Through the Night

[AuntDaisy]

Terrific Verdi Requiem from the first night of the 1922 Proms

I was hoping for Henry Wood

Thanks for the recommendation.

[Ein Heldenleben]

I was hoping for Henry Wood

Thanks for the recommendation.

Had it been 1922 your wish would have been fulfilled. Note the highly popular programme of short pieces


Prom 01 - First Night of the Proms 1922
Queen's Hall
Programme
Unknown
National Anthem
Otto Nicolai
Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor
Overture
Jacques Arcadelt
Ave Maria (orch. Henry Wood)
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Eugene Onegin
Aria 'Puskay pogibnu ya' Act 1 Scene 2
Joaquín Turina
Danzas fantásticas, Op 22
Proms premiere
INTERVAL
Franz Liszt
Hungarian Fantasia, S 123
Hector Berlioz
The Damnation of Faust
Ballet des sylphes
The Damnation of Faust
Menuet des follets
Giuseppe Verdi
Aida
Recitative & aria 'Se quel guerrier io fossi!...Celeste Aïda' Act 1 Scene 1
Paul Dukas
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
Christoph Willibald Gluck
Suite de Ballet No. 1 (Gluck/Mottl)
Paul Rubens
I love the moon
Arthur Sullivan
The Gondoliers (arr. unknown for voice and piano)
Take a pair of sparkling eyes Act 2 No. 3
Sir Alexander Campbell Mackenzie
Overture 'Britannia', Op 52
Performers
Henry Wood
conductor
The New Queen’s Hall Orchestra
Maggie Teyte
soprano
York Bowen
piano
John Coates
tenor
Frederick Kiddle
piano

[smittims]

It's the Arcadelt that stands out for me. I wonder what Wood's orchestration was like. He was quite adept at such things

[Ein Heldenleben]

It's the Arcadelt that stands out for me. I wonder what Wood's orchestration was like. He was quite adept at such things

There’s a brief description in this Gramophone review. Sounds worth an outing .

https://papyrus.exacteditions.com/issues/33628/page/17

[smittims]

Many thanks, Heldenleben. One can imagine it from Mr. Biss' description. And what a delight to read his ornate prose style, reminding me of our old friend Sidney Grew ('members may be aware that we do not like 'suites'...)

[AuntDaisy]

Horlicks with a tot of malt whisky used to be my nightcap. Now more likely to be a mug of herb tea.

But AD, getting back on topic, you're the TTN Mastermind: I have a feeling there used to be longer pieces on TTN too - even an occasional entire opera. Not a complaint about the current TTN, just a vague feeling.

I think you're right - there did seem to be more longer pieces of music, e.g. operas that went across the 2 hour slots.
For example:

Saturday 2 September 2006 1:00-7:00 (Radio 3)
With Jonathan Swain.
Playlist:
1.00am
Sigiswalk Kuijken conducts Handel's Partenope
Handel, Georg Frideric (1685-1759): Partenope, opera in three acts
Partenope ...... Krisztina Laki
Rosmira ...... Helga Müller Mollinari
Arsace ...... René Jacobs
Armindo ...... John York Skinner
Emilio ...... Martyn Hill
Ormonte ...... Stephen Varcoe
La Petite Bande
Sigiswald Kuijken (conductor)

4.16am
Gabrieli, Giovanni (c.1553-1612): Canzon Prima
Canadian Brass

Saturday 6 January 2007 1:00-7:00 (Radio 3)
With John Shea.
Playlist:
1.00am
Rameau, Jean-Philippe (1683-1764): Zaïs - Pastoral héroïque
Zaïs ...... John Elwes (haute-contre)
Zélidie ...... Marjanne Kweksilber (soprano)
Sylph/High Priestess of Love ...... Mieke van der Sluis (soprano)
Sylph ...... Réné Jacobs (countertenor)
Love ...... Jane Marsh (soprano)
Oromasès ...... Max van Egmond (bass)
Cindor ...... David Thomas (bass)
Collegium Vocale, Ghent
Philippe Herreweghe (director)
La Petite Bande
Sigiswald Kuijken (conductor)

3.49am
Milhaud, Darius (1892-1974): Scaramouche
James Anagnoson, Leslie Kinton (pianos)

[AuntDaisy]

Had it been 1922 your wish would have been fulfilled. Note the highly popular programme of short pieces
Prom 01 - First Night of the Proms 1922
Queen's Hall
Programme
....

