History Draft Essay

How Was the Music Industry Affected

Due to World War One and World War 2?
Somesh Sahu (24) 4G

Introduction
Music has become an essential part of our life. We see people listening to music everywhere we go.
On the radio, Television and even on our mobile phones. What I will be discussing in this essay is
how something seemingly trivial played a major role in World War One and World War 2.
Throughout this essay, I hope to open your eyes to the underlying links between two of the greatest
wars in history and music.

Definitions
Before I start this essay off proper, some definitions are necessary. Firstly, when I am talking about
the music industry, I am referring to the attitudes of composers of music during the World War One
and World War Two era, as well as how the genre of music shifted between the eras. In order to
tackle this question, I will be looking at it from two main perspectives. Firstly, on how the music
industry was heavily affected by World War One and World War 2 and secondly, on how the music
industry was relatively unaffected during World War 2. I will then be comparing in which era was
the music industry most affected. In order to take on the first perspective, I will be looking at how
Music played a pivotal role in the lives of soldiers fighting the war as well as their families. I will
be looking at the change in attitude from World War One to World War Two. In order to show that
the music industry was unaffected, I will be looking at the how the Government failed in its effort
to mold the music industry into a psychological drug, especially during World War 2.

Music in War
In order to uncover the underlying links between music and the two greatest wars in history, we
have to look draw a slight comparison between World War One and World War Two. The attitudes

of musicians at each point in time were vastly different and throughout this essay, I will provide
my views and opinions on why there was a stark difference in the attitude of the composers.

World War One

World War One can be seen as something revolutionary for mankind. It was a war in which 17
million people has died and 20 million people had gotten injured. This led to the rise of emotions
such as grief, loss and sadness. Music was one of the methods used to express the feelings of
society at that point in time.

Source A:
Like the war itself, the music that comes out of this period is also chaotic for the most part, and
reflects what societies all over the world felt about this new kind of warfare. Music about the war in
this period is disturbing, unstructured, frightening. Society's view of this war can be heard in the
music, and is indeed a dark reminder of what impact this new kind of war had on the entire world.

As we can see from Source A, the loss and sorrow that society felt when men were killed in war or
when children were left orphaned was turned into music. Music could be seen as a means of
expression rather than random bits of words we see in todays music. Source A states that Music
about the war in this period is disturbing, unstructured, frightening. It is not surprising that this
turned out to be the case. It was the first time in human history that the entire world was at war.
Imagine seeing millions of people dying before your eyes and all you could do was wait until it
was all over. You would have frustration, grief and hopelessness enveloped into the heart of a
single person. During World War One tools such as Facebook and Twitter were not around for
people to share their feelings with one another. The best way of expressing how you felt and how
people around you felt was through music.

Source B:
The appalling human tragedy of World War One left its indelible mark on a generation of British
composers. Some died on the field of battle, while those who survived were deeply affected either
by what they had seen or the loss of friends, colleagues and family. Whatever their stylistic
differences, works such as Elgars Cello Concerto, Vaughan Williamss Pastoral Symphony,

Holsts The Planets, Blisss early Piano Quartet (composed during the Battle of the Somme),
Gurneys War Elegy and Bridges Oration all bear the scars of human conflict.

SourceBshowsthatmusiccomposersnotonlywitnessedgriefandhopelessnessbutalsofeltit
themselves.WhatwecanidentifyfromSourceBisthatallthechaossproutingoutduringWorld
WarOnenotonlychangedwhattheycomposedbutitalsobroughtpeople,includingmusicians
together.Regardlessofthedifferentgenres,differentstylesanddifferenttempos,thelossmusic
composersfacedatthatperiodoftimebroughtthewholemusicindustrytogether.Themusic
publishedatthatpointintimewassomethingwhichawholenationcouldjoinhandsandagree
upon.
Intheend,WorldWarOnereallyrevolutionizedthemusicindustryatthatpointintimeandwhat
ismostinterestingaboutthemusicduringthattimeisthatitwasnotgovernmentdrivenorforced
uponthecomposers.Themusicwassomethingnatural.Ittrulyexplainedthefeelingsofloss,guilt
andhopelessness.Whatwasplayedwaswhatpeoplefelt.Itwassomethingwhichsocietycould
relatetooandnotforcedtobelieve,likepropagandaintheformofmusic

World War Two

In my opinion, the way music turned out during World War Two seemed much more artificial and
much less natural. The world had already been through a major war before and with the whole of
Europe on the brink of war ever since World War One, the outbreak of World War Two did not
seem that surprising. As a result of this, feelings of grief, loss and hopelessness were absent in most
songs composed during that time.

