As the Blitz comes to an end, London refuses to be silenced.
In this episode, we move through the final raids of 1941 into the uneasy calm of “The Lull”, where music, performance and cultural life carried on amid loss and devastation.
We hear how jazz and swing — banned by the Nazis as “degenerate” — became acts of resistance, and how Ken “Snakehips” Johnson, a Black, gay bandleader at the height of his fame, was killed when the Café de Paris was bombed.
We witness the destruction of Queen’s Hall — London’s leading concert hall and home to the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic. Its loss displaced musicians across the city, sending major orchestras elsewhere, including to the newly built Walthamstow Assembly Hall.
Set against wartime Walthamstow — bombed, damaged, yet still building — this episode explores what endured while buildings burned, and why music mattered more than ever.
Selected audio excerpts featured in this episode:
Audio excerpts are used under UK fair dealing provisions for the purposes of criticism, review, and historical illustration. Full rights remain with the respective rights holders.
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