This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1940.
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The following songs appeared in The Billboard's 'Best Selling Retail Records' chart during 1940. Each week fifteen points were awarded to the number one record, then nine points for number two, eight points for number three, and so on. The total points a record earned determined its year-end rank. Regional charts determined the 11-25 rankings each week, and records that failed to score on the main chart were ranked by highest position. Additional information was obtained from the "Discography of American Historical Recordings" website, Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954 and other sources as specified.
Rank | Artist | Title | Label | Recorded | Released | Chart positions |
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1 | Artie Shaw and His Orchestra | "Frenesi" | Victor 26542 | March 3, 1940 | March 29, 1940 | US BB 1940 #1, US #1 for 13 weeks, 29 total weeks, Grammy Hall of Fame 2000, 1,000,000 sold |
2 | Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra (Vocal Frank Sinatra | "I'll Never Smile Again" | Victor 26628 | April 23, 1940 | June 7, 1940 | US BB 1940 #2, US #1 for 12 weeks, 20 total weeks, 1,000,000 sold |
3 | Bing Crosby | "Only Forever" | Decca 3300 | July 3, 1940 | August 1940 | US BB 1940 #3, US #1 for 9 weeks, 22 total weeks |
4 | Glenn Miller and his Orchestra | "Tuxedo Junction" | Bluebird 10612 | February 5, 1940 | February 23, 1940 | US BB 1940 #4, US #1 for 9 weeks, 19 total weeks, 1,000,000 sold |
5 | Glenn Miller and his Orchestra | "The Woodpecker Song" | Bluebird 10598 | January 29, 1940 | February 9, 1940 | US BB 1940 #5, US #1 for 7 weeks, 16 total weeks |
6 | Glenn Miller and his Orchestra | "When You Wish Upon a Star" | Bluebird 10570 | January 6, 1940 | January 19, 1940 | US BB 1940 #6, US #1 for 5 weeks, 16 total weeks |
7 | Glenn Miller and his Orchestra | "Careless" | Bluebird 10520 | November 18, 1939 | December 8, 1939 | US BB 1940 #7, US #1 for 5 weeks, 13 total weeks |
8 | Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra (Vocal Jack Leonard) | "All the Things You Are" | Victor 26401 | October 20, 1939 | November 3, 1939 | US BB 1940 #8, US #1 for 2 weeks, 13 total weeks |
9 | Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra (Vocal Jack Leonard) | "Indian Summer" | Victor 26390 | September 27, 1939 | October 20, 1939 | US BB 1940 #9, US #1 for 1 week, 16 total weeks |
10 | Glenn Miller and His Orchestra (Vocal Ray Eberle) | "Fools Rush In (Where Angels Fear to Tread)" | Bluebird 10728 | March 31, 1940 | May 24, 1940 | US BB 1940 #10, US #1 for 3 weeks, 15 total weeks |
11 | Benny Goodman and His Orchestra (Vocal Mildred Bailey) | "Darn That Dream" | Columbia 35331 | December 3, 1939 | January 4, 1940 | US BB 1940 #11, US #1 for 1 week, 11 total weeks |
12 | Ink Spots | "Maybe" | Decca 3258 | June 11, 1940 | July 1940 | US BB 1940 #12, US #2 for 6 weeks, 17 total weeks |
13 | Glenn Miller and His Orchestra (Vocal Ray Eberle) | "Blueberry Hill" | Bluebird 10768 | June 13, 1940 | July 1940 | US BB 1940 #13, US #2 for 4 weeks, 19 total weeks |
14 | Will Bradley and His Orchestra | Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar | Columbia 35530 | May 21, 1940 | June 28, 1940 | US BB 1940 #14, US #2 for 1 week, 21 total weeks |
15 | Bing Crosby | "Trade Winds" | Decca 3299 | March 19, 1940 | April 1940 | US BB 1940 #15, US #2 for 2 weeks, 18 total weeks |
16 | Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra | The Breeze and I | Decca 3150 | April 18, 1940 | May 1940 | US BB 1940 #16, US #2 for 6 weeks, 11 total weeks, 1,000,000 sold |
17 | Ink Spots | "We Three (My Echo, My Shadow and Me)" | Decca 3379 | July 16, 1940 | September 1940 | US BB 1940 #17, US #3 for 1 week, 15 total weeks |
