The Orchestra's euphonious brand of bigband swing dominated the airwaves, and for its founder decades more of media celebrity seemed to beckon.
Then Pearl Harbor happened. The Japanese bombing of an American naval base in Hawaii in December 1941 drew the US into the war, prompting Miller to offer his services to the military effort. Initially rejected by the Navy, by September 1942 he had persuaded the Army to offer him a commission. He would, he promised, 'put a little more spring into the feet of our marching men and a little more joy in their hearts'.
And that he did, with the same irrepressible energy that had made the original Glenn Miller Orchestra so successful. Within months of enlisting with the Army Air Forces (AAF), Miller had formed a band which broadcast weekly concerts from New York. The ensemble was subsequently sent to Europe to play for the troops. 'Next to a letter from home, Captain Miller,' commented General James Doolittle, his commander, 'your organisation is the greatest morale builder in the European Theater of Operations.'
But a fateful turn to Miller's life was looming. In June 1944 he was sent to London, tasked with providing broadcast entertainment to the D-Day forces in their onward push to reclaim territory in Europe. Miller, as ever, approached his new assignment with gusto, and five months later received approval to billet his AAF musicians closer to the action in liberated Paris.
This story is from the December 2023 edition of BBC Music Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the December 2023 edition of BBC Music Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
FESTIVAL GUIDE 2024
It's that time of year again... Spring has finally sprung, and along with the promised sunshine we welcome a brand-new season of glorious summer music.
The mighty Sampson
As soprano Carolyn Sampson turns 50, she tells Ashutosh Khandekar about the development of her voice through a remarkable catalogue of recordings
Music to die for
From wrathful Verdi to ethereal Fauré, there are many different ways to compose a Requiem, as Jeremy Pound discovers
Avian anthems
From Vivaldi to Messiaen, composers have often been inspired by birdsong. But accurately mimicking chirrups and tweets in music is far more difficult than it sounds, finds Tom Stewart
THE BIG 400!
BBC Music Magazine has reached its 400th issue! To celebrate, we look back over eight milestone issues since the very firstin 1992
Northern light
From her first piano lesson, composer Errollyn Wallen has lived and breathed music; and though inspired by a range of styles, her composing is a deeply personal expression, as she tells Kate Wakeling
Felix Mendelssohn Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor
Jo Talbot celebrates the Mozart of the 19th century’ as she searches out the finest recordings of this masterful work for piano, violin and cello
Antonio Salieri
Forget the hate-filled murderer of Mozart, says Alexandra Wilson; the real Salieri was an opera composer of considerable standing
Aix-en-Provence France
Rebecca Franks breathes in the spring air in the popular southern city, where the music making sparkles and the sun always shines
Composing is like breathing. It's just something I do, like a hobby, really...or an addiction
The world's most performed classical composer, a small, black-suited figure with a mop of white hair and mutton-chop whiskers, stands on the huge Brucknerhaus stage, almost invisible among the sea of musicians.