Musical entertainment and the British Empire, 1914–1918

Music and the British Empire, from the end of the nineteenth century to the period after the Second World War, has been the subject of a handful of histories in the last fifteen years. ¹ In the midst of the war’s centenary, historians are now carrying out detailed research into the various modes of musical entertainment during the period of the First World War. ² This chapter will provide an overview of the provision of musical entertainment for the troops of the British Empire during the conflict of 1914–1918. It will show how British composers, musicians and entertainers worked to take music of all kinds to those serving the British Empire, demonstrating how music was used to maintain the morale of servicemen on the fighting fronts. This chapter will also survey the work of the leading wartime organisation: the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), who saw the war as an opportunity to utilise their own brand of Christian philanthropic education, and of the significant efforts they made to provide musical entertainment to soldiers wherever they were serving King and Country.