­
  • Register
  • |
  • Sign in
Skip to content
skip to navigation

Classic FM

Listen

On Air Now

Anne-Marie Minhall 2pm - 4pm

Anne-Marie Minhall

Now Playing

Nocturne in Eb major Opus 9 No.2 Frederic Chopin Download 'Nocturne in Eb major Opus 9 No.2' on iTunes

Nocturne in Eb major Opus 9 No.2 artwork
  • Playlist
  • Schedule
  • Home
  • Radio
  • News
  • Discover Music
  • Composers
  • Artists
  • Win
  • Store
  • Charity
  • Podcasts
  • Events
  • Dating
  • Sign in / Register
  • Follow us on:
    Follow Classic FM on Facebook
    Follow Classic FM on Instagram
    Follow Classic FM on Youtube

Discover Music

  • Discover Music Home
  • Periods & Genres
  • Occasions
  • Mood
  • Instruments
  • Music Theory
  • Music Education
  • Humour
  • Women in Music
  • Lyrics
  • More Classic FM

Music in conflict: 26 iconic images

Facebook share

Simply the most stunning, moving images of how music can change the world – this is the power of music. In the face of adversity and in the toughest of circumstances, music can lift the human spirit and bring people together like no other force on the planet.

  1. Music in conflict collage

    1. From the Second World War to the migrant crisis

    Soviet tank crew in 1945, a soldier in Chechnya in 1994, and a Syrian migrant in 2015: all caught up in conflicts - and all moved, no matter how briefly, by music. Explore our gallery of similar moments from the last 100 years.

  2. Cellist plays in Baghdad at scene of bombing

    2. Iraq: cellist plays at the scene of a bombing

    Karim Wasfi, former director for the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra, plays his cello next to debris from a bomb in Baghdad's Adhamiya district in May 2015, in a symbolic act of protest against violence.

  3. Musicians tribute to victims of Nice tragedy

    3. Musicians perform tribute to victims of the Nice terror attack

    Musicians perform La Marseillaise, the national anthem of France, in Times Square, New York on 21 July 2016 in tribute to victims of the Nice Bastille Day tragedy.

  4. Russian soldier playing Piano 1994

    4. War in Chechnya: Russian soldier plays a deserted piano

    A deserted piano in war-torn Chechnya gets a little attention from a Russian soldier. Picture: Reuters

  5. The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra play through riot

    5. The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra play through riots

    The Baltimore Symphony stage an impromptu concert outside their home venue in an effort to promote peace and ease tension after rioting in April 2015.

  6. Rami Basisah Syrian Violinist

    6. Syrian violinist performs to fellow refugees fleeing to Europe

    Syrian refugee Rami Basisah plays his violin on the Greece-Macedonia border. The 24-year-old, who fled the devastated city of Homs, performed Beethoven's Ode to Joy and Vivaldi's For Seasons, among other pieces. Picture: Jure Erzen

  7. Occupy Central Movement in Hong Kong

    7. Occupy Hong Kong with music

    As protests rage on in Hong Kong, young musicians bring music to the heart of the city with their non-violent message for the authorities. Picture: @MarkTjhung

  8. Palestinian Pianist

    8. Music in the streets of Damascus

    Ayham al-Ahmed, a Palestinian resident of Damascus' Yarmuk refugee camp, plays the piano in the middle of the war-torn streets in 2014. Picture: Getty

  9. Music in war-torn Damascus

    9. Music in war-torn Damascus

    An accordionist sits on a pile of rubble in the Yarmuk refugee camp in Damascus. Photo: Getty

  10. pianist chopin ukraine riot police

    10. A Chopin concert like no other

    The pianist, photographed by Facebook user Anastasiia Bereza, reportedly set up his piano in front of the armed police the day after protesters in Kiev brought down a statue of Lenin.

