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Music historian Russell Davies unearths the stories behind the music of World War I.

This is the second in a five-part investigation (one each year) by Russell Davies of the music, from theatres and music halls and from the soldiery, that came out of The First World War, together with the voices, from the Â鶹ԼÅÄ archives, of some of those who went through it.

Alongside those famous songs indelibly associated with this period ('Pack Up Your Troubles', 'Keep The Â鶹ԼÅÄ Fires Burning') Russell unearths rarities such as "When The Lusitania Went Down", "Sister Susie's Marrying Tommy Atkins Today" and "Don't Take My Darling Boy Away" - in original 1915 versions.

Also recorded that year was Percy Grainger's "Shepherd's Hey", which we hear as played by The Victor Concert Orchestra, while other compositions of that year include the poignant Frank Bridge piece "Lament: Catherine, Aged 9; Lusitania 1915" (he'd known the child who went down with the ship) and an excerpt from a piece that US composer Charles Ives wrote as a reaction to the same tragedy in America. The Scottish Pals' Singers reprise trench songs "Far, Far From Wipers I Long To Be" and "Gassed Again" and US reactions to the war include "Don't Bite The Hand That' Feeding You" and Afro-American comedian Bert Williams's "I'm Neutral". Popular songs and standards that lasted well beyond the war are Jerome Kern's classic "They Didn't Believe Me" (Russell compares the original 1915 recording sung by Alice Green and Harry MacDonough with Elvis Costello's more recent version), a famous music-hall classic from Ella Shields - "Burlington Bertie From Bow" and "Balling The Jack", a tune that helped introduce the Fox-trot to these shores, in another extraordinarily clear 1915 recording, by Elsie Janis and Basil Hallam.

"Britain's Best Recruiting Sergeant" was how another music hall artiste came to be described, thanks to her songs like "The Army Of Today's All Right" and her wartime efforts are recalled by Pat Kirkwood, who played her in a 1957 biopic. The whole programme is a rich tapestry of sounds that includes many memorable voices; old soldiers recalling their experiences, Lady Violet Bonham-Carter remembering the poet Rupert Brooke on his way to Gallipoli and death; Londoners remembering the first bombs that fell on London ... from Zeppelins. Extremely well researched and written by Russell Davies, The Songs and Shows of World War I is a Wise Buddah production made for the Â鶹ԼÅÄ by Roy Oakshott.

57 minutes

Music Played

  • John McCormack

    Keep the Â鶹ԼÅÄ Fires Burning

  • Sir Harry Lauder

    I Love A Lassie

  • Victorian Concert Orchestra

    Sheperd’s Hey

  • Pale K. Lua & David K. Kaili

    My Hula Love

  • Herbert Stuart

    When the Lusitania Went Down

  • Â鶹ԼÅÄ National Orchestra of Wales

    Lament (Catherine, Aged 9, Lusitania 1915)

  • Malmö SymfoniOrkester

    From Hanover Square North, At The End of a Tragic Day, The Voice of the People A

  • Edward Harrigan

    Pack Up Your Troubles

  • Alice Green & Harry MacDonough

    They Didn’t Believe Me

  • Elvis Costello & Marian McPartland

    They Didn’t Believe Me

  • Ella Shields

    Burlington Bertie from Bow

  • Pat Kirkwood

    The Army of Today’s All Right

  • The Scottish Pals' Singers

    Far Far from Wipers I long To Be

  • The Scottish Pals' Singers

    Gassed Last Night

  • Cal Stewart

    War Talk At Pun’kin Center

  • Irving Kaufman

    Don’t Bite The Hand That’s Feeding You

  • Jack Norworth

    Sister Susie is Marrying Tommy Atkins

  • Elsie Janis & Basil Hallam

    Balling the Jack

  • Bert Williams

    I’m Neutral

  • Sam Ash

    Don’t Take My Darling Boy Away

  • Max Jaffa

    The Violin Song

Broadcast

  • Tue 22 Dec 2015 22:00