nursery Tunes - arr. for brass quintet
• Robin Holloway
  • Second Idyll for small orchestra
  • Serenade in E flat, for wind quintet and string quintet
• Elizabeth Maconchy
  • L'Horloge, for soprano, clarinet and piano
  • Tribute, for violin and woodwinds
• William Mathias
  • Alleluja! Christ is Risen!, anthem
  • Angelus, for women's voices
  • Horn Concerto
  • Let us Now Praise Famous Men, for chorus and orchestra
  • Missa Brevis
  • Organ Concerto
  • Symphony No. 2, Op.90 (Summer Music)
  • Tantum Ergo, for choir and organ
  • Violin Sonata No. 2
• Dominic Muldowney
  • The Duration of Exile, for mezzo and ensemble
  • Piano Concerto
  • A Second Show, for contralto and ensemble
• Paul Patterson – Mass of the Sea, for soli, chorus and orchestra
• John Pickard – Nocturne in Black and Gold
• Priaulx Rainier – Grand Duo for cello and piano
• John Tavener
  • He Hath Entered the Heven, for unaccompanied trebles
  • To a Child Dancing in the Wind, for soprano, flute, harp and viola
• Michael Tippett
  • Festal Brass with Blues, for brass ensemble
  • The Mask of Time (1980-83) for soli, chorus and orchestra

• Oliver Knussen – Where the Wild Things Are

• Monty Python's The Meaning of Life
• The Pirates of Penzance, starring Kevin Kline and Angela Lansbury

• 18 January – Antony Brant, singer (V)
• 3 March – Katie White, singer (The Ting Tings)
• 8 May – Matt Willis, singer and musician (Busted)
• 16 May – Mince Fratelli, musician (The Fratellis)
• 23 May – Heidi Range, singer (Sugababes)
• 17 June – Lee Ryan, singer (Blue)
• 30 June
  • Cheryl Cole, singer
  • Patrick Wolf, singer-songwriter
• 7 July – Aaron Buckingham, singer (V)
• 22 July – Jodi Albert, singer (Girl Thing)
• 18 August – Mika, singer
• 25 August – James Righton, musician (The Klaxons)
• 11 September – Matthew Halsall, jazz trumpeter and promoter
• 13 September – James Bourne, singer and musician (Busted), (Son of Dork)
• 14 September – Amy Winehouse, singer-songwriter
• 25 September – Hayden Powell, jazz trumpeter and composer
• 24 October – V V Brown, English singer-songwriter, model, and producer
• 26 October – Ant Scott-Lee, singer (3SL)
• 8 November – Mark Harle, singer (V)

• 5 January – Amy Evans, operatic soprano, 98
• 6 January – Bernard Stevens, composer, 66
• 7 January – Edith Coates, operatic mezzo-soprano, 74
• 18 January – Cedric Thorpe Davie, composer, 69
• 28 January – Billy Fury, singer-songwriter, 42 (heart attack)
• 22 February – Sir Adrian Boult, conductor, 93
• 23 February – Herbert Howells, composer, 90
• 6 March – Howard McFarlane, jazz trumpeter, 89
• 8 March – Sir William Walton, composer, 80
• 23 March – David Wynne, composer, 82
• 14 April
  • Pete Farndon, bassist of the rock group the Pretenders, 30 (drug overdose)
  • Elisabeth Lutyens, composer, 76
• 17 April – Thomas L. Thomas, operatic baritone, 72
• 20 April – Sarah Makem, Northern Irish singer, 82
• 6 May – Pat Smythe, jazz pianist, 60
• 5 June – Anthony Lewis, musicologist, conductor and composer, 68
• 12 June – Ceinwen Rowlands, operatic soprano, 78
• 2 July – Jacqueline Townshend, violinist and pianist, 71
• 12 July – Chris Wood, founding member of Traffic, 39 (pneumonia)
• 16 July – David Ward, operatic bass, 61
• 31 August – Eve Taylor, music manager, 68
• 19 September – Peter Mooney, conductor, 68
• 24 September
  • Isobel Baillie, operatic soprano, 88
  • John Bee, theatre organist, 87
• 19 November – Tom Evans, bassist of the rock group Badfinger, 36 (suicide)
• 7 December – Norah Blaney, pianist, composer and music hall performer, 90
• 8 December – Monica Harrison, operatic soprano, 86

The 1983 Brit Awards winners were:

• Best British producer: Trevor Horn
• Best classical recording: John Williams – Portrait
• Best international artist: Kid Creole and the Coconuts
• Best live act: U2
• Best selling album: Barbra Streisand – Love Songs (also released as Memories in the U.S.)
• British breakthrough act: Yazoo
• British female solo artist: Kim Wilde
• British group: Dire Straits
• British male solo artist: Paul McCartney
• British single: Dexys Midnight Runners – "Come On Eileen"
• Life achievement award: Pete Townshend
• Outstanding contribution: The Beatles
• Special Award: Chris Wright
• The Sony award for technical excellence: Paul McCartney

• 1983 in British radio
• 1983 in British television
• 1983 in the United Kingdom
• List of British films of 1983

• BBC Radio 1's Chart Show
• The Official Charts Company