Source C:

AsseeninSourceC,musicwasusedasaformofsupportandpatriotismratherthanashoulderto
cryonlikeinWorldWarOne.WorldWarTwosawthegovernmentheavilypushformusic
composerstopublishsongsonpatriotismandhope.Theinterestingthingaboutmusicduringthe
WorldWarTwoeraisthatitdidnottakeflightintermsofpublicopinionascomparedtoWorld
WarOne.Dontgetmewrong,themusicusedtoencouragesoldierswasstillquitepopularascan
beseenbySourceD.

Source D:
The war affected almost every man, woman and child in the United States in some way. Husbands
were separated from wives, boyfriends from girlfriends and children from parents. Popular culture
after Americas involvement in the conflict transitioned to war-related entertainment.

Source D shows how the type of music produced gradually changed over time to war-related
entertainment. It is of no surprise that such a drastic change in the type of music occurred seeing
that the world had already faced the brunt of World War One. I feel that one of the reasons for such
a drastic change in attitude was because society had felt more grief and hopelessness during World
War One. Furthermore, the outbreak of World War Two seemed more predictable as compared to
World War One, with issues such as the ineffectiveness of the League of Nations.

Source E:

As seen in source E, music which was more inspirational and patriotic was more widely accepted
by society rather than the overly patriotic songs which the government focused so much on. This
was one of the reasons why society did not welcome songs which focused too much on national
pride. I feel that the World War 2 period was one where songs which focused more on personal
strength and inspiration excelled more as compared to the government driven overly patriotic
songs.

Mistakes were Made

In my opinion, the government pushed too much for songs of patriotism in World War 2. This led
to the negative reception of many songs during World War 2 and these songs never really took off.

Source F:
With War, songs ridiculing the Axis Powers flooded the market, along with patriotic calls to duty.
If the foregoing titles lack a familiar ring, it is because only a handful of war-related tunes achieved
any real commercial success. By and large, the public rejected most overly-patriotic music; as far as
concerned their record and radio listening, consumers much preferred romantic ballads and uptempo swing numbers.

As can be seen in Source F, overly-patriotic music did not really kick off and sings which inspired
and provided strength to society were preferred more. The government at that point in time was too
focused on gaining support for war that it even used music as a means for garnering support for the
war as well as a psychological drug. On the surface, it might seem that the music industry was
revolutionized during World War 1 and World War 2. In the case of World War 1, we could see a
clear shift in the type of music produced in that particular era. The music produced then was more
chaotic and it really expressed the grief and loss of hope during that era. However, when we arrive
at World War 2, on the surface it seems that the music then focused on patriotism and national
pride. However, what we must understand that this was an effort by the government to garner
support for the war and this was not what musicians and composers of that era wanted to produce
but they were coaxed into doing so by the government. As such, we can ask ourselves this
question, when we refer to the music industry, do we take the true feelings of the composers and
society into consideration or do we just take it for what it is? In my opinion, we should consider the
true feelings of society and these composers. This is because like it or not, in the end, we have to
look at how society reacted to the type of music produced at that point in time. If we are to look at
how the music industry was really affected, we have to look at the reception from society as well.
Therefore, when we dig deeper into the music of the World War 2 era, we realize that music
focused on personal strength and hope really took off as compared to songs which centred around
patriotism and national pride. This clearly shows how the music during the World War 2 was more

optimistic as compared to World War 1, where the music was cantered around grief and
hopelessness.