Thanks. I wonder if any recordings/clips have survived?

[smittims]

SOMM have reissued on CD some archive Prom recordings such as the premiere of Rubbra's 4th symphony from 1942, and extracts from the 'First Night' 1943. This had

Sorcerer's Apprentice
Saint-Saens 2nd concerto (Lympany)
'Love in her eyes sits playing' (Handel) Nash, and
Beethoven's 5th.

There's also, on a BBC Mag disc, the 1942 premiere of Ireland's Epic March.

It would be fascinating to know what else has survivied from old Proms. I was thrilled to hear the surviving portions of Beecham's two Proms in 1954. But it's highly unlikely there's anything from the acoustic era. HMV recorded most if not all the opening ceremony of the 1923 British Empire Exhibition in Wembley Stadium, but most if not all of it was a disaster. Jerrold Northrop Moore writes about it in 'Elgar on Record'.

I'm surethe BBc have many recordings of old Proms which they won't or can't broadcast. Surely now the artists are dead there shouldn't be a problem? Ah, yes, I was forgetting. That is the problem.Radio3 doesn't seem to like dead artists very much.

[kernelbogey]

Oops! 2022, surely!

Indeed. At 0159 I'm none too sure of the century, and indeed I was more with Libera me, Domine, de morte æterna, in die illa tremenda....

[Pulcinella]

Indeed. At 0159 I'm none too sure of the century, and indeed I was more with Libera me, Domine, de morte æterna, in die illa tremenda....

[french frank]

I think you're right - there did seem to be more longer pieces of music, e.g. operas that went across the 2 hour slots.
For example:

And in looking at the 1922 First Night, it might be borne in mind that back in the early days the aim was to 'create an audience' for classical music by easing listeners in with some lighter fare. Having created that audience and catered for it over many decades the strategy now seems to be to wander around picking up listeners anywhere and cater for ever wider tastes: all things to all people. That may have its downside for the musical descendants of the original 'created audience'.

[Serial_Apologist]

Oops...I was 440 out...

I quite like it.

There are two views on Vexations. One, that it is the very first totally atonal work, and the other that it isn't. The first view is mine, the second, everybody else's.

[kernelbogey]

There are two views on Vexations. One, that it is the very first totally atonal work, and the other that it isn't. The first view is mine, the second, everybody else's.

Reminds me of that old Punch cartoon: fond parents watching a troop of squaddies marching past. 'Oh look, theyr'e all out of step except our Willie'.

Good on yer, Serial.

[kernelbogey]

Last night's highlight, for me:

14.6.2023 02:31 AM
Jan Dismas Zelenka (1679-1745)
Missa Dei filii (Missa ultimarum secundat) ZWV.20
Martina Jankova (soprano), Wiebke Lehmkuhl (contralto), Krystian Adam Krzeszowiak (tenor), Felix Rumpf (bass), Dresden Chamber Choir, Wroclaw Baroque Orchestra, Vaclav Luks (conductor)

A late Zelenka work from the 1740s: 40 minutes of glorious choral music - and he completed only the Kyrie ad the Gloria.

[AuntDaisy]

Last night's highlight, for me:

14.6.2023 02:31 AM
Jan Dismas Zelenka (1679-1745)
Missa Dei filii (Missa ultimarum secundat) ZWV.20
Martina Jankova (soprano), Wiebke Lehmkuhl (contralto), Krystian Adam Krzeszowiak (tenor), Felix Rumpf (bass), Dresden Chamber Choir, Wroclaw Baroque Orchestra, Vaclav Luks (conductor)

A late Zelenka work from the 1740s: 40 minutes of glorious choral music - and he completed only the Kyrie ad the Gloria.

Catching up now - thanks.
It looks as if the accompanying Te Deum is on on the 30th of June.
It would be interesting to compare Jonathan Swain's introductions with John Shea & Danielle Jalowiecka's.