THE WORLD WAR TWO GROUP discussion

Members can discuss or post details/clips/ soundtracks on music of the Second World War in this area.

I don't know much about WW II music, but the above photo appeared in the NY Times with the obituary of Bill Millin who played "Highland Laddie" on the orders of Lord Lovat at Sword Beach on D-Day. The scene was immortalized in the movie "The Longest Day" with Peter Lawford as Lord Lovat and Leslie de Laspee as Bill Millin.

Good spotting Manray9 :)

If anyone is in the Cambridge England area - Glen Miller's name in on the wall of missing in the AMC there. They have/had a nice little exhibit on him.

Joe Kennedy's (JFK older brother) name is also on the wall there.

Rick thanks for creating the thread and to Manray9 and Happy for starting it off with two great pieces.

Below I've tried to give some ideas on books that cover the idea behind the topic. I hope we may get a rich vein of books, discussion and recommendations.

The Music of World War II: War Songs and Their Stories by Sheldon Winkler

by Annegret Fauser

by Władysław Szpilman

by Erik Levi

by Dame Vera Lynn

by Brian Moynahan

by Liel Leibovitz

by Sherrie Tucker

Some excellent suggestions there Geevee and you beat me to mentioning the new release on the Leningrad Symphony.


by Brian Moynahan

This new book fits well in this thread, hopefully it may interest some members of the group:


by John Morris
Description:
The Nazi Party stressed the superiority of Germanic culture, and the promotion of Richard Wagner and Carl Orff was central to Hitler's cultural program. In Britain, the War Office under Winston Churchill chose to promote Edward Elgar and Hubert Parry, but also to appropriate and 'de-Nazify' Ludwig van Beethoven whose Fifth Symphony was used extensively in wartime broadcasts and has since become synonymous with VE Day. Meanwhile, the work of Ralph Vaughan Williams, whose music was commissioned by Powell and Pressburger for use in 49th Parallel, reclaimed a particularly English past stretching back to the Tudors. A cultural history of music in wartime based on detailed archival research, Culture and Propaganda in World War II analyses the use of music in the work of British and German film-makers and will be essential reading for historians, musicians, film scholars and propaganda analysts.

Review:
"This is the first study to look in detail at the role of the BBC, the British Council and the British Film Industry in promoting serious music during the period leading up to, and during, World War II. The study is based on detailed archival research, subtle analysis of visual and aural aspects of films. It includes an invaluable comparative dimension by discussing the contrasting approaches to music and culture in Britain and Germany in the period." - Professor Jeffrey Richards (Lancaster)

The story of song 'Lili Marlene' is a fascinating
one, but I would not recommend this book. It
would be OK to get you started, though I hope
there are better ones out there.

You can find Lale Andersen the 'Lili' singer on
youtube.

/show/94707038

My review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review

If you want to see and hear what a 17 piece
'40s era Big Band was like come and see
the Sentimental Journey Orchestra at the CAF
dance this November 9th.

The band is in full Army uniform and the leader
Ted Conerly, even looks like Glenn Miller
and it all takes place in a 1943 Hanger.
Can't beat the ambiance.

Many of the folks dress in period uniforms in
fact some of the folks are even from that era.

Sure I know most of you live far away in funny
places like say, Australia, but I thought I'd
let it be known these things exist.


Annual Veteran’s Day Dinner & 40’s Swing Band Hangar Dance
 
November 9th, 2013
Centex Hangar at the
San Marcos, Texas Airport
 
Dinner at 6-7:30pm, Dancing at 7:30-11pm
 
Bucket Raffle / Dance Contest
 
The Sentimental Journey Orchestra
playing 40's Big Band Swing music

http://www.cafcentex.com/dance/talent...

Some Finnish music from the war years:

Elämää juoksuhaudoissa (Life in the Trenches), probably the most popular song during the war (with English subtitles, and Japanese...)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck_BUU...

Very popular Harmony Sisters singing Finnish versions of Lili Marleen and When it's lamp lighting time in the valley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oje6lc...

Eldankajärven jää (The Ice of Eldanka-lake) with controversial lyrics because they claim that horses have no hay to eat and so on. (I need a translation to Finnish with these lyrics...)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ALN5g...

Maybe I'll post some others later. I am giggling here listening to Katyusha with Finnish (drinking song) lyrics. Having attended some academic "sitsi" parties I have learned a few (and also the former national anthem of the Soviet Union)...

Edit:
This is almost completely off topic but I found myself watching this again: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHb4Q6...

