Prom 74: Saturday 10th September at 7.30 p.m. (Last Night of the Proms)

[Nick Armstrong]

we totally lost it at the bit about "trombones"

Having been out last night, I tried a bit of the concert this morning on iPlayer. It was precisely that moment ("... trombones long and thin, watch their slides go out and in..." *... we lack a "throwing up" smiley). And what was the ghastly simpering, patronising delivery by Agutter about. Truly gut-churning.


* why has the "doh" smiley been disabled?!

[Bert Coules]

Sent to me during the performance by a friend:

If only someone the courage could pluck up
To tell Miss Agutter to shut the -

You can probably fill in the rest. Harsh, I thought. She wasn't to blame for the words she was given...

[amac4165]

Sent to me during the performance by a friend:

If only someone the courage could pluck up
To tell Miss Agutter to shut the -

You can probably fill in the rest. Harsh, I thought. She wasn't to blame for the words she was given...

brilliant ! in her defence - in the hall she appeared to be doing the best with the stuff was was given

[Nick Armstrong]

brilliant ! in her defence - in the hall she appeared to be doing the best with the stuff was was given

I like the "pluck up" couplet. But I thought that Ms Agutter (a beacon of my adolescence ) was making it worse rather than better...

[Bert Coules]

...in the hall she appeared to be doing the best with the stuff was was given

Yes, I agree, though she could have been better directed (was she directed at all?). She's a fine performer, given the right material, and still a delight to the eye. The real problem lay with whatever twit thought that the piece needed words in the first place.

[mercia]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYNjY9p4c1E

[ardcarp]

The real problem lay with whatever twit thought that the piece needed words in the first place.

BB and PP I fancy. Two factores are different, though (a) The way you address kids nowadays as opposed to 1950 and (b) it was an audience of [mainly] sophisticated adults. The likes of Ben Elton might have provided a more fitting script?

[Stunsworth]

The real problem lay with whatever twit thought that the piece needed words in the first place.

That twit would be Britten. The piece - which was written for a film documentary - had words by Eric Crozier who also wrote the libretti for several Britten operas...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Young_Person's_Guide_to_the_Orchestra

[Bert Coules]

I didn't put that well: I was referring to the twit who thought that the piece needed words now. As Ardcarp says, that sort of patronising educational approach rings very false these days, and in any case the audience and the occasion weren't right for it anyway. Perhaps a really brilliant narration could just about rescue the concept, but sadly that wasn't what we had last night.

[EdgeleyRob]

we lack a "throwing up" smiley).

http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys.php

[Mary Chambers]

BB and PP I fancy. Two factores are different, though (a) The way you address kids nowadays as opposed to 1950 and (b) it was an audience of [mainly] sophisticated adults. The likes of Ben Elton might have provided a more fitting script?

The piece was a commission for a government educational film (see the Youtube clip) and had to have a commentary to explain what was going on to children who knew nothing about an orchestra. There was a parallel film about ballet steps. The brief, to-the-point commentary in the original film seems much better to me than the Cope version, but for an adult audience there is no need for any sort of explanation. The piece stands perfectly well on its own. I notice that in the film the music never stops completely, so the effect is far less bitty than the version we heard last night.

[Bert Coules]

On a more positive note, I did rather enjoy the Immolation scene (perhaps not a great performance, but wonderful dramatic commitment from Miss Bullock) and the Listz.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

That twit would be Britten. The piece - which was written for a film documentary - had words by Eric Crozier who also wrote the libretti for several Britten operas...

The original film appears rather quaint now, but a newer version with Brian Blessed was issued in the 1980s. BB's OTT approach was quite appealing. I used it in schools and it went down well.

[mangerton]

True enough, as originally writ. But if we're talking "accuracy" surely that should mean singing all the verses? Isn't leaving words out as inauthentic as putting words in?

This is interesting. As a general rule I would agree with you, but there are sometimes good reasons for omitting verses. If this original verse of the National Anthem were still to be sung, there would be a riot - and I'd be leading it:

Lord, grant that Marshal Wade,
May by thy mighty aid,
Victory bring.
May he sedition hush,
and like a torrent rush,
Rebellious Scots to crush,
God save the King.

More recently, this verse from a very well known children's hymn was written, and unsurprisingly is no longer sung:

The rich man in his castle,
The poor man at his gate,
He made them, high or lowly,
And ordered their estate.

[mangerton]

The correct words are in the programme (though Auld Lang Syne is never printed). Of course the problem is firstly that an s sung in the wrong place will always be audible, and secondly that most people have never actually seen the words to Auld Lang Syne

David, thanks for the information.

I suspect the words aren't printed because "everybody knows them". Except they don't.

It was also interesting to see that quite a few of the audience were at a loss when v2 of the National Anthem was sung.

I like the Britten version, and would like to hear it more often.