  11. Music In Conflict

    11. Musicians at the end of the Second World War

    Thought to be taken in Berlin, here a member of a Soviet tank crew plays piano at the end of the Second World War in 1945. Photo: Getty

  12. turkish musician protesting in Taksim Park

    12. The lone cellist at the Istanbul protests

    Musicians offer a moment of calm in the Istanbul park at the centre of nationwide anti-government demonstrations. Photo Credit: MARCO LONGARI/AFP/Getty Images)

  13. Music In Conflict

    13. Music in an Afghan refugee camp

    Afghan girls look on as musicians play folk music during a wedding party in a refugee camp on the outskirts of Islamabad Pakistan, Thursday, April 3, 2008. Pakistan plans to repatriate by 2009 all 2 million Afghan refugees who have fled violence in their homeland, even though most say they do not want to return. Photo: PA

  14. Music In Conflict

    14. Soldiers play piano on the streets of Grozny

    A Chechen volunteer checks a piano on 27 December 1994 in one of the main streets of Grozny, where Russian jets had conducted bomb attacks over several days. Photo: Getty

  15. Music In Conflict

    15. Acapulco's music plays on

    Here, a couple of musicians look for clients willing to pay for a song at an empty Papagayo beach in Acapulco, Mexico. Once a glamorous beach mecca for international tourism, Acapulco's image has steadily deteriorated as a fierce turf war continues between rival drug gangs. Photo: PA

  16. Music In Conflict

    16. Zubin Mehta and José Carreras head to Bosnia

    Gunfire makes way for the sound of music on Wednesday, June 15, 1994 as musicians from abroad start arriving for a special weekend concert. Zubin Mehta conducted the orchestra in a special charity program also starring tenor Jose Carrerras. Photo: PA

  17. Music In Conflict

    17. Musicians of The Great War

    Here, in a picture taken in 1914, a musician soldier raises spirits in a French trench during the first world war. Photo: Getty

  18. Music In Conflict

    18. Rostropovich plays Bach for a united Berlin

    On November 11, 1989, two days after the official fall of the Berlin Wall, Mstislav Rostropovich staged an impromptu performance of Bach's cello suites at the frontier. Photo: PA

  19. Landfill Harmonic

    19. The inspiring story of Landfill Harmonic

    "The world sends us garbage... we send back music" say the young people in the poverty-stricken landfill town of Cateura, Paraguay. Forging musical instruments from rubbish, many children forced to work in the landfills have been brought together by classical music in an ensemble known as the Recycled Orchestra.

  20. Music In Conflict

    20. Young World War 2 refugees turn to music

    11th August 1939, a young girl plays her violin to a friend. She is one of 150 Jewish refugee children to arrive as part of the 'Kindertransport' at Liverpool Street station from Berlin. Photo: Getty

  21. Marcos Tristao, conflict in music

    21. Music in the favelas of Brazil

    A twelve year old violinist plays at the funeral of Evandro João da Silva, coordinator of Afroreggae, one of Rio de Janeiro’s largest non-profit organizations. Afroreggae invited youths from the Vigário Geral favela to get involved in activities such as music to prevent them from falling into the world of drug trafficking. Photo: Marcos Tristao

  22. Music In Conflict

    22. The death camp musicians

    This undated file photo, taken by an SS guard, shows women prisoners lined up for a hard labour assignment at Auschwitz. Unlike most who perished in the Nazi death camp, any woman who stepped off the train with a musical instrument had a chance to live by playing in a woman's orchestra that performed for the entertainment of SS officers. Photo: PA

  23. War in Sarajevo

    23. The war in Sarajevo takes its toll

    Cellist Vedran Smalovic breaks down in tears after playing a requiem to a dead friend at Hero's Cemetery, where Bosnian fighters were buried during the siege of Sarajevo, 1992. Picture: Getty

  24. War in Iraq

    24. Music lessons continue after the Iraq War

    Sulaimaniya Music Institute has not been restored since the war, but teacher Azad Maaruf continues to teach young children music for a nominal fee. He now teaches music to about 100 children. Picture: Reuters

  25. Band of the German army

    25. The German army turns to music

    During World War I, a band of the German army playing near a destroyed bridge on a frozen river on the Russian front. Picture: Getty

  26. Music In Conflict

    26. Second World War musicians in the UK

    2nd September 1941: the Dagenham girl pipers practise their gas mask drill. Photo: Getty

  27. Music In Conflict

    27. The musicians of Sarajevo play on

    Cellist Vedran Smailovic playing Strauss in the bombed National Library in Sarajevo. Photo: Getty

Facebook share

Discover music

See more Discover music

Girl revising and piano keys

10 pieces of classical music to help ease exam stress

3 days ago

The Phoenician Scheme: Wes Anderson’s ingenious use of Stravinsky and other classical music

New Wes Anderson film ‘The Phoenician Scheme’ is scored with Stravinsky’s music

5 days ago

Hundreds of musicians protest Cardiff University’s proposed music school closure

Cardiff University scraps plans to axe music department

5 days ago

The Piano Boat comes to Britain's canals

Floating piano boat named ‘Rachmaninov’ to return to London’s canals

5 days ago

Diana wins 'The Piano' with performance of 'Dreams' at Newcastle concert hall

87-year-old fulfils ‘lifelong dream’ of becoming a concert pianist in tear-jerking The Piano finale

6 days ago

Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman in 2009

Who were the Sherman Brothers, Hollywood’s most prolific musical duo?