Leningrad Cowboys & Red Army Choir - Total Balalaika Show in Helsinki Senate's Square in June 1993 in front of an audience of about 70,000.

Those of you who remember the Cold War can maybe understand the significance to us Finns. Seeing the singers of the Alexandrov Ensemble in their uniforms relaxed and having fun while singing Just a Gigolo probably did a lot of good to the relations between Finns and Russians.

The wonderful Dame Vera Lynn was the voice that kept up morale in the UK during its darkest days. Here she is singing "There'll Always Be An England".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qhLPW...

I'm reasonably versed in WWII era music and 1940s radio programs in general. I would say that these days its the music/content I most avidly listen to.

Some fainter familiarity with some of the trends in comic books, government programs, PSAs, magazines, music hall/vaudeville, and advertising. It's a minor--but persistent--interest of mine. Not so much big bands but things like jug bands, murder ballads, Gospel, and other vernacular stuff.

I'm not even sure exactly what-all I know about it; maybe not much when it comes right down to it. It depends on what you ask. Any random inquiry might turn up trumps.

Here's a link to a jazzy number by the late great Louis Jordan. Like most everything else in 1944 in "The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave," the music charts were segregated. Billboard had the "Charts" and a separate list for so-called "race records" -- referred to as the Harlem Hit Parade. Louis Jordan's "GI Jive" was one of the first records to top both charts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eokdl...

Manray9 wrote: "Here's a link to a jazzy number by the late great Louis Jordan. Like most everything else in 1944 in "The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave," the music charts were segregated. Billboard ..."

Great recommendation! I've always liked Jordan's "Saturday Night Fish Fry," but I believe that was a post-war song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_gQ7...

Another great tune from Louis Jordan is "Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby." I just looked it up, and it was actually the B-side of the song you posted.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7M4t...

just in case any one is in the neighborhood,
November 8th :


So, what's so great about our dinner and hangar dance?

The San Marcos Centex Wing of the Commemorative Air Force is located in the only WWII aircraft hangar left standing on the old Edward Gary Army Training Base in operation during WWII.

For visitors to enjoy in the hangar . . . a PX, Museum, Officer's Club, Library and a hangar full of WWII aircraft all of which are still in flying condition. The Yellow Rose B-25 and one of only two flying P-39s in the world are among them. Others include T-6, T-34, U-3, P-63, Yak, Kate,
Zero replica, a small Liaison airplane (L5-Cub) & a BT-13 project. Liaison aircraft of various types and sizes were used in WWII to spot targets, drop supplies and fly wounded out.

The airplanes are pulled out of the hangar to make room for the dance inside but are available?on static display for the many visitors attending the evening's event. Many guests (most in WWII era dress, both military and civilian) enjoy having their photograph taken in front of the nose art of the Yellow Rose B-25 bomber beautifully
spotlighted in front of the big hangar.

Live Big Band - Without question (or argument) the Sentimental Journey Orchestra of Kerrville,
Texas?conducted by Ted Conerly is the most authentic WWII era Swing Orchestra sound in Texas and surrounding. Dressed in WWII attire the group is a 21-piece orchestra that performs a repertoire of the big bands' greatest hits.

http://www.cafcentex.com/dance/contac...

One for you Carl?

I'll be there, and i'll buy, the first few rounds anyway.

:)

Arguably the best piece of music to emerge directly from the suffering of WW II is Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony -- although I admit to bias toward Russian composers. Apparently audiences loved the symphony, while Western critics scoffed. I think Shostokovich did well during a period when just being a leading artistic figure in Stalin's Russia was dangerous to one's health. Here is a review from the Washington Post on Brian Moynahan's Leningrad: Siege and Symphony:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinion...

Leningrad: Siege and Symphony

I read Moynahan's bio of Freddy Spencer Chapman. Not bad.

Jungle Soldier: The True Story of Freddy Spencer Chapman

Thanks for the link to the review of Leningrad: Siege and Symphony. I have been tossing up whether to buy a copy since it was first published - I still haven't made up my mind!

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Thanks for the link to the review of Leningrad: Siege and Symphony. I have been tossing up whether to buy a copy since it was first published - I still haven't made up my mind!"

Hi Manray9. How does Shostakovich's Eighth Symphony rank with you as a World War II piece?

Gerald wrote: "'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Thanks for the link to the review of Leningrad: Siege and Symphony. I have been tossing up whether to buy a copy since it was first published - I still haven't made up my mind..."

I am partial to "Leningrad."

