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In 1946, the Arts Council of Great Britain was awarded a Royal Charter to champion and develop art and culture across the country and to make it more accessible.

The Council's annual report for that year was comprehensive, an olive green cover enclosing 90 type-written pages. The panel listings for music, drama and art were well-known figures: art historian Kenneth Clarke, sculptor Henry Moore, composers Benjamin Britten and Michael Tippett and the celebrated pianist Myra Hess. This brave new institution exuded the confidence that was needed to reassemble the cultural fragments of the war and rebuild Britain鈥檚 national artistic identity.

But what was that identity? And who was it for? The photographs in the report suggest a glittering year for the Arts: Laurence Olivier in King Lear, The Three Cornered Hat with scenery by Picasso, exhibitions by Paul Klee and Velasquez and the premiere of Britten鈥檚 Rape Of Lucretia at Glyndebourne. It鈥檚 hard to believe that this was a shattered country reeling from the most destructive war in history.

But hidden in the text, another story emerges. The war had been the catalyst for an unprecedented hunger for music. Music was relief, escapism, catharsis in the darkest times. Factory canteen concerts had reached thousands of workers each week, and Myra Hess had given immensely popular free lunchtime concerts at the empty National Gallery. But when the war ended, music during working hours was no longer wanted. The authors of the report couldn't quite hide their disappointment that audiences for orchestral concerts soon dwindled to "normal (as in pre-war) levels".

There was a glimmer of hope, however. Weekly music clubs were springing up all over the UK: independent, relaxed and informal, they received strong support from the Arts Council, which was quick to recognise their value. Most music club members came from local industries and numbered between 200 and a 1,000 people, depending on the area. The clubs hosted professional chamber music concerts and talks about classical music; they held quizzes and gramophone recitals presented by the members.

The message was clear: there was still an appetite for music, but people wanted it on their own terms - and mostly, they still do.

This is one of 100 significant musical moments explored by 麻豆社 Radio 3鈥檚 Essential Classics as part of Our Classical Century, a 麻豆社 season celebrating a momentous 100 years in music from 1918 to 2018. Visit bbc.co.uk/ourclassicalcentury to watch and listen to all programmes in the season.

This is an excerpt from a recording by Myra Hess.

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