ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a sketch of musical life in England from the years of the Second World War through to about 1970. As the war ended, and the 1940s moved into the 1950s, a number of developments on the English musical map took place in response to changed conditions, government support for the arts and greater economic stability. Piano concertos were featured in the vast majority of post-war orchestral series and were overwhelmingly audience favourites, those likely to fill seats and orchestral bank accounts. Concomitant with the post-war expansion of orchestras' concert-giving activities was a shift away from piano soloists who were almost exclusively English or who were domiciled in the UK. Music clubs and societies had mostly flourished during the war, and this trend continued, another twenty-eight registering with National Federation of Music Societies (NFMS) between June and December 1945.
