BBC Concert Orchestra

John Ireland: Epic March
Music While You Work - The Sounds of Wartime Broadcasting
Sincerely Yours - Music by 'The Forces' Sweetheart Vera Lynn
Clifton Parker: Seascape from Western Approaches
Richard Addinsell: Warsaw Concerto
William Walton: Henry V: A Shakespeare Scenario arr. Christopher Palmer

World War Two strikes, allied armies are mobilised across Europe and every person, every business works to keep the home fires burning. BBC Radio and British cinema play their part to boost morale.

'Western Approaches' - with a score by Clifton Parker - was one of the finest propaganda films made and Parker later extracted from it the short tone-poem 'Seascape'.

Richard Addinsell's 'Warsaw Concerto' is said to signify the period more than any other music from the time.

Made towards the end of the war, 'Henry V' starring Laurence Olivier was dedicated to 'Commandos and Airborne Troops of Great Britain, the spirit of whose ancestors it has been humbly attempted to recapture.'

BBC Radio commissioned rousing music such as Ireland's 'Epic March' to help stoke the nation's home fires.

'Music While You Work' blasted out across the UK twice a day on workdays, playing non-stop, upbeat music specially designed to help factory workers remain productive.

Vera Lynn, known as 'the Forces' Sweetheart', used her unique voice to boost a nation at war. Originally dismissed by the BBC Board of Governors with the words 'Popularity noted, but deplored', Lynn's radio programme 'Sincerely Yours' was a great success with both the forces and the audience at home. Her songs during the war years epitomised the mood of the time - optimism, patriotism and love.

Embrace 1940s fashion and come dressed in your vintage finest!

BBC Concert Orchestra
Keith Lockhart conductor
Laurie Ashworth soprano
Victor Sangiorgio piano
Hertfordshire Chorus