A capacity crowd at one of the lunchtime concerts.

Lunchtime Concerts at the National Gallery

With the National Gallery closed and the pictures a hundred miles away, the building in Trafalgar Square was put at the disposal of the government. Many of the capital's cinemas, theatres and concert halls were also closed due to the heavy bombing. Myra Hess, a concert pianist, was concerned about the effect of this cultural blackout on the lives of Londoners. Towards the end of September she approached the Director of the Gallery, Kenneth Clark, with the idea of staging lunchtime concerts of classical music in the empty Gallery. Clark shared her concerns and set about obtaining government permission.

The first concert was held at 1pm on Tuesday 10 October 1939 and was a great success. Admission cost one shilling. The lunchtime concerts ran uninterruptedly for six and a half years from 10 October 1939 to 10 April 1946. In all 1,698 concerts were given in aid of the Musician's Benevolent Fund.

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