Carl Davis on his WW2 inspired albums

Carl Davis is commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain with two albums. He told Classic FM how they complement each other and why music was so important during the Second World War.

Give Me A Smile was released in June and features wartime favourites including We’ll Meet Again, Warsaw Concerto and Dambusters March. Carl calls it a “survey of popular music of the time”.

The second album, due for release on 1 November, is called Carl’s War. Carl says the idea for the album occurred to him when he was putting together Give Me a Smile. He says he saw an opportunity to record some of his own original music about the Second World War, principally written for television.

The music on Carl’s War dates from the mid-1970s, when Carl wrote his first major composition for a film – the dramatization of The Snow Goose. It also includes music from documentaries, including the landmark Anne Frank Remembered, and the film adaptation of Michelle Magorian’s Goodnight Mister Tom.

Listen to Carl Davis talking about his albums now