10 days ago

Best classical music

See more Best classical music

The 15 most famous tunes in classical music

The 15 most famous tunes in classical music

Best symphonies: Ludwig van Beethoven, Antonin Dvorak and Florence Price

The 15 greatest symphonies of all time

4 eras of classical music

The 4 eras of classical music: a quick guide

A young Marin Alsop, Sir Simon Rattle, and Seiji Ozawa conduct their respective orchestras.

The 25 greatest conductors of all time

Hildegard von Bingen, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Edward Elgar among the greatest composers in classical music history.

The 30 greatest classical music composers of all time

Classic FM Live Playlists

See more Classic FM Live Playlists

Classic FM Hall of Fame

Classic FM Pet Classics

Classic FM Video Game Music

Essential Classical

Classic FM’s Baby Bedtime

Classic FM Revision

Browse by

See more Browse by

Periods & genres

Occasions

Moods

Instruments

Mood

See more Mood

Studying

Relaxing

Happy

Epic

Romantic

Baby

Occasions

See more Occasions

Wedding

Memorial

Valentine’s Day

Christmas

Latest on Classic FM

Scientific reconstruction reveals Beethoven’s ‘true’ face 200 years after his death

Scientific reconstruction reveals Beethoven’s ‘true’ face 200 years after his death

Beethoven

When Tom Cruise came on set, Simon Pegg and ‘The Final Reckoning’ cast had the Mission Impossible theme in their head

Simon Pegg: ‘We sang the Mission Impossible theme a lot in the cast. Whenever Tom walks on set!’

UK’s only string instrument-making degree set to close

UK’s last surviving string instrument-making degree set to close

Curious baby boy playing toy piano at home

Does classical music really make babies smarter?

Unseen footage reveals Dick van Dyke singing ‘Mary Poppins’ with THE Richard Sherman on piano

Unseen footage reveals Dick van Dyke singing ‘Mary Poppins’ with THE Richard Sherman on piano

Austrian artist JJ won the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest with his song, "Wasted Love."

Austrian Eurovision winner JJ is a countertenor who sang with the Vienna Opera

Who is Anna Lapwood? The trailblazing organist and conductor’s age, biography and performances

Who is Anna Lapwood? The trailblazing organist and conductor’s age, biography and performances

Netflix releases series inspired by Vivaldi’s ‘Four Seasons’

What classical music is featured in Netflix’s The Four Seasons, and how is it inspired by Vivaldi’s masterpiece?

Vivaldi

Young audience members can enjoy classical concerts at a low price across the UK

15 cheap classical music concert ticket schemes for young audiences

‘Sinners’ composer Ludwig Göransson breaks down his movie soundtrack

‘Sinners’ composer Ludwig Göransson breaks down his movie soundtrack

Back to top

Also on Classic FM

  • Listen to Global Player
  • Classic FM Breakfast with Dan Walker
  • John Williams
  • Alexander Armstrong on Classic FM
  • Quizzes
  • Leonard Bernstein
  • Mozart
  • Debussy
  • Music theory
  • Instruments
  • Classic FM Live
  • Brahms
  • Vivaldi
  • Bach
  • Tchaikovsky
  • Chopin
  • Andrea Bocelli
  • Florence Price
  • Beethoven
  • Best classical music
  • Classic FM Requests
  • Best pianists
  • Harry Potter music
  • Star Wars soundtrack
  • Composer or pasta
  • Music for Studying
  • Best violinists
  • Classical music tearjerkers
  • Relaxing classical

Useful Links

  • Contact Us
  • Help
  • How To Listen
  • About Classic FM
  • Company Details
  • Cookies
  • Privacy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Advertise
  • Global Jobs

Download the app

Get it on the app store Get it on Google Play

Follow Us

Follow Classic FM on Facebook
Follow Classic FM on Instagram
Follow Classic FM on Youtube
© Global 2025
30 Leicester Square, London, WC2H 7LA
Privacy Manager