A free Lecture-Concert by Professor Mark Connelly and Dr Emma Hanna with the Invicta Concert Band on Tuesday 22 March.
Colyer-Fergusson Concert Hall, University of Kent, Canterbury
In the Edwardian period it was established practice for notable events to be commemorated with a song, so when Britain declared war on Germany on 4th August 1914 the search for a new hit started. A competition for new wartime tune was run by Francis & Day publishers, a and it was won by the now iconic wartime song ‘Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag’. In Edwardian Britain the music hall was the most popular form of mass entertainment. Harry Lauder, Marie Lloyd and Vesta Tilley were the celebrities of their day, and the importance of music and entertainments grew stronger during the course of the war.
Popular music was too powerful not to be made relevant and purposeful. Music was soon utilised for the purposes of recruitment, propaganda and fundraising. Concert parties were also vital in maintaining morale at home and abroad. Every unit, platoon or battery had a few men who had a repertoire of popular songs and could sing well, and certain songs were popular at specific times. Music also had more practical uses on the battlefield, for example where bugle calls were given as instructions to the troops.
This lecture-concert will show that the history of popular music in the Great War tells us a great deal about attitudes towards music and morale both at home and abroad. It will show that we should develop a greater appreciation of how the servicemen and women – and civilians - of the Great War lived, and that the most fitting memorial to them would be to understand the privations but also the pleasures that they experienced in the war years.
This event is free and open to all.
Tickets can be booked online via the Gulbenkian website, in person at the Gulbenkian or by telephone on 01227 769075.