I read, and wrote a short review of, Leningrad: Siege and Symphony months ago. I never particularly liked the 7th (although it was better than almost any other work save "The Gadfly"), and thus never saw what charm the myth could possible have effused

I just noticed recent publication of one that tells more about the period than the book:

http://www.weeklystandard.com/article...

I guess you had to be a commie.

This is a song that is mentioned in The Third Reich at War written/sung by Ilse Weber:


Farewell, my friend, we have come to the end
Of the journey we took together.
They've found me a place on the Polish express,
And now I must leave you for ever.
You were loyal and true, you helped me get through,
You stood by my side in all weather,
Just feeling you near would quiet every fear,
We bore all our burdens together.
Farewell, it's the end; I'll miss you my friend,
And the hours we spent together.
I gave you my heart, stay strong when we part,
For this time our farewell's for ever.

According to the author; "The warm simplicity of her settings was never more moving than in her lullaby 'Viegala', which she reportedly sang to children from the camp, including her son Tommy, as she accompanied them voluntarily into the gas chamber at Auschwitz on 6 October 1944 ... "

Listen to the song Viegala:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAN5q...

More information on Ilse Weber:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilse_Weber

H'mmm. I'm unconvinced by that Shostakovich argument and I'm a longtime listener of classical (aka 'longhair'). His symphonies may be the most refined music produced; but I'll take vernacular music anytime I have my druthers. The tunes that people whistled under their breath and the ditties they tapped their feet to; the torch-songs and even the nonsense tunes that people used to buoy themselves up. That's what I go for. Vera Lynn's "We'll Meet Again" tops anything as far as I'm concerned. The version where the airmen in the hangar sing along with her. My god. It was an age of strong, stirring, expressive, vocals.

p.s. Not only Louis Jordan but there were other rather amazing Harlem songs with the most outlandish lyrics (by todays lights) that became hits, in a way which usually mystifies us today. When we look back, we expect everything to 'line up' on one side of the issue or the other; we expect everyone to behave consistently. But it wasn't the case. What I'm trying to point out is that even though the music charts were segregated there was a dizzying amount of songs and singers who traipsed back'n'forth over the color-line without the hindrances or 'fallout' we expect history to attest to. You can find black vocalists singing 'racist' tunes, for example, to the point where you're scratching your head wondering why they are 'demeaning themselves'. The real lesson is: not to assume we can follow the reasoning of a generation/culture that long ago. Its just not that 'pat'.

Feliks wrote: "p.s. Not only Louis Jordan but there were other rather amazing Harlem songs with the most outlandish lyrics (by todays lights) that became hits, in a way which usually mystifies us today. When we l..."

"...Cuz beans and cornbread, they go hand in hand."

This morning, I listened to a song that is about World War II but not of World War II. It is by a Scottish folk singer/songwriter named Al Stewart, and it is called "Roads to Moscow." Some of you might have heard it. Those who have not can do so at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAqP3....

Well that brings back a memory - not the Soviet-German war - but the song from the early 70's! Thanks couldn't remember who the name or who sang it - confused him with Rod!

A spirited vocal version of Band of Brother's "Requiem".
Goes for WWI, WWII right up to those who won't see the dawn on the battlefields of the Middle East tomorrow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OApzV...

Dimitri,

Thank you for that link.

Al Stewart did songs about many of the Eastern Front battles, even Stalingrad, etc.

Nice link, thanks Dimitri.

I've got that album! how many rocknroll or any songs have 'General Guderian' in them?

Stewart does have a lot of historical references in his tunes, Tiger Moths, Lord Greenville, gun running on the Spanish border.

Gerald wrote: "This morning, I listened to a song that is about World War II but not of World War II. It is by a Scottish folk singer/songwriter named Al Stewart, and it is called "Roads to Moscow." Some of you m..."

Gerald wrote: "This morning, I listened to a song that is about World War II but not of World War II. It is by a Scottish folk singer/songwriter named Al Stewart, and it is called "Roads to Moscow." Some of you m..."

For me Past, Present and Future is Al Stewart's best album and Roads to Moscow the high point of it. Too often his lyrics lurch from breathtaking imagery to a couple of lines of pure doggerel, but I don't believe RtM has a duff phrase in it. Sends shivers down your back.

The one thing I liked about participating in Change of Commands, Division reviews/runs, marching in parades in Honolulu was the music of the Division Band.

Dimitri wrote: "A spirited vocal version of Band of Brother's "Requiem".
Goes for WWI, WWII right up to those who won't see the dawn on the battlefields of the Middle East tomorrow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch..."

Very beautiful!