In 1916, as war rages on the Western Front, the Choral Society in Ramsden, Yorkshire loses most of its men to the army and recruits local youths to carry on. They hire a driven, secretive new chorus master, Dr. Henry Guthrie (Ralph Fiennes), recently returned from Germany. As conscription papers arrive, the community discovers that making music together is their best response to the chaos tearing their lives apart.