18 | Bing Crosby | "Sierra Sue" | Decca 3133 | March 22, 1940 | April 1940 | US BB 1940 #18, US #3 for 1 week, 14 total weeks |
19 | Bob Crosby and His Orchestra | "With the Wind and the Rain in Your Hair" | Decca 3018 | February 13, 1940 | March 1940 | US BB 1940 #19, US #2 for 3 weeks, 14 total weeks |
20 | Tony Martin | "It's a Blue World" | Decca 2932 | December 19, 1939 | January 1940 | US BB 1940 #20, US #2 for 2 weeks, 13 total weeks |
21 | Glenn Miller and His Orchestra (Vocal Ray Eberle) | "Say It" | Bluebird 10631 | February 24, 1940 | March 8, 1940 | US BB 1940 #21, US #2 for 2 weeks, 11 total weeks |
Composer | Composition | Date | Location | Performers |
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Britten, Benjamin | Les Illuminations | 1940-01-30 | London | Wyss / Neel String Orchestra – Neel |
Britten, Benjamin | Violin Concerto | 1940-03-29 | New York City | Brosa / New York Philharmonic – Barbirolli |
Carpenter, John Alden | Symphony No. 1 (2nd version) | 1940-10-24 | Chicago | Chicago Symphony – Stock |
Chávez, Carlos | Xochipilli-Macuilxóchitl | 1940-05-16 | Museum of Modern Art, New York City | Ensemble – Chávez |
Creston, Paul | Symphony No. 1 | 1940-02-22 | New York City | NYA Symphony – Mahler |
Ginastera, Alberto | Malambo for piano | 1940-09-11 | Montevideo, Uruguay | Balzo |
Ginastera, Alberto | Three Pieces for Piano | 1940-10-16 | Montevideo, Uruguay | Balzo |
Hartmann, Karl Amadeus | Concerto funebre | 1940-02-29 | St. Gallen, Switzerland | Neracher / St. Gallen Chamber Orchestra – Klug |
Hindemith, Paul | Violin Concerto (1939) | 1940-03-14 | Amsterdam | Concertgebouw Orchestra |
Khachaturian, Aram | Violin Concerto | 1940-11-16 | Moscow | Oistrakh / USSR State Symphony – Gauk |
Krenek, Ernst | Little Concerto for Piano, Organ and Chamber Orchestra | 1940-05-23 | Poughkeepsie, New York | Williams, Geer / Vassar Orchestra – Krenek |
Krenek, Ernst | Symphonisches Stück | 1940-06-11 | Basel | Basel Chamber Orchestra – Sacher |
Larsson, Lars-Erik | God in Disguise | 1940-04-01 | Stockholm | Torlind, Hasslo, Molander / Swedish Radio Symphony – Larsson |
Lilburn, Douglas | Aotearoa, overture | 1940-04-15 | London | Sadler's Welles Orchestra – Braithwaite |
Milhaud, Darius | Symphony No. 1 | 1940-10-17 | Chicago | Chicago Symphony – Milhaud |
Myaskovsky, Nikolai | Symphony No. 20 | 1940-11-28 | Moscow | USSR Radio Symphony – Golovanov |
Piston, Walter | Violin Concerto No. 1 | 1940-03-18 | New York City | Posselt / National Orchestral Association – Barzin |
Price, Florence | Symphony No. 3 (Price) | 1940-11-06 | Little Rock, US | Detroit Civic Orchestra – Valter Poole |
Prokofiev, Sergei | Piano Sonata No. 6 | 1940-04-08 | Moscow | Prokofiev |
Rodrigo, Joaquín | Concierto de Aranjuez | 1940-11-09 | Barcelona | Saenz de la Maza / Barcelona Philharmonic – Mendoza-Lasalle |
Schoenberg, Arnold | Chamber Symphony No. 2 | 1940-12-15 | New York City | Friends of New Music Orchestra – Stiedry |
Schoenberg, Arnold | Violin Concerto (finished 1936) | 1940-12-06 | Philadelphia | Krasner / Philadelphia Orchestra – Stokowski |
Shostakovich, Dmitri | Piano Quintet | 1940-11-23 | Moscow | Shostakovich, Beethoven Quartet |
Shostakovich, Dmitri | Four Romances on Verses by Pushkin | 1940-12-08 | Moscow | Baturin, Shostakovich |
Strauss, Richard | Japanese Festival Music | 1940-12-14 | Tokyo | Tokyo Broadcast Orchestra – Fellmer |
Stravinsky, Igor | Symphony in C | 1940-11-07 | Chicago | Chicago Symphony – Stravinsky |
Tippett, Michael | Concerto for Double String Orchestra | 1940-04-21 | London | South London Orchestra – Tippett |
Webern, Anton | Fünf Lieder, Op. 4 (1909) | 1940-02-10 | Basel, Switzerland | Gradmann-Lüscher, Schmid |
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