World War I really knocked the wind out of Europe’s musical community.  Commissions disappeared overnight. With so many men committed to the military, orchestras struggled to fill concert halls and their own ranks.  While popular music weathered the storm easily, the output of Europe’s composers slowed to a trickle. 

The grim reality of the war strangled the creative will. Art just doesn’t matter as much when the world is tearing itself apart at the seems. There were, however, a handful of composers—Ralph Vaughan Williams, Gustav Holst, Maurice Ravel, Igor Stravinsky—who found a way to create lasting works.

We’ll look at the war to end all wars through the lens of their wartime masterpieces.