We also use sound in some of our exhibit areas. In our gallery which depicts
the colourful face and the horror behind that face of the Nazi regime in
Germany, we have segments of Hitler`s speeches and German marching songs of the
period. In our women in WWII factories scene (which most of us refer to as
Rosie the Rivetter), we have popular music of the period, as we do in a
temporary exhibit on another floor called VICTORY! which deals with the end of
the war. We will feature music in an exhibition to be called `"We'll Meet
Again" which deals with personal relationships and how these were affected by
war (from WW I through contemporary UN peacekeeping in Croatia).

We have a monthly film night, where staff take turns showing their favourite
war movies. Where possible, we use appropriate music in the hour before to set
the stage, as it were. My film this year will be "Mrs. Miniver" and I'll be
using a wonderful CD of popular music all recorded in London during the period
June through December 1939. It's a very significant recording as it features
many of the top English bands and soloists of the later '30s; within months,
many of their members had entered the forces and the bands were never the same.
After the war, the big bands never regained their prominence, so the CD
represents the end of an era.

Elgar's "Enigma Variations" is an interesting choice for a memorial chamber. It
beats Haydn's "Mass in Time of War" as something most visitors would not only
find appropriate but also want to listen to! We will have to select music for
the same purpose when we build our addition in the next few years, which will
also feature a memorial chamber. I'm thinking of using Delius's summer songs,
perhaps as a backdrop for war poetry readings. Any good ideas out there? I
could use lots of help on this one.

Harry Needham
Canadian War Museum