Not currently on display at the V&A

There'll be Blue Birds over the White Cliffs of Dover

Sheet Music
ca. 1941 (published)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Although this sheet music is illustrated with a photograph of the great American songwriter and pianist Turner Layton (1894-1978) who found success in England after 1924 performing as Layton and Johnstone with Clarence 'Tandy' Johnstone (1885-1953), the song is now irrefutably linked with ' the Forces' sweetheart' Vera Lynn (1917-2021) whose 1942 recording of it made it the great optimistic anthem of World War ll.

Turner Layton split with Johnstone in 1935 and returned to America, while Turner continued to perform in London where he regularly performed at the Café de Paris until his retirement in 1946.





Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleThere'll be Blue Birds over the White Cliffs of Dover (published title)
Materials and techniques
Chromolithograph, ink on paper
Brief description
Sheet music for There'll be Blue Birds over the White Cliffs of Dover, by Walter Kent, words by Nat Burton, broadcast by Turner Layton. Published by Bert Feldman & Co. , ca. 1941
Physical description
Sheet music for There'll Be Blue Birds Over the White Cliffs of Dover.
Dimensions
  • Front cover height: 31cm (approx)
  • Front cover width: 24.5cm
Credit line
Gabrielle Enthoven Collection
Summary
Although this sheet music is illustrated with a photograph of the great American songwriter and pianist Turner Layton (1894-1978) who found success in England after 1924 performing as Layton and Johnstone with Clarence 'Tandy' Johnstone (1885-1953), the song is now irrefutably linked with ' the Forces' sweetheart' Vera Lynn (1917-2021) whose 1942 recording of it made it the great optimistic anthem of World War ll.

Turner Layton split with Johnstone in 1935 and returned to America, while Turner continued to perform in London where he regularly performed at the Café de Paris until his retirement in 1946.



Collection
Accession number
S.3289-2013

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Record createdMarch 19, 2014
Record URL
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