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    Music in conflict: 26 iconic images

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    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

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