The Last Tune

In the end, we can see that there indeed was a stark difference in the type of music composed
during the World War One period and World War 2 period. However, if we are to determine which
era redefined the music industry more, it becomes extremely hard. On one hand, we can see how
societys feelings of grief and hopelessness really seeped into the music produced at that time. In
the case of World War 2, under the blanket of the government controlled music industry, we can
see that the music was much more optimistic and music was used more as a form of hope rather
than as a form of grief. In essence, comparing the music of World War 1 with that of World War 2
is extremely hard because of the vast differences in the emotions the songs evoked. However, if we
were to look at this issue on the surface, we can see that World War 1 had more of an intended
impact on both the music industry and society as compared to World War 2. The Government had
more control over the music industry and as such the direction which music took was heavily
dependent on what the government wanted rather than what society and music composers really
felt. As such, songs expressing hope and support were shrouded by songs which expressed
patriotism. Therefore, in my opinion, the music industry was more heavily impacted due to World
War 1 than World War 2 because of the governments incompetence.

Sources
1. Source A: Section 1- Music and World War 1,
http://users.dickinson.edu/~history/product/garrity/section1.html
Like the war itself, the music that comes out of this period is also chaotic for the most part, and
reflects what societies all over the world felt about this new kind of warfare. Music about the war in
this period is disturbing, unstructured, frightening. Society's view of this war can be heard in the
music, and is indeed a dark reminder of what impact this new kind of war had on the entire world.

2. Source B: What was the impact of World War One on Music?,

http://www.classical-music.com/article/what-was-impact-world-war-onemusic
The appalling human tragedy of World War One left its indelible mark on a generation of British
composers. Some died on the field of battle, while those who survived were deeply affected either
by what they had seen or the loss of friends, colleagues and family. Whatever their stylistic
differences, works such as Elgars Cello Concerto, Vaughan Williamss Pastoral Symphony,
Holsts The Planets, Blisss early Piano Quartet (composed during the Battle of the Somme),
Gurneys War Elegy and Bridges Oration all bear the scars of human conflict.

3. Source C: Music Will Help Win The War!,

The Saturday Evening Post

4. Source D: Sheldon Winkler, The Music Of World War II: War Songs And
Their Stories, (Merriam Press, 2013), 11-21
The war affected almost every man, woman and child in the United States in some way. Husbands
were separated from wives, boyfriends from girlfriends and children from parents. Popular culture
after Americas involvement in the conflict transitioned to war-related entertainment.

5. Source E: Music Inspires,

Office for Emergency Management, Office of War Information, Domestic
Operations Branch, Bureau of Special Services

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6. Source F: William H. Young, Nancy K. Young, Music Of The World War

Two Era , (Greenwood Publishing Group, 2008), 1-27

With War, songs ridiculing the Axis Powers flooded the market, along with patriotic calls to duty.
If the foregoing titles lack a familiar ring, it is because only a handful of war-related tunes achieved
any real commercial success. By and large, the public rejected most overly-patriotic music; as far as
concerned their record and radio listening, consumers much preferred romantic ballads and uptempo swing numbers.

Citations
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1. Section 1- Music and World War 1,

http://users.dickinson.edu/~history/product/garrity/section1.html
2. What was the impact of World War One on Music?, http://www.classicalmusic.com/article/what-was-impact-world-war-one-music
3. Big Band in the Barracks: Looking Back At The Music of WWII and the Greatest
Generation, https://www.veteransunited.com/network/big-band-in-the-barracks-lookingback-at-the-music-of-wwii-and-the-greatest-generation/
4. Carl Van Vechten, Music After The Great War And Other Studies, (Redgrove Press, 2009),
1-27
5. William H. Young, Nancy K. Young, Music Of The World War Two Era , (Greenwood
Publishing Group, 2008), 1-27
6. John Bush Jones, The Songs That Fought The War: Popular Music And The Home
Front,1939-1945, (UPNE, 2006), 1-32
7. Sheldon Winkler, The Music Of World War II: War Songs And Their Stories, (Merriam
Press, 2013), 11-21

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Plagiarism Check

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