As dawn broke on the morning of the 6th of June 1944 hundreds of Allied Warships made their way towards the coast of Northern France. D-Day had finally arrived. Operation Overlord, the largest amphibious invasion in the history of warfare was underway, heralding one of the most decisive campaigns of World War 2. More than 150,000 troops would land on 5 beaches in Normandy.
To commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day, Radio 2 is marking the occasion with this special concert being held at Portsmouth Guildhall.
Presented by Vernon Kay, the concert features the combined musical forces of the 成人快手 Concert Orchestra and the 成人快手 Big Band as they perform some of the best loved and most enduring music of that era.
Featuring classic film scores including Maurice Jarre鈥檚 The Longest Day, Gerard Schurmann鈥檚 Attack On The Iron Coast, John Addison鈥檚 A Bridge Too Far and John Williams鈥� Hymn To The Fallen from Saving Private Ryan. Musicians also played an important role during those times, most notably Glenn Miller鈥檚 United States Army Air Force Band. They arrived in England in 1944 and over the next year would make more than 500 broadcasts and 300 live performances attended by more than one million military personnel. Among their classics to be performed are In The Mood, Tail End Charlie and Moonlight Serenade.
The concert also features guests including the acclaimed soul voices of Vanessa Haynes and Tony Momrelle who perform some of the biggest hits of 1944 including Duke Ellington鈥檚 Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me, Louis Jordan鈥檚 Is You Is Or Is You Ain鈥檛 My Baby and Nat 鈥楰ing鈥� Cole鈥檚 Straighten Up And Fly Right. 9-piece vocal ensemble The D-Day Darlings revisit those Vera Lynn favourites, We鈥檒l Meet Again and The White Cliffs Of Dover and singer / pianist Kate Garner takes a nostalgic look back at Now Is The Hour and I鈥檓 Gonna Get Lit Up When The Lights Go Up In London.
